Proponents of the PC platform, rejoice. I just did an interview with the Valve dudes for Gamasutra, regarding Steam, and resident evangelist Doug Lombardi gives PC gamers plenty to be happy about:"People keep innovating on the hardware to make it a more heavyweight platform; it's maturing more quickly than consoles. It's pretty hard to say they're going to go away completely."
In fact, continues Lombardi, the question mark might be floating squarely in the console's future, as their prices continue climbing and more post-purchase purchases are becoming necessary. "How much longer will that story still have credibility?" He posits.
"Somebody go back and look at next-gen console install base numbers since launch time, and compare it to PSone and PS2. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw these guys stuttering out at 25,000 -- nobody's going to get to 100 million, which we saw from Sony on the last 2 [console generations]. I don't think anybody's even thinking of this."
They're also playing with microtransactions-based biz models over in Asia, with the help of longtime free-to-play giants Nexon. Cool stuff.
I also asked if they think EA's Battlefield Heroes looks like Team Fortress 2, like everyone says it does:
"The pair shrugged off the resemblance, commenting only, "How many games look like Quake? How many bands wanted to be like the Beatles after the Beatles hit?"
Some douchebag in the W bar spilled beer on my phone during GDC, and now it totally doesn't work. If you're reading this, douchebag, you owe me a new phone. But before my phone decided it was only capable of dialing the Chinese restaurant repeatedly and without interruption, I'm glad I got to do this interview. It's a rad one, thanks to the subjects, so check it out!
7 comments:
Did they happen to mention if they're going to provide Steam sales data to NPD? Not being a business person, I've never understood why they're so secretive about how much they sell on Steam.
I didn't ask them that, but I think it's more NPD's issue of not quantifying digital stuff or not yet having standards by which to do so? Dunno. Good question, though.
Pretty ballsy of them to suggest that the consoles' days could be numbered. But who knows? I've always thought that a huge part of the 'console experience' was its place in the living room on the family TV. But as I've been getting more content from the internet I've also been using different methods to connect the PC and watch video files or play games on the living room TV. (Currently I'm getting a huge kick out of using TVersity to stream AVIs to my 360.)
I wonder what effect this blurring of PC and console borders will have on the two mediums as a whole? Will there still be room for both in one household?
I wonder if it was the same sot who dropped his beer into my lap. Could there have been two such douchebags at the W Hotel bar?*
As for Valve not releasing their Steam sales numbers, it's probably due more to habit than NPD's lack of interest. I'm sure it made a lot of sense early on in the life of the service -- kept it from being an easy target for publishers who wanted to dismiss it. Now that they've built it to where it is, I imagine the secrecy is just leftover, pointless policy.
* A: Yes, definitely. Unfortunately.
I really wish Valve would release the Steam numbers, I'm sick of everyone talking about how they can only make money by moving to publishing on console or dual-publishing...
Anyhow, on the similarity between TF2 and Battlefield Heroes, I would say they both look like Pixar. Or WoW, for that matter (except for the huge shoulderblades). Using bright colors, sizing, exaggeration, these are principles of good animation, not a unique Valve-owned art style.
I'm just saying, I love TF2 but frankly I'm sick of hearing this (almost as sick as I am of hearing WoW vs. WAR).
"He continues, "If you took Steam, Peggle, PopCap, WoW and mixed it with NPD numbers, the world looks a lot different. All of a sudden, it looks like PC's probably the biggest one, and year over year, the fastest-growing."
I don't think I've ever seen the argument framed as 'no games sell on PC', but rather 'if you're making a high-profile game, having PC as your target platform is a poor idea'. Bringing up WoW, Peggle and Popcap, no matter what their numbers are, will hardly disprove this. Steam numbers, on the other hand, might.
I'm not convinced Steam and Popcap makes up for the lag in PC sales, considering the massive gap between, say, the PC sales for Gears of War and the 360 sales. And that's a singular example. When Epic starts wondering why they should pay attention to PC gaming - I think there's a problem to be addressed.
Nor do I see Steam as a saving grace on the PC. In fact, it's pretty much the reason I'm probably abandoning the PC. Having tried to purchase The Club from Valve, only to have it not even load a splash screen - but then be told by Valve support that they don't offer refunds, it occurs to me that Steam is possibly the most user unfriendly market on the planet. Valve isn't actually responsible for the delivery of the software, in their eyes, even though Steam gives them more insight than any other downloadable software platform.
Remember this the next time you want to buy from Valve - your credit card is charged the moment you hit "submit" and Valve will not willingly refund your money after that point for any reason. I finally got my refund after going to the credit card company and the BBB.
PC gaming is sadly a high risk venture, whereas with console gaming you can rent without worry if you like.
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