Gabe Newell Still Talkin' Trash 'Bout PS3
Okay, first off: I love my PS3. I want it to succeed. I like the pretty pictures it shows me, and as soon as I get that DualShock 3, I'm going to love the games it shows me as well. That said, I think Valve Software founder and managing director Gabe Newell gets a lot of heat for saying what he believes to be the truth - and I'm not so sure I disagree with him.
Why? Look at the way Sony's been covering their tracks and vacillating on such key issues as whether the PS3 is a game machine or a media platform. Kinda what you need to know aforehand, right? In January, Gabe had this to say:
The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted.
That's massively hyperbolic, yes - but I do think Sony had lost sign of what customers and developers wanted. The Cell processor may be amazing, but how much of that amazingess that I paid for will I really see? I don't know, which makes it a risk, and Sony's behavior since then hasn't exactly garnered my confidence. I think they know what they need to do to recover as much as possible, but are still handicapped by the poor leadership and general out-of-touch-ness that got the PS3 train rolling in the first place.
But recently Gabe came out again against the PS3, telling EDGE Magazine:
I think [PS3 is] a waste of everybody’s time. Investing in the Cell, investing in the SPE gives you no long-term benefits. There’s nothing there that you’re going to apply to anything else. You’re not going to gain anything except a hatred of the architecture they’ve created. I don’t think they’re going to make money off their box. I don’t think it’s a good solution.
More haterade, sure - but look at his last sentence. Look at the 40GB PS3s without emulation hardware - a cost-saving solution - and the lack of enough USB ports or any card readers. How screwed is Sony? Too screwed? Or just getting back on track?
Valve's Gabe Newell Trashes the PS3... Again [TeamXbox]
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany on 11 October 2007
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: gabe newell, ps3, sony, valve
So the guy doesn't like the PlayStation 3, or the Mac. Seems like he's purely a Microsoft Fanboy.
It seems like the guy is lazy if you ask me, he doesn't want to make games for anything he has to actually work hard on.
Work is hard. To please consumers and to reach wider markets its important to reach out to other platforms, not just the ones he finds easiest.
Since when has "hard work" taken dominance in the corporate world?
Sure, I'd love to live in a world where revenue and profit margins were of the least concern, but it's just not feasible.
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The stripped 40GB model sends a mixed message to the market, one that may destabilize most households from final purchase. While the feature of backwards compatibility may not seem like a necessity for some buyers, it can, and often does, act as an incentive for upgrading (whereby the customer recoups cash toward the purchase by selling the previous model).
Additionally, when there is drastic disparity between available models of what is still considered a "luxury item", people are less apt to ever select the pared-down edition (4GB v. 8GB iPhone sales).
Newell's arguments against the CELL are rather valid. The multi-core architecture was quite advanced at its inception, but Toshiba, Sony and IBM have subsequently failed to spur interest in its usage across the computing spectrum as originally intended. The market is currently awash in multi-core processor alternatives, and has little time for focusing on an option with limited viability. As such, it will remain an exotic environment that only those developers hoping to resell middleware tools will venture into.
Readers may gripe when a CEO libels a product that they have attached to, but the main problem with all of this is the bullheadedness of the manufacturer. Sony has passed acceptance of market dominance and now assumes that their device will reign supreme. A publicly vocal consumer base has vented for ages now, and it's my hope that more developers continue to openly shun an objective so continuously flawed.
I agree with Noun.
Delevopers point of view - you have the XBox 360, and the PS3. The 360 is so much more easier to develop on than the PS3, which means it takes less time. Taking less time reduces development cost. Considering the install base of the PS3 vs 360, the time spent, and the initial money invested into a game (which is a lot for this generation excluding the Wii), I would have to agree that the 360 is a better prospect for games development for now.
Developing on the PS3 is a risk as the initial money set aside is a lot more than the Wii, and the install base is smaller. You are basically counting on the fact that Sony's reputation or the Playstation brand has enough of an oomph to make it worth while.
If Sony does manages to pull through, then Gabe will probably have to eat his hat like so many developers when they missed out developing for the Wii when it launched.
I don't own a PS3, or a 360. My opinion on the matter is this guy just wont stop complaining. I think when he has a problem with multiple platforms, with different ways of coding, and the guy only speaks in favor of microsoft products like windows and xbox, he is merely making himself look like a clown.
It takes work. Hes lazy, you can tell by the way he looks. He doesnt want to do the work, so it's their fault? To me thats like complaining spanish speaking people dont speak english when your in mexico.
"It takes work. Hes lazy, you can tell by the way he looks. He doesnt want to do the work, so it's their fault? To me thats like complaining spanish speaking people dont speak english when your in mexico."
So...he's wrong because he's overweight?
There are two conversations here: one about market realities and corporate tectonics, and one about Gabe Newell, who indeed does never seem to shut up.
But that doesn't mean he's wrong.
In fact, as Noun and Mme have summed up nicely, developers antipathy toward the PS3 most certainly *will* impact its development, regardless of whether anyone considers developing for the PS3 a pseudo-ethical virtue of "hard work" versus "laziness." That viewpoint is valid but unlikely to influence any known reality.
Why would developers want to waste time and money to develop games for a system that sells badly and is hard to program for(in comparison)?
The 40GB with no emulation software scared me. Seems like they are getting rid of things that the consumer wants, in favor of things the consumer has no practical use for yet (like Bluray). Sure the lack of emulation will cut the cost and it had problems to begin with, but it's something the consumer wanted. And that's who's buying the systems.
I think Sony is making some pretty poor choices and they know it and are trying to save themselves, but the hole is only getting bigger and deeper.
Let me finish this by saying that I don't own a PS3 and that I am not an XBOX fanboy. I didn't like the original XBOX and my favorite and most played system is still PS2. So don't think I have any bias against Sony. I just think their choices lately haven't been the best. If they fix things around somehow, I can see myself getting a PS3.
egh.
i purchased a PS3...i want to hold it and pet it...but i'm still waiting for the games...but i have faith
i also know that sony has a shitload of money, and though they have kind of fucked it up trying to win over sony converts with the ps3 so far...they will stick out the fight, and bring me MGS4...Killzone 2...and something with kittens and naked dudes. please.
I think Valve games are some of the greatest games of all time. This guy can talk all he wants. Portal, as stated by one of my friends, "was the most-satisfying gaming experience in years." Valve knows what gamers want... at least, gamers like my friend and me.
Secondly, consider the art of video game creation: if you can accomplish your vision in half the time without sacrificing any quality, why WOULD you use a more-complicated medium just so more eyes can see it? Now what if that more-complicated medium didn't improve quality, and only an extra percentage (insert whatever Sony's shitty sales are at here) will see your art... is it still worth it?
I've said it a hundred times before, and I'll say it a hundred times again: PS3 is Sony's Saturn. Good system, but didn't work out. Next will be the most-phenominal system in the world (their Dreamcast), which nobody will pay attention to, and Sony will pull out of video game systems and go back to home theater, where they belong. :)
/haterade by the oildrum