Gabe Newell presents his vison for the gaming industry at D.I.C.E.

by Justin McElroy on Feb 19th 2009 1:40PM

Long story short: Do it like Valve does it. Long story reasonably brief: Valve boss Gabe Newell wants to shake up the way the industry works by keeping pricing in flux, updating content more frequently and getting away from DRM as copy-protection, among other things. Newell also suggested leaning more on the release of concept art to get gamers excited, though we're not still not sure what effect that one Half-Life image is having on us.

You can see more of the Freemanifesto that Newell delivered yesterday at D.I.C.E. right here. We'd love to know how closely your own view cleaves to his vision for the gaming landscape. Or, if you're feeling less cerebral: OMG Team Fortress 2 comics!

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Tags: dice-2009, gabe-newell, half-life, half-life-2-episode-3, pc, steam, team-fortess-2, valve

Reader Comments (81)

It's been 28 days, you rightwing tools. The only thing that happens in 28 days are worldwide zombie outbreaks.

Yeah. It's been 28 days, and Obama just signed the most expensive bill in the history of America. Things are looking up for sure.

Hey Gave, more campaigns for Left 4 Dead, then we'll talk.

I'm not a Microsoft fan. I tossed my PC over 5 years ago, and only bought a 360 mere months ago. So I'm new to Valve, and just played The Orange Box last week. As much fun as I'm having with the gameplay and level design of Half Life 2, it's a stubbornly unpolished experience outside of the gameplay. I have to say this, as I've spend years hearing the praises...

I'm not trolling, hear me out. It's just that going from the super detailed and sheer density of atmosphere in Bioshock (and i'm not talking graphics at all), to not even showing your hands on the wheel as you drive a boat in HL2 is rather lame. Left 4 Dead leaves a ton of blanks unfilled as well (I'm sure you've heard people complain about how hollow the campaign is). Portal gave me little to no complaints, but i think its sterile minimalist atmosphere helped.

What I'm getting at is at no point in HL2 and L4D do I feel like I'm not playing a videogame. There is always something in the environment and control that kills all the submersion, and I feel this is just Valve being stubborn and saying "all that crap is just frills, you don't need that."

Again, I'm playing these games every night and having fun with the gameplay, but.. man... Valve should start looking for someone to punch up the atmosphere and narrative and give their games something to complete the package.

Just so we're clear, you do realize how old the Source engine all of Valve's modern games run on is, right? Sometimes the base code for those "frills" just isn't there.

I don't know how old Source is, but do see it as part of the problem in that overall "samey" feeling I get after a while. I can't let them off the hook so easily though. I'm guessing Source is late 90's? Look at Resident Evil, Deus Ex, and Metal Gear Solid. You have to admit, there is a lot more immersion there in the environments, presentation, and interactive materials - I don't just mean game length and cutscenes.

Source first came out in 2004. It's exceptionally versatile, but it is starting to show it's age and modern shortcomings.

I agree. when I first got the demo for Left 4 Dead, I couldn't believe how dated it looked in places. While in some areas like faces and people it was exceptional there were other places where it looked downright awful, most noticeably when you look at the handle of the basic shotgun and it's as scribbled and spotty as Half Life 2 was when it first came out

@ MLS:

I think you just hopped on the Half-Life 2 train a bit late. IMO, it was less impressive, entertaining, and memorable as the first game, but it looked pretty good when it came out. The physics were still a fresh addition to any game, and gave me some wow moments. It was a step closer to using real-world solutions to in-game problems. For example, there's a part with a board on a pivot point, and you have to set cinder blocks or something on one side to weight it down so you could walk up it like a ramp and reach a high ledge. You could also run into a house, close the door, and push a table in front of the door to make it difficult for the soldier dudes to get in. These kinds of things were pretty much unheard of 5 years ago.

But I can totally see how you would be less than impressed if you came into it now. Definitely get Episodes 1 and 2, as they are better than the full HL2 title. Same engine, continuation of the same storyline, but they just execute better. The reactor part in Ep1 reminds me of something that would be in HL1, which is still probably the most memorable game I've ever played.

When I first played HL2 back in 2004, I was frankly unimpressed. I've played it numerous times over the years though and the game has really grown on me. As I learned more about the game and game design processes, I appreciated it a lot more and in fact, it is one of my more favored games now; and one that I can actually stand to play multiple times.

Its actually been very interesting to see the later versions of the Half Life episodes, and see how Valve has improved significantly upon the engine and game design in general.

As someone said before, Half Life 2 was originally published on November 16, 2004 so the game is obviously going to look dated.

Your also playing it on a console and not really getting a great experience. As ridiculous as that may sound its true. The PC version of the game looks and controls a lot better.

As for the "frills" part of your post, I am of the mind that frills don't really matter when it comes to immersion. Often times they make it very apparent to me that am, in fact, playing a video game. Also, after a while you just tune them out.

I love Valve & Half-Life & everything out of Valve, like Half-Life...

But "more request releases." Uhh... Gabe, maybe you should give that speech to your own boys. 1998 -> 2004. 2004 -> 2006. 2006 -> 2008. 2008 -> ... who knows when. And those last ones were just "episodes." Now, still, it was the best game I played in 2008 and I've played it and replayed it more than any other game, but c'mon.

WOOHOO POLITICS!

You dolt. I don't agree with Obama's policies, but this is the last place I want to hear about politics either way.

There's a comic book store nearby that does preorders and "subscriptions" for comics.

I'm gonna go get my TF2 comic subscription this weekend. :D

Whats that?
Ohh, politics...

No thanks, i have Joystiq. Thanks for the offer though, Mr. Carlos Blumenkrantz. (L.Trident)

*rolls eyes*

*meant for Latin Tridents initial post*

&%*$&

@ offday:

Totally hear you on that. Glad you notice what takes place around you.

Oh there is change. Just not the good kind. More like into Europe. You wanted it, you're definetly gonna get it.

What's he's really saying is "it's driving me nuts."

Because Europe sucks donkey balls, amirite?

That dastardly Obama, signing a stimulus bill when the country is in such great shape.

Now, if you'll excuse me, these cans won't collect themselves. I'm eating good tonight!

America's going to change into Europe?

Not only do I think you're completely overreacting (what's he going to do, make you all speak french?), but I also resent the slur on europe.

Yeah because everyone here had been talking about how they're getting a new job as prescribed in the stimulus bill.

Sweet hell you're a stupid twat.

Well, he did manage to fubar the digital TV transition. Just saying...

Shweet Jebus the gloves are off t'day!!

*fist pump & bump!*

Humericaaaaa!!! FUCK YEAH!!

sweet sad truth about my last post is that it is probably the most intelligible thing i have said all day...
*cries*

That is one huge OS&Y valve he's gripping. Looks like a 12-inch valve at least. Someone closed the valve about 1" (as you can see from the threads) and probably had to stop due to exhaustion.

Sekret: The Boomer was modeled after Gabe.

Online distribution is definitely the way to go in my opinion, because it means that companies can probably lower the cost of the game, also it is easier to purchase, also with the ability for faster internet speeds it is definitely a lot better than buying a game at a store

That Ep3 concept art reminds me of the manga BLAME! and Biomega

I got to meet Gabe and shake his hand. Nice guy. Showed us Steam Community before it existed. I love the guy, his visions changed my life (from a gaming perspective) and while I am a PC Gamer at heart, I don't like that he bashes consoles. - K

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Gabe Newell presents his vison for the gaming industry at D.I.C.E.

Reader Comments (81)

Posted: Feb 19th 2009 2:41PM samfish said

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