Gabe Newell of Valve defends the PC
Category: PC, Posted: 06/04/2008 at 02:15PM CDT by Chris Abiuso, Staff Writer
With no one else to do so, Valve has stood up for the PC at a presentation to prove that PC gaming isn't just alive, but an intuitive and innovative canvas.
Gabe Newell blamed the thought of PC gaming's death on perception. Where the 360, Wii, and PS3 all have great champions, the PC does not. "...there's no equivalent on the PC, and the people who are traditionally driving these messages, like Microsoft or Intel or Apple are, for various reasons, not very effective champions," Newell stated.
He also stated that PC gaming dwarfs console gaming, brining up Garner Group data indicating that the PC is home to 260 million online gamers and that Steam, one of but many online game distributing systems, serves 15 million gamers and has a 191% year-over-year growth.
This brought him to his next, and quite possibly his smartest, remark. While retail sales have relatively remained level since 2001, online transactions have risen dramatically. This proves what has been know before; what the NPD says is not always true, since it does not track online purchases. If every purchase from now on for the PC were made online, NPD would say that the PC was officially dead when really there'd be billions of customers.
For the PC, it's great to be defended by a large gaming developer. However, if people listen to NPD numbers and not common sense, it may very well lead them to end PC gaming on their part. As more and more people follow suit, there's a very real possibility that the PC will be in actual danger. What can PC gamers do to counteract this? Speak the truth.
I'm glad that the champion problem may not be an ailment for the PC anymore. The PC may have finally found its own (official) champion: Valve.
[Via Gamasutra]
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just wait til he realizes how many ppl play games on steam w/o paying for them
Yay for Gabe :D !
Gabe has some strong points. For me, console gaming is entertainment for me and my friends. I do most of my serious stuff on the PC (driving/flight simulators, RPG's, etc.)
How many times is Valve going to have to say this and how many articles are we going to have to see about how PC gaming is dead; no wait, it's not! You know, that poll on here left me without being able to answer. For the logical answer is "What? It's definitely alive and doing well." Yet, because the issue keeps coming up like it's not been discussed before and debunked, or something, I vehemently want to check "I'm tired of hearing about it." However, though that may be how I feel, and many others, I am sure, if we all click that, then that doesn't answer the question to what people think is the status of PC gaming. So, ultimately, I find I have to not click the poll at all:p
It's not dead by any means. There will always be a staunch core of PC gamers. The problem is that most people don't have strong feelings about it either way, and are perfectly willing to move over to consoles once they get all the big development bucks (both hardware and software). I hate to admit it, because I hate Steam with a passion, but Valve is instrumental in the future of PC gaming. Their approach may very well keep it not only afloat, but thriving. On the other hand, it's going to turn off those of us who need control over what we buy. I want a a box, and a disc, and a manual. I don't want to be tethered to a mothership to be be able to play my games. It's quite a pickle. I'm glad I don't have to field it.
I know its not dead it just cost a small fortune to play the new games that come out every year. but with a console it last at least 5 years til the next one. you need to spend a grand for every 2 years to run the games a there best level.