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I wish Gabe Newell promoted Linux with same passion before MS launched App Store and his business was threatened. I find it hard to believe anything he says. O

I wish Gabe Newell promoted Linux with same passion before MS launched App Store and his business was threatened. I find it hard to believe anything he says. On other hand, I wish all best to Linux :)

meritt 13y ago
The sort of games present in App stores (itunes, google play, microsoft, facebook) cater to an entirely different audience than Steam.
- teamonkey 13y ago
  For now. Microsoft recently retired Game For Windows Live. I'm sure they have some kind of replacement planned that fits in with their current ecosystem.
Karunamon 13y ago
It is possible to simultaneously be against something both because it threatens your business and because you find it personally distasteful. Knowing what I've seen of Gabe the past few years, I'm inclined to believe it's a bit more of the latter than the former.
jlgreco 13y ago
That criticism seemed sensible several months ago, but where we are at right now, does it really seem like MS's App Store is doing any significant threatening? Just looking at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/apps http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/apps it seems clear to me that this is not a threat. These are "iphone games", not "PC games". From what I have seen, the only competitor to Steam that is even a blip on the radar of gamers is Origin. If anything, Valve is pushing into territory that they think Origin cannot enter, not MS.
- mikevm 13y ago
  Do you really care about Valve's reasons? Let's just shut up and let them use their industry muscle to encourage Linux gaming, and in the end we will all win.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Not particularly. I'm not a "real" gamer anyway so none of it really matters to me anyway, I just find the notion of the future of "real" gaming being touch based low-powered "Surface-like" devices to be very silly. Whether the future of PC gaming is on Windows 8 or Linux, it will look very similar to how looks right now: beefy machines chewing up somewhere around half a kilowatt of power, controlled by keyboard/mice and game controllers. The most change I consider plausible/viable is in display tech. Either high-dpi screens, or next-generation "Rift-like" displays could complement PC gaming. Input and power are here to stay though. Also I find it bizarre that so many people seem so invested in being sure that Microsoft's App Store presents the largest threat to Steam. It doesn't currently, clearly, and I rather doubt it will in the future. Origin on the other hand does, but nobody here seems to be interested in them. Origin is a real and current threat, not some sort of hypothetical threat. Maybe there just aren't many EA shareholders/employees on HN...
- chongli 13y ago
  does it really seem like MS's App Store is doing any significant threatening? Not yet, anyway. Do you think this situation would remain the same if it ever gained a significant market share? The real criticism here is that MS's strategy is a trojan horse.
Zikes 13y ago
His company's future is now banking on getting games on Linux to be a reality. That may not be a particularly altruistic motivation, and sure it would be great if Valve had done more in the past to further the ideals of games on Linux, but with the success they were having on Windows platforms up until that point one could hardly blame them for wanting to focus their efforts on previously more pressing matters. Gabe now sees that Windows 8 is not a viable platform for games, and his future may well depend on making Linux work. Given that, I see no reason to doubt his resolve in the matter.
- 300bps 13y ago
  Gabe now sees that Windows 8 is not a viable platform for games What does this mean? I am able to run every game on Windows 8 that I was able to run on Windows 7.
  - Zikes 13y ago
    Just sourcing what he's said in the article and what the article links to, it seems that Microsoft is fast headed to a closed platform similar to what Apple has on iPhone. It's not too hard to imagine that we might someday have to jailbreak our desktops to play some games. There are other reasons I could give, such as lackluster kernel performance developments, that would impede game development and performance. It's also not too much a stretch to say that if you want to be able to run games seriously on a PC, it'd be handy to have a minimalized OS in which to run it, without so much overhead for whatever else the PC might be doing.
    - 300bps 13y ago
      such as lackluster kernel performance developments, that would impede game development and performance Be honest, this is FUD. My own experience and every report I have read is that Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7 hands down. And how is Steam not a closed system? In the talk he complains it took 6 months to get an Apple Store update through. How long does it take to make changes to games on Steam? Can I put a game on Steam today? No? How long does it take? This isn't about Open vs Closed. This is about Gabe In Control vs Gabe Not In Control.

meritt 13y ago

The sort of games present in App stores (itunes, google play, microsoft, facebook) cater to an entirely different audience than Steam.

teamonkey 13y ago
For now. Microsoft recently retired Game For Windows Live. I'm sure they have some kind of replacement planned that fits in with their current ecosystem.

Karunamon 13y ago

It is possible to simultaneously be against something both because it threatens your business and because you find it personally distasteful. Knowing what I've seen of Gabe the past few years, I'm inclined to believe it's a bit more of the latter than the former.

jlgreco 13y ago

That criticism seemed sensible several months ago, but where we are at right now, does it really seem like MS's App Store is doing any significant threatening? Just looking at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/apps http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/apps it seems clear to me that this is not a threat. These are "iphone games", not "PC games". From what I have seen, the only competitor to Steam that is even a blip on the radar of gamers is Origin. If anything, Valve is pushing into territory that they think Origin cannot enter, not MS.

mikevm 13y ago
Do you really care about Valve's reasons? Let's just shut up and let them use their industry muscle to encourage Linux gaming, and in the end we will all win.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Not particularly. I'm not a "real" gamer anyway so none of it really matters to me anyway, I just find the notion of the future of "real" gaming being touch based low-powered "Surface-like" devices to be very silly. Whether the future of PC gaming is on Windows 8 or Linux, it will look very similar to how looks right now: beefy machines chewing up somewhere around half a kilowatt of power, controlled by keyboard/mice and game controllers. The most change I consider plausible/viable is in display tech. Either high-dpi screens, or next-generation "Rift-like" displays could complement PC gaming. Input and power are here to stay though. Also I find it bizarre that so many people seem so invested in being sure that Microsoft's App Store presents the largest threat to Steam. It doesn't currently, clearly, and I rather doubt it will in the future. Origin on the other hand does, but nobody here seems to be interested in them. Origin is a real and current threat, not some sort of hypothetical threat. Maybe there just aren't many EA shareholders/employees on HN...
chongli 13y ago
does it really seem like MS's App Store is doing any significant threatening? Not yet, anyway. Do you think this situation would remain the same if it ever gained a significant market share? The real criticism here is that MS's strategy is a trojan horse.

Zikes 13y ago

His company's future is now banking on getting games on Linux to be a reality. That may not be a particularly altruistic motivation, and sure it would be great if Valve had done more in the past to further the ideals of games on Linux, but with the success they were having on Windows platforms up until that point one could hardly blame them for wanting to focus their efforts on previously more pressing matters. Gabe now sees that Windows 8 is not a viable platform for games, and his future may well depend on making Linux work. Given that, I see no reason to doubt his resolve in the matter.

300bps 13y ago
Gabe now sees that Windows 8 is not a viable platform for games What does this mean? I am able to run every game on Windows 8 that I was able to run on Windows 7.
- Zikes 13y ago
  Just sourcing what he's said in the article and what the article links to, it seems that Microsoft is fast headed to a closed platform similar to what Apple has on iPhone. It's not too hard to imagine that we might someday have to jailbreak our desktops to play some games. There are other reasons I could give, such as lackluster kernel performance developments, that would impede game development and performance. It's also not too much a stretch to say that if you want to be able to run games seriously on a PC, it'd be handy to have a minimalized OS in which to run it, without so much overhead for whatever else the PC might be doing.
  - 300bps 13y ago
    such as lackluster kernel performance developments, that would impede game development and performance Be honest, this is FUD. My own experience and every report I have read is that Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7 hands down. And how is Steam not a closed system? In the talk he complains it took 6 months to get an Apple Store update through. How long does it take to make changes to games on Steam? Can I put a game on Steam today? No? How long does it take? This isn't about Open vs Closed. This is about Gabe In Control vs Gabe Not In Control.