Has Valve Forgotten What PC Gaming is About?

[The Brown Hornet]

I think we all can agree that Valve in it's early days seemed to have a good grasp on what PC gaming was all about...creating great PC games! Isn't that what Half Life, L4D, TF, DOTA, CS series were...great games? Yet for some reason it all stopped at 2. For years gamers have asked a question, a question that has now become a meme, can Valve count to 3? Can Valve, a company that has completely won over the PC gaming community give it's subscribers what they actually want, new and innovative in-house developed games and software?

Instead Valve has focused on the opposite of PC gaming and strayed away from the main method by which PC gamers interact with software, mouse and keyboard. Valve in it's ambitions has essentially become console oriented. In the last decade nearly every innovation from Valve has been geared towards drawing us away from our PC and into the living room. Though what we desire are innovative software titles what Valve introduces instead are Steam Machines, tiny PC's disguised as consoles designed to compete with the likes of Xbox and PlayStation for set top attention.

To go along with the console oriented steam machine Valve introduces the Steam Controller, a Frankenstein-like hybrid of ideas and control concepts that some gamers ultimately managed to utilize and comprehend. What Valve didn't stop to ask is does Steam subscribers really want to play PC games with their thumbs? Valve seems to think so because their most recent innovation is again, not any great gaming software but yet another attempt to "console-ify" PC gaming with the introduction of Steam Deck. This time it's eyes are set on Nintendo Switch whose games are actually designed to be played with thumbs!

Lastly Valve did create Half Life Alex but again that's aimed at competing with the console friendly VR market. So it's apparent the mouse and keyboard player, those who originally made Valve and Steam what it is are no longer the target audience. If they were there would be more Valve developed titles for mouse and keyboard rather than another thumb controlled hardware device.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Aachen の投稿を引用：

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Valve has only developed toys in recent years ....

Half-life was released in 1998.

.... One of the things we expect from Valve on this platform called Steam is great software. Afterall that's what hooked us here in the beginning isn't it? HL, CS, L4D, TF, Portal, etc...the games, the software, but instead of more quality games Valve offers us janky hardware knockoffs like Steam machines, steam controllers and the Deck which is not at all ideal for PC gaming.

Sorry your experience with the hardware was so poor.

Valve released some new games rather recently compared to your classics. You may be missing out!

What’s the ideal portable for PC gaming?

:birbsmile: And where is Valve Kiddieland?!

Valve Chuck-e-Cheese

[ʟǟֆȶʟɨʋɨռɢքօɛȶ]

valve index rulz

try it sometime champ

[The Brown Hornet]

8bitbeard の投稿を引用：

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Instead Valve seems more interested in what Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are doing in hardware design.

Care to elaborate how you've come to this conclusion?

The difference between PC and console for gaming isn't the form factor of the hardware, or the control method. It's the openness of the platform. Steam Deck is a PC. Index is a PC VR headset. Steam Controller is a PC peripheral. If I want to install Windows on my Steam Deck I can. If I want to dock my Steam Deck to a monitor and plug in a mouse and keyboard I can. If I want to run games from Epic on my Steam Deck I can.

Xbox runs Xbox games. Playstation run Playstation games. Switch runs Switch games. They're locked down walled-gardens. That's what makes them consoles. Not the shape, size, or control method.

Now if Valve made a console that was locked down and only ran games purchased from Steam, you would have a point.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

I'm not just concerned with Half Life 3, how about any traditional PC gaming software at all? Not a game like HL Alex where if you don't have hardware and a graphic card powerful enough to run VR forget about it. How about a new IP all together, it seems to me that Valve has plenty of income generated from "us" to finance whatever types of games it's fanbase desires.

I do get your frustration here. Bethesda hasn't given us an Elder Scrolls game in almost 11 years, and it's been 4 years since they teased a sequel. Not that they aren't busy. They've been making mobile games and terrible multiplayer Fallout games and working on their new space game. None of these are Elder Scrolls though, and I'm a little frustrated at that. Not enough to make a long-winded and misguided thread about it though.

With Valve however, its been even longer, I'm convinced Bethesda will eventually put out another great RPG title, Valve in my sarcastic opinion likely wont develop games at all but will put out their knockoff version of a gaming laptop, the Steam-book...

[El poco nuez del muerte]

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

...Steam Deck, which in reality is a toy.

... well of course it is a toy, Valve is running a toy store. That is what video games of all manner are, toys.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

8bitbeard の投稿を引用：

Care to elaborate how you've come to this conclusion?

The difference between PC and console for gaming isn't the form factor of the hardware, or the control method. It's the openness of the platform. Steam Deck is a PC. Index is a PC VR headset. Steam Controller is a PC peripheral. If I want to install Windows on my Steam Deck I can. If I want to dock my Steam Deck to a monitor and plug in a mouse and keyboard I can. If I want to run games from Epic on my Steam Deck I can.

Xbox runs Xbox games. Playstation run Playstation games. Switch runs Switch games. They're locked down walled-gardens. That's what makes them consoles. Not the shape, size, or control method.

Now if Valve made a console that was locked down and only ran games purchased from Steam, you would have a point.



I do get your frustration here. Bethesda hasn't given us an Elder Scrolls game in almost 11 years, and it's been 4 years since they teased a sequel. Not that they aren't busy. They've been making mobile games and terrible multiplayer Fallout games and working on their new space game. None of these are Elder Scrolls though, and I'm a little frustrated at that. Not enough to make a long-winded and misguided thread about it though.

With Valve however, its been even longer, I'm convinced Bethesda will eventually put out another great RPG title, Valve in my sarcastic opinion likely wont develop games at all but will put out their knockoff version of a gaming laptop, the Steam-book...

A sane person would see that their "vaunted opinion" is quite obviously in the minority and frankly completely wrong with the responses in this thread.

[The Brown Hornet]

Aachen の投稿を引用：

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Valve has only developed toys in recent years ....

Half-life was released in 1998.

.... One of the things we expect from Valve on this platform called Steam is great software. Afterall that's what hooked us here in the beginning isn't it? HL, CS, L4D, TF, Portal, etc...the games, the software, but instead of more quality games Valve offers us janky hardware knockoffs like Steam machines, steam controllers and the Deck which is not at all ideal for PC gaming.

Sorry your experience with the hardware was so poor.

Valve released some new games rather recently compared to your classics. You may be missing out!

What’s the ideal portable for PC gaming?

:birbsmile: And where is Valve Kiddieland?!

Hey kids (in Krusty the clowns voice) welcome to Steam-Land where kids can use the portal gun, get lost in mazes, solve puzzles! Uh oh, watch out for the Rat Man!! Get lost in space with Gordon Freeman and help thwart an Alien invasion, take a ride on Splatter, our newest Zombie coaster, enter the land of Twoville where no one can ever utter the number 3! Hurry up kids order your Steam Decks and Steam Machines and Steam Big Wheel's and Steam Slip n Slides and Steam Easy Bake Oven's today! Get em while supplies last...G Man is watching!

[☎need4naiim☎]

Valve CAN make a worthy sequel for Hexen Franchise which has stopped with the Portal of Praevous pack for Hexen II back in 1998. Valve can easily buy the name licenses for it from Activision, this is no big deal for Valve. With at least 7 Acts that are rooted in ancient world, civilizations, mythology, featuring huge hubs with oddly freightening monster bestiary, art design and easy-yet-meaningful skill system, Valve can pull it off for real in FRP genre.

Then, Valve should develop a new Racing game that is a mixture of both NFS: Porsche Unleashed and Mercedes-Benz World Racing of Synetic, that's a sort of open world racing game based on simulation and features the Porsche machines all the way back from first Porsche, 356 from 1950, as seen in Porsche Unleashed in 2000, to the last gen of Porsches, belong to 2025. This can also be a celebration game of Porsche's successful 75 years on and off-track.

With those two heavyweight AAA games that have a certain historical root, for gamers especially, i think Valve can pull it off and give PC gamers something to cheer about for a long long time. Because, it is BUSINESS at the end of the day.

[captainwiseass]

Crazy Tiger の投稿を引用：

I notice OP uses a lot of "we" in the posts. Does OP have multiple personalities?

Maybe OP is the queen.

[captainwiseass]

Big Bridge.mp4 の投稿を引用：

Valve Chuck-e-Cheese :ffxiichocobo:

Five Nights at Gabe's.

[The Brown Hornet]

☎need4naiim☎ の投稿を引用：

Valve CAN make a worthy sequel for Hexen Franchise which has stopped with the Portal of Praevous pack for Hexen II back in 1998. Valve can easily buy the name licenses for it from Activision, this is no big deal for Valve. With at least 7 Acts that are rooted in ancient world and huge hubs with oddly freightening monster bestiary, art design and easy-yet-meaningful skill system, Valve can pull it off for real in FRP genre.

Then, Valve should develop a new Racing game that is a mixture of both NFS: Porsche Unleashed and Mercedes-Benz World Racing of Synetic, that's a sort of open world racing game based on simulation and features the Porsche machines all the way back from first Porsche, 356 from 1950, as seen in Porsche Unleashed in 2000, to the last gen of Porsches, belong to 2025. This can also be a celebration game of Porsche's successful 75 years on and off-track.

With those two heavyweight AAA games that have a certain historical root, for gamers especially, i think Valve can pull it off and give PC gamers something to cheer about for a long long time. Because, it is BUSINESS at the end of the day.

Yeah, that's something to be excited about especially if you were a fan of those franchises. I think Valve can do just about whatever they want, they own Steam. Would be nice if they actually did something the subscribers want

[Haruspex]

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Yeah, that's something to be excited about especially if you were a fan of those franchises. I think Valve can do just about whatever they want, they own Steam. Would be nice if they actually did something the subscribers I personally want.

Fixed that for ya chief.

[76561198407601200]

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

I think we all can agree that Valve in it's early days seemed to have a good grasp on what PC gaming was all about...creating great PC games! Isn't that what Half Life, L4D, TF, DOTA, CS series were...great games?

Not all, some would agree. I know of those who don't care for any Valve developed games while some like myself do.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Yet for some reason it all stopped at 2. For years gamers have asked a question, a question that has now become a meme, can Valve count to 3? Can Valve, a company that has completely won over the PC gaming community give it's subscribers what they actually want, new and innovative in-house developed games and software?

And that seems to be the direction they are heading. New and innovative would not be a half-life 3 or left 4 dead 3 if those titles don't live up to expectation. New and Innovative would lead to this next portion:

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Instead Valve has focused on the opposite of PC gaming and strayed away from the main method by which PC gamers interact with software, mouse and keyboard. Valve in it's ambitions has essentially become console oriented. In the last decade nearly every innovation from Valve has been geared towards drawing us away from our PC and into the living room. Though what we desire are innovative software titles what Valve introduces instead are Steam Machines, tiny PC's disguised as consoles designed to compete with the likes of Xbox and PlayStation for set top attention.

To go along with the console oriented steam machine Valve introduces the Steam Controller, a Frankenstein-like hybrid of ideas and control concepts that some gamers ultimately managed to utilize and comprehend. What Valve didn't stop to ask is does Steam subscribers really want to play PC games with their thumbs? Valve seems to think so because their most recent innovation is again, not any great gaming software but yet another attempt to "console-ify" PC gaming with the introduction of Steam Deck. This time it's eyes are set on Nintendo Switch whose games are actually designed to be played with thumbs!

Lastly Valve did create Half Life Alex but again that's aimed at competing with the console friendly VR market. So it's apparent the mouse and keyboard player, those who originally made Valve and Steam what it is are no longer the target audience. If they were there would be more Valve developed titles for mouse and keyboard rather than another thumb controlled hardware device.

Seems a bit contradictory to want new and innovative produces from Valve, yet criticize when they do so, in this case regarding vr and controllers. Controllers have been a thing on pc for a long time, but Valve has put in their own version of a controller which from my understanding works rather well. I personally have not used the steam controller and unless I have reason to likely won't purchase one though if given one to use I will at least try it. Vr has done well with me in both gaming and development. Steamdeck is useful for playing pc games on the go, not dissimilar to how a (gaming) laptop would be used. Valve developed games have also been ported to console years ago (l4d, tf2,halft life), but no mention of that. You do have to remember that Valve isn't the only supplier of these, nor are valve developed games the only ones utilizing those pieces of hardware. They did not develop the oculus (vr) nor AYA Neo (handheld) yet those devices were never mentioned. I see Valve as a company that has made some good games in the past, continues to be working on projects and has a successful PC gaming service. If using your thumbs is an issue to you then you can choose not to use anything except for mouse and keyboard, though it does beg the question of how you are using those without the use of thumbs (space bar and holding the mouse require it).

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

8bitbeard の投稿を引用：

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Yeah, that's something to be excited about especially if you were a fan of those franchises. I think Valve can do just about whatever they want, they own Steam. Would be nice if they actually did something the subscribers I personally want.

Fixed that for ya chief.

I wouldn't bother. The delusions run deep.

[Start_Running]

Serendipity の投稿を引用：

Start_Running の投稿を引用：

Did you know that gamepad controls and sticks can also be rebound?
Also that not every PC game has rebinding.

Yes I do, but I can not believe it is as versatile as k&m, especially with the programmable buttons
they have these days.

It depends. FOr some games there is a distinct expectation on the part of the devs in how the game is being ciontrolled. There are buttons that a controller user can hit at the same time that a pc player might not be able to, or may literally be unable to due to hardware limitations.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Valve has only developed toys in recent years.

So Underlords, Artifact, Alyx, don't count hmm, neither does the continued development of DOta, or occasional tweaking of TF2? The software tools and refinements to the source engines be damned...

Again. Rather narrow minded.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

One of the things we expect from Valve on this platform called Steam is great software.

And there's plenty of that to be found regardless of what one'sdefinition of great is.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

Afterall that's what hooked us here in the beginning isn't it? HL, CS, L4D, TF, Portal, etc...

WHile it was the orange box that got me to install steam. what made me become a customer is all the great non-valve games.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

but instead of more quality games Valve offers us janky hardware knockoffs like Steam machines, steam controllers and the Deck

And? I mean why are you so focused on Valve. The point of STeam is to create a market place where you can perchase any dev/pubs software/ Steam was never designed around being just a battle.net clone. The built it to be open to all. If valve never puts out another game I'm fine...there are literally thousands of other games, as long as they keep add to the reach and utility of their platform, I'll be happy.

Believe it or not many PC gamers are pleased with the steam deck, and the steam controller was a hella success. Many PC gamers are first and foremostg 'Video Gamers' and if we can play our PC games on a handheld while we're waiting in a line or on a bus, or just wannt step outside and grab some fresh summer air...guess what? That's a big plus.

The Brown Hornet の投稿を引用：

which is not at all ideal for PC gaming.

You mean "Old Man Brown Hornet gaming"

[DESTROYER]

.... you can't subscribe to Steam, why do you keep mentioning subscribers? I take it cause of your previous terrible idea of a Steam take on Game Pass?