Valve does things specifically to make money, however they also do a lot of extra stuff, much of which really WON’T make them money (long-term product support, free games etc.), which they could easily get away with not doing. As long as this holds true, I will never, ever pirate any Valve product, and will purchase a game through Steam if I can.
They DO get benefit from the services and things they provide.
1 You yourself are proof of the brand loyalty they get from it.
2 More of the original product sales. (TF2 still sells decently 3 years later)
3 Free advertising via fans.
All of the above lead to profits, the only difference is that they are indirect methods for profit.
Most people call this gambling, and the rest of us call it stupid; Valve calls it a business plan and everyone calls it the epitome of good game design.
Yet it works and makes us feel like we mean something. They could easily get the same results by making shit like Halo.
Although Surplus is right, I would say that Valve do have a certain dedication to the fans. They really are more in touch, and often have a much greater sense of humour. It does keep us loyal, but they would never do an EA in any circumstances.
Exactly. I don’t doubt there’s large money motivations, but it’s pretty obvious that the CEO isn’t just a CEO who is in charge of a company that happens to make video games which he hasn’t played since that one drunken night at the arcade with his friends playing Asteroids in college.
I don’t think you’ve noticed how popular iPhone games, DS games, indie games, flash games, facebook games, and Wii games are right now. They’re low-budget and kinda easy to make, and there’s really no reason for them not to be popular on the PC.
I don’t really want games to be like ‘good old days’ either. Those days had a lot of poor titles if you remember, AND they made games an elitist professional hobby. Accessibility counts for a lot now, and I’d say aspects like “Minimum Number of Graphic Cards to Play on Lowest Settings” counts for a lot.
There’s dozens of AAA-title gargantuan-budget games that are designed for accessibility. It’s really not too much to ask for a niche to get a game every several years (some haven’t even gotten that).
It feels to me that more so recently, the quality of the game =/= the price of the game.
Some brilliant games can be had for free, yet some 50$ full priced games can also feel like a rip-off for the sheer stupidity in the game.
I think there are quality gaming experiences out there you can have for dirt cheap, you just gotta look. (everything from high quality free flash games, the indie games on steam, and more)
Hostile Waters was $1, so yea, there’s some DAMN cheap but DAMN good gaming experiences out there.
Yeah, I can’t belive the rate they are spewing out games. They often make shortcuts and make the game less fun just to earn more money.
Some of the bood puplishers out there are Bungie and Valve. Bungie for example has taken 3 years between each game (exept with ODST but that was suppost to be an expansion and used the Halo 3 engine) and Valve is well… IDK what valve it.
But never get me started on Bioware: They focus on the story line and so far have not strayed from the path of games into the pit of easy(er) money. 
True, but the games they make are pretty good. And I’m absolutely amazed about what they did with the Portal: Alternate Relaitly game
They are a quality company and make quality games but they don’t just do stuff to be cool they have a rhyme and reason to it
That ARG got people hyped and talking about Portal.
Mirror’s Edge was well worth my $15. Sad how expensive shitty games are now. It’s really a gamble to buy a game. For example: I bought Army Of Two for $20 and I regret it. $20 isn’t much, but neither was the game.
I want more indie-games. Fuckin’ zero gravity space monkeys fighting zombies on floating pirate ships with water balloons filled with acid.
You think Halo is a good series. That’s funny.
He also thinks that Bungie is a publisher. However he is right about Bioware they are still a good company.
More like “Technology and GAYming” amirite?!!
Oh, stop being a fucking elitist.
I enjoy Half-Life 2 and TF2. I think Halo is overrated. But I think you’re being really ignorant and “going with the crowd” if you assume it’s HORRIBLE. Sure AAA games don’t often deserve the masses of hype they get through advertising, but that doesn’t make them automatically not fun.
Don’t get me wrong; PERSONALLY I think comparing them to Valve is going a bit far, but I at least get what he’s saying.
Learn to love what’s good, not hate what’s bad.
Um, I enjoyed CoD4, WaW AND MW2. >_>
I never said I bought them though. :pirate:
Garfield may not be as bad as Silly Daddy, but it still is just about the lowest common denominator of comics. Halo is just about the lowest common denominator of video games.