Valve: Champion of the Gamers (Opinion)

I just read an article in the New York Times by Nick Wingfield that really made me smile and take note.

The article I'm talking about is on the New York Times site that reads almost like a manifesto calling to how the new game industry should work. For 3 pages, it lists some of the magic moments that Valve has brought to the industry; not only in development, but company structure and video game economy.

Now, I'm not much of a PC gamer right now since I haven't had the financial means to create my dream work/gaming machine as of late. Yeah, I've picked up a few indie games from The Humble Bundle and a couple on Steam, but for the most part, I don't like the idea of having an untested service trying to sell me something that has such heavy DRM that it would prevent me from playing my purchase if they go the way of the dodo. And considering how cut-throat things have been getting, I stand by my choice.

But, what I do know is that Gabe Newell and Valve is fighting for not only the customer/gamer, but for creating a great example to those of us trying to share our passion with the world. By having a dynamic workforce that is encouraged to be creative, it brings a ray of hope to us developers who want something better out of the industry than a 9 to 5 cubicle hell.

A good chunk of the article also talks about Valve working towards creating a set of augmented reality glasses, which doesn't appeal too much to me, but maybe that's just me.

What did strike me was one comment about the augmented reality was brought up by COO of EA, Peter Moore. Moore stated "It's appealing to them because they live in that outer fringe of I.Q. and money," doubting it will connect with consumers. Now I don't think EA should be ruffling too many feathers and talking down too much since among gamers, EA still isn't exactly loved.

Microsoft is brought up a little bit too, but I haven't really been too keen on their gaming practices as of late.

As I'm sure you've gathered by now, this article has helped establish my appreciation of Valve and of Gabe Newell.

If you want to check out this article yourself, check it out here. (Game Maker without a Rule Book - NY Times) It's a pretty good.

Thanks for reading!
-Dave