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Valve Developing For 360

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-can-that-be-bad dept.

1up reports that Valve is apparently developing a title for the Xbox 360. From the article: "In addition to enhancing their custom Source engine with improvements taking advantage of the Xbox 360 hardware, Valve's focusing on incorporating future releases into Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Xbox Live sure would make an enormous amount of sense with the studio's episodic content plans for Half-Life 2." As the article notes, this is a big turnaround for outspoken developer Gabe Newell.

45 comments

  1. Gasp! by Rendo · · Score: 1

    This is something the 360 needs, if Valve can make another hit classic like Half-Life, there will be one more good game for the 360 with it's current lack of nice titles.

    1. Re:Gasp! by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...there will be one more good game for the 360...

      I think your use of the word "more" is a bit premature at this time. : p

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    2. Re:Gasp! by Praedon · · Score: 1

      No body needs valve... They are very destructive. Take for an example their license for Cybercafes and LAN Cafes Here

      They don't care if you have legit copies or not. They don't care if you remain in business or not. They give you two choices. It is either get a VERY Expensive Licensing for Mass playing, or they sue you.. Wheres the third option to cease and desist? The Cybercafe they went against had to close down due to the hefty lawsuite.

      --
      Just me
    3. Re:Gasp! by Bega · · Score: 1
      Emphasis mine
      there will be one more good game for the 360 with it's current lack of nice titles.
      Let me look it up in my dictionary;

      contradiction 1: (n) opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas 2: (logic) a statement that is necessarily false; "the statement `he is brave and he is not brave' is a contradiction" [syn: contradiction in terms] 3: the speech act of contradicting someone; "he spoke as if he thought his claims were immune to contradiction"
      --

      THIS IS THE INTERNET. PLEASE PICK UP YOUR SERIOUS BUSINESS SUIT AT THE FRONT COUNTER.
  2. It was only a matter of time... by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...since Gabe has always had such a hard-on for Microsoft that he took a perfectly good cross-platform game engine and lobotomized it to make it Windows-only. (Can you tell I'm bitter? I'd love to play Half-Life 2, but won't buy it because it won't run on my Mac or Linux boxes).

    It's interesting to note, though, how much the his April 2006 statement (in the article) sounds like marketdroid-speak compared to his August 2005 one. Maybe now he's been lobotomized, too!

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    1. Re:It was only a matter of time... by InThane · · Score: 2, Interesting

      http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?versionId=2890

      HL2 works with Wine just fine. I know, I've done it. The only downside is that it only supports the DX8 renderpath, so you miss out on some of the eyecandy.

      --
      InThane
    2. Re:It was only a matter of time... by InThane · · Score: 1

      And time for me to eat crow - I've been using Cedega to play it, but I did come across some links that said it worked via Wine. When I googled it, I just grabbed the first one, and it actually said it didn't work when I looked through it.

      Here's a better link: http://www.linux-gamers.net/modules/wiwimod/index. php?page=HOWTO+Steam

      --
      InThane
    3. Re:It was only a matter of time... by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 1

      Why not just install a Windows partition to play games??

      Because not every Mac out there magically transformed into an Intel Mac when Apple released Intel hardware.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    4. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So this idiotic comment is motivated by the jealous feelings you get because you can't play a game on Macs or Linux and you don't want to run Windows? And it is modded interesting!?

      Newell used to work for Microsoft prior to forming Valve. Like it or not, Windows is the biggest platform for computer gaming and Valve is a game company. Shame on fucking them for leveraging their talents to the best market. Boo Hoo.

      PS - I'm in no way against companies supporting their programs on other operating systems... but lobbing insults when they chose not to, and they CHOSE not to because they CAN, isn't going to win any fans.

    5. Re:It was only a matter of time... by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      Exactly; I've tried that before. I've never succeeded, but I'm told that it used to work with an older version of Steam. Unfortunately, Valve broke it -- whether accidentally or on purpose, I don't know.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    6. Re:It was only a matter of time... by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Excactly -- although, in this case the AC has a valid point: I do in fact own an Intel Mac. [Un]fortunately, for some reason when I try to install Windows using Boot Camp, the Windows installer doesn't see the partitions correctly (i.e. it only sees one "unknown" partition that's the size of the entire drive) so I can't install it.

      I actually do have a Windows 2000 partition on my old AMD box specifically for the purpose of running Half-Life 1, but I didn't mention it in my previous post in order to make a stronger argument. Don't get me wrong -- I really won't buy Half-Life 2 because it doesn't support Linux or Mac OS (and because of Steam, but that's a separate issue) but it's because I refuse to on principle rather than because I physically can't run it.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    7. Re:It was only a matter of time... by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      I'm well aware that Gabe worked at MS before starting Valve. However, I still don't see any valid reason to have purposefully ripped out the Mac and Linux code that already existed in the Quake 2 engine!

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    8. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      From actually talking to people at Valve, next-gen stuff is annoying in part because there's no large, relatively high-speed storage device available as standard (the hard disk on the original Xbox was great for streaming stuff, while streaming high-resolution textures and high-quality sounds from an optical disc is painful); the Mac port of Half-Life was dropped because it could never function to the same standard as the Windows version (and none of the mods or mod tools would work, etc. - Mac users would immediately be treated as second-class citizens, and pissing them off once would be better than pissing them off for evermore); the computer versions of the games are Windows only because, frankly, the markets for other operating systems and platforms are miniscule and it would cost loads to provide full support, full ports, etc.; and VAC is seriously very clever and nobody's cracked it yet.

      Mwuhahaha!

      Oh, and they really liked my MacBook Pro. It kind of matched all the big Apple monitors scattered around the offices...

    9. Re:It was only a matter of time... by amliebsch · · Score: 2, Insightful
      However, I still don't see any valid reason to have purposefully ripped out the Mac and Linux code that already existed in the Quake 2 engine!

      It decreases development time and support hassles. That may or may not be a good reason, but it is a valid one.

      --
      If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
    10. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What!?! Marketing their product to the platform with 95% of the market share?! What the hell are they trying to do, make money or somthing?

    11. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excactly -- although, in this case the AC has a valid point: I do in fact own an Intel Mac. [Un]fortunately, for some reason when I try to install Windows using Boot Camp, the Windows installer doesn't see the partitions correctly (i.e. it only sees one "unknown" partition that's the size of the entire drive) so I can't install it.

      This is perfectly normal and documented somewhere in the BootCamp docs. Anyway, go ahead and install Windows on the partition it sees. The only trick is to not use Fast Format so that the Windows installer will use options that recognize the size of the partition correctly. Worked perfectly for my Intel Mac. I'm in dual-boot Heaven.

    12. Re:It was only a matter of time... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      Not to mention the OpenGL support.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    13. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Trogre · · Score: 1

      ...it only supports the DX8 renderpath, so you miss out on some of the eyecandy.

      Unfortunately that means it doesn't work just fine. It only partially works.

      I don't believe that just because we're linux gamers we need to lower our standards.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    14. Re:It was only a matter of time... by MBraynard · · Score: 1
      Yeah, and I will never by it either because it won't play on my CollecoVision. Yeah! F Valve!

      Just becase we're CollecoVision gamers doesn't mean we need to lower our standards.

      You are an irrelevant ass. Why do you post on these threads?

    15. Re:It was only a matter of time... by rtb61 · · Score: 1
      It's called being a microsoft partner. Of course it the only result is the typical end for microsoft partner, once M$ has got what it wants or there is simply nothing left to extract out of the "er" partnership.

      Microsoft is attempting to create as many competing so called partners to try to cut off the supply of games to opposing platforms.

      Whether the partners stop producing for alternate platforms or they simply go broke whilst being a pretend M$=B$ partner doesn't matter, the result is the same, less game content for opposing platforms.

      Episodic single player games have always failed and have generally taken out the developer as a result of them locking themselves into the success of a single title regurgitated over and over again.

      What a lot of independent game developers forget is microsoft has it's own development studios and they are competitors and everybody knows what microsoft does to competitors, being a partner is just letting them hold you close whilst they slip the knife in.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    16. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Trogre · · Score: 1

      I don't know what a CollecoVision is, but the point I was trying to make is that the game cannot be experienced under Linux to the full extent that it can be under Windows.

      Some features (in this case utilizing what's known in the windows world as DirectX9 features) are missing from the port. This won't necessarily make the game any less playable and some people may find it just as enjoyable but it's still not running to its full potential.

      These are the standards we should not lower. If a game works 95% as well as it's supposed to (ie has missing bits) then say it works 95%, don't say it "works fine".

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    17. Re:It was only a matter of time... by JFitzsimmons · · Score: 1

      Something I've noticed about the doom3, quake4, and enemy-territory communities is that a majority of mods strive for cross-platform code. It seems unfair for valve to assume that their mod writers are too lazy to recompile for other platforms. So unfair, that I'm willing to wager that support of the mod community was not a driving factor in their choice to rip cross-platform support out of the engine. Also, does cross-platform support really cost that much to a company? ID software, which provide[s|d] support for the three games I listed above, has a single employee maintaining all aspects of the linux ports: patches, documentation, and SDK including build scripts.

      As a concession to that point, it is true that a handful of the mod tools are unavailable for linux. None of the specialized editors are available for linux, but these are essentially just glorified text editors with syntax highlighting for id's scripting and gui languages. This is not a barrier to entry, since anyone can write text on any OS. The map editor built into the engine is not available for linux, but GtkRadiant is.

      As a side note, as a mod author myself, I can say that cross platform code isn't that hard to write. I am developing a more detailed inventory system for doom3 and I haven't gone out of my way to ensure the ability to compile my code on all available targets: it just does. With that (admittedly, anecodtal) evidence, I would be willing to say that breaking cross compatability seems to be something that is a very concious decision.

      --
      Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. -Anonymous
    18. Re:It was only a matter of time... by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      They're developing for the 360, not the PS2.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    19. Re:It was only a matter of time... by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 1

      You already lowered your standard when you chose to use linux as a gaming platform. Linux does many things well, gaming is not one of them, especially not windows gaming.
      Getting proper audio support alone is a crapshoot, I'd say 90%(*) of all linux desktop systems get no more than stereo audio, with one sound source at a time locking the sound (so no mp3s + game, or game + gaim im sounds letting you know you should alttab out and see whos talking to you).

      Then theres video support, which has improved a lot thanks to nvidia, but I hear it's still pretty bad for most ati's. Not sure if this has changed, I stopped using ati back in the RageXL days. Either way its never as simple as just shoving the card in and running install.exe off the cd.

      Then you have the games themself. Selections improving a lot (Unreal/Doom engines), HL just isnt a linux game, sorry.

      To the original poster/grand parent who says Valve took a cross platform game and locked it in, No, No they didn't.
      HL1 was never cross platform unless you count the week or two they had it running on Macs before they decided it would be more cost efficient to swallow all development costs than to release it and let it fail in the market. See here for reference.
      If you were refering to Quake being cross platform and HL1 not, then you'd be closer to accurate but still not really, Read the wiki entry for details on the sillyness behind the quake port. For some reason, I doubt that all came with the sdk Valve recieved from idsoft. For that matter, that even predated any 3d accel in quake, so even if Valve could do a software-only linux port based on the code they recieved it would hardly be worth any hours spent testing it or releasing it.

      (*)NumberIPulledOutOfMYAss

      --
      Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
    20. Re:It was only a matter of time... by MBraynard · · Score: 1
      The problem is you come on nearly every game post - games that are windows only - and then whine about it not playing on your nerd box.

      You are right up there with people who go and post on MMORPG stories that you'd never pay an ongoing fee / up front fee / whatever your complaint is with the payment system.

      You just don't add anything to the conversation.

    21. Re:It was only a matter of time... by Trogre · · Score: 1

      The problem is you come on nearly every game post - games that are windows only - and then whine about it not playing on your nerd box.

      No I don't. I am a linux gamer (not an oxymoron despite reports to the contrary) and rarely post on windows-only game articles. I do of course read said articles.

      Recall that my original post was a reply to someone who claimed that HL2 worked fine on his Linux box. My 'whine' was not that the game did not work 100%, it was that people were claiming the game worked 100% when it does not.

      That just sets up people for disappointment when they discover the experience isn't what they expected and makes out us FOSS advocates as liars or at the least gross exaggerators.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    22. Re:It was only a matter of time... by MBraynard · · Score: 1
      Maybe you should be ticked not at valve but at the linux devs who haven't made a driver for you to handle it?

      You should buy the game and enjoy it. You may find it cost prohititive to buy a PC just for this game - sort of just like a PC gamer not being able to afford a Vid card to take advantage of the same feature you are missing.

      And really, if a game is ruined for you because of a minor graphical feature, then it can't be so hot a game.

  3. HL2 Loading Screens by zaguar · · Score: 4, Funny
    Great, they will bring a lot of experience to the platLOADING

    GO#D^LOADINGT%^@!

    --
    "Sure there's porn and piracy on the Web but there's probably a downside too."
    1. Re:HL2 Loading Screens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      GO#D^%^@!

      Interesting Perl script.

  4. What's the story? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1
    What's the story - developer with long-standing ties to Microsoft decides to develop for Microsoft's console? Or maybe it's this...

    Gabe Newell openly expressed his distaste for working on next-generation game consoles in the past...

    This guy sounds like someone who actually learned something from the console wars: if you're sitting on a marketable gaming franchise, there's no reason to be "first mover" on a console unless that console has already achieved some amount of market penetration and the console provider appears ready to satisfy additional demand. It would appear that with XBox360s finally dribbling out to the masses and Microsoft finally figuring out how to ship units, now could the right time for game companies with established brands to ramp up XBox360 production...

  5. There no longer is such a thing as Half Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It drifted away in a haze of Steam...

    Seriously, who cares about about a game whose developers don't care about its users?

    XBox, hmphhh, yeah right. Once you go Linux, you never go back to toy candy operating systems again.

    Valve and Microsoft deserve each other.

    1. Re:There no longer is such a thing as Half Life by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      What do operating systems have to do with consoles?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    2. Re:There no longer is such a thing as Half Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Question:

      "What do operating systems have to do with consoles?"

      Answer:

      They're both put out by that toy candy monopoly, Microsoft. Anybody who gets into bed with Microsoft is doing the world a disservice. Not surprising, though, from another user-hating company, Valve. Steam sucks.

    3. Re:There no longer is such a thing as Half Life by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      You're absolutely right. On a Windows machine, I merely play the game. On Linux, I have the satisfaction of solving the incredibly hard problem of actually getting the game to run. There's a lot to say for that feeling. It's worth the hours of playtime I lose.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    4. Re:There no longer is such a thing as Half Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a shame you're so inept you can't figure out Linux. It's far better than Windows, but obviously, the transition is a little difficult for the slower members of our society. Don't worry, you will catch up some day. Heck, as soon as you catch up to a third grade reading level, you'll be getting close to being ready. Don't despair, lots of people are developmentally impaired, you're not alone.

  6. If they follow Rockstar's lead by DingerX · · Score: 4, Funny

    We'll be seeing a kick-ass first-person Croquet game.

    1. Re:If they follow Rockstar's lead by sumday · · Score: 1

      someone modded this insightful?

      If you don't understand a post, you really shouldn't be moderating it. (i found it pretty funny, btw)

      --
      sudo killall humans
  7. Just What The Xbox Needs by Nazmun · · Score: 1

    Another PC Dev making a FPS port/full game. While getting valve is great it doesn't really address what the system lacks, i'm not sure why there's so much press coverage.

    --
    Hmmm... Pie...
  8. Steam is so0o0o good by ph0tik · · Score: 1

    Having Valve working on projects for the 360 will be great. Now Xbox gamers can enjoy the Valve team's amazing coding skill! For instance, when I play Counter Strike: Source

    - I lose my favorite servers list each time I play
    - I am forced to reconnect to a server multiple times before entering
    - I am forced to download incorrect maps for the server I try to connect to
    - Player counts are almost always incorrect

    But other than that Steam is fantastic...

  9. The main issue is hard drive space by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The main problem I see with this is the limited space on the Xbox 360 hard drive. They say it is 20 GB, but in actuality it is only 13 GB. Go ahead... give it a try and format your drive... still only 13.

    If someone has trailers and demos and other downloadable content and even Final Fantasy XI, how can we expect episodic content if there is no more room on the hard drive?!?!

    1. Re:The main issue is hard drive space by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Are you sure the XCircle isn't just hiding its swap partitions from you?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  10. XBox is Valve's target platform by Taulin · · Score: 1

    XBox, especially XBox live, has to be Steam's target audience. Live users are used to the pay-to-play model, and that is what Steam is about. While there are millions of PC users who bought games over Steam, there are even more over Live. Eventually Valve will make the mistake and make a Live-only expansion or game thinking it will bring over PC users to the Live market. They will at that point see drop in sales, and will have to get a publisher/investor for their next project, bringing them out of their download haze. This cycle has been seen before with shareware in the early 90s. I am curious if it really will come back to pass again.

  11. I would rather play HL2 on 360 by aka_big_wurm · · Score: 1

    it would look pretty good on my 32" TV. They were saying they were having isuess with the HD not aways being there, I say just make the game require the HD, and make the game better.