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Valve 'Comfortable' If Virtual Reality Headsets Fail (bbc.com)
VR headset developer Valve is "comfortable" with the idea that the technology could turn out to be a complete failure. Gabe Newell, head of the game studio, made the statement in an interview with news site Polygon. From a report: Valve is co-developer of the Vive VR headset with phone firm HTC. Mr Newell said, so far, interest in the technology was in line with its expectations and that some VR games had already sold well. In the rare and wide-ranging interview, Mr Newell said the advent of VR had much in common with the development of PCs in the 1980s. In both cases, he said, people bought technology without knowing why and discovered afterwards what they were good for. For the PC, he said, it was spreadsheets and businesses that drove the initial success. With VR, people were only starting to discover compelling uses as they experimented and took risks with the technology.Mr Newell said there were now about 1,300 VR-based applications on its Steam gaming service and about 30 of those had made more than $250,000 in revenue.
If they're already discussing failure as an outcome, well, then it has.
Valve failed.
I'm fairly certain a person in a high position stating they are comfortable with the failure of something means a few things: 1) It has already failed. But things in the market can fail very quickly or slowly. This appears to be a slower failure. 2) They have accounted for and have plans for how to deal with the failure. 3) They're positioning themselves so their customers aren't shocked when it completely fails, but leaves open the possibility that it might not fail.
Couldn't this article and the question asked to Newell be slightly rephrased along the lines of, "Is Valve relying on the success of its VR headset as its primary driver of growth?" The answer appears to be "no," which seems like the prudent business strategy to me.
If it didn't cost over $1k in Canada.
VR will never fail as badly as 3D TVs because it's an easy add-on for smartphones.
Honestly, I don't see how VR could fail. It's a incredible feature for a lot of game (Try Elite Dangerous with a X52 joystick and I dare you to tell me otherwise).
Right now (and I emphasize on that), the only drawback is, well, money for both the consumer and the developer.
The specs needed to support VR is insane right now. Top that the +1000$ bucks for the VR and you'll scare more than a few. The cost for AAA game too is problematic as cannot use fixed cam to render only a part of the games. Top that the small number of people that can afford the VR and it's already unprofitable unless you're making a game that can play with or without VR.
I say, give it some time and, sooner or later, the VR will boom.
Elok
I think a lot of the commenters here are speculating a little too hard. As someone who's met him, Newell isn't one to go ceo-marketspeak on everyone. It seems to me that he is simply stating that they want to innovate for innovations sake, and innovation fails sometimes. We all know they are raking in the money with steam, so they don't NEED this to be successful. Outside of that, they are turning a profit on a high ticket item where most of their target audience cant afford it. Gotta give them props for that. And anyone who knows a thing or two about how development of a new product goes (I'm sure most on this site have a decent idea), the early adopters are there to get the train moving so the next version can be cheaper. And because most of their target audience cant afford it until its cheaper, once it gets there sales will go up with it (vive sales in november were 140,000 Msrp $799, PSVR sales were around 2 million Msrp $399). Its unlikely to be anything as big as the home computer, but it will certainly have staying power, and definitely has a demand.
Gaben: "Well, it's not like this is the 3rd version of it, AMIRITE?"
Newell should have announced that Valve is making Half-Life 3 for VR only.
It is pretty much game over for HTC if this fails, since their phone business is not going too well...
If VR fails, they'll finally release Episode 3
Polygon reports on video game news. What is fake about that?
VR can "fail", and will, because people don't stick with games where the main challenge is "keep from barfing".
To clarify: today's VR will fail, as did VR from the 1990s and 2000s. We might get there in the 2020s, with tracking cameras operating at kilohertz frame rates, displays refreshing at 300Hz or better, and a graphics pipeline that doesn't introduce more than a frame or two of latency -- IF game designers put some serious thought into maintaining consistent motion perception among all modes (visual-field, inner-ear, proprioceptive).
When.
I think people are over the whole Half-Life thing now. The first game really sucked bad, the second was pretty good but that was a different time and different style of gameplay that doesn't work any more.
The full unedited version of the interview hasn't been released yet but you can see most of statement responsible for these articles here: https://youtu.be/kMpQWSqQFK0?t...
"We think VR is going great. It's going in a way that is consistent with our expectations." "We're also pretty comfortable with the idea that it will turn out to be a complete failure. Simply because if you're not trying to do things that might fail you're probably not trying to do anything interesting at all."
It's pretty clear he's not saying VR is dead or SteamVR/Vive is a failure.
I do think HL3 was going to be a big push to VR for Valve but I think they are having a hard time making VR work well for a FPS shooter like Half-Life.
HL1 was a big jump over most of the AI and game design of the time - going back and playing it now it doesn't seem like much but over the other games at the time it was an impressive leap.
HL2 pushed the physics game play unlike FPSes before it - again something that is common now but pushed to the forefront of what is expected in an FPS by Half-Life.
HL2 Episodes were an attempt at changing the publishing paradigm - it didn't work out but one might say it sort of did as the same concept is sort of how some publishers push paid DLC updates.
For each one they found something that they could push to separate it from the other games at the time, for HL3 I think they were trying to push VR, so this lead to them designing hardware but I don't think they have gotten the VR gameplay to where they want.
VR will work when the computer is using your eyes, not the other way around.
No wave lasts forever, you simply try to pick a good one and not some inconsequential yet overly hyped ripple, and then paddle pack out to look for the next one. Seems like Mr. Newell has done a fine job picking his waves for the most part, although SteamOS thus far seems to be a bit of a fluke.
I played the first Half-Life when it came out and it wasn't anything special at all. I think people are looking at it through rose tinted glasses. If you're talking AI, Unreal came out the same year and had vastly better AI than any other FPS of the time (not to mention graphics and sound). Half-Life had AI on par with Quake 1, which isn't surprising since it was based on the same engine.
This is the oldest trick in the book ! GABE is intentionally being 'devils advocate' - to get the community riled up. VR is here to stay !
This comment by GABE is a bit of the old 'reverse psych' - this is all strategy!
It stirs people up and gets them activated - which is the objective.
VR will be a 150billion industry by 2021
In common parlance, the term a devil's advocate describes someone who, given a certain point of view, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further.
Lastly, VR is not bloody TV nor is it an iteration of TV like 3D - so quit with these ridiculous comparisons.
VR is a new Paridigm!! and a brand new medium ! - like apples and oranges
It's just the appy apps guy. Hang out on /. enough and you'll see him.
Despite the trolling I've personally met people who think computers are 100% obsolete.