Comment by citricsquid | Hacker News Reader

Comment by citricsquid | Hacker News Reader

This article doesn't mention a very important and very relevant point (maybe they assume everyone is aware):

Valve are also the developer and publisher of some of the most popular video game titles around. This puts them in an exceptionally good position to build something like this because with the backing of some of their own titles (For example releasing Half Life 3 as a "Steam Box" exclusive) would immediately encourage sales. Portal, Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, Half life and Team Fortress 2 are all hugely popular Valve games and their platform "Steamworks" is again used by some huge names, Call of Duty, Football Manager, the list goes on. They have their platform directly integrated with a large amount of popular games and a lot of new releases go with Steam for their PC releases.

There are some interesting Steamworks and Steam statistics and information in this PDF: http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/SteamworksBrochure201...

Valve games currently require Steam (on PC) but can be bought anywhere. Making HL3 a Steam Box exclusive would alienate the vast majority of their fan base and kill all the good will they've built over the years.

That's true and I don't believe they ever would, I was using it as an example of the position they're in and the power they hold to make something like this work and be successful. I should have clarified.

it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Since they've got the control - some exclusive content here, financial incentive there, and people will slowly migrate to their platform.

I think they would release Half Life 3 and other games as "Steam Box 1 Minimum" which is to say, you either buy the box or your computer must meet the minimum conditions of the dedicated box. Valve is devoted to creating an experience, and it's sad that consoles are such a limiting factor in game development, even though it makes sense.

I guess this is their midstep until OnLive-esque cloud gaming is more dependable/available.

But what do consoles limit?

Apart from shiny graphics what things are games trying to do which they need more power for?

Which games are pushing at AI or different forms of man machine interfaces?

When was the last time you saw a console that allows mods to be created?

Battlefield 3 also had toned down graphics on consoles.

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