Valve announces development on xbox360 game?

[CptStern]

hope this hasnt been posted yet (checked couldnt find anything):

Half-Life developer Valve's announced that it's developing for Xbox 360.

In a brief release issued this evening, Valve said it was pleased to announce development of future games for 360 using a customised version of the Source Engine that powers Half-Life 2.

Although there's no word on what Valve's actually creating, the developer said its first 360 title would be coming soon - so we should probably expect an announcement in short order. Goodness - if only there was some sort of trade event taking place in the next few weeks!

President and co-founder Gabe Newell said that the combination of Source and 360 would empower game designers. "Whether developing a traditional FPS, RTS, RPG or delving into new genres, the Xbox 360 is a great platform for expanding Source and our game experiences," he added

so what do you think they'll announce? HL2 for the 360 or something completely different?


http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64124

 

[$kelet0r]

They should have done HL2 for the 360 in the first place - idiots :|
More than likely it'll be a vamped up hl2 with HDR plus the episodes - Valve have no other original IP

 

[CptStern]

could this be the start of a new ip? (on second thought doubtful they'd debut it on a console before the pc) or maybe it's a stand alone version of CS:S

 

[DeusExMachina]

Or...perhaps a new IP.

I hope its a new IP anyway. Valve's only IP is Half-Life.

 

[Warbie]

I reckon HL2 and/or CS:S for Live.

A new title would be nice, but I'd still be very happy with HL2 on the 360

 

[boglito]

hope this hasnt been posted yet (checked couldnt find anything):



so what do you think they'll announce? HL2 for the 360 or something completely different?


http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64124

It's TF2! ON A CONSOLE!!!111 :flame: :flame: :flame: :flame: :flame:

/end pessimism

.bog.

 

[Harryz]

Do you think they're moving to the 360 because PC gaming isn't profitable enough? Interesting move nonetheless.

 

[Reginald]

Do you think they're moving to the 360 because PC gaming isn't profitable enough?

No. I don't. Although I suppose iD are moving to consoles.

To be honest, I hope it isn't a new IP because that would mean shelling out for a 360 D:

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

They should have done HL2 for the 360 in the first place - idiots :|

Seeing as they started developement of HL2 xbox before e3 05 you're the idiot...

 

[CptStern]

Do you think they're moving to the 360 because PC gaming isn't profitable enough? Interesting move nonetheless.

no, the pc market is far more profitable for valve ..remember with every sale (online) they get 100% of the money ...with consoles they have to pay a licensing fee just to make the game, not too mention royalty fees (percentage per unit sold that goes to MS) plus development costs, console specific advertising etc


valve is at the top end of the pc market, if they're not making money, no one is

 

[VirusType2]

no, the pc market is far more profitable for valve ..remember with every sale (online) they get 100% of the money ...with consoles they have to pay a licensing fee just to make the game, not too mention royalty fees (percentage per unit sold that goes to MS) plus development costs, console specific advertising etc


valve is at the top end of the pc market, if they're not making money, no one is

Yea but that is just tacked onto the price of the console game, that's why they are up to $69 US per game instead of the PC price of ~$50 US.

Also, console games dominate the market and out-sell PC games like (pulls number out of ass) 10 to 1


EDIT:

ooo, I am good!

about 10 billion dollars US in console sales VERSUS about 1 billion dollars in sales for PC's

Retail sales of U.S. video games, which includes portable and console hardware, software and accessories, remained largely unchanged over the previous year’s record-breaking performance, according to The NPD Group. The console industry saw sales figures fall 2.7 percent to $10 billion in 2003 compared to $10.3 billion in 2002.


The PC game software industry showed signs of slowing down, with revenues from retail sales down 14 percent, topping $1.2 billion in sales in 2003 versus $1.4 billion in 2002. The total console, portable and PC game industry was $11.2 billion, just 4 percent off the record $11.7 billion in 2002.

Source

 

[$kelet0r]

Seeing as they started developement of HL2 xbox before e3 05 you're the idiot...

Disturbed really STFU - every second thread I see with your contribution involves an outpouring of frustrated teenage hormonal angst - keep the insults to yourself :flame:
And needless to say I disagree - the Xbox360 developer kit was out in mid 2005 if not earlier, how else would the 360 have had any games ready for it when it shipped. Valve made a mistake and paid heavily for it - like many, myself included, predicted.

 

[CptStern]

that hasnt always been the case ..I remember when pc games were more expensive than console games ...they charge what they charge because they can get away with it and because the market demands it (advertising, development, marketing etc) ...most consoles are made at a loss, they recoup the bulk of it through licensing

 

[VirusType2]

that hasnt always been the case ..I remember when pc games were more expensive than console games ...they charge what they charge because they can get away with it and because the market demands it (advertising, development, marketing etc) ...most consoles are made at a loss, they recoup the bulk of it through licensing

That's funny because I have been playing video games since they were invented - for PC's and consoles, and I remember Atari 2600 and Nintendo (NES) games costing about $60-$80 when the systems came out. Also, take into consideration inflation. $60 - $80 was worth more back then.

And I remember buying PC games around this same time frame for $30

I have never seen a time when PC games cost more than consoles.

 

[CptStern]

well I seem to recall the opposite was true ...then again I had a mac up until 2001-2002

 

[Asuka]

Would be interesting to see what Valve is working on.

 

[MultiVaC]

All I hope is that Valve doesn't make any 360 exclusives. I would be extremely pissed. I hear iD is making RTCW 2 a 360 exclusive (****ing assholes) and I couldn't stand to see Valve, my favorite developer, join the ranks of console whores.

 

[Asuka]

I have a 360 so i dont have to worry about that. Even tho i love Valve as a PC dev. Them making 360 stuff i dont mind but i would prefer it on pc still.

 

[Asknoone]

They should have done HL2 for the 360 in the first place - idiots :|

Considering they'd already began working on the Xbox version sometime in 2004 - idiot.

Anyway, this is most likely a 360 HL2 and Episode 1.

 

[Jangle]

Considering they'd already began working on the Xbox version sometime in 2004 - idiot.

Anyway, this is most likely a 360 HL2 and Episode 1.

If it comes with episode 1, I'd buy it. I don't think it's likely to be a completely new project.

 

[Reginald]

Then would they release future episodes over the Marketplace? Because I know a fair few people with 360s that would like to hear this.

 

[boglito]

On a more serious note: If VALVe are serious about developing games for consoles then that is potentially disastrous news. Except for the potential of more sales there are absolutely no good things to come of cross-platform development. I hope to God that they are just going to make some flashy hl2/cs/dod version to grind some cash or that they are making some strange new ip that fits well on consoles (fight game/car game/flight game/platformer) just to have fun and as a side-project while the main focus is still on pc. I wouldn't mind Codename Gordon II on the x360, but I would seriously mind HL2:e1-10.

It doesn't make sense for valve to screw over the pc-market, what with steam and all, so I still have hopes that they wont go completely cross-platform on us.

.bog.

 

[Warbie]

I doubt Valve will be ditching the pc market anytime soon - so don't worry guys.

 

[boglito]

I doubt Valve will be ditching the pc market anytime soon - so don't worry guys.

Ditching and going cross-platform are not the same, but both are bad.

.bog.

 

[Warbie]

I am all for cross platform games, assuming they're done well.

GTA, Oblivion, Splinter Cell etc are just a few games that are excellent on all formats. I think many people get poor ports/games confused with 'dumbed down for consoles' (Deus Ex2 wasn't crap because it was being developed for the Xbox and pc. Deus Ex 2 was crap because it's just crap)

 

[boglito]

I am all for cross platform games, assuming they're done well.

GTA, Oblivion, Splinter Cell etc are just a few games that are excellent on all formats. I think many people get poor ports/games confused with 'dumbed down for consoles' (Deus Ex2 wasn't crap because it was being developed for the Xbox and pc. Deus Ex 2 was crap because it's just crap)

Firstly, Deus Ex: Invisible War is not crap, it is a great game that just had much less wow-factor than its predecessor and thus gets a lot of highly unjustified criticism.

Secondly, all the games you mentioned were obviously dumbed down for the consoles. Not saying they were bad games, just saying they contain the tell-tale signs of "smallest common denominator".

It is impossible to develop a game for 2 different platforms without making compromises. That should be pretty obvious.

.bog.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Seeing as they started developement of HL2 xbox before e3 05 you're the idiot...

Guess what my man, developers know and start developing games before they show the console... Some have had early dev kits a while before E3, or else what would they show at E3?

I'm sure VALVe knew about the 360, but they already devoted so much time and resources (aka $$$) into the Xbox version, that they didn't want to stop and then port over everything to the 360, because that would add way more months (probably a year roughly) onto the development time...

It's a smart move for VALVe to start developing for consoles, because really it's inevitable... Consoles make way more cash for developers... However, the Xbox360 doesn't allow Steam, so VALVe will get less money per-unit on a console than if they sold via Steam.

 

[VirusType2]

Firstly, Deus Ex: Invisible War is not crap, it is a great game that just had much less wow-factor than its predecessor and thus gets a lot of highly unjustified criticism.

Way to miss the point entirely.

He was saying that a game for more than one platform might not be any good, but not because it has a version on more than one platform, but because the game isn't good - period.

Secondly, all the games you mentioned were obviously dumbed down for the consoles. Not saying they were bad games, just saying they contain the tell-tale signs of "smallest common denominator".

What exactly does dumbed-down mean? If it means having a control scheme that uses less than 12 buttons for control input, then OK - but these games didn't require a whole keyboard full of buttons. Dumbed-down to me is a Mobil phone version of Oblivion.

If dumbed-down means cleaning up the nerdy menu's a bit with some that look a little more user-friendly and functional then why is it a bad thing?

The ONLY difference between a PC game and a Console game anymore is the input devices, so please explain dumbed-down for me.

GTA came out for the console first - with no plan for a PC version originally. Oblivion was developed for both at the same time, and I'm not sure about Splinter Cell.

If you say GTA was dumbed down - how? If you say Oblivion was dumbed-down - how? Because the menu's are nice looking - although with icons and text that are too large in some people's opinion? That can be changed for either system, and more easily for the PC version, since there are already at least 2 people that have made a mod to do so.

If you say Oblivion is dumbed down because you don't have a left and right shoulder pad armor anymore, then that's just ridiculous. They just changed that as a design preference, and same goes for the skills. Dropping unarmored and Medium armor were design changes that have nothing to do with the platform the game was made for.

It is impossible to develop a game for 2 different platforms without making compromises. That should be pretty obvious.

Whatever could you mean by that? Compromises in the control scheme? Saying, "that should be pretty obvious." is the third time you have used a form of Conversational Terrorism out of 3 statments by you (insulting anyone who would question you, while at the same time avoiding giving a reason in this case.)

Ad Hominem Variants

EVEN YOU:
"My next point will be so cogent that even you will be able to understand it."

"Even you should be able to grasp the next point."

Dumbed-down to me is a Mobil phone version of Oblivion.

Bog, I almost always agree with you, just not in this case. I hope I haven't pissed you off too much.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Disturbed really STFU - every second thread I see with your contribution involves an outpouring of frustrated teenage hormonal angst - keep the insults to yourself :flame:

The "" signifies as me joking around....

Guess what my man, developers know and start developing games before they show the console... Some have had early dev kits a while before E3, or else what would they show at E3?

I really doubt there was dev kits in early 2004, when they probably started working on the Xbox version. And by the time the kits were avaliable it would've probably been a waste of time for them to scrap all that work.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Hmm, makes sense I guess since the development of PC/360 has been made so similar with the advent of the XNA architecture. Plus, Valve are old MS guys anyway--how do you think they got all of their moey in the first place? Money that was put towards the great games we know and love.

I hate the idea of a strictly PC gaming dev going to consoles--look at HL and HL2--bad bad stuff. I also can't imagine a new IP from them for the 360. Nor can I imagine (or even want to) CS:S on the 360. Imagine the Halo fanboys!! Ugh!

Pretty funny move though considering Gabe's previous comments on how difficult it will be to code for the next-gen.

And no, RTCW2 is not a 360 exclusive.

 

[VirusType2]

Hmm, makes sense I guess since the development of PC/360 has been made so similar with the advent of the XNA architecture. Plus, Valve are old MS guys anyway--how do you think they got all of their moey in the first place? Money that was put towards the great games we know and love.

Pretty funny move though considering Gabe's previous comments on how difficult it will be to code for the next-gen.

Actually it was me that - months ago - quoted Gabe Newell as saying something like, 'working on the 360 would be the natural move and said that working with XNA and Microsoft makes next-gen coding much smoother and easier, and went on to say that Microsoft goes out of their way to help.'

Look at your first paragraph then look at your last paragraph in the quote above. The second paragraph contradicts the first, because the second is false.

 

[Cole]

People say Oblivion was dumbed down for the console, really mean console users. In other words, Oblivion was made to target most of the huge console base than a selection of the pc fanbase. In doing this they ended up taking out a lot of stuff that the hardcore gamers really wanted.

A lot of people compare Oblivion to Daggerfall. There were hundreds of skills in daggerfall, a hell of a lot more compared Oblivion or Morrowind.

Now I like oblivion and never played daggerfall, but I wish it was similar to daggerfall like kicking down doors sounds pretty cool. Being able to put skills into special move type skills.

 

[VirusType2]

While I wasn't able to find Gabe Newell saying what I said he said, (brain paralyzes) I have this quote from him, as well as others:

"On the PC we have tools like HLSL. On Xbox, we have tools like PIX. These are both really powerful, and XNA combines the power of the PC and the power of the console into a best-of-breed platform."
— Gabe Newell
Founder and Managing Director
Valve

"XNA is a great software solution that provides efficient tools, middleware and production pipelines to create better games faster. We fully approve and support this next-generation strategy, as effectiveness has been our ultimate goal since the establishment of Crytek and the development of CryENGINE middleware."
— Cevat Yerli
President and CEO
Crytek GmbH

"We're excited to have been involved with XNA since its conception. We design hardware for developers so they get the high performance they expect under all circumstances, but it's equally important to provide software tools that remove the barriers to creating great content. The combination of ATI's hardware and Microsoft's XNA software will let game developers concentrate on what's most important: making blockbuster games."
— Andy Thompson
Director of Strategic Marketing
ATI Technologies Inc.

"Microsoft's introduction of XNA presents an exciting opportunity for game developers to not only maintain a unified development environment while creating stunning content for multiple platforms, but to also focus on taking full advantage of the latest graphics technologies and shading effects to express their creative visions to the fullest. For NVIDIA, the availability of XNA presents a particularly exciting opportunity as our graphics technology continues to extend into new markets, such as handheld computing, where developers will be able to create and deliver 3-D gaming experiences like never before seen."
— Mark Daly
Vice President of Content Development
NVIDIA

"It's the age-old problem of game development: how much time do you spend on your tools and technology and how much time do you spend on your game design? The better the tools and technology, the better — and faster — you can make your game. The more Microsoft does to provide developers with tools, the easier it is for game developers to develop better games."
— Tim Sweeney
Founder and President
Epic Games

"Havok, as the leading supplier of physics middleware for the game industry, believes that only through increasingly sophisticated software components and tools that integrate seamlessly with each other can the power of the next generation of entertainment platform be leveraged by game developers. The XNA initiative is important for the industry in that it represents a commitment to providing the software infrastructure to make this happen. We are looking forward to leveraging XNA technology and participating in its success."
— Dr. Steven Collins
Chief Technical Officer
Havok

I didn't quote them all, but these were the companies that stood out the most to me. Crytek, Havok, Gamebryo, Epic Games.. This set of quotes is from 3-24-2004, and you notice here that John is saying that XNA will enhance bringing Gamebryo to the Xbox platform. Oblivion uses Gamebryo, so even very early in 2004 when he said Gamebryo was coming to Xbox platform it turned out to be true.

"XNA will enhance NDL in delivering Gamebryo's industry-leading cross-platform 3-D graphics engine and tools."
— John Austin
CEO
NDL

Source

 

[Cole]

What Gabe was talking about when he made a statement again the next generation consoles, should be considered less against them and more against multi-core processing in general. Yet even though it is harder to code in a multi-core area, it will be required to get the most out of what you have.

 

[VirusType2]

What Gabe was talking about when he made a statement again the next generation consoles, should be considered less against them and more against multi-core processing in general. Yet even though it is harder to code in a multi-core area, it will be required to get the most out of what you have.

OK Minerel and VictimOfScience, I found what you guys are talking about. I wasn't aware that he said that.

I see what he said here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=gabe+newell+muti+core+next+gen

“… I spoke to some people at Microsoft, and as I said, I can’t point to a single feature in Vista that I care about that solves problems for us. At all. And I had the same conversation with the Xbox 360 guys. It’s like Xbox 360 doesn’t make my life any better, and in fact, it makes it a lot worse, as you’re telling me I can’t count on having a hard drive,” said Newell.

“There are incredibly few programmers who can safely write code in the PlayStation 3 environment. And I totally see why Sony wants people to write code that runs on seven SPEs and a central processing unit, because that code is never going to run well anywhere else,” he said.

 

[VictimOfScience]

OK Minerel and VictimOfScience, I found what you guys are talking about. I wasn't aware that he said that.

I see what he said here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=gabe+newell+muti+core+next+gen

Yup. That's it. My paragraphs didn't really contradict themselves I don't think, but just provided two viewpoints, admittedly at two different times. Multi-threading apps isn't easy, but XNA makes it better. That's all.

Nice work compiling those other quotes though! A nice broad selection of dev goodness! :thumbs:

 

[DigiQ8]

Hope its not HL, i want something new from VALVe

 

[boglito]

Way to miss the point entirely.

He was saying that a game for more than one platform might not be any good, but not because it has a version on more than one platform, but because the game isn't good - period.

I didn't miss the point, I just feel that I have to defend DX:IW everytime someone badmouths it because it truly is one of the very best games to come out that year.

What exactly does dumbed-down mean? If it means having a control scheme that uses less than 12 buttons for control input, then OK - but these games didn't require a whole keyboard full of buttons. Dumbed-down to me is a Mobil phone version of Oblivion.

Well, we could have different views of dumbed down. To me the fact that oblivion only had room for 7 lines of text in the skill-listing (and other lists which could potentially be very long) screams consolified to me. I find it highly unlikely that someone would find that kind of font-usage necessary for PC.

If dumbed-down means cleaning up the nerdy menu's a bit with some that look a little more user-friendly and functional then why is it a bad thing?

We nerds demand menus to suit us! Besides, it is much more functional. Do you have oblivion? (I do, it is pretty good for an rpg.) Have you tried the ui-mod? It makes oblivion MUCH more like a PC-game and MUCH MUCH more enjoyable.

The ONLY difference between a PC game and a Console game anymore is the input devices, so please explain dumbed-down for me.

Well, you pretty much explained it right there. There is a world of difference between a controller and a mouse+keyboard. Try surfing the net with a controler. That would suck, right? It's the same for games. Developers have to keep in mind that the people who play their games have an extremely limited controler in their hands.

GTA came out for the console first - with no plan for a PC version originally. Oblivion was developed for both at the same time, and I'm not sure about Splinter Cell.

If you say GTA was dumbed down - how? If you say Oblivion was dumbed-down - how? Because the menu's are nice looking - although with icons and text that are too large in some people's opinion? That can be changed for either system, and more easily for the PC version, since there are already at least 2 people that have made a mod to do so.

If you say Oblivion is dumbed down because you don't have a left and right shoulder pad armor anymore, then that's just ridiculous. They just changed that as a design preference, and same goes for the skills. Dropping unarmored and Medium armor were design changes that have nothing to do with the platform the game was made for.

Whatever could you mean by that? Compromises in the control scheme? Saying, "that should be pretty obvious." is the third time you have used a form of Conversational Terrorism out of 3 statments by you (insulting anyone who would question you, while at the same time avoiding giving a reason in this case.)

Dumbed-down to me is a Mobil phone version of Oblivion.

Touched upon most of this so I wont go step by step, but, yes compromises in the control scheme do affect gameplay quite a lot in my oppinion.
As for "conversational terrorism" I can't be expected to explain every trivial mechanism in the world to all the people in the world that happen to disagree with me from time to time. However I will make an exception in regards to this fiendish application of the word obvious I have recently trespassed in:
If you have two platforms on which to make games, and those two platforms are not identical, then the games must be tailored to fit on both platforms. There will be features that could work on one platform, but not the other, and the most likely result is that said features will be cut, obviously.

Bog, I almost always agree with you, just not in this case. I hope I haven't pissed you off too much.

Oh, so you do not always agree with me? Then you must be punished. Erm, where do you live again?

.bog.

 

[VirusType2]

Haha I agree with everything you said this time. Well said. You're awesome bog

BTW i've got oblivion for PC ( i rate it one of the best games ever made) and wading through the magic spells is difficult to find the one you need because teh text is HUGE and doesn't fit. Agreed, but I think they just liked the BIG factor, and I don't think this is because it's for a console. The icons for items do look pretty nice. in morrowind they were so small and lacking colors that it was quite atrocious. I agree, and somewhere in the middle - like the UI mod, seems perfect.

 

[Gargantou]

Oblivion is definitely dumbed down, not only UI-wise but also depthwise, which any person who've played AND GOTTEN INTO either ES2 Daggerfall(Like me) or ES3 Morrowind(Also like me) is aware off.
However, if this has been done for the console population specifically or just the overall gamer population, is another question.
Oblivion is still a great game tho but I hope in ES5 they ADD DEPTH instead of removing it, but then again, Morrowind also removed depth, and with rising costs of "next-gen" development, they have to make the game appeal to more and more people, and that ofcourse means, they have to dumb it down to stay alive, sadly.