Gabe Newell and the VALVE gang just hosted a press event to evangelize for the PC as ultimate gaming platform. You can read about it HERE. It’s spot-on about so many things. How ubiquitous the damn things are. How familiar people are with using a PC. And how the onus is on entertainment creators, from all media, to go beyond the product — and create an experience.
I was just chatting with Mike Mettler from Sound and Vision magazine about this. Specifically how it relates to BLU-RAY. How the web connectivity of BLU-RAY players allows consumers access to exclusive content. Sure you could Netflix a DVD. And then Handbrake it for your collection. Or wait for the Torrent to download. But if you’ve got the BluRay disc in your BluRay player — there can be some very cool stuff that you can enjoy that others can’t: commentaries, storyboards, live chat, exclusive video, ARG content, etc.
I would love to design content for a ubiquitous platform like the PC. A platform that can get me the same number of eyeballs (and more!) as broadcast TV. It’d be a Game. With narrative story extension. And all of it connected. Tracking how people play the game, and also view the content, then using that data to tailor an immersive experience for them along the lines of the transmedia stuff I’ve done at HEROES.
I wonder if any companies out there really have the vision, and more critically — the organizational structure — to execute and deliver that type of content.
I know this is old news. And I’ve said all of it before. But the Valve story got me fired up. So check it out. Maybe you’ll get some cool ideas.
As a creator, I have the same driving desire to step things up and advance the ways we tell stories. The current Corporate means within which I operate have blind limitations, but you can’t keep progress from happening.
Count me in. I won’t be left behind.
-Shipley
It makes sense that Valve would have held this event, seeing as how they seem to be among a very few number of studios able to create magic on the PC.
I was a late comer to the Half-Life universe, only playing the games for the first time after The Orange Box was released. I’m still blown away by the HL games…after playing HL2 and the two Episodes, then Portal, I went back and played the original HL, which even now with its “old” graphics was still great to play.
It makes me that much more frustrated & annoyed, then, when I spend $50 on a game like the new Alone in the Dark, which has such an overly-complicated control scheme (for no apparent reason) that I couldn't stand playing it for more than about 20 minutes.
More game studios should take a look at the work of companies like Valve, Bethesda (Morrowind) and ArenaNet (Guild Wars) to see how things should be done.
There are a lot of great ideas out there…it's a shame so many of them end up never seeing the light of day because of lack of vision at the corporate level where checks are written.
But the bright side is that, not only are some people doing things right, but they're also putting the call out for others to do the same.
The PC has always been and continues to be my preferred platform to game, because I like the intimacy of it and the option for a much more vast set of opportunities than a console game, with its limited controls, affords. Don't get me wrong, some console games are super fun to play, but for true involvement, I generally feel I need to be sitting closer to the screen with a keyboard in front of me.
Thanks for the comment! My best gaming experiences have all been on the PC: TRIBES, HALF-LIFE, CRIMSON SKIES, LONGBOW, INDEPENDENCE WAR, DESCENT, RAINBOW SIX, FALCON, Etc!