A 'Steam Box' Emerges At CES 2013
We all knew a 'Steam Box' of some sort was coming – Valve boss Gabe Newell recently said as much – but exactly what that mysterious console-cum-PC would look like or how indeed it would stack up against the competition, little was known. CES 2013 has already given us one or two shock announcements, but one alluding to Valve's much-discussed Steam-based home console is certainly the best of the bunch as yet.
Living Room PC's Are Coming, To Compete With Next-Gen Consoles Says Gabe Newell
Rumours of the so-called 'Steam Box' – a console-like PC for the living room, powered by Valve's cherished gaming service – have been floating around the Internet for many months now, but that's all they've ever been: rumours. Now, we might just have the kind of evidence we were looking for that the company behind Half-Life and Portal are at least thinking about a PC/Console hybrid, ready to compete with the likes of the PS4 and Xbox 720.
Valve Brings Steam To The Living Room With 'Big Picture'
A lot of talk gets slung around about what’s better, PC gaming or console. It's a debate that continues to rear its ugly head whenever gamers of different backgrounds/tastes are in the same vicinity (that is, once we leave our bedrooms), but it's also one that so often is settled when everyone can come to agree it's not necessarily what's 'better' per se, but one that boils down to what each feels most comfortable with. Valve's very latest addition to Steam, however, has the potential to blur the lines between the two. It's called 'Big Picture' and it's everything you love about Steam, in your living room.
Interview With Marc Laidlaw: The Writer Of Half-Life
Marc Laidlaw, the writer behind the Half-Life series, is probably aware of the impact he has made with his work; but not so to the magnitude of it. Check out our full interview with the mind behind one of the most influential games of the 20th century.
The Mystery Over Valve’s Hardware Deepens, New Job Ad Spotted
Despite previously shooting down rumours that the company was working on a Steam-powered console that could prove a worthy rival to the Xbox 360 and PS3, a new job listing spotted online now seems to confirm Valve Corporation is thinking extremely seriously about hardware in some form, whatever that may bring.
Valve Employee Invents Commodore 64 Bass Guitar/Keytar
Jeri Ellsworth, electrical engineer at Valve who is working in R&D on the company's foray into hardware, unveiled her latest invention: a Commodore 64 Keytar/Bass Guitar hybrid. Simply put, the most awesome looking invention you have ever laid your eyes upon.
Engineer Builds A Real-Life Portal Turret
If ever there was a perfect defensive weapon, it would be a turret with a voice so soothing and design so minimalistically innocent, you feel guilty about murderously destroying it. We have Portal to thank for that; but we are now one step closer to this being a reality, as a budding engineer has built a real-life version of this stationary weapon.
Valve's 'Handbook For New Employees' Made Public
Ever felt your standards of what defines a good job melt away at the sight of another company's internal communication? Valve, developer of popular series Half-Life and Portal, alongside their online digital game store Steam has seen a leak of their "Handbook for New Employees."
Valve Working On 'Wearable Computing', Not A Console In Sight
Trying to sift fiction from fact is a job that becomes an almost daily ritual when reporting within the tech world. Speculation will start off relatively slow-burning, hit a crescendo of wild rumours and obvious fabrications at its height, and begin to tail off, just as the cycle starts once again. But game company Valve has chosen to put an end to the fervent rumours circulating all over the net about what many deemed to be its own home console – rivalling the next-gen Xbox, PlayStation and the Wii U – and capitalising on its grasp on the digital market with Steam, with a piece of hardware that can only be described as a 'wearable computer'.
Skyrim Gets A Hint Of Portal With 'Fall of the Space Core' Mod
To celebrate the release of Bethesda's new Skyrim Creation Kit, Valve have created a small mod which drops the Space Core from Portal 2 into the fantasy world of Dragon slaying and the taking of arrows to one's knee. It goes without saying, we love both Portal 2 and Skyrim; but at no point have we ever comprehended the Earth-shaking combination of the two.
Editorial: No Gabe. The world is not under threat from curation. We were never open to begin with.
"Innovation is threatened." "People's access is controlled." "The world seems to be moving away from open platforms." Strong words from Valve Boss, Gabe Newell at Seattle TechNW conference.
These were directed at Apple's choice of app curation over open-source values. The argument here is that as we lose our open-ness in the face of the App Store phenomenon the opportunity of innovation and our sense of choice goes with it. However, everything everywhere is curated so really, is this a bad thing?