AppleInsider Staff
Valve cofounder and software engineer Gabe Newell, who is attempting to create a new era of open-source gaming with the Steam Box project, sees the proliferation of the Apple TV as more of a threat than console giants Sony and Microsoft.
In a talk at the University of Texas covered by Polygon, Newell said Apple's growing presence in the living room has become a danger to the Steam Box, Valve's upcoming Linux-based gaming platform that will offer user-generated content at affordable prices.
The Apple TV remains somewhat of a dark horse in comparison to Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox, but Newell said the market is about to change, trending toward cheaper hardware that can integrate with a user's PC.
"The biggest challenge, I don't think is from the consoles," Newell said. "I think the biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together."
Currently, the Apple TV does not officially support gaming apps and lacks the hardware necessary to run such software effectively, like a more capable processor and traditional controller. However, a refreshed version of the set-top streamer is expected to be released soon with a Broadcom wireless chip that supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Recent reports have also pointed to the inclusion of an A5X SoC that would dramatically boost performance.
"I think that there's a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging — I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily," Newell said. "The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room?"
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77 Comments
I think Gabe actually needs to go outside for a walk instead of designing amazing 3D worlds at his desk that you can walk around in. In fact, I think I need to go for a walk too.
I think Gabe has the picture nailed down perfectly. That's exactly my analysis, and I'm pretty sure I'm not happy with it. On the other hand, I have quite a few Steam games I can only play when connected to the Internet, so I choose to understand what he says exactly true to his word, as an analysis from his company's point of view, not from a FOSS guy's point of view. Steam is not a white knight in shining armor, and neither is Apple. Whichever baron takes control of the land will impact us, but we won't magically get a republic, to put things in "political-fantasy" terms.
Well, sure. It is taking MS, Nintendo, and Sony 6 years to update their consoles with faster graphics and processors and newer technology. They are threat to themselves only.
What sort of simplistic games does Newell think people want to play?
Will the Apple TV run Crysis 3 at high resolution?
What sort of simplistic games does Newell think people want to play?
Will the Apple TV run Crysis 3 at high resolution?
I bet Angry birds has more players than crysis, so more people want angry birds.
If responsible parents start to tell kids to buy their own games, instead of paying 60 bucks for each one (or going to piratebay), or to go run outside/play football, you would realize how the number of crysis 3 players would aproach to 0 very quickly.
I mean, games should be for fun, playing with friends and family. Getting fat, full of acne, closed on a room all week, loosing the ability to have a decent conversation with someone else without using a mic and headphones, IS NOT fun. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is the tipical "pc gamer", the tipical "crysis 3 HD" guy.
We are reaching a new era for gaming, and that's great. Gaming was so much fun when all the guys would go to lan houses together or a bar and play CS 1.6 for a one hour, than having a drink, talk, see a few girls... Look at what we have now.
Thank god for Wii. I hope Apple does the right thing.