Apple Wants Your Living Room, Says Newell
Gabe talks about the future like the Russell Grant of video games
I'd love a P-Body in the corner of the room, as long as he could still play my Gamecube stuff
Valve's Gabe Newell has been talking about the future of gaming and he's been spouting some interesting stuff. For instance, he reckons that consoles under your telly will eventually replaced by... something. He's not sure what that something is yet but he knows who'll be making it: Apple.
Speaking at the Washington Technology Industry Association's TechNW conference, Newell discussed his ideas of the platforms on which we play - "the Internet, mobile, desktop and the living room" – and declared that, despite not exactly knowing what Apple is developing, he has his suspicions.
The mysterious device will, according to Newell, will take on the consoles we know and play today. He believes that Apple "will launch a living room product that redefines people's expectations really strongly and the notion of a separate console platform will disappear." Having already released Apple TV, which has the capability to play games on screen while being controlled by either iPhone or iPad, you can see where Gabe is coming from.
He also spoke of his worries that Apple's closed platform approach could harm the industry. If you're only playing with a small profit margin, "you can't exist in an Apple world because they want 30% and they don't care that you only have 7%". His dream would be a far more open concept with competing distribution systems. Bear in mind that Valve also owns digital distribution competitor, Steam.
Regardless, "openness is important to the industry," says Newell – but will anyone listen to him?
Source: Seattle Times
Speaking at the Washington Technology Industry Association's TechNW conference, Newell discussed his ideas of the platforms on which we play - "the Internet, mobile, desktop and the living room" – and declared that, despite not exactly knowing what Apple is developing, he has his suspicions.
The mysterious device will, according to Newell, will take on the consoles we know and play today. He believes that Apple "will launch a living room product that redefines people's expectations really strongly and the notion of a separate console platform will disappear." Having already released Apple TV, which has the capability to play games on screen while being controlled by either iPhone or iPad, you can see where Gabe is coming from.
He also spoke of his worries that Apple's closed platform approach could harm the industry. If you're only playing with a small profit margin, "you can't exist in an Apple world because they want 30% and they don't care that you only have 7%". His dream would be a far more open concept with competing distribution systems. Bear in mind that Valve also owns digital distribution competitor, Steam.
Regardless, "openness is important to the industry," says Newell – but will anyone listen to him?
Source: Seattle Times
Read More Like This