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Games Hardware

Valve Hiring Hardware Developers 94

Posted by Soulskill from the enjoy-those-steambox-rumors dept.
New submitter Canazza writes "According to Develop, 'PC games giant Valve wants to "invent whole new gaming experiences" and is looking for people to help create new hardware, the Washington studio has confirmed. Off the back of a wave of speculation that the studio is building its own games console – a rumour which Valve has not specifically denied – the company now appears to be increasing capacity of its hardware development division.' Is Valve designing a new console? Or is this an expansion of its biometric controls research? Either way, something big is going down at Valve."
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Valve Hiring Hardware Developers More

Valve Hiring Hardware Developers

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  • With this much brainpower behind the project, I can't wait to see how cool this crow-bar that they are manufacturing is!!!!

  • Two minutes before I saw this article, I saw the one about Tim Cook being spotted visiting Valve headquarters...

    • Re:Apple? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 13, 2012 @01:26PM (#39677239)

      Oh dear lord, they're trying to re-animate Jobs.

    • Two minutes before I saw this article, I saw the one about Tim Cook being spotted visiting Valve headquarters...

      So how long until the joint Apple-Valve console is announced?

      I think that would make a lot more sense than Valve going it alone to make a new console, though I'm still not sure it is likely. I suppose Valve would get access to Apple's experience working with Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers, which would make the hardware part much more reasonable, but I'm not too sure what Apple would get out of it - they already have experience with various other types of online stores, so the only thing they would really g

      • I actually think the gaming market is one of the places that Apple is weakest. Other than some smaller developers (a la the Humble Bundle), the majority of games are still Windows-only, and will probably continue to be if nothing changes because right now all the gamers tend to own Windows machines.

        That said, I can't quite see how partnering with Valve would help make Apple any money, unless whatever they come up with convinces game developers to start writing for other platforms. (The maybe-good-news is

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Could be Valve is trying to leverage Apple's AppleTV. And maybe why Apple has been slow to roll out apps for AppleTV.

          I mean, Apple's got an interesting "console" in the form of iOS devices (we'll call it console-lite in that the requirements for the App Store are way looser than what Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo reqiure for their consoles). Perhaps if Valve could get Steam on there, maybe do the controller design (the AppleTV is ripe for controllers - I believe Bluetooth is on board)...

          Heck, maybe it's getting V

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sribe ( 304414 )

        So how long until the joint Apple-Valve console is announced?

        I don't expect that from Apple. I'm thinking about new input hardware, or displays, and support for them day 1.

  • something big is going down (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MattDaye ( 2559921 ) on Friday April 13, 2012 @01:28PM (#39677261)
    "Either way, something big is going down at Valve." and survey says its still most likely not Half Life Episode 3 or Half Life 3. thanks gaben, making sure to give gamers what we really want. a far off possibility of another console full of 90% shovelware to get a few good games a year that are cross platform releases anyways. maybe you'll make a new half life then.

    • and survey says its still most likely not Half Life Episode 3 or Half Life 3. thanks gaben, making sure to give gamers what we really want.

      What I really wanted in the last few years was more Portal and I got it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        me to..also I want more hats, and I get that in droves..sadly I got a bunch of crates as well.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dj245 ( 732906 )
          Team Fortress 2 is not a team-based FPS, despite the impression that the FPS minigame gives. TF2 is a hat simulator.
    • So a console we have no details on is now full of 90% shovelware? I mean I don't like Valve as well but you have to at least structure your argument in a way that makes sense. You're already writing off a non-existent product based on stats and figures you're making up on the spot.

      So I guess this is typical Slashdot fare, carry on.

      • well, if you want to go by the other 3 major consoles, I think you can safely assume the 90% shovelware estimate is probably pretty accurate.

        Unless the console is so unpopular that even the shovelware developers aren't interested in releasing for it.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      As long as they are making money on people who play Left4Dead, Team Fortress, and DOTA for hundreds of hours, why put all their resources into a narrative game like Half Life with 40-50 hours of gameplay?

      I see Half Life as Valve's Ace-in-the-Hole which they are saving for either troubled times or to support the launch of a new service/platform. HL2 made Steam a success in the same way that Halo make Xbox a success, both were killer apps. So if Valve really is going to launch a console, it will almost certai

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      whine, whine whine.

      Valve makes great games. The reason the make great games is because they make games they want to be great. Forcing out another half life that the devs aren't interested in would be a pretty mediocre game.

      I'm not sure about your shovel ware comment. I have 3 consoles, and none of them are bloated with shovels ware.

    • Half Life Episode 3

      Christ, are people still bitching about that? Let it go, dude.

    • If they are trying to establish a pattern then Half-Life 3 will need a new engine. Maybe you have to wait for Source 2.

  • The hardware developers will be working on pipe wrenches.

  • Valve has already done with with the Razer Hydra. This is likely an expansion on that idea.
    Quote: "across a wide range of platforms. We're not talking about me-too mice and gamepads here - help us invent whole new gaming experiences."
    So, this could be anything like that. I doubt a console is in the works.

  • Just one request (Score:5, Funny)

    by Megahard ( 1053072 ) on Friday April 13, 2012 @02:09PM (#39677859)
    Portal gun. That's all.
  • Maybe they're building life size robots? I'd love to kick an Atlas or P-body around the house. :)

  • C-64 (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Valve recently hired Commodore 64 and FPGA guru Jeri Ellsworth. She wouldn't join a lame project. So I have faith they're up to something terrific!

  • I hate to be "that guy", but seriously, where's the story here? This story [slashdot.org] is only over a month old and it seems to have about the same amount of info (which is to say essentially none). If it were some kind of announcement maybe...
  • Ben Krasnow [google.com] (Youtube videos [youtube.com]) has done some insanely cool DIY projects, like an electron microscope, LED-in-contact-lens, and aerogel. No idea what he's working on at valve, but it's got to be interesting...
  • It's something to look forward to. Entertainment (games in particular) is naturally going to evolve, and new hardware is part of that. It must be hard, though, to introduce new hardware. How many people buy joysticks to play a flight sim? Not many. But somehow the Wii (and followers) edged its way into things, so it's not impossible. A recent Slashdot article was about Kinect voice-controlled shouts for Skyrim. So there are lots of possibilities. Although, like others clearly ;), I'm still looking forward t

  • Valve knows what MS and Sony keep ignoring. Although I suspect MS is well aware based on what they're doing with windows 8.

    As we see consoles attempt to be PCs... we will simply see Valve deliver a PC experience to consoles, in a fully upgradable, open platform hardware device known as a PC. The games will be compatible no matter what. They will run on windows8. They will connect to steam and even xbox live if you want.

    The future is the PC... consoles are dead. Mark my fucking words bitches

    • I think the future is the console, and PCs are dead and being supplanted by STBs (mostly gaming consoles, but some rokus and apple TVs etc) and by portable devices with tablet form factors like tablets and touch-sensitive smartphones.

      Consoles are trying NOT to be PCs. There's a crapload of console games which would be better with a mouse, but the only place you can use a mouse is in some drawing games for Nintendo and Sony. Consoles want to be appliances, not PCs.

  • If they make their own system and link it to Steam, it would be awesome if I could buy a game once and have access to it from both the PC and the console. Heck, I would be happy with a small additional fee like $5.00. I never understood why I have to buy a game I already bought at full retail when I want it for another system. I already paid for most of the work that went into making the game. Why should I be charged for the whole thing again when they could simply charge me for the small part they had to c

    • They are already doing this to many games.
      When they started re-releasing the GTA games on Mac OS X... these versions popped up in my Steam Games library. FREE.

      As a Macbook Pro owner... i was pretty pleased with this.
      This is the kind of thing that makes me trust Valve and Steam. They dont have to give me a whole new version of a game ported to a different platform, but they did, keep doing so, and even tout it as a selling point. Buy from us & we wont screw you across Mac & PC.

  • Response to Competition (Score:3)

    by sonicmerlin ( 1505111 ) on Friday April 13, 2012 @06:09PM (#39680809)

    I think this is a response to the underwhelming hardware Sony and Microsoft are rumored to be planning on releasing. If those companies' greedy executives get their way, we'll end up with a "next-generation" of consoles in 2013 with underpowered 2010 hardware, which they'll sell at a hefty hardware margin. They're probably also unwilling to allow Steam to operate on their consoles, so rather than be locked out Valve is going to go forward on its own.

  • Penny Arcade recently had an interview with Gabe Newell where he talks a bit about Valve's interest in hardware development; worth a read:

    http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/valves-gabe-newell-talks-wearable-computers-rewarding-players-and-whether-w [penny-arcade.com]

    • That makes it sound like they're going to do something for reality overlay, which would be exciting. I've been waiting to play games in the real world. Augmented Reality with a tablet just ain't good enough.

  • Microsoft tries to buy Valve to squash them before they start competing in the console market? Lets hope not.

    Let me know when you start hiring device driver developers for all that lovely hardware, Mr. Newell.
  • The lowest risk option is to focusing on the controller/biofeedback stuff, provide drivers for Windows, and expect people to buy Windows Media Center with the requisite video cards. Going further with a SteamBox would be a gusty move. It would run either on Linux or bare metal -- not Windows. I wonder if Valve and Google are talking about this and ChromeOS. Valve (as successful as it has been) can't lose the kinda money Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo can on each console, but if they don't play the game that

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