Valve Boss Gabe Newell Says ''Windows 8 is a Catastrophe''
Valve's Gabe Newell conveys his thoughts about Windows 8 and the post-touch era.
During the Casual Connect game conference in Seattle, Valve Software boss Gabe Newell indicated that he's not a big fan of Windows 8, likely because the upcoming OS comes packed with native support for Xbox Live and Windows Store, both of which threaten Steam's stronghold in the PC gaming sector. Even more, he predicts that top-tier OEMs will exit the market thanks to the new OS.
"I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. I think that we’re going to lose some of the top-tier PC [original equipment manufacturers]," he admitted in an interview. "They’ll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, it’s going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality. But when you start thinking about a platform, you have to address it. You have to address mobile. You have to look at what’s going to happen post-tablet."
He went on to say that the mouse and keyboard have been stable for around 25 years, and that touch will be stable for only 10 years. Whatever comes after that will endure for another 25 years: a "post-touch" era, he calls it. This may consist of a couple of different technologies that will come together -- augmented reality combined with motion detection, perhaps?
"The two hard problems in the short-term are input and output," he said. "I don’t have all these nice slides. But the question you have to answer is, “How can I see stuff overlaid in the world when you have things like noise?” You have weird persistence problems. How can I be looking at this group of people and see their names floating above them? That actually turns out to be an interesting problem that’s finally a tractable problem."
In the future users will likely have bands on their wrists, and that they will be "doing stuff" with their hands. "Your hands are incredibly expressive. If you look at somebody playing a guitar versus somebody playing a keyboard, there’s a far greater amount of data that you can get through the information that people convey through their hands than we’re currently using. Touch is…it’s nice that it’s mobile. It’s lousy in terms of symbol rate."
To read the full interview, head here.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
For your non-internet gamers, touch is a catastrophe and something that none of us will use while gaming. That or we won't use it in the same capacity we use keyboard/mouse. For your average user, adding touch isn't going to change anything for them as it doesn't matter if you click your friends cow with a mouse or touch it on your screen.
More importantly, is the title of the article a little misleading?
We get a short blurb on Why Windows 8 is a catastrophe, a link, no in depth look at why Gabe said that, and the large majority of the article on future user interaction technologies.
That said, there is some merit to the HUD/Augmented reality thoughts and there are several big players that are looking into it (Google, Microsoft, etc.). The future is going to be an interesting one. I can't wait for minority report interaction (or more recently, if you noticed, how Tony & Bruce interacted with data in The Avengers).
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
December 2009 I spent over 100 dollars on various games and got a ton of bang for my buck, probably over 30 games of varying quality. This summer sale? I picked up Back to the Future for 6 bucks or something like that. Nothing else piqued my interest. There were no earth-shaking deals or reason for me to buy. Mix that in with the unacceptable promises of what is quickly becoming vapourware and the catering to macfags and talk of a home console, microtransactions and pay to win models, and Valve is, in my humble opinion, quickly becoming "what's wrong with gaming today"
Rant at me if you want, but i've been hooked ever since I played HL2 back in '05, and I can see nasty things on the horizon for this company that seems to value profit over user experience.
Steam isn't an engine so Open GL? lol....
For your non-internet gamers, touch is a catastrophe and something that none of us will use while gaming. That or we won't use it in the same capacity we use keyboard/mouse. For your average user, adding touch isn't going to change anything for them as it doesn't matter if you click your friends cow with a mouse or touch it on your screen.
More importantly, is the title of the article a little misleading?
We get a short blurb on Why Windows 8 is a catastrophe, a link, no in depth look at why Gabe said that, and the large majority of the article on future user interaction technologies.
That said, there is some merit to the HUD/Augmented reality thoughts and there are several big players that are looking into it (Google, Microsoft, etc.). The future is going to be an interesting one. I can't wait for minority report interaction (or more recently, if you noticed, how Tony & Bruce interacted with data in The Avengers).
All I have to do is to look at the Steam's own numbers for OX X and Linux and see how bad of a move that will be to abandoned windows.
Proof mac****s are stupid.
They see me trollin'
The comments
Don't get me wrong--the current cloud offerings like OnLive are a far cry from satisfactory. But it's going to happen, and it'll happen quick. All these discussions and dissatisfaction with the openness of Windows 8 is mostly a moot point.
That and the fact that most real PC gamers aren't going to migrate to windows 8, so the problem pretty much solves itself for the time-being.
On the other hand, the PC enthusiast market is shrinking.
if you buy summer fire sale the past 2 years, then you pick up most of AAA title already.
i just dont think there many AAA game worth buying this year..
i dont buy any ubisoft game due to DRM
i can't buy any EA game since they using their own
and i stilling waiting civ discount include all the DLC + exp.
as more and more people buy games online via steam, publisher like EA, activation want a piece of action too. therefore they pull their new game and create their own online store. this is other reason why we felt so few game onsale compare to the past.
HAHAHAHAHA!
That boy needs to mow his own lawn if he's going to talk about his neighbors like that.
I've bought my last game on Steam. Tired of the product key code hassle. No, Steam, I already put in the code and checked the little square on the box that says "don't show this message again, so - STOP showing the message on top of my game Every. Time. I. Play.
I've a few screen shoots and heard it was designed with touch interfaces in mind and that is when I knew I wouldn't be getting it.
I'll stick to windows 7.
Can you see yourself walking around not with a tablet but your desktop or all All-In-One PC?
-Windows 8 is going to be a big down fall for Microsoft.
-OSX is bad enough already.
-Guess Linux is going to rise for this part of the OS.
(Windows 8, iOS and Android) Think about it for a moment.... Have you ever needed to pay for a expensive screen protector for a keyboard to keep it from being scratched? Have you ever realized how easy it is to scratch a touchscreen? Yes, Windows 8 is the next disaster right next to iOS and Android.
ZAGG 13" (yep, laptop) HP touchscreen protector $39.99 (insane)
So thanks to the touchy interface these days we now either have to live with scratched screens or pay extra just because its touch? Thanks..... Goodness knows how much its going to cost for a screen protector for a 24" LED touch screen.... eeks! And who needs touch interface for really fast frame per second games? Have you tried playing need for speed on a 10" tablet? Since the controls are limited, its a pain!