Three Big Announcements Coming from Valve
Not only is Valve experimenting with biometrics, but the company plans to reveal three big surprises over the next twelve months.
Although Valve didn't mention Half-Life 3 or Half-Life 2: Episode 3, the company recently said that gamers should expect "at least" three big surprises within the next 12 months. It was speculated back at E3 2010 that Valve's surprise event would reveal either of the two aforementioned games, however the company instead revealed Portal 2 coming to the PlayStation 3.
So without daring to take a guess, what should gamers expect? "I can guarantee you people are going to be surprised at stuff we do," Valve boss Gabe Newell teased in the latest issue of PC Gamer. "That isn't going to stop any time soon. I'm just laughing because... people will be shocked again."
He then added that "three pretty big surprises" are in store for gamers in the next twelve months.
Also in the works is support for biometrics. Valve has reportedly spent $50,000 on gaze-tracking technology to understand where game testers are looking during play. The company is also hooking up testers to biometric devices to not only track pulse rates, emotional reactions and more, but to give them a little jolt.
"With biometrics, rather than guessing [player states], we can actually use a variety of things like gaze tracking, skin galvanic response, pulse rate and so on," he explained. "Through combining those pieces of information, we can get a much more accurate indication of player state, so that's something we're super interested in."
To read more on Valve's master plan, check out the latest issue of PC Gamer.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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NeeKo They are indeed very smart, this way they can improve the "boring" parts of a game! Basing on people physical reactions while they play!Reply
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chaosgs Where can i sign up to be a guinea pig? I consider myself a unpaid professional so im sure i can provide useful data.Reply -
furylicious This is why Valve continues to be successful and draw in their fans... because they pay ATTENTION to what gamers want. Can't wait to see what the surprises are :DReply -
tolham "the company recently said that gamers should expect "at least" three big surprises within the next 12 months."Reply
this is a typo. what they mean to say is that we should expect 1 surprise in the next 3 years. -
warezme Valve's idea of a BIG SURPRISE "aka Portal 2 for PS3" and us gamers idea of a BIG SURPRISE, seem to be not quite the same....Reply -
jomofro39 I can just imagine some of the biometric data from some testers;Reply
Day 1, Subject 1337:
Subject shows profuse perspiration, high heart rate, general uneasiness and low moaning noises and will not stop staring at this bag of cheetos. Now he launches the game. -
adikos valve is amazing in regards to its games. there are plenty of resources on steam that show their stats for games, they also have map images of their TF2 maps showing where conflict takes place.Reply
i also recall when l4d came out they had a presentation online talking about player states and how they got l4d working with these various states, specially for their random zombie surges which would benefit from biometric monitoring.
i cant wait for their big 3.