Posted Oct 17, 2008 at 10:34PM by Glenn M. Listed in: News Tags: Gabe Newell
Ó

Videogames galore - Image 1Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve, has made a lot eyebrow-raising comments through the years, more particularly the ones about his stand on console game development. Here's his latest quote from the Game Informer:


It seems by and large that gamers are incredibly smart; the average gamer seems to know more about what makes a good game than the average person at a publisher.


It's true - gamers are smart. In many ways, no one really knows what a gamer wants out of a game better than a gamer. Haven't we all gone, "It'd be better if..." at some point while playing? Whether it's a bad camera angle, crappy in-game dialogue, or unreasonably hard-to-get items, we all have our ideas as to how to improve a game.

It's nice to see Gabe Newell recognizing gamer intellect - especially since he's a publisher (being a gamer too sure helps). He ought to use that recognition more when bashing consoles, though.




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41 Comments


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   by fearlubu - 2008-10-17
 » wow

Gabe pointed the most obvious ish out

"the average gamer seems to know more about what makes a good game than the average person at a publisher"

really? cause we play the damn games. why did u even make an article about this? should this article be about what a dumbass this guy is?


   Re: Techni - 2008-10-18
 » Agreed.

Apparently gamers are smarter than Gabe Newell

   Re: dbzking - 2008-10-18
 » you bet

u see the publisher game makes the game with many errors but instead of complaining we find a way to make it fun such as glitching. and some even etc.

   Re: StingBlah - 2008-10-18
 » FOURTH!

.

   Re: jamiestepanian - 2008-10-18
 » ,

LMAO, nicely said, I completely agree
   by kraft - 2008-10-18
 » ..

yeah well it might be obvious to us gamers, but i do think it was something that needed to be said..most publishers are hopeless and seem to think that every game needs online capabilities etc.

games seem to be lacking depth these days and rely on online play to make the game sell


   Re: WiiRolled - 2008-10-18
 » Bullsh**

Nowadays, most SHOULD have online capabilities!

   Re: .darky89 - 2008-10-18
 » they should but...

@WiiRolled
Yeah they should, but not at the expense of a decent single player exerience or functions for real friends. Too many games come out now that don't have 2/3/4 player split screen...i don't know about everyone else, but i miss the days of golden eye and mario kart.

   Re: Master Chef - 2008-10-19
 » Agreed completely

Most of the best games the past few years have no online whatsoever. Bioshock, Mass Effect, Oblivion, etc.

If a feature is cobbled together and half-assed, and brings down the quality of the game as a whole, that will come back to bite publishers. So why do they do it? They need to wake up

Unless if course your game has 50 Cent in it, that whole game is garbage yet has sold millions. Same for Army of Two and Kane and Lynch, horrible games all around with terrible online modes, but millions in sales. They are the exceptions however

Also the Newell hate found above is getting annoying. Is it because he dislikes your PS3? Deal with it. The man has made some of the best games ever, he could also hate the Xbox for all I care, and only make games for PC. So long as he keeps making games
   by Cactuar Knight - 2008-10-18
 » About time

Somebody finally noticed!
Yeah obviously the gamers know more about what kind of games would be fun - we pay to play them!
In fact, I've got more than enough game ideas/designs in my head to take over the gaming industry lol.
Anyone else want to join forces and start a new development team?


   Re: dazmo - 2008-10-18
 » ok

lets do it.

   Re: Silver-Tiger - 2008-10-18
 » ...

count me in, too.

   Re: rebel101152 - 2008-10-18
 » rock and roll!

im in too!


   Re: Apeaggedon - 2008-10-18
 » yup

count me in as well.

   Re: tobyo1 - 2008-10-19
 » Yeh!!!

Let's do this,
(After I learn to become a programmer) lol
   by OverlordXenu - 2008-10-18
 » hjkl

I didn't expect to see Game Newell here.

   by ShadeyProphet - 2008-10-18
 » well.

judging by the pic, he may be right.

dude seriously needs to watch his carbs.

as funny and or rude as that may sound....
dude looks like he could fall victom to a stroke any second now...

i suppose that would be "my" eyebrow raising comment "as of late"

   by mupet0000 - 2008-10-18
 » Gabe can talk

Gabe certainly doesn't know what I want. Fixed bugs, FIXED BUGS. AHHHH valve doesnt fix anything unless it looses em money.

   by hush404 - 2008-10-18
 » ugh

Wish someone would run that fool over.

   by c74gta4smash - 2008-10-18
 » I'm a PS3 owner

...so you know how much hate I have for this jerk.

   by mike_jmg - 2008-10-18
 » Duh!

This is obvious, but publishers don't realize that

Also Gabe Newell should know we like consoles and stop bashing them

   by Hekynn - 2008-10-18
 » Well ya

Hell ya we are! We can spot out the bugs and ask dev's to tweak them out of the game hehe.

   by ajnauron - 2008-10-18
 » Since when did game publishers play games?

They just design them. Artists.


   Re: NarooN - 2008-10-18
 » oh really?

I could have sworn the artists were the developers themselves.
   by The Weatherman - 2008-10-18
 » lmao ..

someone give Captain Obvious a cookie.


   Re: DigiTalDeaD - 2008-10-18
 » Well...

Judging by his multiple amount of Chins, i'd say he's had enough cookie's, maybe if he'd gotten off his fat ass sooner and put those pies away he'd have noticed he's stating the obvious.

   Re: sage3k - 2008-10-19
 » LMAO

My Friend has that T-shirt!!
   by RexNox - 2008-10-18
 » Gabe Newell has obviously...

never played Warhawk.


   Re: logicbomb.de - 2008-10-20
 » Jack Tretton

has obviously never player Hanna Montana on DS.
   by vannk - 2008-10-18
 » ....

This guy is Fat ....XD LOL


   Re: Spawnx777x - 2008-10-19
 » um

for him its called bein obese
he looks like a ****in fatass zombie, i bet he is sayin in his head "i cant wait to go home and watch some hentai"
   by shabghai360 - 2008-10-18
 » amazing.

This guy deserves more cookies for stating the obvious.
It would have been more interesting if he said what he was gonna do about it.

we all know war is a bad thing but so far no one has found a way to stop it.

By the way he also bashes Apple for not helping him sell more games.
Also If he doesnt like consoles he should consider making one? There are plenty of gamers here who like what they have already, we are just waiting for devs to give more games we enjoy to play.

   by SuperQuest - 2008-10-18
 » You know what

why don't you just STFU Newell ... stupid dumbass !!!

   by WiiRolled - 2008-10-19
 » Dunno much about Valve...

...but I gotta say that Team Fortress 2 and their support for it rocks.
Valve brings out so many updates for Team Fortress 2 and it's all for free.
That's what I call a good publisher.
But I heard that they aren't so attentive to their other games.

   by Tashy P - 2008-10-19
 » Stfu Jabba

Gabe should shut up for once, hes made a few great PC games but should stop being a *****y ass. hl1 and 2 are good, but get over it. So is Zelda which was on consoles. He cant take that PC gaming is dying and his PS3 port of TOB was dire.


   Re: Musev - 2008-10-20
 » ...

That port was by the "great" EA
   by PS3 OUTSIDER - 2008-10-19
 » no *****

well were obviously smarter cause we decide who gets our hard earned cash for what games we choose to buy a bit of a no brainer this one.


   Re: shabghai360 - 2008-10-19
 » nice answer

indeed money talks.
   by kittykat - 2008-10-19
 » I have an opinion, but you will not like it...

If we, the gamers, are smarter than why are we still purchasing lacklustre games that receive a fair bit of hype?

We vote for games with our dollars, if we purchase bad games then we are telling publishers that we will purchase bad games and love it.

THE SOLUTION (for those who have read this far): TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. You can rent video games at video rental stores and test them, or download game demos when they are available. Some web sites, like www.gametrailers.com, happen to feature trailers for new games so you can get a feel for what to expect in the game. Not that I condone piracy, but if all else fails you can resort to downloading the game through file sharing and then either purchasing or deleting the game after playing through one level.



ALSO, A NOTE TO THE PUBLISHERS (don't worry, this is not offensive)...
Perhaps you should publicly ask the gamers "What would you like to see in our next video game?" That question alone will give you a lot of new ideas and help you to create the next best seller.


   Re: mr_bigmouth_502 - 2008-10-19
 » ^

That's a great idea!
   by Nevers - 2008-10-22
 » Finally

I fig'd out who that pic reminds me of.

Denis Nedry

Wayne Knight's part from Jurassic Park



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