Posted by: seanmalstrom | September 24, 2012
In one of your recent blog posts, you talked about how Half Life 3 will become a platform. The fact of the matter is that it already is.?
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Half Life 2 isn?t just a game. It is also a showcase of the Source engine that was introduced in 2004. When you go ask a hardcore gamer why Half Life 2 is good, they?ll talk about things like realistic physics, awesome scripted scenes, breathtaking graphics, and other things directly pertaining to the engine?s capabilities. Many of Valve?s other games (Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike Source, Left 4 Dead, Portal). Even non-shooters like Alien Swarm and DOTA 2 can use it. Not only does it make developing games much easier for Valve, but for community modders whose games can provide profit for Valve.?
My guess as to why Half Life 3 is so constantly delayed is because they are still working on the new Source Engine 2.0. The rumors of Half Life 3 being an open world puzzle game might confuse valve fans at first, but in this context, it makes a lot of sense. After all, how did Half Life 2 show off the engine?s capabilities? By throwing in a bunch of physics puzzles utilizing the Gravity Gun. For Valve, the main goal of Half Life 3 isn?t to be the next big PC game, but to push forth the next big engine.
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In this sense, Half Life has become sort of a platform. Just as the HD twins try to push PC junior gaming and just as Steam tries to push kinder and gentler DRM, Half Life 3 will be trying to push the next Source engine. There?s nothing wrong with wanting to show off a new engine, but Half Life is the only series and intellectual property that Valve has ever made on their own without any help from modders. And if the financially uneducated community modders of Steam eat up the new Source engine, it will be they only one they?ll ever need to make.__________________________________If Half-Life 3 is to showcase the new Source engine, then we should expect to see many different game-types of the engine being used. I?d laugh my ass off if Half-Life 3 was a series of mini-games or mini-scenarios wrapped up in the Half-Life 3 ?story?.People might ask, ?Why are you concerned about this, Malstrom?? I want game companies to have ambition but that ambition should be directed to wowing gamers with the best gaming experience ever. During the golden eras of gaming, this was the ambition. Today, it has changed. Too many game companies? ambition revolves more about marketing an engine or creating another revenue stream. I still have found nothing superior in generating consistent cashflow from video games than in making ambitious games that deliver fantastic new experiences.Gaming needs more ambition. And ?ambition? for the business. That?s actually bad business. I know many people in the game industry are admirers of Steve Jobs. Apple?s ambition doesn?t translate as ?new revenue streams?. When game companies do this, they are seeing us not as people but as ?masses?.Game companies have all become little IBMs! Valve Corporation might as well be IBM Gaming. Video game revolution is the mother of the computer revolution. And what is a fantastic video game than something that overthrows dead culture?
Gaming, where is your ambition? Where is your spunk? Where is the revolution?
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Source: http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/email-half-life-3-will-be-a-platform/
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