Valve’s Gabe Newell kicks off Dice Summit with digital downloading talk
As a game developer, Gabe Newell wanted to have a close relationship with his customers. But in the past, the chief executive of Valve had to hear feedback via middlemen. Valve developed a game, a publisher released and distributed it, retailers sold it, and that was it.
To get around this problem, Newell took the profits from his mega-hit Half-Life and invested it into Steam, a digital downloading network that delivers games directly to consumers. Speaking… Continue Reading
Roundup: FCC opens airwaves, Google slows hiring and more
Here’s the latest action (aside from a certain election):
FCC agrees to open up the airwaves — A section of the radio spectrum known as white space has been set aside for public use, a move pushed for by tech companies like Google and Microsoft.
Google slows hiring — CNBC reported that Google has implemented an unofficial hiring freeze, but the search giant denies the rumor, saying that it has merely slowed down.
Dell making more cutbacks — The computer maker… Continue Reading
Google to buy Valve? Not likely
It isn’t clear why Google would want to be the steward of the “Half-Life” video game franchise or be the company that sells to the world the “Left4Dead” zombie-killing game. But rumors are floating that the search giant is buying Valve LLC, the Bellevue, Wash.,-based game developer.
[Update: A source close to the matter tells us this isn't going to happen.]
The reason is that Valve owns Steam, the premier digital distribution network for computer games. Valve… Continue Reading
BitRaider launches digital distribution technology for games
BitRaider is launching a new way to download games today at the the Austin Game Developer Conference.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company has a smart streaming technology that allows players to start playing a game when only 10 percent of the download is complete. The player can continue to play without being concerned about whether the game play will be messed up by the download in progress.
That point is important to gamers who want both instant gratification… Continue Reading
Dean’s top ten video games of E3
As promised, I’ve followed up on my most anticipated games of E3 with an actual list of the top ten games of the show. I spent four days checking out games and interviewing executives at the Los Angeles media and game business summit. Clearly, I didn’t see everything. I didn’t even get to some of the games on the previous list. These games reflect my own tastes. I didn’t hold myself to any rules, like… Continue Reading
Novint Technologies makes progress with its 3-D mouse for gamers
The Novint Falcon is an entirely new type of interface for PC games. It’s a small robot that lets players feel 3-D touch sensations in games that exploit its features. I thought it was cool the first time I saw it, and it drew a lot of attention at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. But I also knew the company would have an uphill climb convincing game developers to exploit the newfangled device.
Still, the Albuquerque,… Continue Reading
Manifesto Games seeks venture round for indie games
It’s getting a wee bit repetitive writing about casual game companies (see here, here, here, here and here for our coverage). Doesn’t anybody have some other kind of business plan? Sure, it’s a great opportunity to go after the market of people who are just discovering simple “casual” games that don’t take a lot of time to play. But it feels like there are too many start-ups in casual games, just as there were too many… Continue Reading