Is Valve the best game developer?

[Nvidiaguy07]

2k underrated ?

borderlands, civilization, bioshock.

 

[Dankk]

CD Projekt Red.

 

[Anteaus]

Valve had some great hits, but their legacy is predominately publishing and digital distribution. Half-life was their only real purpose built achievement. Much of their catalog is derivative of mods that came before. Counterstrike, Left for Dead, Team Fortress 2....none of these ideas originated within Valve, though Valve ultimately polished them up and made them commercial. Portal was a test case that blew up, and Portal 2 was a solid attempt at making it grander.

I'm not saying Valve doesn't deserve credit, because I absolutely believe they are a quality developer when they make the effort, but in my opinion the good developers are the ones that consistantly bring something new to the table and take risks. The best developers bring something new to the table, take the risks and consistant make it work, often to large acclaim. Valve were at their best when they did Half-life. Once Steam came out, that roll changed drastically. They are still a good developer, but the Source engine is showing it's age, and I don't see anything new on the horizon except Half-life 3, which in my few is not what we need. They need a new franchise.

Blizzard used to be on that list, but they've since relagated themselves to leaning on their back catalog, pumping out sequels to satisfy the stock holders. They still make quality product, but the innovation is almost completely gone except for the few moments of greatest they can coax out of Wow every now and then.

Bioware is still quality as far as I'm concerned, but obviously they are drifting, primarily due to EA driving the car.

Honestly, I can't think of one developer that I can honestly say isn't trying to ride the sequel train. Maybe someone can give me some examples of developers that are pushing boundaries. I'll agree with 2K. They are making sequels, but they have brought alot of original titles to the table in recent years.

 

[Gothgar]

^ Bioware? Did you play either Dragon Age 2 or SWTOR?

On topic, Valve is great. They don't make many games though.

I'd like to see some non shooters from them.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I feel like Valve is holding out on HL3 as their ace in the hole. Its easily the most sought after game, has been/will be for years.

I think theyre going to release it when they NEED to, and right now they really have no reason.

Maybe when steam launches on linux, or they release thier valve box, or when there is a competing service that even comes close to steam.

Either that, or they are making the first game that actually has a story that is up their with really good movies/tv shows, or just making it awesome, in that case im fine waiting.

Even if they release a game that is a 9/10 by most accounts, its so anticipated, people wont even give it that, and then valve would be screwed. Personally im just hoping they make a game so good, that it is to gaming now what HL2 was to gaming then.

Im actually hoping for a steam box/10 foot interface/steam on linux/better living room integration more than anything, and i think valve is the only company that can make that a reality.

I like gaming on the PC much more than 360 or PS3, but until it is introduced to the mainstream, its always going to be 2nd priority. If people just had an entry level "steam box" thats good enough to play valve titles, and indie games, at least it would get them on the platform. From there, people then would want to upgrade to a real PC with powerful graphics to play titles they already own @ high settings/1080p/4k whenever that comes out. the new xbox and ps4 will not even come close to PC graphics, and hopefully that will be their downfall.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I feel like Valve is holding out on HL3 as their ace in the hole. Its easily the most sought after game, has been/will be for years.

I think theyre going to release it when they NEED to, and right now they really have no reason.

Maybe when steam launches on linux, or they release thier valve box, or when there is a competing service that even comes close to steam.

Either that, or they are making the first game that actually has a story that is up their with really good movies/tv shows, or just making it awesome, in that case im fine waiting.

Even if they release a game that is a 9/10 by most accounts, its so anticipated, people wont even give it that, and then valve would be screwed. Personally im just hoping they make a game so good, that it is to gaming now what HL2 was to gaming then.

Im actually hoping for a steam box/10 foot interface/steam on linux/better living room integration more than anything, and i think valve is the only company that can make that a reality.

I like gaming on the PC much more than 360 or PS3, but until it is introduced to the mainstream, its always going to be 2nd priority. If people just had an entry level "steam box" thats good enough to play valve titles, and indie games, at least it would get them on the platform. From there, people then would want to upgrade to a real PC with powerful graphics to play titles they already own @ high settings/1080p/4k whenever that comes out. the new xbox and ps4 will not even come close to PC graphics, and hopefully that will be their downfall.

Not exactly the same thing but Vizio is coming out with the Co-star, which has OnLive support built in.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Not exactly the same thing but Vizio is coming out with the Co-star, which has OnLive support built in.

eh, i dont really like the idea of onlive, and kind of does the opposite of what im hoping the side effect of a valve box would do. (valve box, gets people invested in the platform, makes them want to buy new hardware, devs make better games for PC, etc. Onlive doesnt care about hardware, is subsciption based, so no real investment, and how good a game looks is only based on your connection speed, which might suck, and then just drive people away.)

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

eh, i dont really like the idea of onlive, and kind of does the opposite of what im hoping the side effect of a valve box would do. (valve box, gets people invested in the platform, makes them want to buy new hardware, devs make better games for PC, etc. Onlive doesnt care about hardware, is subsciption based, so no real investment, and how good a game looks is only based on your connection speed, which might suck, and then just drive people away.)

I don't think the mainstream are looking for just a pc box that goes in their living room though. I think they're looking more for a black box and this thing is sort of like that. OnLive also has cloud productivity apps now.

Sony looks like they're going to get on that cloud gaming thing. Big fish games just started Big fish games unlimited which is the same thing.

For me a Steam box would be great for certain co-op/party games. Something like Lego batman or sports games. One thing OnLive does very well is the social aspect. You can share clips and you can spectate people. You can do that with a lot of multiplayer games on PC but it's kind of funny watching a guy play through Amnesia over onlive. It's also seamless. You can go from the onlive console to your pc or your girlfriends pc. Access your stuff. But that's off tangent.

 

[thejunglegod]

You clearly never played HL2 Ep1.

Sir, I have. And I don't know after how many days of release I managed to get my hands on it, but I do not recollect encountering any bugs. Or maybe my memory is giving way.

Portal was a test case that blew up, and Portal 2 was a solid attempt at making it grander.

It was not an attempt at making it grander. They DID make it grander. I think the character development was amazing to say the least and the atmosphere was too good to be true. And as I mentioned in the OP, the writing is top notch and i have rarely come across such splendid writing in games barring a few games as DA: Origins, TW2 and ME2. It was a perfect script and executed even better. If a game like Portal 2 doesn't please you, I don't know what will.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Sir, I have. And I don't know after how many days of release I managed to get my hands on it, but I do not recollect encountering any bugs. Or maybe my memory is giving way.



It was not an attempt at making it grander. They DID make it grander. I think the character development was amazing to say the least and the atmosphere was too good to be true. And as I mentioned in the OP, the writing is top notch and i have rarely come across such splendid writing in games barring a few games as DA: Origins, TW2 and ME2. It was a perfect script and executed even better. If a game like Portal 2 doesn't please you, I don't know what will.

You're overemphasizing Portal 2's accomplishments. They're fun games, nothing more.

 

[thejunglegod]

You're overemphasizing Portal 2's accomplishments. They're fun games, nothing more.

Hmm OK, cool. My bad. I should've included an "IMO" there somewhere.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Sir, I have. And I don't know after how many days of release I managed to get my hands on it, but I do not recollect encountering any bugs. Or maybe my memory is giving way.



It was not an attempt at making it grander. They DID make it grander. I think the character development was amazing to say the least and the atmosphere was too good to be true. And as I mentioned in the OP, the writing is top notch and i have rarely come across such splendid writing in games barring a few games as DA: Origins, TW2 and ME2. It was a perfect script and executed even better. If a game like Portal 2 doesn't please you, I don't know what will.

I for one can say that i normally dont give a crap about the story line in most games, and usually just wish it wasnt there at all (like borderlands, portal one, etc) but i think portal 2 was very good.

Wheatley was great, the farmers insurance guy was awesome, and overall the story line was awesome. I personally think HL2 is overrated compared to portal 2. Portal 2 is valves best game.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Agree 100% with the OP and nvidiaguy07 in regards to Portal 2. Just finished it recently, and holy friggin crap, if the jump from HL2 ---> HL3 ends up being like Portal 1 ---> Portal 2 was, then I'll forgive them for taking so damn long to release it :wub:

 

[irishScott]

When they actually get around to making games.

As a publisher they're easily at the head of the pack.

 

[Anteaus]

It was not an attempt at making it grander. They DID make it grander.

Actually I'm in agreement with you. Portal 2 was a great game and Valve did a solid job with it.

It doesn't forgive the fact that Valve hasn't had an original idea since Half-life. The idea for portal was derived from Narbacular Drop created by some students. Left 4 Dead was created by Turtle Rock which was later purchased by Valve after development had already started. Virtually every other Valve release has been either part of Half-Life or a commercial release of what was previously a free mod for Half-Life, such as Counterstrike or Team Fortress. DOTA 2 is based on a mod originally created for Warcraft 3. Alien Swarm is based on a mod for UT2004.

If Valve wants to impress me, they need to discard that crazy abused Source engine and come up with a new franchise idea that doesn't involve trolling mod sites. Perhaps they are already in the process of doing that, but all I see is Half-Life 3 and it should be good but I doubt they are going to break any records with it.

 

[I4AT]

I think Valve has done the most for the PC gaming community, but as far as the quality of their games I wouldn't consider them the best. One of the better ones, but not the best.

 

[darkewaffle]

Sir, I have. And I don't know after how many days of release I managed to get my hands on it, but I do not recollect encountering any bugs. Or maybe my memory is giving way.

I got it with the Orange Box, through the entirety of Ep1 I had different audio bugs all over the place. I seem to recall specifically the sound giving out entirely until I restarted; also the very first time I tried playing it I had to quit and restart the campaign 3 or 4 times since Dog got 'stuck' moving that initial car or rock or whatever it was. Those were the two major ones I recall at least, I still enjoyed it but it was rocky at times.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I got it with the Orange Box, through the entirety of Ep1 I had different audio bugs all over the place. I seem to recall specifically the sound giving out entirely until I restarted; also the very first time I tried playing it I had to quit and restart the campaign 3 or 4 times since Dog got 'stuck' moving that initial car or rock or whatever it was. Those were the two major ones I recall at least, I still enjoyed it but it was rocky at times.

EP1 was buggy...

Spoiler

had one at the end with the strider

, but they wound up fixing it pretty quickly (I think).

 

[dighn]

they left us hanging with the HL series. what happened to HL3? worst developer ever.

seriously though, HL 1 was pretty revolutionary for its time, but aside from that and maybe Portal, they haven't made too many amazing games.

 

[BrightCandle]

Valve produces enjoyable games but nothing they have released in the last 10 years has gripped me for very long. They have produced a multitude of fun for a one play through games and I have then put it back on the shelf never to play again.

If you compare that to other games, some of which have thousands of hours played (Arma 2 damn you!) its not that impressive. What Valve has done is consistently produce games that work well enough to be bought and played, but best developer in the world? No chance, their games are just good enough nothing more.

 

[_Rick_]

MPS - MicroProse

That's all.

At least they buried that name quickly after Hasbro or whoever it was bought them out. Never got much of a chance to tarnish the perfect image.

 

[Shortass]

Actually I'm in agreement with you. Portal 2 was a great game and Valve did a solid job with it.

It doesn't forgive the fact that Valve hasn't had an original idea since Half-life. The idea for portal was derived from Narbacular Drop created by some students. Left 4 Dead was created by Turtle Rock which was later purchased by Valve after development had already started. Virtually every other Valve release has been either part of Half-Life or a commercial release of what was previously a free mod for Half-Life, such as Counterstrike or Team Fortress. DOTA 2 is based on a mod originally created for Warcraft 3. Alien Swarm is based on a mod for UT2004.

If Valve wants to impress me, they need to discard that crazy abused Source engine and come up with a new franchise idea that doesn't involve trolling mod sites. Perhaps they are already in the process of doing that, but all I see is Half-Life 3 and it should be good but I doubt they are going to break any records with it.

Original ideas? What exactly is coming out from other developers that you consider to be more inventive?

 

[Lonyo]

Original ideas? What exactly is coming out from other developers that you consider to be more inventive?

Name something which has come out from Valve since the Gravity Gun in 2004 which was inventive.
Inventive things which Valve purchased and then turned into games don't count.

 

[PingviN]

Name something which has come out from Valve since the Gravity Gun in 2004 which was inventive.

HATS! And lots of them! Never saw a hat before TF2, now I have one IRL. Makes me look sophisticated and keeps my head warm in the winter. What a wonderful invention. Thanks, Valve!

 

[Shortass]

Name something which has come out from Valve since the Gravity Gun in 2004 which was inventive.
Inventive things which Valve purchased and then turned into games don't count.

So no developers are making anything inventive?