Gearbox Prez Calls Valve out on the PS3

[DevilSShadoW]

I don't see Randy's name on the Valve CEO list therefore his opinions on Valve's development/business policy are uncalled for. You can almost sense a hint of jealousy on Randy's part.
I for one endorse Valve's dev/business plans. They have an amazing marketing strategy and most of all an amazing digital distribution platform.
All in all, Randy can go F**K himself, nobody gives a damn what he thinks.

 

[saregos]

Borderlands itself has issues that show big time that its a crappy console port. Control schemes optimized for a small number of buttons, item text that doesn't fit (For those that don't know what I'm talking about did you know that weapons have stats that are not shown? It only shows 4 bonuses but gear can have 6 or 7 and with some tweaks or through a dev console you can actually see it).

Off-topic: I didn't know that, can you point me in the right direction to figure out how to do that?

 

[Srkkl]

On the one hand, it's hard to say that Pitchford doesn't have even a single point, because he does. But on the other, Valve is an autonomous developer that has the right to develop for whatever platform it damn well pleases. If Gabe Newell were to suddenly announce that all future Valve titles would be programmed for the Atari Jaguar, then would anyone have the right to tell the developer that it couldn't

The problem is, though, that VALVe (more specifically Gabe Newell) badmouthed the PS3 for no real addequent reason because they never had any experience with it. And don't say Orange Box on Ps3, EA ported that.

VALVe can do whatever the hell they want, I agree with that. But ever since Gabe said "it's a waste of time", the PR Department have been desperately trying to scramble up the mess that he made. Everything from "It's just 'difficult'" to "we love you, that's why we're hurting you" to "we don't want to give PS3 owners the short end of the bone, so we won't give them a bone at all" and all that crap.

What Pitchford sees when he says "It's all very fanboyish" is that it's like an X-bot bagging Uncharted 2 when he's never played a single second of it in his life, or a Sorny guy mouthing off on how Natal is a piece of shit when he's never even waved a finger in front of it. VALVe is saying "Oh, it's too hard/complicated/time consuming to work with!" when they've had no experience with the damn platform.

If VALVe want to ignore the PS3, fine, just say "We don't have any plans to work with the PS3." That's a perfectly valid excuse. The problem is that they keep on muffin topping that excuse with more bullshit excuses like they have something to prove for some reason. And when they did say "We don't have any plans to work with the PS3" some idiot journalist brings up the damn topic again and the ride starts all over again.

Someone who posted with an actual response rather than "Gearbox is a *****, I'm a Valve lover." I feel like I found sasquach.

OT: Adding to this guys point, I don't think stating an oppinon on somones business "methods" is really bitching, or else everytime we commented on somthing we would be bitching fanboys. Bitching about Pitchford bitching makes most of you Bitching Fanboys with that logic.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

I hate it when people do that, it's just like being a fanboy really. Complaining that a developer didn't make their product for everyone is ridiculous. Valve can do whatever they want with their games and so can Gearbox.

 

[Srkkl]

Borderlands itself has issues that show big time that its a crappy console port. Control schemes optimized for a small number of buttons, item text that doesn't fit (For those that don't know what I'm talking about did you know that weapons have stats that are not shown? It only shows 4 bonuses but gear can have 6 or 7 and with some tweaks or through a dev console you can actually see it).

Although I havent played it on a pc Borderlands has without a doubt been the most fun game I've played to date(Xbox 360) I wouldn't really call it a crappy port because you can't read a couple stats. Also even though I'm not much of an RPG player the Damage, Accuracy, Fire Rate were the only stats I really needed. And to regards of the control scheme I thought it worked pretty awesomely, again I haven't played it on the pc though, probably never will either.

 

[Camarilla]

I wouldn't really call it a crappy port because you can't read a couple stats.

There's also no anti-aliasing, a UI optimised for controllers (with mouse 'support' that is either minimal or non-existant), no way to toggle or turn off your mic in-game (it has to be done with tweaks), no way to turn on V-Sync (except with tweaks again) and probably a few more things I could whinge at but I'm not trying to badmouth the game per se, it's just a rather sloppy PC port.

 

[ratix2]

Man, I thought those two companies used to be good friends?

What the HELL is up with Randy waging war now?

Did Gabe sleep with his wife or something? Jealousy of there successes? IDK, it's kinda odd.

it actually has to do with a little debacle called counterstrike: condition zero. originally gearbox was going to be making that but valve pulled them from the project and it was given to ritual (who were then pulled when their version wasant up to snuff and turtle rock made the released version). but thats the just of it as i understand it.

in any case, i love how everyone, including randy pitchford, has no idea that steam was started because of patching issues with counterstrike, so that valve could simultaneously release patches for all clients and servers and leave nobody out in the cold when patches come out, and also to be able to release small fixes when needed instead of waiting and releasing large patches. after doing work with this THEN valve moved into digital distribution through steam.

Then again, this fits the whole "PC crowd who would rather rape their own mothers in horrible ways then see their god tier games get ported to consoles", so Valve is catering to their fanbase perfectly. Snob company goes hand in hand with snob fans.

yeah, you mean like ps3 gamers? you have any idea how much of a tizzy fit playstation fans threw when ff13 was announced for the 360? you really have no idea about what pc gamers are like, and i absolutly LOVE it when people like you show your ignorance. not a SINGLE pc gamer i know doesent own at least one console and plays it regularly. their not gung-ho about the platform in any way, unlike so many console fans.

also, when was valve REQUIRED to like, or develop for that matter, for the ps3? the system IS a ***** to program for if you know anything about how processors work. i agree that valve probably has their heads stuck up their own asses about the ps3, and they probably shouldnt have opened their mouths, but again, they arent REQUIRED to make games for it, thats their right and their perrogative.

 

[Bigeyez]

OOOHHHH SNAAAAP DAAAWGG. Gabe U jus got SERVED BRAH!!!1!!1!shift+one!!111!1

Really?...REALLY? Pitchford is an idiot. If anyone should be accused of fanboyism it's him. Valve can do whatever the hell Valve wants to do. If they don't feel like wasting resources to develop for the PS3 they sure as hell don't have to just because Pitchford wants them too. I love how he throws in the childish comment when he is clearly the immature one in this situation.

Get over yourself Pitchford, and oh, fix your own damn games before you b#*&h about someone elses. kthxbai!

 

[Jumplion]

1) Nobody really asked him, and he doesn't have a personal stake. In fact, he should be HAPPY that Valve excludes PS3, that's more development space for him to try and claim.

It's an interview.

That mindset doesn't sit right with Randy Pitchford, who in speaking to the UK's Official Playstation Magazine likened Valve's shunning of the PS3 - and Lombardi's statement in particular - to that of a fanboy in the console war:

Obviously someone asked him. And if he doesn't have a personal stake, wouldn't that allow him to give off more of his opinion?

3) I think we can all agree that Pitchford has been pretty liberal with the unsolicited criticism of Valve lately. Whether you think he's right or not.

And honestly, I don't really see anything wrong with it. It's about time some developers start expressing their own damn opinions and grow some balls without fear of being barraged by a bunch of knee-jerking posters.

[sup]oh wait...[/sup]

Besides, I say it's time for VALVe to be taken down a notch or two. It really annoys me whenever I see VALVe faithfuls take in all the crap that VALVe dumps on them at times. Hey, I love VALVe as much as the next guy, they're a good company, but damnit we shouldn't give freebies out just because it's VALVe. As much as I love Insomniac, I'm not about to just give them an instant 100 for their games.

But that's just my overall opinion, frankly VALVe has been annoying me lately both for valid reasons and stupid reasons.

 

[Awexsome]

While I disagree with him that Valve is selfish and childish he does have a point on consoles vs PC versions of Valve games.

It's true that Valve can develop for whatever platform they damn well please but whenever they release multi-platform games the consoles aren't only inferior they're FAR worse than their PC counterparts. TF2 being the prime example.

If Valve wants to make PC games (and although I don't have a PC I've seen no reason not to believe that they do it damn well) then they can go ahead, more power to them. But don't make a console versions to please anyone if its just going to suck and be ignored from there on out.

 

[Snotnarok]

"People Who Live In Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones"

Fix the multiplayer for borderlands on the pc before criticizing Valve, screwing over all the pc gamers in such a degree is no better than what valve did whit the ps3.

I agreed with you till the end, it wasn't valves fault with the Orange Box on PS3, EA ported all the games, Valve had nothing to do with it, Valve has NO PS3 development tools so they can't do anything.

Borderlands for PC is total shit in terms of online, you can't connect to anyone, I wound up using a 3rd party program to bypass gamespys shit online service.

 

[theSovietConnection]

"People Who Live In Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones"

Fix the multiplayer for borderlands on the pc before criticizing Valve, screwing over all the pc gamers in such a degree is no better than what valve did whit the ps3.

You know, I would agree with you if I had ever had a problem with Borderlands on the PC... but so far it is the >least< buggy game I've played in years. Comparing this to L4D, which still has a plethora of the same bugs that have existed since launch and... well, I think Pitchford is on to something here.

Valve's knocking of the PS3 has always been fanboyish and not developing on the platform is childish. "It's a waste of time." Yeah, I'm sure it is. I think Naughty Dog and Insomniac agree with those sentiments too, what with the amazing games they make on the waste of time.

The bottom line is that Valve has been doing a lot of things very poorly over the last year and a half and is functioning similarly to how EA functioned before Mirrors Edge/Dead Space. You don't release bug filled games, barely patch the same game, and then announce the sequel for it not even a year after it's been released and then release what you announced 6 months later.

Oh wait, EA does that with Madden.

I agree with your post, though I kindly ask something from you, mostly because you're the first person I've seen bring this up.

Oh wait, EA does that with Madden.

Not flaming at all, just kinda curious, what's really wrong with EA publishing Madden every year the way they do? EA Sports is its own division, not really taking manpower away from other EA products. Abolishing EA Sports would just put the developers specializing in sports games out of work, and really, it would eliminate a good chunk of the profit EA could use to fund new ideas, if the way they've been doing business lately is any indication.

 

[shial]

Borderlands itself has issues that show big time that its a crappy console port. Control schemes optimized for a small number of buttons, item text that doesn't fit (For those that don't know what I'm talking about did you know that weapons have stats that are not shown? It only shows 4 bonuses but gear can have 6 or 7 and with some tweaks or through a dev console you can actually see it).

Off-topic: I didn't know that, can you point me in the right direction to figure out how to do that?

You actually have to modify a config file, they still havn't patched up the issues. These hidden lines are why some guns seemingly identical sell for vastly different amounts.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1009442 Shows how to do it. I've heard of people suddenly finding out their guns have stuff like ammo regen or other attributes.

To enable most dx10 features you have to again directly edit the config files. Sticky posts on the steam forums show which are needed for that.

 

[TxMxRonin]

Gearbox is one of the few developers I'll willingly give my money to but what the fuck is Randy's sudden hatred over?

 

[BehattedWanderer]

"Fanboy"

Says the pot to the kettle...

 

[ReepNeep]

also, when was valve REQUIRED to like, or develop for that matter, for the ps3? the system IS a ***** to program for if you know anything about how processors work. i agree that valve probably has their heads stuck up their own asses about the ps3, and they probably shouldnt have opened their mouths, but again, they arent REQUIRED to make games for it, thats their right and their perrogative.

Ain't it the truth. The fact that the only workspace the SPEs have access to is a tiny local 64k of cache is ridiculous considering they're the part of the chip that does all the heavy lifting. The thing isn't designed for running complex programs. Having a heterogenous processor is one thing, requiring you to use the weakest part to divide up the workload and then assemble the product all the while keeping the load evenly balanced over all the other parts of the chip is another thing entirely. I haven't written code for one but the idea of trying to get anything more than relatively simple mathematical apps threaded like that makes my head hurt.

 

[Valiance]

I think I hate every comment in this thread.

Valve is far from perfect.
Pitchford is far from perfect.

That's all I'm going to say. Both sides have their problems, and believe me, there's a lot of them.

 

[Booze Zombie]

They've said the PS3 didn't offer a good expense/gain ratio, how is this "fanboyish"?

 

[Pendragon9]

snip

And here you go, proving my point. I can admit alot of Ps3 fanboys were real immature alot of times, and that's why I don't make too big a deal with exclusives. Yet you can't admit there are a good potion of PC gamers who hate Consoles like neat freaks hate motels. Double standard much? You PC gamers can't stand a little criticism, or are you in denial about how much you want to put consoles into concentration camps?

And another thing, I never said they were required to make games for certain consoles, but you PC gamers can't keep saying Valve is the best. Whenever they get arrogant, everyone is always defending them. And I'm tired of it. They're not the best. They're just another company. And right now they're not even doing a good job. Where's the next installment of Half Life for example? Hmm?

They;re starting to become like Activision. They act like retards, and people throw money at them.

But I don't wanna start anything, so I'm just gonna say I don't like the one sidedness I'm seeing in the thread. Gearbox isn't completely in the right, but they're not missing the mark too badly.

So let's not have this escalate.