Valve Talks About Importance of a Good Snack Bar

[Tom Goldman]

Valve Talks About Importance of a Good Snack Bar


In a revealing student documentary, Valve talks more about snacks than videogames.

The best part of working at Valve isn't getting to deal with franchises like Portal [http://www.amazon.com/Orange-Box-Pc/dp/B000PS2XES/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303668619&sr=8-3] on a daily basis. According to this documentary, it's all about the snack bar (and a pink cookie).

The documentary was created by students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program for the 2009 Northwest High School Film Festival. It's a little old, but if you haven't seen it, you're in for a treat. It goes deep into the heart of Valve, wherein lies a snack bar of epic proportions.

For example, Valve's snack bar has a giant bowl full of Snickers. With accoutrements such as this, Marc Laidlaw says that Valve has the best snack bar in the industry "by far." Erik Wolpaw was ready to exit the videogame industry for good before he visited Valve and saw its display of snacks. Gabe Newell says it "reflects the personal preferences and desires" of everyone that works at Valve. However, the room is not without its flaws.

Wolpaw seems to have the most issues with the room, what with people trying to use his stick of butter, the disease resulting from communal snacks, and the snack bar lady that probably hates him. Thankfully, he can survive for a week off of one 7,000 calorie cookie.

The documentary won in its category at the festival, and rightfully so. It's a look into the kinder side of videogame development, where a rough day at work can be washed away with the promise of free beef jerky.

Source: Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/gw782/valve_behind_the_scenes_the_snack_bar/]


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[SaintWaldo]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

 

[Amarok]

In before moronic fat jokes (or maybe not, looking above).

A giant bowl of snickers? Fuck, I need to get me some programming and/or design skills.

 

[Irridium]

...

This is way too easy to make jokes about.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

But where's the coffee? No programmer I know doesn't have a least a double expresso on the go at all times.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

Man, if you think Newell knows nothing about treating customers right, you've obviously never listened to Valve's in game commentary. The lengths that they go to to make sure the player has a good experience is insane.

 

[Woodsey]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much.

So much lolwut.

OT: That whole butter discussion had me laughing.

 

[SaintWaldo]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

Man, if you think Newell knows nothing about treating customers right, you've obviously never listened to Valve's in game commentary. The lengths that they go to to make sure the player has a good experience is insane.

http://www.gamefront.com/gabe-newell-playstation-3-a-waste-of-time/

That certainly didn't make me want to give him anything, ever. And he's never ever tried to apologize, as far as I've been able to find. So, he earned that insult.

I don't really care how much his company falls over itself to undo his bad choice of words. I still use Steam and give the non-loudmouths at Valve due credit. Until they convince him to apologize himself, I give him zero credit for the customer experience.

Thanks for playing.

 

[idodo35]

what the fuck?! no cake!!! i knew they were just lying... XD

 

[Exterminas]

7,000 calorie cookie.

The documentary won in its category at the festival, and rightfully so. It's a look into the kinder side of videogame development, where a rough day at work can be washed away with the promise of free beef jerky.

Ah, I wouldn't joke about it. Most people have rough jobs, but not a lot of companies have built in snack bars and restaurants that serve eatable food.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

Man, if you think Newell knows nothing about treating customers right, you've obviously never listened to Valve's in game commentary. The lengths that they go to to make sure the player has a good experience is insane.

What's with all the fat jokes all the time too? Swear some people are still in grade school. What's funny is that he was probably picked on for his weight and now has enough money to buy your ass and sell you into slave labour.

 

[Irridium]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

Man, if you think Newell knows nothing about treating customers right, you've obviously never listened to Valve's in game commentary. The lengths that they go to to make sure the player has a good experience is insane.

http://www.gamefront.com/gabe-newell-playstation-3-a-waste-of-time/

That certainly didn't make me want to give him anything, ever. And he's never ever tried to apologize, as far as I've been able to find. So, he earned that insult.

Thanks for playing.

Not even when he went on Sony's E3 presentation and proclaimed Portal 2 would be the best console version?

 

[MasterSplinter]

Insert Gabe Newell fat joke here...
...
Aww hell no, they beat me to the punch. Now I have to make a meaningful statement.

They... look well fed?

I'm sorry I'm not very good at this.

 

[SaintWaldo]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

Man, if you think Newell knows nothing about treating customers right, you've obviously never listened to Valve's in game commentary. The lengths that they go to to make sure the player has a good experience is insane.

http://www.gamefront.com/gabe-newell-playstation-3-a-waste-of-time/

That certainly didn't make me want to give him anything, ever. And he's never ever tried to apologize, as far as I've been able to find. So, he earned that insult.

Thanks for playing.

Not even when he went on Sony's E3 presentation and proclaimed Portal 2 would be the best console version?

Show me a quote of him saying, "sorry for being a dick to half of you," or words to that effect, and I'll come down off the horse. Fair enough?

 

[Avatar Roku]

Because if there's one thing Gabe Newell knows, it's snacks. Treating your customers right, not so much. But when it comes to snacking, MAN, that Newell is fucking PRO!

This film gives me great hope for the emerging semiotic skills of today's youth. They really hit it with this one. IMO.

Man, if you think Newell knows nothing about treating customers right, you've obviously never listened to Valve's in game commentary. The lengths that they go to to make sure the player has a good experience is insane.

http://www.gamefront.com/gabe-newell-playstation-3-a-waste-of-time/

That certainly didn't make me want to give him anything, ever. And he's never ever tried to apologize, as far as I've been able to find. So, he earned that insult.

Thanks for playing.

...so? He's not allowed to have an opinion on that? Given that, iirc, he said that around the time that Sony announced that they'd intentionally made the PS3 hard to program for, that seems completely reasonably to me. Besides, you're talking about a very small segment of Valve's userbase, the vast majority is on the PC. Hardly "not treating his customers right", when most of them are not using the PS3.

 

[Therumancer]

We had a free cafeteria at both of the casinos that employed me. One meal a shift, and all the chips, fruit, salad, and cookies you could eat 24/7. The quality went down hill for both of them the longer they were in operation when I was there, but I thought they were fairly impressive at the time.... Valve has however humbled them.

Perhaps someday I will become an infamous enough game industry critic where I shall be paid for my silence. Should that day ever arise, unlimited access to the Valve snack bar shall be one of my demands.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

http://www.gamefront.com/gabe-newell-playstation-3-a-waste-of-time/

That certainly didn't make me want to give him anything, ever. And he's never ever tried to apologize, as far as I've been able to find. So, he earned that insult.

Uhm...
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/221352/news/gabe-newell-sorry-to-ps3-owners/

"If you look at the customers that I feel we've done the worst job at taking care of is the people who bought our product on the PS3 - Orange Box on PS3. Those are the people who I have trouble saying anything to other than 'Yeah, I'm sorry. You have legitimate beef with us.'"

On video here [http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/gametrailers-tv/67&ch=1&sd=0?ep=67&ch=1&sd=0].

Edit: E3 2010

"When the PlayStation 3 was introduced, I was the one of the platform?s biggest critics," said Newell.

"However, Sony has proved that the PlayStation 3 is the most open platform of all the current generation consoles and has worked extremely hard to make the platform the most desirable for consumers and developers.

 

[The Zango]

"Gabe.... Um... Can I have a Snickers bar?"... Gabe looks up from the snack bowl, chocolate covering his face.

"You can have whats left!"