What Would PC Gaming Look Like Without Valve?

[AndyFromMonday]

Pretty much the same. Except that I'd have to go and buy my games rather than just get 'em by the click of a button. I'd miss Team Fortress and Half Life tho.
...to be honest the PC would suck without Valve...Simply 'cause Steam wouldn't disappear.

 

[-Seraph-]

Jesus Christ. PC gaming was big LONG before Valve came along, they haven't done anything innovative whatsoever. There are other applications that work like Steam, and in my experience, Steam is a bugged annoyance of a programme which I avoid using at all costs.

Valves games aren't even THAT good! They're hardly anything new.

EDIT* And I've just been reminded of the prices of games on Steam. Sometimes double the price of a store bought copy, and you don't even get a physical copy of it...

RUN!! before they get you with their torches and pitch forks!

 

[Azeban]

Jesus Christ. PC gaming was big LONG before Valve came along, they haven't done anything innovative whatsoever. There are other applications that work like Steam, and in my experience, Steam is a bugged annoyance of a programme which I avoid using at all costs.

Valves games aren't even THAT good! They're hardly anything new.

EDIT* And I've just been reminded of the prices of games on Steam. Sometimes double the price of a store bought copy, and you don't even get a physical copy of it...

RUN!! before they get you with their torches and pitch forks!

Oh, you crazy foreigners. Steam is often the cheapest place to get games, in the good ol' US of A, at least. I purchased Bioshock a while back for $5. You can't get that at a brick and mortar.

I honestly think Valve is making the most unique FPS's at least. None of that same old World War II schtick. I must know so much fake Nazi dialog.

That said, I wish they'd make Half Life without the headcrabs. Sure they're iconic, but they're not fun to fight. Just startling and annoying.

 

[Kajt]

No Counter-Strike...
What A Wonderful World.
No Team Fortress 2...
Never!
It would've been pretty much the same.

 

[Cheesebob]

Stardock would rule, Jesus would return and he would show the world how to be a better place, with no pollution, crime or hate.

Are you telling me that one games company who made some of the best games this century, is worth sacrificing all this?

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

The Orange Box has become some of my favourite PS3 games right now, so their influence on the gaming industry has permeated past the realms of the desktop.

 

[oliveira8]

games like World of Goo and Audiosurf would be doomed into obscurity.

Cause if it werent for a bunch of glaring ads poping up in Steam and a couple of weekend sales they wouldnt have got nowhere!

 

[yonsito]

Without Valve, programmers would problably still write the story for their games themselves (see e.g. Doom for comparison).

 

[edinflames]

PC gamers would still be egotists with a few less games to brag about and no steam to brag about. I dont think any sort of PC apocolypse would occur.

and console gamers would still have the chip on their shoulder about the cost of games, the lack of downloadable content, the inability to create and share custom content, the whiny XBL kids, the absence of decent RPG or RTS games etc...

 

[Haru_Elric]

A Better Xbox

 

[Pyre00]

The same to me - I don't use Steam and I've never played a Valve game.
I know - I am a heathen.

you are not alone

seriously people there is more to PC gaming than what Valve has contributed, you have mmo's, rts, and other shoots like Shogo. and as long as i can play some good old fashion Starcraft im happy

EDIT
3 more shooters CoD, Quake, Doom

The only way I can imagine someone having never played a Valve game is if they play A. on consoles exclusively B. only RTS and MMOs on PC

 

[Kiutu]

PC gamers would still be egotists with a few less games to brag about and no steam to brag about. I dont think any sort of PC apocolypse would occur.

and console gamers would still have the chip on their shoulder about the cost of games, the lack of downloadable content, the inability to create and share custom content, the whiny XBL kids, the absence of decent RPG or RTS games etc...

Your list would have been longer during last gen consoles. And your list will be shorter over time. What PC's lord over consoles are rather quickly becoming available to them. Both have advantages. Maybe consoles are not as advanced as PCs (yet) but PC gamers still act like the kings of the gaming world and dont wish to see the rising tide of consoles.

 

[El Taco the Rogue]

the consoles would own fps's

 

[-Seraph-]

the consoles would own fps's

uh...how?

 

[Jdshald]

There would be none of these games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpd81hoJh4U

FPS Shooting Games would suck, have no story and immersion and have no standard to create games to. and it would take another 10 years until Downloadable Content for any platform would exist like Steam or Xbox live.

 

[gigastrike]

If Half-Life was never made, we would see far less adventure/shooters (but seriously, name one other good one). If Counter Strike was never made, the PC shooter would be based around the Call of Duty and Battlefield series instead (which it pretty much is now (and I think Counter Strike was a third-party mod of Half-Life, so we may have seen it the form of a Quake mod anyway). Portal would have been made regardless, though it's argueable about if it would have been as good (but I have yet to see a PC game that screams "I want to be like Portal!")If Steam was never created, people would just buy their games off of one of the many other sources or just buy it at Best Buy like a normal person, and they would use Xfire, forums, and in-game game selection to play with friends.

I don't think Valve made as big of an impact as you think.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Incompetent and money grubbing. Valve is the only major company that has a grasp on the needs of its customers.