Dorkly posted an immensely entertaining (satirical) article called “A Message From Gabe Newell.” Valve recently made several announcements on products with enormous potential to disrupt the gaming business (Steam OS, Steam Machines, Steam Controller). While many gamers and pundits have reacted to these announcements with excitement, there are many longtime PC gamers that have can’t get Half-Life 3 out of their heads. The (satirical) message from Gabe Newell addresses all of that and more. Here’s an excerpt from the end of the letter:
It’s almost as if you just want us to come out with more sequels that lack the sort of surprise that comes with new, original games. It’s almost as if you’re comfortable with a known property and don’t want to challenge yourself with new types of games. It’s almost as if you want us to be more like Activision and EA.
You want Half-Life 3? You got it. We’ll put out a new Half-Life every year. They’ll be Origin-only. They’ll have to connect to Facebook to play. They’ll have assloads of day one DLC. They’ll have goddamn microtransactions.
The fictitious letter by Gabe Newell is pretty funny, but it does bring up an interesting issue. What do you want from Valve? Are you excited about the Steam OS and Steam Machine initiatives? Are you turned on by the Steam Controller’s ample areola? Or do you just want frickin’ Half-Life 3 already?
Both sides of the argument have merit. On one hand, these Valve initiatives are potentially groundbreaking. Many of the people I know in the videogame business believe that Steam OS would take power away from publishers while empowering developers and consumers. On the other hand, millions of people have been entertained by Half-Life (1998) and Half-Life 2 (2004). They’ve been waiting a long time for a true sequel and they feel it’s way overdue.
And you? Which side are you on? Read the fake letter by Gabe Newell, think about it, and leave your thoughts in the comments section (please!).
The story in HL2 was garbage. Fun game but really felt like a tech demo. I want more new stuff in the vein of Portal and L4D.
Honestly, I just want them to finish up the goddamn story. H2,E2 left with such a cliffhanger that it left the same bad taste in my mouth as Halo 2’s “ending.”
It’s like these developers are so eager to keep the story going, but they run out of steam (pardon the pun) and sort of give up. It’s a horrible, horrible way to make a game. The worst part about it is that it can be completely avoided if you just don’t have a story. Games don’t need a story, just some fun gameplay and that’s it. Look at Black, look at Counter-Strike, or look at pretty much any (pure platforming) Mario game. They are fun and don’t have a story. Why would developers complicate things and half-ass a story when a good game doesn’t even need one?
But now, you’re invested in the characters and you want to see how things wrap up. Unfortunately, the developers don’t care. The story was simply a vehicle for them to advance the gameplay so that you have a “reason” to move from point “A” to point “B” and killing everything in between. They don’t care that their plot device has hooked you to actually care about the tale, they are done with the game and they may or may not get around to another iteration of it; story be damned.
-M