In a move that appears to be gaining popularity amongst developers, Valve Studios has taken to the streets, avoiding the filtration that often results from opinions being passed up through layers corporate intelligentsia and peering directly into the hearts and minds of the gaming proletariat. Recognizing the complaints from PlayStation 3 owners regarding the port of The Orange Box being a little "assy" (as PS3 ports are supposedly apt to be lately), Valve has opened a thread on their forums requesting feedback from users on what bugs need fixing and how things can be improved.
Now regardless of whether you think the issues with the with the PS3 port are earth shattering and make the game unplayable or not, you have to recognize the unimpeachable diligence and pride in their work that Valve is displaying with this move. However (and there's always a however), you have to wonder how much of this could've been avoided if Valve hadn't farmed the development of a PS3 port out to EA in the first place.
With Valve following in the footsteps of Ken Levine where it comes to the care of customers, you have to wonder how many other studios will hop on the "incredibly responsive and obviously caring" train. While I'd rather my games be free of bugs (show stopping or otherwise), if they have to be dealt with, it's safe to say we prefer them dealt with in the manner of Ken Levine and Valve Studios -- directly and with as much transparency as possible.
[Thanks, Justin]
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Contest:
7:09 PM on 01.03.2008
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/sarcasm and flame away you rabid fanboys..
I'm a Software tester, and when I worked in the gaming industry, the other testers were ALWAYS people trying to break in to some other aspect besides testing. I always felt that the main reason for this was that (in my experience) testers were treated like they don't actually matter, and if you don't pay testers well, they will always be looking for the job within the gaming industry that does pay well.
Low Reward + Low Pay = Testers that don't care or don't have enough power to positively influence the software.
There should be an “of” between “layers” and “corporate”, right?
However (and there's always a however), you have to wonder how much of this could've been avoided if Valve hadn't farmed the development of a PS3 port out to EA in the first place.
Amen to that. I’m glad they’re asking users to find out what’s wrong, but it bothers me that the PS3 version of The Orange Box was done by EA largely because Gabe Newell despises the PS3 and doesn’t think it’s worth developing for.
Woot! Valve!
Get the chains, we're keeping him.
They wanted a quick and efficient way to discover bugs, an easy engine to fix them in, and a reliable, effortless way to siphon the fixes to consumers.
I'll probably pick up The Orange Box for PS3 (already have it on the PC) when it goes down in price just for the heck of it. From what gameplay I've seen, though, it's not much worse than my PC version overall.
Good job on the photoshop job on the cash register in the story picture :)
:]
I'm naming my next hot tub after you, Quail.
I'm loving this "oh I care what you think" train that everyone is jumping on.
Hopefully Activision is working on my gawd damn copy of GH3 for the Wii right now.