| Thread Tools |
19th September 2012, 08:23 | #1 |
[M] Reviewer Join Date: May 2010 Location: Romania
Posts: 148,500
| Valve's first hardware beta starting by next year Valve Software's hardware division is still in its infancy. Despite having existed for over a year, recruitment is still its primary concern -- "prototyping is almost secondary," longtime inventor/hacker/now Valve employee Jeri Ellsworth told us in an interview this week. As the team ramps up, production becomes more and more prolific, of course; Ellsworth lights up when she talks about the work her team is doing now. She gets verbose when asked about corporate culture at Valve, about how she's never worked at a company where risk and failure are so acceptable -- even encouraged. She's visibly excited about the prototypes she's creating at Valve's new prototyping facility, but manages to contain herself enough to not let slip exactly what her and her team are working on. When asked what the team's immediate goals are, she obliquely states, "To make Steam games more fun to play in your living room." That's the team's one-year goal, at least. The challenge is making games that require a mouse and keyboard palatable to people who are used to a controller, or to people who just don't want to migrate PC controls to the comfort of their living room. Working in tandem with Steam's newly beta'd "Big Picture Mode," Ellsworth's team is creating a hardware solution to the control barriers found in many Steam games. She wouldn't give any hints as to what that solution is exactly, but she left no options off the table -- from Phantom Lapboard-esque solutions to hybrid controllers. Regardless, it sounds like gamers will have a chance to give feedback on those designs, as Valve's hardware team is planning a beta for its various products. Ellsworth is hoping to have one for the team's first product in the coming year -- we'll of course know much more about the product by then, she says. Internal beta tests are already underway, and a variety of the team's prototypes are available in the office for other Valve employees to tool around with. The next step is getting prototypes into gamers hands -- she says Valve already has a production line for short runs, making a beta possible -- and iterating on design before launch. As for how the beta will be handled, she posits it'll be tied to Steam in some way, but no logistics are anywhere near nailed down. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/18/v...eri-ellsworth/ |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Valve's Gabe Newell says 'Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone' | Stefan Mileschin | WebNews | 0 | 27th July 2012 06:46 |
PlayStation 4 may have AMD hardware, launch next year | Stefan Mileschin | WebNews | 0 | 4th April 2012 07:11 |
Valve's sticking with Source for now | Stefan Mileschin | WebNews | 0 | 20th October 2011 06:39 |
Battlefield 3 Beta: PC Hardware Tested @ Benchmark Reviews | Stefan Mileschin | WebNews | 0 | 10th October 2011 06:16 |
Kinect Hack + Valve's Garry's Mod = WIN | jmke | WebNews | 0 | 14th March 2011 14:49 |
Valve's Steam Rakes In Almost $1 Billion in 2010 | jmke | WebNews | 0 | 6th February 2011 14:29 |
Hardware Intel Light Peak to Land Early Next Year | jmke | WebNews | 0 | 4th November 2010 15:43 |
Valve's Counter Strike:Source – Beta at Best | jmke | WebNews | 0 | 17th November 2004 09:03 |
Steam - Valve's best move yet? | jmke | WebNews | 2 | 14th September 2004 15:06 |
How much do you spend on Hardware each year? | A-star | WebNews | 10 | 1st April 2003 09:36 |
Thread Tools | |
| |