E3 2014 - What do you hope is announced?

bluenoseam

Generation has nothing to do with regards to Half Life - they are designed & built for PC gamers whereby generations exist but merely as a guideline not an absolute.

Crazy_Jamie

bluenoseam wrote: »

Generation has nothing to do with regards to Half Life - they are designed & built for PC gamers whereby generations exist but merely as a guideline not an absolute.

I wasn't talking about this generation from a technical standpoint, I was talking about it from a sales standpoint. Previous games in the series have all launched on PC first with various console versions following on. Half Life 3 will be different in that it will inevitably launch on PC and the most up to date home consoles simultaneously. That won't make a difference from a technical standpoint, but I expect Valve will want larger user bases on the home consoles than currently exist, hence my reference to it being too early in the generation.

bluenoseam

I'll respectfully disagree with you on that. Valve don't "care" about the boost in sales figures they'd get from a simultaneous launch, they do however "care" about the PR disaster that would inevitably follow if they did. Being brutally honest here, Valve couldn't care less if they annoy console gamers, but they're not about to annoy PC gamers, that's an incredibly stupid & illogical move for them to make.

The reason Half Life has always been purely ported onto consoles as opposed to simultaneous releases is that they're designed 100% with PC in mind. It so happens that they've been able to port them thus far, but it's always been a secondary market knowing that PC offers the greatest possible experience. Even in the "new" generation, consoles cannot get close to the environment of PC gaming, by mere design they're already at a significant disadvantage due to being closed platforms. With closed platforms Half Life would not have the same feel as it does thanks to PC's capabilities.

If it'd been Crysis or MoH I'd go ahead and say yeah they'll launch simultaneously, but Half Life is a PC game & a console port, that will always launch PC first.

ITonyI

I reckon we'll see HL3 around the time Valve's ready to reveal Source 2. They've said they only want to do HL3 when it can offer something new and different. The debut of their new game engine sounds like the perfect excuse, especially if it's anywhere near as resilient and modable as the original Source engine.

PenguinJim

We got Steam with HL2.

HL3 might be about Source 2 + their new controller + VR headset (e.g. OR) support.

maurice28

I would humbly suggest that we might only see HL3 when the Steamboxes are released.

bluenoseam

maurice28 wrote: »

I would humbly suggest that we might only see HL3 when the Steamboxes are released.

That would be the big curveball, might just be me though but I see those as PC lite!

Crazy_Jamie

bluenoseam wrote: »

I'll respectfully disagree with you on that. Valve don't "care" about the boost in sales figures they'd get from a simultaneous launch, they do however "care" about the PR disaster that would inevitably follow if they did. Being brutally honest here, Valve couldn't care less if they annoy console gamers, but they're not about to annoy PC gamers, that's an incredibly stupid & illogical move for them to make.

The reason Half Life has always been purely ported onto consoles as opposed to simultaneous releases is that they're designed 100% with PC in mind. It so happens that they've been able to port them thus far, but it's always been a secondary market knowing that PC offers the greatest possible experience. Even in the "new" generation, consoles cannot get close to the environment of PC gaming, by mere design they're already at a significant disadvantage due to being closed platforms. With closed platforms Half Life would not have the same feel as it does thanks to PC's capabilities.

If it'd been Crysis or MoH I'd go ahead and say yeah they'll launch simultaneously, but Half Life is a PC game & a console port, that will always launch PC first.

Nothing wrong with disagreement; ultimately neither of us can know exactly what Valve are thinking. It'll be interesting to revisit this to see what they actually do. I agree that you have history on your side, but in the current market I see Half Life 3 launching across all platforms simultaneously. I don't see that move causing widespread annoyance amongst the PC community providing the PC version doesn't suffer as a result, which I highly doubt it will given Valve's track record. Some may well be annoyed, but frankly for me such a reaction would be remarkably precious.


I do agree with you that Half Life 3 with Steamboxes seems unlikely. Half Life 3 with Source 2 is much more likely.

bluenoseam

The problem is the PC community will invariably suffer as a result of launching at the same time as a console version as corners will be cut to enable it. (See Crysis 2 for example!) You're underestimating just how nippy the PC gaming community is, it's not that we're all precious, but those who are well, lets just say they whine a lot!

Crazy_Jamie

bluenoseam wrote: »

The problem is the PC community will invariably suffer as a result of launching at the same time as a console version as corners will be cut to enable it. (See Crysis 2 for example!) You're underestimating just how nippy the PC gaming community is, it's not that we're all precious, but those who are well, lets just say they whine a lot!

Ha! No argument from me on the whining front. I do appreciate how nippy the community is; once upon a time I was part of it, albeit I didn't do much complaining because I always had consoles on the go to some degree. If the game is launched simultaneously and does suffer as a result, a backlash would be justified to a degree. Crysis 2 is a good example of a game that really suffered due to concessions. I just hope and perhaps trust that Valve won't do the same; I genuinely hope Half Life 3 is as good as it can be. If it is it might well prompt me to invest in a gaming rig for the first time in quite a while.