Valve sign with EA - bit-tech.net Forums

The_Pope · 20th Jul 2005, 13:46

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/07/20/ea_sign_valve/

BioSniper · 20th Jul 2005, 14:03

Does this mean every time I fire up my copy of HL(number here) im going to be FORCE to watch the EA logo like the rest of their games? I do hope not

koola · 20th Jul 2005, 14:17

I can't see this working very well!

{Valve + ATI} + {EA + Nvidia} = Trouble

kye · 20th Jul 2005, 14:22

noooooooooo!

i thought EA was losing money anyway?

Bindibadgi · 20th Jul 2005, 14:22

At least they havent sold out which is what i had feared.

The_Pope · 20th Jul 2005, 14:40

I don't think it's a big issue really. OK, yes, Valve did a deal with ATI. But NVIDIA gamers are half the market too, so Valve aren't in business to alienate those guys. So I'd be surprised if the ATI / NVIDIA thing turned into anything major. Certainly not anything that would become public knowledge.

I wouldn't be surprised if I was asked to "Challenge Everything" in future games though. TBH, EA's global distribution power is unmatched by anyone in the industry, and they spend big bucks promoting their titles with TV ads etc So I'm actually quite happy that Valve have landed this deal - higher profile, more sales = more dev of cool games.

adam197 · 20th Jul 2005, 15:37

When is the HL2 university expansion pack out then?

Bindibadgi · 20th Jul 2005, 15:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Pope

higher profile, more sales = more dev of cool games.

higher profile = more pressure to get games out quickly for more profits = more buggy games with less support?

Kipman725 · 20th Jul 2005, 16:06

please don't make me go through the 5hrs of video's you get before an EA game...

kye · 20th Jul 2005, 16:23

i wonder if EA knows its rep. maybe, the higher ups make money = must be good, so there ignorent about alot of EA dislike.

kiljoi · 20th Jul 2005, 16:29

I hate having to start EA games. I love it when some mod comes out and kicks the intro vids to the curb. If it wasn't for that, EA might be close to perfect. That's really the only gripe I have with them, so I don't think i'm gonna worry too much.

Firehed · 20th Jul 2005, 16:42

Well EA tends to stick a lot of crap ads in the game itself too, not just the intro. But yeah, the intro ones are killer. I hope that IF they do that, although I pray they don't, it's at least the .avi method Valve has for their own little logo in hl2 so it's ultra easy to kill.

But I did go, "Oh, crap.... bad!" when I saw the title. I think there would be an e-riot on the steamforums if they went and stuck a bunch of "ea is roxors!!" vids at startup.

Realistically I'd much rather see Valve become an entirely online distributer. Because nobody on 56k is nuts enough to download a 4 gig game (I hope....), and that move could both increase broadband usage and ensure they can sucessfully update their netcode to use the bandwidth you get with a broadband connection for whatever goodies that could bring in store for us. Sorry if anyone on 56k reads this, but if you are on it for any reason other than lack of availability, you have no excuse.

JonDixon · 20th Jul 2005, 18:02

Firehed - But why should I want to download a 4gig game. Even if you're on a 1Mbit connection thats still going to take some time.

Plus the whole no original disk, manual, box! I think its funny that people are happy to pay the same to download a game, then pay the for the cost of ink to get the manual.

56k'ers (Im not one) are not just on it for availability, but also due to cost against internet usage. Why pay £15-£20/month when only surfing for an hour at the weekend.

If everyone did upgrade to broadband and start downloading Gbytes of data, that might increase broadband usage but would'nt it effect broadband bandwidth?

Highland3r · 20th Jul 2005, 18:19

w00t great news.
</sarcasm>

Firehed · 20th Jul 2005, 18:23

Yeah, in theory it would bump up the demand for faster internet connections, which means they would a) be available and b) in time, become much cheaper. Verizon FIOS, in the places it's available, gives you 15/2Mbit for $50/month, about what my family pays for our 4Mb/384Kbit cable. Between formatting of my comp, I'll go through about 150 gigs of bandwidth in each direction just on bittorrent, probably another 50+ gigs down through http.

I hate using CDs to install games. Mostly because of the games that come on DVD (relatively few considering almost every gamer has a DVD drive), you need to leave the disk in the drive for a lot of them due to copy protection crap or wahtnot, and on the CD ones, same story but we're getting into 4-6+ disks for an install. I backup my steam install files to a DVD, and it's installed when I need it to be, including custom maps, settings, etc. No choosing directory and settings for everything every time (not to mention finding a dozen disks that need to remain intact for successful usage).

People using 56k for the cheap cost to surf for an hour on the weekend aren't gamers. So that's irrelavent.

Manual... useless for games really. Most everything is WASD controls now, and it's not exactly difficult to check the controls ingame. Not much else to know really.

dunno, my thoughts really. but electronic distribution is really the way things will be done, and is a much better content management system imo, no need to go to the store, everything's in a central place, etc. And you can use it anywhere, you don't need to tote your CDs around, etc. I can definately see something where your settings are connected to your account too (stored both locally and remotely) so you can login to steam at your friend's house and your settings are right there for you, etc.

ChromeX · 20th Jul 2005, 21:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

higher profile = more pressure to get games out quickly for more profits = more buggy games with less support?

lol bindi you wouldnt be refering to a certain game called battlefield 2 would you?

Bindibadgi · 20th Jul 2005, 21:16

meh just general cynisism

Firehed · 20th Jul 2005, 21:38

It's true though. As much as we hate waiting, we hate even more if the game is craptacular because it got rushed.

mobius9 · 20th Jul 2005, 22:03

Valve is such a high profile developer that I think they'll release their updates and whatnot just in the fashion like they are regularly doing.... but think how sweet it would be browsing battlefield servers threw steam.

Rich_13 · 20th Jul 2005, 22:39

I was kinda hoping vavle would sign with some one like codemasters as they need a bit of help (esp for the US market) and codemasters are a little ott with copy protection as well. oh well :-(

20th Jul 2005, 13:46	#1
The_Pope Geoff Richards Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 2,089	Valve sign with EA http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/07/20/ea_sign_valve/

20th Jul 2005, 14:03	#2
BioSniper I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Somewhere in the south Posts: 3,462	Does this mean every time I fire up my copy of HL(number here) im going to be FORCE to watch the EA logo like the rest of their games? I do hope not __________________ My Flickr :: Bit-tech Flickr Wii: 1792 1527 2926 7945 :: Xbox Live: BioSnipr :: PSN: Biosnipr

20th Jul 2005, 14:17	#3
koola Eat my... Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: UK Posts: 2,210	I can't see this working very well! {Valve + ATI} + {EA + Nvidia} = Trouble __________________ PSN: koola-uk

20th Jul 2005, 14:22	#5
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,286	At least they havent sold out which is what i had feared. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

20th Jul 2005, 16:06	#9
Kipman725 When did I get a custom title!?! Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: UK Posts: 1,753	please don't make me go through the 5hrs of video's you get before an EA game... __________________ Sn45g game server mod My Electronics Site Hardware: 3400+ Sempr0n, 1GB RAM, 1.28TB local storage, x1950pro,Razer Viper,M$ comfort curve 2000,L70S + 17", Fujitsu 17" CRT Audio: HD-650's, PE congress amp, Sound Blaster AWE64, Soundblaster 24bit

20th Jul 2005, 14:22	#4
kye Supermodder Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 267	noooooooooo! i thought EA was losing money anyway?

20th Jul 2005, 14:40	#6
The_Pope Geoff Richards Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 2,089	I don't think it's a big issue really. OK, yes, Valve did a deal with ATI. But NVIDIA gamers are half the market too, so Valve aren't in business to alienate those guys. So I'd be surprised if the ATI / NVIDIA thing turned into anything major. Certainly not anything that would become public knowledge. I wouldn't be surprised if I was asked to "Challenge Everything" in future games though. TBH, EA's global distribution power is unmatched by anyone in the industry, and they spend big bucks promoting their titles with TV ads etc So I'm actually quite happy that Valve have landed this deal - higher profile, more sales = more dev of cool games.

20th Jul 2005, 15:37	#7
adam197 Supermodder Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 505	When is the HL2 university expansion pack out then?

20th Jul 2005, 16:23	#10
kye Supermodder Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 267	i wonder if EA knows its rep. maybe, the higher ups make money = must be good, so there ignorent about alot of EA dislike.

20th Jul 2005, 16:29	#11
kiljoi I am a computer king. Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: pants! Posts: 2,302	I hate having to start EA games. I love it when some mod comes out and kicks the intro vids to the curb. If it wasn't for that, EA might be close to perfect. That's really the only gripe I have with them, so I don't think i'm gonna worry too much. __________________ I NEEED YOU AND TEH GUYS HELP ME TO GET TEH ORANGE BOX WITH WHICH I DONT KNOW I NEED TO KNOW FORM YOU

20th Jul 2005, 16:42	#12
Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An hour north of Boston Posts: 12,576	Well EA tends to stick a lot of crap ads in the game itself too, not just the intro. But yeah, the intro ones are killer. I hope that IF they do that, although I pray they don't, it's at least the .avi method Valve has for their own little logo in hl2 so it's ultra easy to kill. But I did go, "Oh, crap.... bad!" when I saw the title. I think there would be an e-riot on the steamforums if they went and stuck a bunch of "ea is roxors!!" vids at startup. Realistically I'd much rather see Valve become an entirely online distributer. Because nobody on 56k is nuts enough to download a 4 gig game (I hope....), and that move could both increase broadband usage and ensure they can sucessfully update their netcode to use the bandwidth you get with a broadband connection for whatever goodies that could bring in store for us. Sorry if anyone on 56k reads this, but if you are on it for any reason other than lack of availability, you have no excuse. __________________ hire me @ eric-stern.com - web developer and php ninja pics @ my smugmug :: Twitter @firehed :: blog @ firehed.net 40D\|580EXII\|285HV\|AB800\|70-200f/4LIS\|17-50f/2.8\|150f/2.8Macro\|50f/1.8 MacPro @ 8x2.8GHz, 10GB FBDDR2, 3TB HD :: MBP @ 2x2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD

20th Jul 2005, 18:02	#13
JonDixon Decking is the new modding Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Night Garden Posts: 695	Firehed - But why should I want to download a 4gig game. Even if you're on a 1Mbit connection thats still going to take some time. Plus the whole no original disk, manual, box! I think its funny that people are happy to pay the same to download a game, then pay the for the cost of ink to get the manual. 56k'ers (Im not one) are not just on it for availability, but also due to cost against internet usage. Why pay £15-£20/month when only surfing for an hour at the weekend. If everyone did upgrade to broadband and start downloading Gbytes of data, that might increase broadband usage but would'nt it effect broadband bandwidth? __________________ Jump in, we'll take you for a spin, and show you round the Wheelie World Rizeon S97V-GT - Awesome Gaming Laptop

20th Jul 2005, 18:19	#14
Highland3r I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Leeds UK Posts: 7,159	w00t great news. </sarcasm> __________________ Prawn or not...?

20th Jul 2005, 18:23	#15
Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An hour north of Boston Posts: 12,576	Yeah, in theory it would bump up the demand for faster internet connections, which means they would a) be available and b) in time, become much cheaper. Verizon FIOS, in the places it's available, gives you 15/2Mbit for $50/month, about what my family pays for our 4Mb/384Kbit cable. Between formatting of my comp, I'll go through about 150 gigs of bandwidth in each direction just on bittorrent, probably another 50+ gigs down through http. I hate using CDs to install games. Mostly because of the games that come on DVD (relatively few considering almost every gamer has a DVD drive), you need to leave the disk in the drive for a lot of them due to copy protection crap or wahtnot, and on the CD ones, same story but we're getting into 4-6+ disks for an install. I backup my steam install files to a DVD, and it's installed when I need it to be, including custom maps, settings, etc. No choosing directory and settings for everything every time (not to mention finding a dozen disks that need to remain intact for successful usage). People using 56k for the cheap cost to surf for an hour on the weekend aren't gamers. So that's irrelavent. Manual... useless for games really. Most everything is WASD controls now, and it's not exactly difficult to check the controls ingame. Not much else to know really. dunno, my thoughts really. but electronic distribution is really the way things will be done, and is a much better content management system imo, no need to go to the store, everything's in a central place, etc. And you can use it anywhere, you don't need to tote your CDs around, etc. I can definately see something where your settings are connected to your account too (stored both locally and remotely) so you can login to steam at your friend's house and your settings are right there for you, etc. __________________ hire me @ eric-stern.com - web developer and php ninja pics @ my smugmug :: Twitter @firehed :: blog @ firehed.net 40D\|580EXII\|285HV\|AB800\|70-200f/4LIS\|17-50f/2.8\|150f/2.8Macro\|50f/1.8 MacPro @ 8x2.8GHz, 10GB FBDDR2, 3TB HD :: MBP @ 2x2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD

20th Jul 2005, 21:16	#17
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,286	meh just general cynisism __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

20th Jul 2005, 21:38	#18
Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An hour north of Boston Posts: 12,576	It's true though. As much as we hate waiting, we hate even more if the game is craptacular because it got rushed. __________________ hire me @ eric-stern.com - web developer and php ninja pics @ my smugmug :: Twitter @firehed :: blog @ firehed.net 40D\|580EXII\|285HV\|AB800\|70-200f/4LIS\|17-50f/2.8\|150f/2.8Macro\|50f/1.8 MacPro @ 8x2.8GHz, 10GB FBDDR2, 3TB HD :: MBP @ 2x2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD

20th Jul 2005, 22:03	#19
mobius9 Supermodder Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Diego, Projects: 4 Posts: 347	Valve is such a high profile developer that I think they'll release their updates and whatnot just in the fashion like they are regularly doing.... but think how sweet it would be browsing battlefield servers threw steam. __________________ Boompack Crimson - Mini Project Log Boompack micro - mini project log Boompack mini project log mobius9.com

20th Jul 2005, 22:39	#20
Rich_13 Hypermodder Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London /Essex Uni Posts: 716	I was kinda hoping vavle would sign with some one like codemasters as they need a bit of help (esp for the US market) and codemasters are a little ott with copy protection as well. oh well :-( __________________ [Gaming laptop:][Intel Cour Duo2 T7200 ] [Nvidia7900GS GO] [1920x1200 display] [2GB DDR][Creative 6.1's ] My blog