Ben-DutkaWell, this doesn't bode well for future PS3 Valve Software offerings, now does it?
The developer's head boss, Gabe Newell, hasn't exactly been quiet or subtle in his bashing of the PS3, and his latest little outburst has people talking. According to an interview he gave to Edge magazine, Newell has called the PS3 "a waste of everybody's time," and he believes Sony isn't going to "make any money off their box." His other comments are equally negative:
"Investing in the Cell, investing in the SPE gives you no long-term benefits," said Newell. "There's nothing there that you're going to apply to anything else. You're not going to gain anything except a hatred of the architecture they've created."
As we said, this slamming bout is only the latest in a long line of outspoken PS3 distaste from Newell. Back in January, he actually said Sony should just "cancel" the PlayStation 3 and "do it over," and a little after that, he went on record saying the console was a "disaster on so many levels…I think it's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted." And yet, despite it all, he still believes PS3 owners are going to to be plenty happy with their version of The Orange Box that is scheduled to arrive for "holidays 2007."
Thing is, the Xbox 360 and PC versions are already out – they launched on Monday – and the PS3 version suffered numerous delays. So it's difficult not to pin these rantings by Newell on frustration with the new hardware architecture found in the PS3. In regards to the game, he does say it's "harder to get it to the same standard as the 360 and PC versions." So maybe this is the reason for all that venom. But either way, we see plenty of developers who are excited about the potential of the system and…well, in all honesty Gabe, we're pretty sure the PS3 isn't a "waste of everyone's time." You know, we're just using a bit of reason and logic, here.
