14 DAY TRIAL // Valve boss Gabe Newell has once again talked about PC gaming and how it can certainly replace the console-based one in the living room, provided there are features that enable such a thing.
Valve is more than just a video game developer, as the studio not only works on franchises like Half-Life or Portal, but it also maintains the Steam digital distribution service and is currently getting into the hardware business by creating the Steam Box mini PC.
According to the company's owner, Gabe Newell, PC gaming can easily be achieved in the living room, not just at a desk with a mouse and keyboard.
"We thought the distinction between living rooms and PCs was artificial. That's why we did 10-foot [Big Picture Mode], and why we're putting 10-foot into our games onto Linux. We don't think there's any reasons why these are islands. We don't think you have a different set of friends when you go into your living room... We think you can extend the PC totally to be in the living room," Newell explained in the latest Nerdist podcast.
The Valve boss also tackled the issue of having access to games anywhere, anytime and on any platform, saying that mobile manufacturers like Apple are reluctant to allow such a thing.
"Why doesn't my game experience continue whether I'm on mobile, in the living room, at work or on an airplane," Newell asked. "It's not because it isn't technically feasible, and it's not because it isn't the right thing to do."
"It's because the people who control mobile right now, Apple, have zero interest in interoperating well with the people who currently are controlling the living room, and they're completely interested in creating this silo separate from what you're doing on your laptop or your desktop."
Valve is currently exploring a lot of interesting ideas, from its Steam Box to controllers that take into account tactile feedback, so who knows what the company has in store for gamers.