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Gabe Newell Trashes Xbox Live

News

by Matt Bertz on September 09, 2010 at 04:38 PM

17,745 Views

112 1

Gabe Newell is never afraid to speak his mind when he perceives an injustice. The latest target of the Valve co-founder's ire? Microsoft's super successful online platform.

Speaking of Microsoft's unwillingness to open up Xbox Live so developers can issue patches and updates more quickly and frequently, the Half-Life and Steam creator told PC Gamer "We thought that there would be something that would emerge, because we figured it was a sort of untenable… 'Oh yeah, we understand that these are the rules now, but it’s such a train wreck that something will have to change.'" Newell also was quick to praise the PlayStation Network, saying "That's why we're really happy with the current situation with the PS3. We're solving it now in a way that is going to work for our customers, rather than assuming something is going to emerge later that will allow us to fix this."

Newell has a long track record of trashing platforms. When the PlayStation 3 first released, he unequivocally ripped the console, saying "the PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted." He later asked for forgiveness when revealing during the Sony press conference at E3 that Portal 2 is coming to the platform. He also spoke ill of Windows Vista when it launched, branding it a "terrible mistake" that harmed PC gaming.

In this case, we agree with Newell. Many developers have privately lamented the slow byzantine process of pushing a simple patch or title update to consumers. If Microsoft continues to keep these road blocks in place, it could drive more developers to favor the PlayStation Network and release their content more quickly on the platform.

Email the author Matt Bertz, or follow on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Game Informer.

Filed under: News, Valve, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, portal 2, gabe newell

Comments

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by Brett Gitchel Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 04:46 PM

*snip* let's play nice
by drsciborg Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 04:49 PM

@ B Money.

Uhh...no.
by Lockdown325 Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 04:49 PM

GODAMMIT MICROSOFT LET THEM DO THEIR THING!
by Gobzer Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 04:52 PM

This is probably the first time he actually is right to trash something. As for the guy who posted first.... Well Valve is probably the LEAST greedy company in the industry (they release so many patches and DLC for FREE), the games they make are awesome, and since when do they cater to Best Buy employees?
by Boudro13b Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 04:59 PM

I guess Microsoft could stand to loosen up a bit, but their validation process is what keeps everything so stable and reliable. After all, we don't want to start getting updates that crash our consoles or corrupt our profiles and save data, right?

Oh, and I have a feeling that the reason Newell is suddenly changing his tune, has more to do with the likelihood of a recent -- and large -- donation to his bank account, rather than some "quicker update process". I mean really, do slower updates have any significant affect on his companies profitability? I highly doubt it.
by WS-N Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 04:59 PM

Well, at least he is telling the truth.
by EverLast07x Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:01 PM

give this man a donut please.

i love valve. but seriously gabe just shut up. not a year ago you were bashing sony and the PS3 now you are trashing Microsoft and XBL. If you are gonna hate at least pick a side.

oh and if you own any valve game on a console and not a PC you need a cat scan. I prefer console gaming for almost any game but when it comes to Valve they cater to PC and PC only which makes this whole console war argument a moot point for valve.
by Ken Short Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:05 PM

*snipped* no reason for that
by Robert Quirarte Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:06 PM

Why listen to a hypocritical *** bag like that?!
by Giga-Gamil Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:11 PM

Welcome to the dark side, Mr. Newell.
by Chas Reinhold Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:18 PM

Gabe Newell and Valve are awesome. I'm glad he speaks his mind. Valve has been a consistant developer that has created some of the best game franchises of all time. If he has a problem with the way publishers are handling things he should have every right to speak his mind.

Oh and this fat geek makes more money and bangs hotter chicks than any of you internet haters.
Expert

by Nick Ahrens Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:20 PM

Next person to talk about Mr. Newell's weight is in for a surprise. (the surprise is getting banned)
by TheGetawayGuy Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:21 PM

I like Xbox, but I agree. The ability to effectively patch games would be great.
by Ian McNear Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:41 PM

Hey Micro stop being stupid and let the devs patch stuff!!!
by Strmtrooper1013 Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:51 PM

i really hope this is the reason we havent got much support for tf2 on the 360 instead of neglect on valve's part (the latter i highly doubt but you never know lol).
by Kyledk05 Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:54 PM

He's probably right. But at this point, it really just looks like he's trying to negate the fact that he had a hissy fit about the PS3 a few years ago. It's not like this is a new system that was just put into place, this is how Live's been for a long time.
by j grizzly14 Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 05:56 PM

(;_:)

Why does valve h8 me.
by BeatdownPatrol Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 06:09 PM

I am sorry, but STFU, Gabe.

I can't believe that butterball is criticizing somebody's process when Valve's development schedule is in dog years. My daughter was 1 year old when Half-Life 2 released and here she is...almost 7 years old and we are still waiting for Episode 3.
by Palor Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 06:14 PM

I am going to guess he may know something about this. Look at all the updates they have done for TF2 on PC and then how many of them have been pushed over to Xbox. Do you you think it is beacuse they dont care about there Xbox customers or perhaps Microsoft wont play ball.

IMO Valve is one of the best companies at taking care of there customers. Look at all the FREE new content they release for L4D, Half Life and so on. I would not be surprised if the reason Portal 2 wont be on Xbox is simply because he wants to make a point.
by mentalsick Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 06:25 PM

like i always tell people Playstation 3 FTW!!!