Valve experimenting with gameplay that changes depending on perspiration

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Imagine yourself playing a first-person shooter. As the gameplay gets intense, your heart starts racing. The game detects your pulse and the beads of sweat dripping down your face and in response, speeds up the action and gives you less time to complete a mission. But, if you’re calm and not perspiring, everything remains normal…. Read More…

Gabe Newell: Valve saw business spike 50% in 2012 thanks to ‘open platforms’

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Business is booming at Valve. The Bellevue-based gaming company is thriving, according to CEO Gabe Newell, who said that Valve saw a 50 percent spike in sales in 2012. He credited the success to having open platforms and gave an example of a recent Dota 2 update. “We were generating 3.5 TB per second — that’s… Read More…

Xi3 responds after Valve tries to distance itself from Piston gaming console

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Two months ago at the Consumer Electronics Show, a new partnership between hardware manufacturer Xi3 and Valve seemed bright and happy. The two companies had announced a “development stage system optimized for computer gameplay on large high-definition television monitors” — a device called the Piston that can run Steam-based games on your TV. Xi3 even said it received an investment… Read More…

Valve CEO Gabe Newell: Steam Box controller may measure your heart rate

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Imagine playing an intense horror game and having your gaming experience change depending on how quickly your heart is beating. That could very well be possible with Valve’s new Steam Box controller, as Valve CEO Gabe Newell shed some more details on his company’s first console, the “Steam Box,” a PC designed to connect to your… Read More…

‘Portal’ sitcom: Machinima hosting web series based on Valve’s classic game

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Portal fans rejoice: Online video network Machinima is hosting a ‘Portal’-themed live action web series set to debut later this month. The show, produced by Wayside Creations, is called Aperture R&D and will premiere March 15. It’s based on workers at Portal‘s Aperture Laboratories and, based on the trailer, seems to mimic the game’s vibe and dark humor. “Based… Read More…

Valve’s Gabe Newell to receive British gaming award for “exceptional contribution”

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Gabe Newell is already well-known as a video game legend, and now he’s being honored across the pond. The Valve CEO will be awarded with the British Academy of Film and Television’s fellowship next month. The award is given annually to an individual for their contributions to the video game industry. Former winners include legends… Read More…

Valve launches Steam for Linux with big sale

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After nearly two months in beta mode, Valve has released Steam for Linux. You can get the Steam client from the Ubuntu Software Center.  Currently there are more than 50 Linux games on Steam and to celebrate the release, Valve is putting on a big week-long sale with games discounted by up to 75 percent.  Valve… Read More…

Report: Valve letting go of several employees as part of “great cleansing”

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Valve hardware engineer Jeri Ellsworth made news this week when she tweeted that she had been fired, and now it looks like that was just the beginning of big changes happening at the Bellevue-based video game company. Gamasutra is confirming that potentially up to 25 people have been let go from the Valve Android and hardware departments…. Read More…

Watch J.J. Abrams and Gabe Newell talk about making games and movies together

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We wrote last week about director J.J. Abrams and Valve co-founder Gabe Newell giving the keynote at the DICE 2013 Summit and discussing making games and movies together. Now, for our own personal excitement, that entire talk is up online and you can watch it above. And there’s a lot more the two industry kingpins discuss, including an… Read More…

Check out Gabe Newell’s insane knife collection

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Apparently, Gabe Newell likes to collect knives. Sam Hulick, an award-winning composer for video games, Tweeted out this photo a few days ago from a time when he visited Newell’s office. I guess the Valve co-founder not only loves video games, but knives, too. Be sure to check out what Newell said at last week’s DICE 2013… Read More…