Apple presents biggest threat to home consoles, say game luminaries

The apple-tviPhone has already had a sizable impact on the traditional portable video game industry, but two video game VIPs are cautioning that the company could have a much larger — and potentially devastating — impact on the home console market.

Valve Software co-founder Gabe Newell and Nat Brown, who was one of the first engineers on Microsoft’s Xbox project, have issued warnings about Apple’s potential threat. The alerts come amid analyst speculation that Apple may hold an Apple TV-related special event next month.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Valve touts PCs for videogame innovation

The variety-logobulk of the media focus in the videogame world might be on the mobile and consoles, but Valve Software co-founder Gabe Newell thinks they’re looking at the wrong platform.

In his keynote address at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, Newell evangelized the potential of the PC ecosystem, noting that it would help revolutionize the living room.

Read more at Daily Variety

Game pantheon inductees

Gabe honorees-gabe-newellNewell, latest inductee in the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, has helped revolutionize the videogame industry.

The co-founder and managing director of Valve Software has overseen development on several beloved and influential franchises, including “Half-Life,” “Portal” and “Left 4 Dead.” And he led the charge in digital distribution efforts with Steam, Valve’s online sales and digital rights management platform. With more than 54 million users, Steam’s sales have doubled every year since 2005. Forbes estimates Steam sales make up 50%-70% of the $4 billion downloaded PC game market — and give publishers a much bigger profit margin.

Read more at Daily Variety

Valve’s Gabe Newell Takes Video Gaming to the Next Level

If you ever find yourself sitting across from Gabe Newell at a poker table, do yourself a favor. Walk away.

Forbes magazine recently added Newell, co-founder and managing director of the video-game superpower Valve Software, to its list of the world’s billionaires, estimating his net worth at $1.5 billion. That figure will likely only grow thanks to his latest gamble, called Steam, which is rapidly becoming for gaming what ITunes is to music.

Read more at CNBC.com

Valve Software founder sees big gaming future for Apple

Steve Jobs never had a lot of interest in the video game world, but that didn’t stop Apple from accidentally becoming one of the most influential companies in the industry.

Now, the founder of Valve Software, makers of the acclaimed “Half-Life” series and Steam digital distribution system, says he believes Apple could make Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo’s consoles irrelevant at some point in the future.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog