A while ago Gabe Newell the co-founder of Valve promised PlayStation 3 and PC player they would be able to play against each other on Portal 2. Recently Valve has come out to say this is in fact true and will happen via linking players Steam ID with their PSN ID.
Why does the fact PC and PlayStation 3 player may finally be able to play a multiplayer game together actually matter? Well there are a number of reasons that point towards possibly the future of gaming for all gamers.
First and foremost this news could affect how consoles are sold. Most people don’t choose a console by the exclusive games that it can play or the small features that apparently put it ahead of the others they choice the console that their friends are playing on too. Without friends to play with many of today’s games become a bore soon and this is why consoles sell on friends with this gone, allowing players to play with friends on other systems, it really will show which offers best value for money. Other factors many include the best graphics and exclusives but these can be factored into the best value for individuals whether they can afford to pay more for better graphics.
One of the other things it does, which is currently largely detrimental to the Xbox 360, is shows up that, its pay for service – Xbox Live – is in a way holding them back. Now before this turns into a debate on the Live Vs PSN front, Live has its advantages. However for the time being, the reason Microsoft won’t allow this to happen, so Xbox 360 player could join PlayStation 3 and PC players is because of the backlash the service it provides would entail. A note to Microsoft allow things such as this to happen for the good of gaming allowing friends to play with each other regardless of the console for the odd occasion such as this.
Another reason it overall matters is because for the first time Valve is putting major support behind the PlayStation 3. They themselves have emitted before that the Orange Box for PS3 wasn’t the best and this time around they are doing something about it. While I strongly doubt it, it would be nice to see this change from developers to be more caring for gamers; perhaps not so biased in the case of Portal 2 but striving to put out better quality games for all rather than yet another bug ridden title.
Hopefully we will see a change even if it only means more sales such as the colossal sales Steam has at times such as Christmas when full games are super cheap. It would banish the need for multiple consoles and really make comparisons between consoles even more pointless. Bring on Steam on consoles in the future I say but what are your thoughts on the matter? Comment below.
Waldo
January 23, 2011 at 4:46 PMI bought half live 2 some years ago. It’s now part of my steam account. I can download and install anywhere. Steam is fantastic. I might not own a physical copy, but I do like the install anywhere idea (providing you authenticate with your details).
Another good point is that if you own the PS3 version of Portal 2, you get a code that allows you to install it onto either PC or MAC. Platform independent game ownership? Oh yes, I’m for all for that.
All this after GN’s smalling of the PS3. Valve finally found some love for Sony’s black box.
Habiscero
January 23, 2011 at 5:05 PMXBL is the reason microsoft doesn’t do it. You could do it with Shadowrun.
The problem is that PC gamers win 95% of the time when going up against console gamers.
Waldo
January 23, 2011 at 5:27 PM@Habiscero. with portal it’s different. It’s a more educated game. Requires co-operative play and a bit of thinking. It’s not run and gun.
Anyway, A good console player knows his/her controller. I got quite adept at headshots in Uncharted 2 with a controller.
Chris
January 24, 2011 at 9:49 AMInteresting article… but the author needs to do some proofreading. Missing apostrophes, skipping necessary words, etc. “They themselves have emitted…” made my little gamer soul shrivel up a little bit. Feel free to delete this comment after you make the changes, if you do.
ItsAboutTime
January 24, 2011 at 7:06 PMFINALLY!!!! As a gamer, I have been complaining about this since consoles have been able to do online gaming. This should have happened with the dawn of the latest gen consoles!