Valve Chief slates PS3 but rates Wii over Xbox

January 23, 2007

This article over at XBit Labs quotes Gabe Newell, the chief of Valve Software, as 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. I’d say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a ‘do over’. Just say, ‘This was a horrible disaster and we’re sorry and we’re going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it’”

in an interview with Game Informer Magazine. While that’s pretty strong stuff from a major developer, what caught my eye was his view on the Wii:

“The happy story is the Wii. I’m betting that by Christmas of next year, the Wii has a larger installed base than the 360.”

As much as I love my Xbox 360, he may be right. Do I think the Wii is better than the Xbox 360? No. In addition to being my games console, my Xbox 360 has become my media centre too; its a small thing, but the fact I can show my photo collection on my plasma screen is something that has impressed many friends and dinner guests.

The thing is, if I want a games night with friends who aren’t necessarily gamers, I’m not going to be talking them through the controls for Gears of War or PGR3. We’re going to be playing tennis or bowling in Wii Sports, or jumping cows over hay bales – we’ll be playing games that a beginner can pick up and play almost instinctively.

I don’t think its fair to call the Wii a “next-gen” console, but the games I’ve played so far are easy to learn, fun to play and don’t require a 10-hour mega-session to make progress.

My view is that, in the long term, the Xbox 360 will outsell the PS3 by a considerable margin, but I hope that Microsoft are paying attention to the party-game-playability of the early Wii titles. It would be embarrassing to be outsold by racing-cows…

[tags]wii, xbox, xbox 360, PS3, valve, next-gen, console[/tags]

Posted in games