Steamworks
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Valve, Nunchuck release Ninja Reflex over Steam
Valve and Nunchuck Games have tiptoed around caltrops and poison rice balls in order to release Sanzaru Games' "ninja party game" Ninja Reflex over Steam. The game, recently released for both the Wii and DS, leverages Valve's Steamworks tool set, adding some 50 new achievements not found in the previous versions. Even better, the companies hint at an in-game "basket" of Easter Eggs lifted from the Half-Life and Portal universe. Whatever that means, we want it. Beyond the added achievements, the appropriately dubbed "Steamworks Edition" also carries an attractive asking price of just $9.95 $8.95, making the alternative $39.99 Wii and $29.99 DS versions seem laughable by comparison. The game is up on Steam now, and is next on our list of things to get -- right after we finish eating this rice ball.
Overheard@GDC: Ken Levine on Steamworks
Throughout his discussion of BioShock's story on Wednesday, Ken Levine referenced the folks at Valve and the top notch work they had done on games like Half-Life 2. Before the talk started we overheard him talking about the Steamworks announcement, and when we joined a large discussion of attendees after the event ended we asked the man himself what he thought.What do you think of the Steamworks announcement?"I think the great thing about Valve is they understand you don't have to make every penny off of everybody every second to make the big dollar. Google has a similar approach. You don't feel like you're being constantly fleeced - Valve has a very sophisticated model, they're very smart guys, and I think it's really exciting. It's great for developers. It's great for Valve, it's great for everybody else, and it's great for people making games. How much do you think Steam helped BioShock?"I think one of the great things about Valve is that they are developers. I've worked with some big companies, and as developers they're professional, they're on the ball, I can't think of a single mistake that they made. They're taking it very seriously."
IGF finalist Audiosurf available for pre-purchase on Steam
Independent Games Festival award finalist, Audiosurf, is now available for pre-purchase on Valve's Steam service. Constantly trying to shake off the "rhythm", "racing" and "puzzle" genre labels we attempt to stick on it, Audiosurf generates three-dimensional tracks out of your music collection, enabling you to "surf" through your favorite tunes while collecting colored blocks. Audiosurf will launch on February 15th at the price of $9.95 (pre-purchasing saves you 10%), and will include the soundtrack to Valve's The Orange Box. You haven't experienced "Still Alive" quite like this yet, have you?
Valve shares SteamWorks toolset with PC development world
In a bold move to further establish Steam as the de facto PC gaming service, Valve has unveiled SteamWorks, a "complete suite of publishing tools" they're releasing to the PC development community at large for free ... as in no money. What exactly comprises said suite? Real-time stats on everything from sales (seeya NPD!) to gameplay (charts are fun); encryption tied to product activation (piracy-b-gone); territory control "to help curb gray market"; auto updating to keep your games up-to-date; voice chat for the eloquent discussion of gameplay elements while playing online; matchmaking support, ala Counter-Strike and TF2; "social networking services" like achievements, avatars, etc.; and fancy development tools for things like QA and play testing. Sure sounds like a lot, right? Devs can pick and choose at will, without giving the fine folks at Valve dollar one so, instead of reinventing the wheel, they can get down to the busy work of making fun games. Those games can be released on Steam (obviously) or even through competing digital distribution and retail channels. Jason Holtman, Valve business director – and winner of the most altruistic businessman of '08 award – told Next-Gen, "By not charging for this, it's just another way to get more people onto Steam and to enjoy all the games. Our motivations here are pretty clear." And with that, Valve has made their second big push to become the de facto PC gaming service, the Xbox Live for PC games if you will. It's your move now, Games for Windows.Read – Valve Unveils SteamWorksRead – Interview: Valve Unveils Steamworks [Next-Gen]
