Valve's Gabe Newell Disses DRM

Via GamePolitics: "When it comes to DRM, it seems that Valve president Gabe Newell is one of those in the game biz who wears a white hat.

That is to say, he espouses a reasonable approach, one that is not a de facto screwing of game consumers."

[ScorponokG1]

this guy is like us, he hates the drm strategy. we all think drm is pointless.

[die_fiend]

True, but the reasons he hates it are different. It's not edible so he hates it

[JsonHenry]

Steam IS a form of DRM. I guess he means that he hates other peoples forms of DRM?

Edit - As far as DRM goes, STEAM has my vote for the best form of DRM.

[SRU9600]

"

[lordgodalming]

I bought Half-Life 2 (PC) the day it came out a few years back, and I had to wait a day to play it because of the ultra uptight DRM that game shipped with. Either Gabe has changed his tune--which would be great news for PC gamers, since Steam offers so many titles--or he's pandering.

[ChampIDC]

Well, those were the early days of Steam, so they had some learning to do at that point, not counting all the other issues Steam used to have, but I think they have it down these days.

[uie4rhig]

key was used.. had to wait a week till i got a response from VALVe for a new key >.<

[vhero]

I agree Steam Is a form of DRM WTF is he talking about the hypocrite!!

[Ghoul]

well if you know gabe for longer you would know that

Gabe hates DRM taht isnt from VALVE, so he hates games that use extra drm instead of only using steam.

Steam itself is a huge DRM machine.

gabe stfu please your only talking crap all day long.
but i Love valve everygame is a must for me, but gabe is a douche :9

[ZootHornRollo]

gabe hates every thing that he didnt make or doesnt give him money or food.

NOM NOM NOM.

steam is drm nazi germany style. you know steam has a keylogger in it as with a backdoor so if you try to hack or do any thing with steam games they can stop you or much with your system.

[TheIneffableBob]

ZootHornRollo, you know slander like that is illegal, right.

[ZootHornRollo]

you doubt steam has a built in key logger and backdoor?

this isnt slander when its true.

and if gabe has a problem i'll toss him a box of doughnuts that should stop his crying

[Vistrix]

Steam DRM has its good points...and bad points.
Good:
-Its non intrusive (no "spyware")
-Can be installed as many times as you want, anywhere with an internet connection
-No additional "secuRom" bullshit. Nothing additional is installed, Steam can be removed whenever.

Bad:
-Steam account can only be played on one computer at a time (only 1 game can be played at one time even if you own 100s).
- Steam checks authentication every single time you load the game. A constant internet connection is required even in single player games.

Steam still has the best DRM system available in gaming today (in my opinion). That doesnt mean it cant be improved upon though.

[Leathersoup]

Woah woah woah. Steam lets you play games offline. I've done it before.

[TheIneffableBob]

Yeah, Steam has a built-in "offline mode."

[uie4rhig]

lol how? i've tried to play portal in college (where we're not allowed to plug in any devices to the network) and it didn't work :S eventhough it was started in offline mode :S

[Vistrix]

I thought that only certain games work in offline mode and you still need an internet connection every so often to verify the game...

[Bordel_1900]

Fatman

[Austin_SJ]

bubbles for making me lol at the tourettes esque nature of your comment.

[somekindofmike]

When i bought Half Life 2 at launch it wouldn't activate as the servers were too busy or something, I had to wait a day or two before I could play the game which I bought over the counter at a store. I had installed it all, I just couldn't get it to activate!

Now many years later I felt like playing Half Life 2 again! however for some reason when I reinstalled it, it won't activate my copy!!! so it won't launch. It most likely is to do with the quality of my internet connection, but I paid for the game with my own money! should it really be expected for me to have a decent internet connection just to play a single player game!!

I have never bought a PC game since Half Life 2 because of DRM and it's only got worse. I use to enjoy PC gaming more than consoles, but consoles have come a long way now and at least I can always just put the disk in and play!

Gabe my say what we want to here, but in my experience, his business practice is very different!

[lordgodalming]

Same story for me on HL2 launch day. Installed all the discs, which took quite a while, and then I couldn't activate the game to play online or off. Kick in the teeth. In all fairness, Steam has improved since then. But it's still DRM.

[fossilfern]

but sometimes i cant stand him he annoys me when he starts b*tching about something like he b*tched on about the PS3 hes just one of these people who like to complain about something

[somekindofmike]

Some times his PS3 bashing does come across as unprofessional in my opinion, but I bet the media has spun it and exaggerated it.

As a PS3 owner i will admit we miss out on the opportunity to play Left 4 Dead, maybe EA will port it next year, who knows? but what will really want to play is Half Life 2 Episode 3, I hope I don't miss out due to my choice of console, but if I do I will just have to find a way to survive.

[SRU9600]

You really should pick up a 360 now that they are $199, if you can swing it.

Not just for Episode 3 (even though that will probably be reason enough to get a 360) but for all of the other awesome exclusives, as well.

[PotNoodle]

If it won't run on your PC, try your toaster. Seriously, hl2 runs on pretty much anything.

[Pennywise]

On a sidenote, Gabe Newell praises BLT.

[pixelsword]

...made me spit chunks of sunflower seed all over myself laughing. :D

[pixelsword]

...from the guy who "doesn't make PS3 games" and didn't ensure that a patch for the PS3's Orange Box came out for a game associated with his company.

Or, it's not de facto, and Valve is just not as good at programming as other companies.

[Magic_The_Celt]

Valve's Game Newell Disses GYM

[nirun]

peter griffin?

[FantasyStar]

Yah, I hate that picture too. Can we please get a better picture where my initial thoughts won't be his weight?

[Arcturus]

steam is a form of DRM also. guess he don't like other studios forms of it

[thematrix1298]

I think this guy should quit being game developer and care more about his obesity and health.