Valve is a tricky company to figure out when it comes to virtual reality.
On the one hand, it is spearheading one of the most powerful pieces of VR technology the world has ever seen: the HTC Vive. On the other, it seems completely unwilling to provide its new platform with the guaranteed success of a title from its vaunted IP library.
A single Portal, Half Life, Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress game created specifically for the HTC Vive would cause an overnight avalanche of new adopters to descend on the technology. However, despite this likelihood, Valve has yet to even tease that such a project exists in any form.
The closest approximate would be The Lab – a collection of Vive experience set in Aperture Labs from the Portal series. This game could have easily been titled Aperture Labs but once again Valve is conspicuously keeping its celebrated franchises at arms length from its newest piece of hardware. At least the fan-made mod, Portal Stories: VR is a fun half-hour experience to quench the thirst a tiny bit.
Is Valve biding its time for a holiday push? Or is it waiting to see if VR truly takes off before it risks damaging the spotless reputations of its most celebrated creations?
These are all good questions and we do our best to answer them all in the podcast below:
GameCast Ep. 9: Is Valve Holding Out On Us?
Cast:
Joe Durbin – UploadVR Staff Reporter and GameCast Host
David Jagneaux – UploadVR Games Editor and All-Around Heart-throb
In this episode, Joe and David discuss all of this week’s major VR gaming news before diving into their big topic of the week: Is Valve holding out on VR by not releasing experiences that leverage its most marketable games?
Some highlights include:
-David’s explanation of how exactly he ripped his pants during his recent wedding reception.
-Our discussion of how VR could reinvigorate Konami’s struggling game’s divisions
-Our new segment called “What If” where we discuss what would happen if Nintendo released a VR headset
As always, thanks for listening and please don’t forget to subscribe to us on iTunes and Google Play. Also, be sure to tweet your “What If” suggestions for next week to @Joe_Durbin on Twitter. Best suggestion wins a sweet mystery prize. We invented the #WhatIFVR” hashtag for this purpose as well.
Until next week, may your lenses never be foggy and your head straps always comfortable.
