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theprof00 on 27 November 2012
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shakarak said:


well the prior point is probably the more relevant one considering their finances.  With their cutbacks, consolidations, and deemphasis on higher risk investments, I don't see a joint venture  being something they would ever do in the near future. Sony was in a much better money situation when they did the joint venture with Ericson back in 2001 and while it turned out well they were a much better fit for each other then Valve and Sony.  They both exceedingly benfited from it.  I don't see Valve really benefitting as much from this.

I'm not really seeing how you're evidencing this.
Valve wants hardware. Valve doesn't make hardware.

Sony opened up their network, and want to create an online platform.
Gaikai will make PC gaming available on ps3, or ps4, and open the last hurdle into open platform development.

Steam meanwhile is moving into, yep, Linux platforms. PS3's OS is BASED on Linux.

Not to mention, that Playstation is already moving into 500GB drive area. A disc based console does not need 500GB....that's 10 full BluRay games. PS4 will likely see further movement into 1TB drives.
Additionally, Sony is also getting rid of the cell, which was very difficult to program for. They have already confirmed that they are moving back to regular CPUs.

"According to Kotaku, the PlayStation 3's successor will abandon the existing Cell processor in favor of a chip produced by AMD. Originally reported by Forbes, Sony's shift to an AMD produced chip would stray from its current partner and AMD rival, NVIDIA.

If taken to be true, developers can begin creating games using existing AMD architecture, as opposed to waiting for Sony to release new technology. Considering this, developers could, theoretically, already have the tools to start working on the next generation of home console gaming. Straying away from proprietary technology can also result in more consistent ports between platforms, something that has been a tough challenge for some PlayStation titles."

 

Valve stands to benefit by shrugging off the closed Windows based platforms to a much more open environment where they can make a bigger slice of the profits. They would not have to make additional hardware, and could get an instant demographic of many many millions of ps3 owners.
Sony stands to benefit by allowing any and every developer out there, a way to publish onto ps3. It also serves to grow the Gaikai business, and also to push forward the age of digital distribution. Another benefit, would be to allow the cloud to power the gaming technologies to unheard of levels. With Gaikai and steam, a playstation 4 could be released with only a medium upgrade to hardware (trading out the expensive cell processor as well) to keep costs low, while simultaneously allowing certain demographics to play games that would blow away anything 720 could throw at it.