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The Secret Prototypes of Valve's VR Lab. Hugh Jeremy's Blog - Meta Valve. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.

Hugh Jeremy's Blog - Meta Valve

The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. During Steam Dev Days (SDD), the air was positively buzzing with excitement. Developers of all stripes excitedly swapped notes and ideas, fed by the great content that Valve (and other) speakers were disgorging upon us all. The quality of presentations was generally excellent and comfortably eclipsed the general quality at Game Developers Conference.

There were many 'takeaways' from the event: At Unknown Worlds, we will no doubt change many plans and practices based on what we have learned during the various sessions. Step back from SDD and consider the holistic view. Any games company that aspires to lofty heights would do well to listen when Valve speaks. Their manner, their attitudes, their dress and bearing, their character, and their priorities were all on show. Gabe Newell Divulges Valve's Secrets to High School Students. Gabe Newell recently participated in a candid video interview with a class of high school students.

Gabe Newell Divulges Valve's Secrets to High School Students

The current Sports and Entertainment Marketing class at Tippecanoe Valley High School are a bunch of lucky ducks. Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve, was kind enough to recently join the class in a lengthy video conference session. Newell is a very successful man, so the teacher thought his insight into the entertainment industry might be useful. He goes over Valve's history and its current practices in a very candid way. The video is over 40 minutes long, but it's an interesting look at the inner workings of Valve. For anyone interested in the videogame industry, Valve, or what goes on behind-the-scenes of videogame development, it's a great way to spend 40 minutes.

Thanks Markcocjin! Valve's 'perfect hiring' hierarchy has 'hidden management' clique like high school. Valve, a Video Game Maker With Few Rules. Gabe Newell on what makes Valve tick. Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell (Andrea Peterson/Washington Post) Valve is one of the most successful video game companies in the world.

Gabe Newell on what makes Valve tick

The firm's online game distribution and multi-player platform Steam has 65 million users. At next week's CES conference, the company will announce hardware partners for one of its most ambitious undertakings so far: a line of gaming console alternatives running on the company's linux-based Steam OS. Episode 08 - What You Can Learn From Valve's Employee Handbook. Do What You Love.

A good third of the mountain of mail I’ve gotten since my first post has been of the general form: “What should I study in college/learn to do/work at to get hired at Valve/have a good career/have a good life?”

Do What You Love

The most useful response I have is drawn from my own life: Do what you love. There are no guarantees, especially in the short run, about where that will lead – but at least you’ll enjoy the trip, and it is likely to lead to exciting things. It is true, however, that it can take a while; consider my own long journey to being a full-time programmer. In 1975, I was a freshman at Clark University with absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Dick had the habit of writing each homework assignment on the blackboard (this was before whiteboards) at the start of the class that covered the relevant material for that assignment.

That summer, I decided to stay on campus, so I had to take a class. That was just the start for me and the VIP, though. Valve: How I Got Here, What It’s Like, and What I’m Doing. It all started with Snow Crash.

Valve: How I Got Here, What It’s Like, and What I’m Doing

If I hadn’t read it and fallen in love with the idea of the Metaverse, if it hadn’t made me realize how close networked 3D was to being a reality, if I hadn’t thought I can do that, and more importantly I want to do that, I’d never have embarked on the path that eventually wound up at Valve. By 1994, I had been working at Microsoft for a couple of years. One evening that year, while my daughter was looking at books in the Little Professor bookstore on the Sammamish Plateau, I happened to notice Snow Crash on a shelf. I picked it up and started reading, decided to buy it, and wound up devouring it overnight. I also started thinking to myself that I had a pretty good idea how about 80 percent of it could work right then, and wanted to implement it as badly as I had ever wanted to do anything with a computer – I had read SF all my life, and this was a full-on chance to make SF real.

Welcome to Forbes. Valve's Culture, Self-Organization and Scrum. “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” - General Eric Shinseki In the spring of 2012 Valve's New Employee Handbook was leaked.

Valve's Culture, Self-Organization and Scrum