For a long while, the video game industry had been moving forward in leaps and bounds. Every new system brought exciting new innovations as new technologies entered the field. However, gamers are finally seeing the industry plateau as the newest generation of gaming consoles offer little more than a sharper version of the same systems they had been using throughout the past years. But now, our 3D printing company in Seattle is pleased to see that video game company Valve is at last taking significant steps toward taking advantage of 3D printing technology to move the industry forward again.
Valve, the company behind popular video game titles like Half Life, has designs to enter the hardware field with its own new gaming console. Though the existing console giants have been surprisingly reluctant to take to 3D printing methods in their prototyping and manufacturing, Valve has reportedly been taking advantage of rapid prototyping in the development phase of their devices. They unveiled a printed version of their new controller at GDC 2014, the controller representing one of the most crucial pieces of hardware to appeal to the gaming audience. Since a poorly shaped or awkward controller can turn gamers off to an otherwise solid system, this rapid prototyping could prove to be a valuable asset for the company.
What else 3D printing might have to offer to the video game world has yet to be seen, though it is exciting to see legitimate companies finally considering the technology in their gaming applications.
