Gabe Newell: fun is NOT realism, but reinforcement

Gabe is referring to psychologist B.F. Skinner's ideas on behaviorism in this clip. Specifically operant conditioning-- behavior is strengthened or weakened based on its Reinforcers or Punishments consequences.

Gabe Newel, CEO at Valve re: what is "fun."

It's not realism, but behavior reinforcement.

“I never thought to myself that realism is fun. I go play games to have fun.
[Fun is] the degrees to which the game recognizes and responded to the players' choices and actions.”

[davidvidya]

"We added bullet holes in the game not because it's realistic but because it reinforces the idea that you, the player, have impact on the environment you're playing in and that is where fun is drawn from."

[Sleygar]

0:04 "Okay… WHAT DOES THAT HAVE…Like…" We were this close to Gabe Newell's gamer rage. This close!

[LordVader]

Man, anyone else notice how thin Gabe looks now? Dude really worked on his health.

[jacohop]

“I get a narcissistic injury when the wall ignores me” the depth to this statement is relevant not only in video games 😅

[WardenOfTerra]

A great description of what 'suspension of disbelief' is.

[powchili]

I've never heard anyone explain what "fun" is in a videogame so well as Gabe has here. When I first heard him say it in the documentary, my jaws dropped. I was like "YES! EXACTLY!", I want to feel like I'm part of the world itself, I want to feel like what I do matters. I want the world to acknowledge my existence.

[OHHHHUSBANT]

The game industry really needs this wake up call

[RingTeam]

Remember: One of the most successful videogames in history is about an italian plumber who has to eat mushrooms and stars to defeat a giant turtle who spits fire

[-Metalblaster-]

I hate people that say that games I play are bad because it is not realistic and ppl that judge games only by graphics too

[MAD]

Bullet holes in the wall is such an unbelievable small detail that is so important

[fobo]

I like that he sounds genuinely frustrated when explaining the concept, he isn't just some business man, he was someone who GENUINELY wanted to make fun games, not money, or a safe formula he could pump out every year to safely print money from fans, no he wanted to push what video games could be forward in a meaningful impactful way, i mean even just the concept of steam is birthed from wanting to make distribution of video games easy and manageable so you can get to play with the least amount of hassle possible, and just look at how successful it is, these money hungry corps are frothing at the mouth just dreaming of how something could be so successful

[JCglitchmaster]

Nothing pisses me off more than someone saying "but it's not realistic" as an argument for why a mechanic sucks. Thank you Gaben for giving us a clip we can send to these idiots. You truly are the gift that keeps on giving.

[Hgfd-cg]

this is the most emotion he's ever shown

[RegularGillian]

This is something that a lot of modern games lack. They look shiny and beautiful but lack any details that sold you on the world feeling real and like you are a part of it as you play it.

[KitJaspering]

People get "realism" mixed up with "believability" a lot. It's a surprisingly substantial semantic difference.

[neetlikereallyneat]

Gabe's speechless stuttering after he says "but it's not realistic" because he still cant shake how dumb of a response that is is such a mood

[BigChiken]

"List of stuff I have to go to grocery store to buy" - that's EXACTLY what every Ubisoft-ish game feels like (Horzion, Assasin's Creed, Hogwarts Legacy, etc.) - doing CHORES. You open open world map and see thousands of "points of interest"

[LelloDalamiq]

My favourite bit about this entire bit right, is that you can hear it in his voice just how much this innately pisses him off that it's taken the games industry almost thirty years to understand what fun is
He's holding it back just enough to not cause offense and it's clear it's something that has bothered him for DECADES.
I wonder if he's seen so many great ideas and Nobody is getting where it could have gone, how it could have been. What a man.

[Juggs]

When people defend Starfield's planet exploration being empty and boring with "It's space, space is supposed to be empty"

[siberx]

A game can be deeply unrealistic while still being fun, as long as the feedback the player is receiving for their actions is sensible and rewarding.