Ingueferroque
Banned
What interests me is where they would cap the specs..
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Valve engineer confirms Linux-based Steambox for 2013, could appear at GDC or E3
- Thread starter alexandros
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outunderthestars
Banned
Well there is that, and the fact that almost everyone buys laptops and tablets now, instead of desktop computers...
I think too many people are still expecting this to be some Valve exclusive hardware. It is much more likely that Valve only offers some reference release, similar to how Google promotes Android using different Nexus versions and Microsoft currently tries with Surface for Windows 8 on tablets. Then it's up to all the usual PC manufactures to offer a variety of Steam-ready game machines at different performance levels.
And that may well be where the real audience for Steambox may be found: All the PC manufactures and retailers that currently suffer on the steady downturn of the PC hardware market. Microsoft wasn't able to salvage the PC market, and Windows 8 is only helping at fragmenting the market more with its focus on tablets. Intel's push for high power high return Ultrabooks is also largely a failure. Depending on how smartly Valve manages to implement transparent communication of power requirements by games in the store and clear power certifications for Steam-ready systems this may well turn out to be the perfect high-end PC system seller for a financially potent audience interested in the highest possible visual fidelity but unwilling to micromanage PCs on their own for that.
And that may well be where the real audience for Steambox may be found: All the PC manufactures and retailers that currently suffer on the steady downturn of the PC hardware market. Microsoft wasn't able to salvage the PC market, and Windows 8 is only helping at fragmenting the market more with its focus on tablets. Intel's push for high power high return Ultrabooks is also largely a failure. Depending on how smartly Valve manages to implement transparent communication of power requirements by games in the store and clear power certifications for Steam-ready systems this may well turn out to be the perfect high-end PC system seller for a financially potent audience interested in the highest possible visual fidelity but unwilling to micromanage PCs on their own for that.
IrishNinja
Member
damn, so this year will see 1 (if not both) of the other next gen machines, plus ouya and possibly this too? this is gonna be an interesting goddamn year right here.
I agree, I really think this is where the "Steam Box" is ultimately going. Like Google's Nexus phones, there will be revisions which introduce features / performance levels. With an open Linux based OS that's free to install, other companies are free to build competing compatible hardware.
Requirements for games could be simplified to "Steam Box 2013 or newer", helping the more casual market get into the PC games market. This would provide a base for developers to work against, simplifying the task of developing for PC.
In any case, it'll be interesting to watch, and I'm glad for the native Linux games we've gotten already!
fart town usa
Gold Member
I'd rather Linux than Windows.
Let's shake things up.
Let's shake things up.
the hardcore pc gamers only buy laptops and tablets now? don't think so.
there's always gonna be a market for desktops. some things need a lot of power and cooling to run at a decent clip. tablets and most laptops don't cut it.
I think valve should make a little box that you can hook up to your tv that steams from your pc wherever it is on the same network so you can comfy couch it up wirelessly with big picture mode. I dont want to get some stupid hdmi cables and shit to go all the way to my living room >_<
Linux & OpenGL are the challenge. Can Valve pull enough interest and support to get developers to accept the platform? Will Source2 not only be an updated engine, but an update portion of OpenGL? I don't believe it is impossible. Over a decade ago is was seemingly impossible that proper web browsers would ever break IE's death grip.
Simple fact is: Offer advantages, break the glass ceiling.
Valve knows this, but can they do it?
Megaton event or megaton disappoint incoming. Either way, get out the popcorn.
Edit: Also if the app development is open on the machine, and blue-ray is available for it? Could easily become the comfy couch media box of choice.
Simple fact is: Offer advantages, break the glass ceiling.
Valve knows this, but can they do it?
Megaton event or megaton disappoint incoming. Either way, get out the popcorn.
Edit: Also if the app development is open on the machine, and blue-ray is available for it? Could easily become the comfy couch media box of choice.
outunderthestars
Banned
I was talking about the PC retail market. Try walking into a Best Buy to shop for gaming pcs. it's an impossibility. For the most part the only desktops they carry now are budget models.
rohlfinator
Member
I'll be surprised if a Steambox entices me to switch away from my PC, but I could see both of my brothers being interested in this. They both have Steam accounts and have used it a little, but they're also laptop users that have no interest in building a desktop PC or buying gaming-grade laptops. This could be a pretty attractive option, depending on the price and game support of course.
I really doubt this is targeted (primarily) at hardcore PC gamers. PC gamers are already okay with the current PC paradigm or know how to use their existing PCs in the living room. Some might buy it as a secondary gaming device, but for the most part this will be aimed at the console crowd.
I really doubt this is targeted (primarily) at hardcore PC gamers. PC gamers are already okay with the current PC paradigm or know how to use their existing PCs in the living room. Some might buy it as a secondary gaming device, but for the most part this will be aimed at the console crowd.
bigdaddygamebot
Member
Uh no? This is designed to sell Steam. Why would Valve fuck over the customers they already have?
They won't sell the console at the expense of pissing off their Steam PC fanbase. This is a push to get more people on Steam, not less.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
God, I hope this is worth it...
Sentenza
Member
I think he was implying "Steam exclusive" as precluded to console competitors, not "Steambox exclusive" as "precluded to their Steam userbase".
Again, the Steambox isn't the platform -- Steam itself is. I really do think that some people are looking at the Steambox from the wrong perspective -- it's not an entirely new platform Valve has injected with millions in R&D costs pertaining to bespoke hardware architectures, but rather a smaller, more specialised Linux-based PC; the goal therefore is not to sell hardware but to expand Steam itself. Making games/software Steambox exclusive makes absolutely no sense; to reiterate, it's an option, not a platform.
All put together have a smaller user base than Windows 8 on Steam. It is even smaller than Vista and XP.
Horse Detective
Why the long case?
I'll follow Valve wherever, until they fuck me over hard.
GillianSeed79
Member
Isn't kind of a double-edged sword though? Steam is an amazing service, absolutely amazing. We celebrete the next million milestone all the time. What happens if Steam suddenly goes from 6 million concurrent users to 20 or 40 million? Are they stilll going to have weekend sales? mid-week madness? Holiday sales? I can't imagine they do a lot of the Steam sales out of the goodness of their hearts. It's about growing a platform. What happens if or when Steam enters the living room via a Steam-box? Are we still going to see sales or are they going to reach a critical mass where they don't have to mark down the prices on anything.
DiscoJer
Member
This goes back to what he said about Windows 8 in the Summer.
http://allthingsd.com/20120725/valv...-games-wearable-computers-windows-8-and-more/
His company makes and sells PC games; he sees Windows 8 (and future iterations) threatening that business, so he's making his own alternative.
It's not that there is a market now, but he's getting ready for a possible future by trying to push Linux as viable for gaming, just in case.
Of course they will, they'll have all those people who they want to sell games to. In addition, there will be the other stores that would benefit from the expansion of Steam, like Amazon.
IISANDERII
Member
Me.
Every single one of your suppositions are incorrect.
I think it's more than that. I think this may be Valve's bid to position Linux as a viable alternative to Windows for developers. I'm envisioning a Valve-maintained, gaming-oriented Linux distro for the Steambox that would also be available for anyone with a PC and the inclination to install it.
If they're able to somehow get the vast majority of my games working on Linux, I'd have no problem using it. I've never used it before, but I've never had a reason to.
Certainly, although I'd say not so much an outright alternative as an additional option.
Why would they stop trying to make money? They have sales because they make more money during them and even make tons of money after a sale when the game returns to normal pricing.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
There's no value making something like Half-Life 3 exclusive to Steambox unless that also includes PC. PC/Steambox timed exclusive or with bonus content maybe? But not outright Steambox exclusive.
GraveHorizon
poop meter feature creep
I can mod Steam games on my computer. Can I mod them on the Steambox?
Are you asking if a company that owes much of its success to the mod community will allow the Steambox to support mods?
Huw_Dawson
Member
As it will be on Linux, I look forward to the inevitable controversy over the fact that the entire thing is closed source. And the thousands upon thousands of thirteen year olds spamming Linux forums with basic user questions.
I look forward to dual booting if this bit of hardware takes off. A decent Linux gaming scene would help justify more of a move away from Windows.
I look forward to dual booting if this bit of hardware takes off. A decent Linux gaming scene would help justify more of a move away from Windows.
I do. Steam has left tens of millions of PC gamers this generation with large lists of Steam games they can't re-sell. This is going to discourage PC gamers from doing the usual PC to console swap that often happens at the start of a new generation.
Uh, why would they go closed source?
Given all that Gabe has said over the years about software-as-a-service, I really don't think we have to worry about Valve games being exclusive to Steambox.
The Steambox might turn out to be the preferred way of playing them though. You can imagine that the games will be optimised for the platform and the controller.
Frankly I'm surprised at the negativity on GAF over this. It's freaking Valve guys, have some faith. It's exciting.
The Steambox might turn out to be the preferred way of playing them though. You can imagine that the games will be optimised for the platform and the controller.
Frankly I'm surprised at the negativity on GAF over this. It's freaking Valve guys, have some faith. It's exciting.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
But what value is there in excluding PC, even if for a limited time?
Think of it like this: what is the value in having an audience on your hardware? Control, and profit. You want people buying your exclusives. You want people buying third party games for your platform because you net a small profit from those. You want people using your services and accessing your microtransaction stores, again for profit.
There's value in shifting Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo owners over to a Valve platform because on their chosen platforms Valve nets little to no profit. Third party sales don't matter, and neither do services. They gain profit from their games sold, but that's it. Similar to Microsoft releasing Halo 4 on PC, they'd net a share or profits from specific software sales, but that's it. The value is still greater in the audience buying their platform.
For Valve, PC is already the fabled Steambox. Steam users are already granting Valve profit not just from their own games, but from all third party sales. Steam users are accessing Valve's microtransaction stores. Steam users are interacting with controlled services owned by Valve.
So why shift these people across to the Steambox? The only value there is a once off purchase of hardware, which isn't necessarily nor all that valuable. It doesn't expand their market, nor warrant future investment beyond what they were already investing in PC. They've earned next to nothing by moving this market, and perhaps even hurt it by pissing off already dedicated customers.
The objective with something like Steambox is (I assume) not "Hey, you guys who own a PC, use Steam, and like Valve games! Buy this new piece of hardware!", but instead "Hey, you guys who do not use Steam or PC regularly/at all, but are interested in Steam services and Valve games! Here's hardware for you!".
What if they don't exclude the PC for a limited time, but exclude Windows?
Visualante2
Member
It will be interesting to see publishers answer "would your game be released on a hypothetical Steam box?" because I'm betting the big publishers are almost entirely "no" right now. It probably scares them.
AzureSkies
Member
Then people will most likely go through the effort to partition some space and install an easy linux distribution like Ubuntu (which can partition automatically) and download Steam.
They're not going to do that. They're selling steam, why alienating the PC platform makes even less sense than alienating consoles. It makes zero sense in fact.
Why would this be an enticing option from Valve's perspective? What would Valve be gaining by alienating its Windows audience?
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Why would they? What do they gain by screwing over the vast vast majority of their loyal customers? It'd make as much sense as Microsoft making every halo game from now on windows only and no longer releasing them on 360/whatever their next console is.
I don't think as many people will be willing to do this as you think.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
As others are stating, there's still no value in doing that. The only reason you want people to use your hardware (in Microsoft and Sony's case) is to guaranty maximum revenue from multiple sources (first party software, third party software, microstransactions, services, etc). Every single dedicated Steam user is already under Valve's thumb and there's little to no benefit moving them.
You mean fostering the growth of a non-Windows audience. With Win 8, MS seems to be pushing for a transition to a Microsoft-branded app store model as an integral part of the platform moving forward. How is that enticing from Valve's perspective? What do they stand to gain from it? Seems reasonable that they're looking for an alternative.
Timed exclusivity on another platform != "screwing over the vast vast majority of their loyal customers". Unless you consider having to wait a whole six months (hypothetically) being some sort of incredible screwing over that's going to ruin your life.
Chittagong
Gold Member
Microsoft should just allowed a Metro Steam app in the Windows Store with special rev share terms, and allowed Steam live tiles for games (with your latest progress, DLC, friends online flipping on the live tiles). I'd far prefer that to a proprietary box.
Strategic positioning. The same reason as MS's first-party output is a terrifyingly inscrutable mix of Xbox exclusives, PC exclusive, crossovers with compatible play, crossovers with incompatible play, and timed exclusives for one or the other.
If going timed exclusive for one title is what it takes to convince an ATVI or whoever buys the corpse of THQ that you're dead serious, it's probably smart to eat the short-term loss and ensure that you'll still be getting their 30% even if Windows does move to a walled-garden model.
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