1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

News Valve announces Steam Machine hardware plans

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 26 Sep 2013.

  1. Byron C

    Byron C Multimodder

    Joined:
    12 Apr 2002
    Posts:
    9,880
    Likes Received:
    4,493
    On the whole I agree with you about marketing, but "good" certainly sounds better than "low" when you're talking about specs/performance.
     
  2. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

    Joined:
    30 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    9,648
    Likes Received:
    388
    Does that mean people should call me good life scum now :hehe:
     
  3. Porkins' Wingman

    Porkins' Wingman Can't touch this

    Joined:
    23 Feb 2008
    Posts:
    2,897
    Likes Received:
    129
    All this Steam news is exciting, don't get me wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that it's a pity we weren't at this stage 6 or 12 months previous with at least the OS getting released in advance of the new gen of consoles.

    Consoles generally take a while to bed in, so it's not like Valve will miss the boat, but all this current hype will soon get drowned out by PS/Xbox chatter.
     
  4. Byron C

    Byron C Multimodder

    Joined:
    12 Apr 2002
    Posts:
    9,880
    Likes Received:
    4,493
    All it needs is HL3/HL2EP3/Whatever-they-want-to-call-it as SteamOS/Steam Machine exclusive. This was discussed just over a year ago... :D

     
  5. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

    Joined:
    14 Sep 2010
    Posts:
    1,940
    Likes Received:
    66
    My gaming preference is Keyboard and Mouse, so I will never willingly own one of these machines
     
  6. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

    Joined:
    29 Nov 2006
    Posts:
    5,634
    Likes Received:
    208
    Considering it's just a PC running an OS optimized for playing Steam titles, it would be somewhat surprising if you couldn't just plug in a mouse and keyboard.
     
  7. AmEv

    AmEv Meow meow. See yall in 2-ish years!

    Joined:
    6 Apr 2011
    Posts:
    1,173
    Likes Received:
    43
    ^Heh. HL3 released on Linux only for a year. THAT will drive attention!
     
  8. SAimNE

    SAimNE What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    23 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    122
    Likes Received:
    0
    ^i was actually considering the chance that he would wait until 2014 and sell halflife 3 as part of the bundle with the steam machines.... overall it would mean that his taunting number 3 over and over was a way to keep up, and increase in some places, the public interest in the game, and then finally release it and half-life 3 branded steam machines at the same moment.

    overall it would be a pretty decent business move since there is a RIDICULOUS following of that game that is bordering the apple cult :|
     
  9. blackworx

    blackworx Cable Wrangler

    Joined:
    31 Jan 2008
    Posts:
    77
    Likes Received:
    2
    Yup. I don't even complete one game a year and I'm desperate for it to come out. GTAV? Meh. HL3? *head explodes*
     
  10. d_stilgar

    d_stilgar Old School Modder

    Joined:
    11 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    1,041
    Likes Received:
    145
    That's me. I watch for everything Valve does. I haven't been able to get into Dota2 because I have a kid so I can't be stuck in a game for that long, and I feel really crappy sucking at a game and bringing my team down. There's a real learning curve to that game.

    So yeah. I play few games and am pretty much disinterested in most games, but I wait and search and predict when and where and how HL3 will be and how it will be released and what the game will be like.
     
  11. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,085
    Likes Received:
    6,635
    The FAQ on the official page, linked from the article, specifically address this: you can use a keyboard and mouse just fine on a Steam Machine.
     
  12. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

    Joined:
    14 Sep 2010
    Posts:
    1,940
    Likes Received:
    66
    Reading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market. I guess quite a lot in that market don't sit in front of their 55" TV's on the sofa with a keyboard and mouse. It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console. You could also assume that most don't have a desktop PC for gaming and a PC for everything else. So using it as your only OS on your desktop probably also wont be for everyone, purely based on the compatibility of legacy software and applications.
     
  13. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

    Joined:
    14 Sep 2010
    Posts:
    1,940
    Likes Received:
    66
    However, I do agree that a HL3 exclusive would indeed change all of that in an instant.
     
  14. sub routine

    sub routine Archie Gemel

    Joined:
    27 Sep 2007
    Posts:
    282
    Likes Received:
    2
     
  15. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,085
    Likes Received:
    6,635
    Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the rise of the tablet is that compatibility with legacy software has become less of an issue of late. Heck, even Microsoft has seen fit to release an operating system that can't run traditional Windows applications, never mind anybody else.

    Taking my workflow - and, I'll grant you, I'm a Linux user so it may be a little different to some - a lot of my work is done in the browser: RSS feed reading, document editing, CMS, email, calendar, notetaking - all take place in Firefox, which is cross-platform. Image editing is done in The Gimp, native but cross-platform, and more complex documents are edited locally using LibreOffice, which is again native but cross-platform.

    These days it's perfectly possible for mainstream users to do everything without ever leaving the browser - that's where ChromeOS comes in, after all - even down to using Microsoft Office, which is available as a subscription-based software-as-a-service platform dubbed Office365.

    So, thanks to the rise of the cloud, I can imagine that a SteamOS (or any-other-OS-with-a-browser) PC could quite happily deal with the requirements of upwards of 50% of users. Obviously, professionals who are tied in to a particular platform - graphic artists, video editors, pro-grade audio types, programmers targeting a particular platform, that sort of thing - won't be using it as their daily-use PC, but that's OK: that's not who Valve is trying to target.
     
  16. johnnyboy700

    johnnyboy700 Minimodder

    Joined:
    27 May 2007
    Posts:
    1,554
    Likes Received:
    18
    Not too fussed about buying a Steam Box as a general games machine, I prefer to do my gaming in the man cave (more like a man pothole these as my wife gradually claims it back in small parts) in peace and quiet.

    However, if HL3 turns out to be a Steam Box exclusive then I will be forced to buy one, I might even shake an angry fist at Valve for railroading me into doing so and shout "Ba*****s" every time I see any mention of Valve anywhere in the media - but I'll still buy one.
     
  17. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

    Joined:
    30 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    9,648
    Likes Received:
    388
    If you have read write ups and other articles how could you miss that SteamOS is designed for gaming from the sofa, in front of a big TV, in the living room, with a controller ? if you want you could use a K+M as well. People aren't forced to choose between a controller or a K+M the whole point of an open hardware platform is its up to you how you use it.

    And why would you want to dual boot ? or replace your current OS ? when the cheapest SB will be nothing more than a terminal streaming games from your PC to your TV ?

    I get the feeling Snips is a little worried his/her beloved Microsoft is under serious threat with the raft of recent announcements from Valve and AMD :hehe:
     
  18. law99

    law99 Custom User Title

    Joined:
    24 Sep 2009
    Posts:
    2,390
    Likes Received:
    63
    Hope so... that would be awesome... support for xbox controller is a must also.

    Let's hope that AMD really step up their nix game.
     
  19. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

    Joined:
    14 Sep 2010
    Posts:
    1,940
    Likes Received:
    66
    1) Reading the write up and other articles, I do think this is aimed at the "TV/Console/HomeEntertainment" market.

    It could easily work as a dual boot on most systems 2) if the OS is made readily available after the release of their console.

    3) However, I do agree that a HL3 exclusive would indeed change all of that in an instant

    However, nothing the AMD marketing department says would worry anyone since they have such a bad history of BS. But let's keep this on topic shall we?
     
  20. ChaosDefinesOrder

    ChaosDefinesOrder Vapourmodder

    Joined:
    6 Feb 2008
    Posts:
    712
    Likes Received:
    8
    This is completely dead on the mark! My PC is pretty much exclusively Chrome and Steam nowadays. Feedly tab for RSS feeds, Gmail tab for emails, Google Play Music tab for MP3s all of which sync to my (android) phone and tablet for out-and-about and sofa browsing. The only other program I use outside of Steam and Chrome is Capture Pro 6 for RAW image editing

    If it wasn't for the comfy reclining "executive" computer chair and the 27" Dell Ultrasharp monitor in my "computer room" and the shoddy quality of my TV that is at the bottom of the list of household upgrades, I'd move my PC into my living room! The only thing I'd miss from a Steam Machine would be the image editor but from what I hear, Google+ is getting extremely powerful and "good" at handling RAW processing of late...
     

Share This Page