News Valve's Gabe Newell confirms the Steam Box project

Given there is no time frame for when this will happen they have plenty of time to get things right, this is probably the best news for gaming on the PC for a long time.
Having competition in the market is always a good thing, we have been locked into using M$ for to long. And i for one don't like the way M$ is taking things.

 

I was of this thinking. But reflecting on what you have wrote in the above, I can't help but think that steam and microsoft are selling very different software. One is pretty much a mobile/app store for the metro front end and the other is a windows desktop games distributor with a small amount of other desktop software. Perhaps I'm missing something.

 

Have not tried Window's 8 after updating my motherboard, because I tried to install the drivers for the motherboard and wouldn't accept any of them without giving a blue screen and this on a Z77 board that apparently support's Windows 8.

Switch it to Linux or Windows 7 and everything is fine, no BSOD's whilst installing or after installing Mobo drivers.

 

Not quite correct, but I doubt Valve will go with a middleware based solution.

On the Mac you can use products like wine or crossover to run PC games & software within OSX without needing windows, but the results can be erratic and it's by far easier to just dual boot into windows.

Valve could go down a similar route but I think it's unlikely. They'll want devs to handle their own games rather than try and handle all the compatibility issues themselves.

 

I guess Steambox will launch with it's 'launch titles', HL3, Portal 3, L4D3, CS whatever....and probably all of the previous titles will be free or dirty cheap.

Maybe they have streaming tech lined up? I'm fairly certain they'll move to linux and just undercut whatever % of sales goes to Microsoft and make it worthwhile for developers.

I don't know. I'm more curious as to how Steam box models will be released. Xbox and Ps3 have a 10 year console cycle, PC iterates much more rapidly, with a new significant bar set every couple of years.

 

Ah the professional nay sayers, the internet seems full of them. Every time a company tries something different all you hear is it won't work! Do you not think the guys at Valve sat down and had very similar conversations?

Either they're confident the machine will sell on the back of Valve games or they've worked something out with developers, after all PS3 games don't run DX either...

 

close enough for me.

wine like things can be a nightmare. I'd rather just have a virtualised windows for most desktop software. Obviously thats not all encompassing especially for games.

 

Nope. Windows store "sells" desktop apps and games as well. "Sells" is in quotes because for now, they redirect you to publisher site, but i don't think it will take too much time for them to sell the apps for real.

 

The icing on the cake for this would be if the Steam and/or game code was not specific to the x86 architecture; Steam & Steam games on capable ARM hardware would be everything that the Ouya should be. Of course you'd need an ARM SBC/core which supports full-fat OpenGL 4.x, not just OpenGL ES... but Nvidia's "Wayne" variant of the Tegra platform does supposedly have such support (as well as the new Cortex-A15 core design).

Sadly I think that support for non-x86 architectures is a little too much to hope for; baby steps and all that!

As for the nay-sayers... This doesn't mean that you can't still use Steam on a "proper" PC, so where's your problem? You can still have your full-fat custom desktop gaming rigs, and people who want a better experience in their living rooms can have a Steambox/Valvebox under their TV.

Valve supporting Linux is one step on the road towards shedding the dependance on DirectX and Windows; not that this should be the goal, but it is one of the things tying Steam to the "traditional" PC. Sure not every PC game is going to switch to OpenGL, and not every Steam game is going to be compatible with Steam Linux, but any step forward is a bonus for all of us. Right now DirectX does pretty much rule the roost, but there needs to be competition. How do we know that graphics APIs aren't capable of so much more if there's only one player in the market? Or for that matter whether or not manufacturers actually bother putting in any effort into their drivers when it comes to OpenGL? Someone has to put their family jewels on the line and lead the charge; I'm glad that it's Valve waving that banner. Much as people may lament some of their business practices, it would be hard to argue that Steam has not been a Good Thing (tm) for PC games.

 

Oh, and it seems I was right all allong about a Valve/Steam box (sorry to double-post but this seemed to warrant a post in it's own right, rather than an edit ).

 

It doesn't matter about the old games. What matters are new releases and Valve will be releasing them for Linux as well as OS X and Windows. Console users (and the Steam box will effectively be a console) usually want to play the latest stuff so it doesn't matter if your Saints Row or your Bioshock doesn't have a Linux version - because the target market for the Steam box won't actually care.

I see the Steam box being extremely good for Linux gaming.. assuming it does run Linux.

 

In Gabe we trust....

Seems to have worked out pretty well for him so far.

 

http://steamlinux.flibitijibibo.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

That link is going dead at the end of the year, so read it while you can.
Just adding onto what Gareth said.

And, from what I've gathered, the direction that Win8 is showing, eventually you can only run apps from the MS store. No side-loading. Which means Valve will get no chunk of the change.

 

I reckon they should release 3 different models - one budget machine that will only run games on lower settings, a mid-range machine that will give better quality/smoother visuals and a high-end machine for those that want all the advanced graphics features and a smoother experience overall.

 

I've installed it on 7 different machines, some new builds others a few months to a few years old. I can hand on heart say I've not had a problem and on each machine Steam appears to be working just fine.

The only thing Steam hits a bum note is on WindowsRT, so is this the "catastrophe" they are talking about as I can't see where else it's a problem. In fact, it works no different than it does on Windows 7.

 

You know all that consolification us PC users hate so much? You can expect more of that if this takes off.

Right now we're getting piss-poor ports from consoles featuring lousy KB&M controls to PCs because consoles form the larger part of the market. When there's a "PC console" i.e. an x86 console (that's succesful), all we'll get is the ports _without_ the consideration for KB&M users, because even the PC market will largely be using controllers too....something which I, personally, don't welcome.

We all want to support Steam because they bring us amazing sales - but let's not forget they also bring us DRM, accessibility issues (when their service isn't available) and, potentially, a departure from traditional PC gaming.

I don't want to be a nay-sayer, but I do not see this being a positive move for PC gamers. I see it purely as a way for Valve to increase their market share. Fine for them...but may not be so great for us in the long term.

 

its gotta be <£400
it's gonna have mid gpu
it's possible to update cpu & gpu every year
its probable amd will have a nice package that meets all those

 

"it's possible to update cpu & gpu every year"
to clarify: i meant they could realse a better model every xmas

 

There is a very strong chance I will buy this. Will have to wait and see the confirmed details but I suspect I will have a valve/steam box in my living room at/around release.