News Valve unveils its Steam Machine prototype

It'd make sense to have a desktop environment along with Steam for flexibility, even if Steam autoloads full screen, but in their final build they could just as easily have the option for it to boot directly to Steam (as is easily done with XBMC).

As to Ubuntu, I'd be surprised if it's not a Debian derivative given all their focus so far has been on Ubuntu.

 

Microsoft weighs in on Valve’s living room strategy, admits Windows gaming should be like Steam

 

Yeah, because Gabel really worries about game innovation. No, he primarily worries about making money.

And Steam will follow. What with many games now having an on-line multi-player component to them, prescription costs may be inevitable. Someone's got to pay for the server upkeep.

Tell you what, though: this guy has got it spot on. It also highlights that even Microsoft thinks that it is not very threatening competition for Steam. I think that Microsoft should have done much, much more to court Steam to stay on Windows. Give them their own app store on Windows RT, for instance.

Another interesting thing to read in this is how modest and complimentary a Microsoft spokesperson is about a competitor. No more arrogant dismissals and put-downs that come back later to bite them in the ass. Hopefully this is a new trend.

 

I did want a SteamBox ...

Now I want a BattleBox running SteamOS!!

http://www.geforce.co.uk/whats-new/articles/nvidia-geforce-gtx-battlebox

 

Are they not two sides of the same coin ?

Newell has actual gone on record that he wants the opposite of subscription based services, in fact Newell himself admits, Steam is a "dictatorship," and that has to change. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/186168/

As for server costing money to run, that is true but then how do you explain the thousands of free TF2, DOTA 2, CSS servers, and many many other non subscription based games ?

And as i quoted earlier from the original interview on Gamesbeat with Phil Harrison he say they neglected gaming on the PC in favor of the Xbox, but even though i have re-read it i cant find the part were he mentions that "Microsoft thinks that it is not very threatening competition for Steam." In fact he says...

 

Not necessarily, no. Ask Coca-Cola.

Google once said: "Don't be evil".

How much do those games cost again? Not an option with Steam games by Indy companies that cost a fiver.

He says that Valve is doing something that Microsoft should have been doing; that Microsoft needs to focus and catch up in that area.

 

Sorry you've lost me

Yes nice marketing ploy wasn't it, after all what is evil ? using unambiguous words like evil are not comparable with actually saying what you want or don't want to do.

TF2 is free, DOTA 2 is free, CSS is £13.99, but there are a good few free games running free servers on steam. http://store.steampowered.com/genre/Indie/

So shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted you mean ? Microsoft has neglected PC gaming for the last 12 odd years, instead preferring to concentrate on the Xbox.

Its another reason why Windows is far from ideal when it comes to playing games, since XP Microsoft focused on making Windows more stable (Vista onwards) and now they are focusing on mobile computing with Windows 8 onwards.

 

Not wanting to get involved really, but while yes both DOTA and TF2 are free, they are full of micro-transactions, I remember reading a while back that since TF2 went F2P it was earning more than than when you had to pay for it, and in my mind micro-transactions are very similar to a subscription based service, potentially even worse.

 

I don't care about micro-transaction if they are "purely cosmetic". PathOfExile is free and has micro-transaction, but they are all comestic (change the way your spell / items llok, add a pet that only follow you). The only non-cosmetic one it the possibility to buy additional tabs for your stab / crest (but it's not really necessary to enjoy the game).

I stopped playing gunbound because of the "Power user", using the credit card to buy stuff. That was very unfair and created unbalanced match.

About Microsoft, I started to hate them when I installed XP, to discovered that they retired from PC peripheral and I was unable to use my MS gampeds. I had to use generic driver and lost the possibility to program my expensive dual strike (trigger acting like mouse buttons, game button acting like keyboard keys or combo or keys).

 

F2P is a diverse debate. I never cease to be amused at the people who rant on forums about how unfair a game is when someone can buy game-changing stuff. The irony is that if people liked a game in the old days they would pay between £24.99 and £34.99 (give or take). These days they get a game for free and moan that someone dare spend money to gain an advantage - even though that transaction has also financed their own enjoyment of said game. The best thing to do is stop being a freeloader and pay to play - or just dont bother sucking the life out of a community who do want to enjoy the game, and go BUY a game like the old days.

 

Getting involved is what open forums are all about imho
Yes they both feature micro-transactions, i can only speak about TF2 as i hated DOTA when i gave it a try. With TF2 afaik it does make more money now than when you had to pay for it, so in effect it cost anything from £0 to £9999

I don't mind micro-transactions as long as its like GuilleAcoustic says "purely cosmetic" its when it becomes P2W that it sucks.

 

I DO buy games, I just don't like the principle of PAY TO WIN. I never cracked a game and always paid for them, even multiple times for some of my fav games (paid for FF7 on PC, then re-paid to get the PS1 version to play it on my PS2, then re-paid for the PSP one via classic PSN). I never give $0 to the Indie because I support the charity and the Linux gaming.

I'm a former game developer, so I get your point, but game based on PVP only should not propose buying stuff with real money ... it just ruin everything. It's not the fact of paying to play that I criticize, but the PAY TO WIN. Just look at D3 and the auction house, it ruined everything.

Look at POE model, cosmetic microtransaction works well. I understand you position, many people around me doesn't want to pay and often give the worst argument I've ever heard : "I've already paid 500e for the PS3, I won't pay for the game" ... no comment.

People buy an eBook reader and download thousands of ebook illegaly), torrent and alikes are everywhere. I had a debate with some collegues about Newsgroups recently. I can't understand how you can live when paying a guy to get "unlimited access" to illegal things. Newsgroups holder are making money with the work of other peoples without giving them anything.

I bought all my games (prolly over a hundred), I have like 200 dvd (all bought) and even more cd (bought too). I cannot buy too many of them each month, if I want something I just wait to have the income instead of going the torrent way to have it right now at zero cost.

Edit: A month ago my nefew asked me to get him a cracked version of 3DS ... instead of that, I taught him Skecthup, Gimp, mypaint, Blender. Gave him tons of link for those free software and he understood that free softwares can do the job pretty well ... instead of just pirated version of commercial softs.

 

Some products are sold on the principle that they haven't changed since the company was established in the 1900's.

OK, more specific: Google broke its 2005 promise to never show banner ads. Companies change their minds, like people do.

Yup, as Microsoft is wont to do.

 

Buts its not like they don't innovate or change, cocaine is no longer an ingredient and remember the new Coke in the 80's then there is Cherry Cola, Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free Diet Coke, Cola with Lemon, Cola Vanilla, Cola with Lime, Cola Orange. Then there are all the changes made to the bottles and the logo.

Yes and when they do people get miffed and start looking for alternatives, opening the market up for another company to offer what people want. If Newell started to do U turns on the openness of the software and hardware people would look for alternatives and vote with their wallets, just as they do with other products.

Sorry i think im having a brain burp, or that sentence really doesn't make sense

 

What a pleasure to have an explaination ! (+rep for that). Computing history is the most interesting, I'm not really having fun with today's computer. That's why I'm heading to an ARM dev rig, maybe the way to find once again the joy I had on my early computing days

 

Ahhh thank you for educating me

You will soon be a rival to Bletchley park

 

Our minds are connected ... read my last post to my Amiga reborn project : http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=3448160#post3448160