Steam Coming to TVs in Big Picture Mode Beta Next Month

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Steam Coming to TVs in Big Picture Mode Beta Next Month

Valve is exploring the possibility of utilizing Steam on additional hardware.

First teased in early 2011 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108090-Valve-Teases-Steams-Big-Picture-Mode-for-TV], Valve's Big Picture Mode is becoming a reality. The service will go into beta early next month, allowing gamers to use "see Steam reformatted for your TV and usable with a PC game controller or a mouse and keyboard."

As Valve's Greg Coomer points out in a recent GameTrailers TV interview, "there are some games that are better made for a controller input," such as PC ports of console games, for which Big Picture would be ideal. Of course, those who prefer the mouse and keyboard can stick with them and still enjoy seeing their games optimized on a big TV screen. Valve wasn't clear on exactly how Big Picture will work, but the Steam website [http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/thebigpicture.php] states that it "doesn't require any additional development" from gamers.

It's easy to speculate that Big Picture could lead to the long-rumored Steam console, and the possibility of using additional hardware to bring Steam to televisions hasn't been ruled out completely. In the same episode, Gabe Newell said, "We show hardware guys and say, 'if this is a useful tool for you to deliver your hardware in the living rooms, that's great. And if you want to run it on top of Windows that's fine, and if you want to run it on top of Linux that's fine.'"

With the Big Picture beta due to start in "early September," it shouldn't be much longer until more specific details are revealed. Coomer did mention that "everything'll be there," meaning your entire Steam library should be available on your television once Big Picture is up and running.

Source: Destructoid [http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/ncis3o/gt-tv-valve]

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[NLS]

Valve wasn't clear on exactly how Big Picture will work, but the Steam website [http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/thebigpicture.php] states that it "doesn't require any additional development" from gamers.

This should be corrected to developers, and not gamers. Even though the original article only says "You", it is located under their developer sites, and is therefore referring to developers who want to take advantage of the Big Picture mode. It's not made to advertise Big Picture for the average gamer, but rather as a selling point for developers who want to take advantage of Steamworks and the features that come with it.

OT: Hoping to get into the beta, so far we've seen nothing of how this looks or works, but my living room PC is in desperate need of a proper gaming front-end.

 

[newwiseman]

I don't get it, Is this a console version of steam?

I'm already using my 360 controller with my PC on my TV to play games. A reskinning of steam isn't going to change anything.

 

[NLS]

I don't get it, Is this a console version of steam?

I'm already using my 360 controller with my PC on my TV to play games. A reskinning of steam isn't going to change anything.

Yes it will. The current Steam UI doesn't support gamepads, and isn't very couch-friendly.

 

[godofallu]

I am on steam with my 32 inch TV right now, and the text is quite small. Once I get into a game I just hit fullscreen and everything works fine though.

I'm curious as to what they are going to do.

 

[GeorgW]

I'm guessing this is a response to Ouya?
Maybe I haven't done enough research, but this seems like something that could be just as easily achieved with an HDMI cable to connect your PC to your TV. What's the difference?

 

[newwiseman]

I don't get it, Is this a console version of steam?

I'm already using my 360 controller with my PC on my TV to play games. A reskinning of steam isn't going to change anything.

Yes it will. The current Steam UI doesn't support gamepads, and isn't very couch-friendly.

So it's Valves belief that I'll want to launch games from the Steam library using a controller. I follow now, still won't change anything, at least for me.

 

[NLS]

I'm guessing this is a response to Ouya?
Maybe I haven't done enough research, but this seems like something that could be just as easily achieved with an HDMI cable to connect your PC to your TV. What's the difference?

No, this was announced back in 2011. As stated previously, it provides a better UI that can be controlled with your gamepad. This is supposed to be used with a PC connected to a TV by HDMI (or other interface). Anyone who has done that, will notice that using Steam with keyboard an mouse on a 42 inch TV in your couch isn't as practical as it may sound.

 

[GeorgW]

I'm guessing this is a response to Ouya?
Maybe I haven't done enough research, but this seems like something that could be just as easily achieved with an HDMI cable to connect your PC to your TV. What's the difference?

No, this was announced back in 2011. As stated previously, it provides a better UI that can be controlled with your gamepad. This is supposed to be used with a PC connected to a TV by HDMI (or other interface). Anyone who has done that, will notice that using Steam with keyboard an mouse on a 42 inch TV in your couch isn't as practical as it may sound.

Yeah, I've tried that, not the best. Good to see them getting at it, but the timing does sound like a response to Ouya, even if it was announced a while ago.

 

[Zer_]

I'm guessing this is a response to Ouya?
Maybe I haven't done enough research, but this seems like something that could be just as easily achieved with an HDMI cable to connect your PC to your TV. What's the difference?

Steam doesn't have native controller support. You know I'm actually thinking this could be the first step towards having Steam available on Ouya.

 

[GeorgW]

I'm guessing this is a response to Ouya?
Maybe I haven't done enough research, but this seems like something that could be just as easily achieved with an HDMI cable to connect your PC to your TV. What's the difference?

Steam doesn't have native controller support. You know I'm actually thinking this could be the first step towards having Steam available on Ouya.

I'd love to see that, and given that Ouya's supposed to be completely hackable, it probably wouldn't be hard at all. The game performances might be an issue though...

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Doesn't make any difference to me, my monitor is sufficiently big and full 1080p HD anyway.

Sounds like a nice idea though, because it means that people shouldn't need a console for any reason. Wait, is Valve just trying to overthrow Microsoft/Sony?

 

[sethisjimmy]

Eh, can't most people do this already? Just hook your pc up to your tv and use a gamepad? I know you'll still need to use a mouse and keyboard to use steam's UI, but it's really not a big deal if my PC is already hooked up to my T.V. because i'll still be using mouse and keyboard for internet browsing, etc, not a gamepad.

 

[octafish]

I'm wondering how this will look. I don't have a console so I don't know how they do it. Tiles with say 20 to 30 a page? That seems clunky when you have over 100 titles in your library. Maybe just tiles for installed games? That would clean it up. I assume all controllers will be supported? At the moment I'm just using Metro tiles as shortcuts direct to games. I don't use the overlay for anything though.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Dubious but I'm going to wait and see on this one.
Might end up good. I'd like to see how they're going to build the UI though.

 

[ZephrC]

So it's Valves belief that I'll want to launch games from the Steam library using a controller. I follow now, still won't change anything, at least for me.

I'm willing to bet that Valve doesn't believe anything of the sort about you. My guess would be that they believe offering a controller interface option will make using Steam on a TV more popular and overall improve the quality of their service.

You can navigate menus any way you like. I'm pretty sure Valve doesn't care.

 

[Braedan]

I don't get it, Is this a console version of steam?

I'm already using my 360 controller with my PC on my TV to play games. A reskinning of steam isn't going to change anything.

Yes it will. The current Steam UI doesn't support gamepads, and isn't very couch-friendly.

So it's Valves belief that I'll want to launch games from the Steam library using a controller. I follow now, still won't change anything, at least for me.

Currently steam looks like ass when viewed from 10 feet away on a TV. Steam is giving you (us if you prefer) a new TV friendly UI that will work with a controller if you want, or a mouse like normal for free. Try not to look a gift horse in the mouth, EA would call it "Origin HD" and charge you 10$ a month for the service. It's great you're already using Steam on your TV, but why the snarky crap when they give you a most likely better working option?

 

[SpAc3man]

I have been looking forward to this. I can see it being useful for lounge PC gaming. Lounge PCs already have XBMC and Plex for other media and now more gaming can be TV friendly. The ideal development would be if Valve made a Steam port to Android on ARM so we could have Steam on the Ouya when it is made available. Combined with Big Picture Mode that could be a great platform. Although I would imagine Ouya want to have their own game distribution platform as they have promised all those donors the ability to reserve their usernames. Maybe Steam could run in parallel to the Ouya system.

 

[zombiesinc]

I was just navigating through my games library on Steam while my PC was plugged into my TV and... I could barely see anything. Sure, I could've lowered the resolution but I was too stubborn to do that. This'll be great for the few times I actually use my PC for gaming! (I'm lookin' at you Dark Souls)