Valve Plans Living-Room Gaming PCs for 2013

[scorptatious]

Not sure what to think of this really.

It would be nice if this was a cost effective way of me being able to play Team Fortress 2 at a decent framerate. But even then, I'm not sure.

 

[I.Muir]

I connected my pc to the big tv and now... living room gaming

 

[Something Amyss]

But I guess it makes sense Valve would be fine with it when Valve's in control.

And their fans will be, too. Because it's okay when the people you like do something that's otherwise considered wrong or evil.

 

[karoliso]

It amuses me how many people bring up exclusive titles as a reason for "Steambox" not succeeding.

Has everyone neglected to notice that this generation has ushered in the cross-platform releases? At the beginning of the current gen, when consoles were still fresh, both Sony and Microsoft assumed that exclusive titles would be of paramount importance to their success. Sure enough exclusive titles played a big role at the beginning of the generation, but now most major developers have went cross-platform.

The fact remains - no matter how much money either Microsoft or Sony will pay a developer to keep a title exclusive to a specific platform, the developer will still make more money by having their titles cross-platform.

The only exception to title exclusivity applies to consoles such as the Wii because of how different the input device is from other consoles.

Y'know what I can see valve doing? Releasing a certain game as a timed exclusive for people who buy the "steam box." Isn't that kinda what they did when steam was first released?

While this does make sense, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has already been released and is being advertised as having full controller support in Big Picture mode.

 

[Strazdas]

Make it less than or around $300, give it all the exclusives consoles get, and let it play new AAA games 8 years from now, and I might be interested.

so basically you want Steambox to be something noone has ever accomplished?


Isnt PC is already a living-room gaming PC? i mean mine sits in my living room and everyone i know as well. maybe people who have more rooms than items would need something like this.

I'd like to have a PC hooked up to my TV that isn't so big and loud.

step 1: replace that worm off cooler for 5 dollars.
step 2: hook it to whatever you want
sucess.

d) Yes, because forcing you to create a new account and buy games again totally makes more sense than having you just log in using your existing account. I can't imagine what world you think any company including valve would do that in.

One word: Origin.

 

[plainlake]

Interesting idea. A console that plays PC games. Since it is independent from any specific manufacturer this could be really good for not only the pc gaming but gaming as a whole.

Think about it. This thing is immune to the issues of the "console generation" which means that we don't have to wait a full 5 to 8 years for more advanced hardware and games that can take advantage of that hardware. This would also mean that we will see companies competing to bring faster and more powerful hardware to the market at a much higher rate. In other words, it would be a driving force for improving computing technology (something that has really been stagnating the last 5 years or so - thank you consoles). It also has near perfect backwards compatibility (as good as any pc).

This thing sounds great if multiple manufactures get on board with it (which they will).

My thoughts exactly, I dont know if people remember how fast the technology was improving before the current console generation. Do you remember how much of an improvement Far cry and HL2 was over everything before it?

 

[zumbledum]

It'll be interesting how Valve handles breaking in to already established market. It'll also be interesting to see a console from someone who actually knows what the hell they're doing. Sony's bungling along, Microsoft seems to be getting less and less interested in games and more interested in ads, and Nintendo... well we'll see how the Wii U turns out.

Also a bit odd to see Valve releasing a closed system, since they've always been on about how closed systems sucks. Specifically about Microsoft's Windows 8 and Xbox Live, and Apple. But I guess it makes sense Valve would be fine with it when Valve's in control.

well just like MS did when sega nintendo and sony had it established. and the second part i think your slightly misreading, the hardware will be locked down ie its going to be a fixed setup like all consoles have been.

They havent said anything about the open ness or closed ness of the Operating system. your leaping to judgement there.

but this gives me a bit of a semi boner, my hope is they will use a LINUX based OS this will provide pressure on nvidia to make better drivers for that OS and make it feasible for the PC crowd to drop windows like a bad habit.

other options are windows.. well don't see MS letting them for one and they would be loathe to do that anyway or make a propriety system which doesn't make a lot of sense either. much better to have their produce under one OS rather than 3.

this could be good news , time will tell but im gonna go on the optimistic side of this one for a change

 

[The White Hunter]

OK, am I missing something? A plug and play gaming PC with controlled hardware that you use in your living room isn't going to compete against consoles, it is a console. Way to try spin re-inventing the wheel into a PR success. Valve, you seem to be losing your grip.

That's what I thought and so far this thread to me seems like most people only read the article title...

OT: Meh, sounds like a console, not a gaming PC, if it's a closed system that I can't change components in what the hell is the point?

A console is a console Valve. Nice PR spin.

 

[Colt47]

I like the idea of a steam console. To be honest it is high time that another console war starts anyway and it looks like linux based consoles are going to be the new guy on the block given Onya and the Steam box.

 

[Rinshan Kaihou]

Most of the people in this thread are completely missing the point, which I don't understand. "Hur dur I already have a gaming computer" "hur you can just hook said gaming pc up to TV". Well no kidding, this isn't aimed at you really.
This is aimed at the average joe and jenny. This is aimed at people who want to play games but don't want to invest time, money, on a gaming computer. Especially when they don't really know comptuers to begin with. This isn't aimed at hardcore PC gamers primarily, this is solidly aimed at the XBOX, and PS3 market.

 

[Marendithias]

Interesting idea. A console that plays PC games. Since it is independent from any specific manufacturer this could be really good for not only the pc gaming but gaming as a whole.

Think about it. This thing is immune to the issues of the "console generation" which means that we don't have to wait a full 5 to 8 years for more advanced hardware and games that can take advantage of that hardware. This would also mean that we will see companies competing to bring faster and more powerful hardware to the market at a much higher rate. In other words, it would be a driving force for improving computing technology (something that has really been stagnating the last 5 years or so - thank you consoles). It also has near perfect backwards compatibility (as good as any pc).

This thing sounds great if multiple manufactures get on board with it (which they will).

My thoughts exactly, I dont know if people remember how fast the technology was improving before the current console generation. Do you remember how much of an improvement Far cry and HL2 was over everything before it?

Those were the good days. I think most people have forgotten the graphics card war between ati and nvidia. Not to mention all the excitement over technologies like dx10, physx and 64 bit machines. Now physx is basically dead, everything still uses 32 bit processing, we just keep making games for dx9 even though dx11 is out and we constantly reuse game engines because what's the point of wasting time and money on trying to improve the engine when we already hit the limits of what the hardware will give us.

 

[Laughing Man]

Yes you're right; no one would follow the mad idea that your brain imagined based on nothing. And its probably a good thing, because you have some really weird ideas on how business, economics, and computing hardware/software work.

LOL coming from the guy who

a). Doesn't see how talking about the freedom a PC offers and then ending about how they want a closed controlled environment isn't a contradiction
b). Thinks LAG affects downloads, and that because HE has no LAG during downloads surely all those other folk moaning about slow unresponsive Steam installs, especially during peak load times, well they must be making no sense!
c). Can't get his head round why MS wouldn't want to give cheap bulk licenses to someone who has made no small fact that he doesn't like Windows, that the software would be used to run something that would be a direct competitor to the next XBox and would be used by a DD service that would by pass the Windows 8 Apps store...
d). Thinks that you can just 'retrofit' a game to run on a new OS... that one was a real laugh, I nearly fell off my chair when I read that
e). Will Valve 'retrofit' other publishers games to work on a different OS? Must say they have done a bang up job so far with 'retro fitting' games to work with the MAC OS

I am happy to admit some of my ideas are a bit mad but it is based on the info which results in the overall impression of what's the fucking point of them releasing a console.'

Once we have some solid clear cut info about the system and what it offers and how it works well maybe it will become all clear but right here right now tossing round the ideas that the limited info allows it just seems a bit pointless.

 

[Schtoobs]

This just seems like Valve is getting into the console market in a more direct manner than have they tried previously. If the whole deal is that console users have an option that can connect them with PC users, I'm all for it. It's a natural evolution of the industry. Isn't this gen the first generation of consoles to be connected to the internet? Kinda make sense that they would be a bit self-contained. But left to Sony and Microsoft the next gen would also see them being completely separate entities as far as gaming connectivity goes. This "Steam Box" is a good thing in that regard I think. I admit to feeling worried about Valve getting too much of the market though. Saying that, if it wasn't them it would be someone else and I can't think of anyone, who could do it, that I'd rather do it.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Oh look a story about Valve...

Better throw in a mention that we have not heard a word about Half-Life 3 in years.

Bet it's the launch title. Makes sense.

 

[crimson sickle2]

I'm going to guess this won't have any exclusive, except for PC exclusives, so the idea sounds good to me. Although a part of me is really hoping we can install emulators on it so it can turn into any other console that has released the code. My main interest is what the controller looks like, they can't sell microsoft's so what will it look like?

 

[Vigormortis]

My thought is that since the hardware is controlled, in 5 years it will be outdated. The same way that the Xbox's graphics and AI today are considered behind the times. New games lose their luster the longer a console is out

Oh, that's certainly true. I wasn't denying that.

However, there's a few things to keep in mind:

A unified hardware environment allows developers to optimize their game engines far more than a wide-ranging, varied hardware environment. This is why, in some cases, console versions of some multi-platform games look almost as good as their PC counterpart. Or, in the very least, look better on the out-dated console hardware than equivalent PC hardware.

Now, with this proposed idea Gabe Newell is putting forward, the ideal setup would be a system (or "console") that has a locked-in, unified hardware profile, but an open, free-use software environment.

As I had said before, this would allow developers to optimize their software far more efficiently than with your standard, varied PC setup. However, they wouldn't be limited in what kind of software or services they provide, like they would with your standard console.

This means, as console cycles shift, the transition from one generation to another would be far less jarring. Graphical fidelity and backwards compatibility would transition much more gradually, even though the hardware would be a drastic leap from one generation to the next.

That's why I was saying I'm all for this idea. It solves many, many of the issues I've had with consoles for years. Including the tendency for the new consoles to make the old consoles (and related games) obsolete.

 

[The.Bard]

d) Yes, because forcing you to create a new account and buy games again totally makes more sense than having you just log in using your existing account. I can't imagine what world you think any company including valve would do that in.

One word: Origin.

C'mon, I know it's all "cool" to hate on EA and Origin, but that is patently untrue. You can actually take games keys for games that were NOT purchased on Origin and use them to unlock an available game on Origin without paying anything extra.

WHY you would want to do that, I don't know, but if you're gonna hate on Origin, - waves hand - that's not the ammo you are looking for.

 

[Strazdas]

d) Yes, because forcing you to create a new account and buy games again totally makes more sense than having you just log in using your existing account. I can't imagine what world you think any company including valve would do that in.

One word: Origin.

C'mon, I know it's all "cool" to hate on EA and Origin, but that is patently untrue. You can actually take games keys for games that were NOT purchased on Origin and use them to unlock an available game on Origin without paying anything extra.

WHY you would want to do that, I don't know, but if you're gonna hate on Origin, - waves hand - that's not the ammo you are looking for.

you still have to USE ORIGIN TO PLAY. thats what matter. they still get the "cut" if you buy elsewhere, even if they havent created the game (not that anyone else but EA want to publish via origin but technically).
and im not hating on origin (although i do thing its a stupid thing and i will never use it, then again, i said that about steam... and still dont use it, even though it turned out to be a good thing now)., im hating on the idea that you think people wouldnt be OK with it. because they are, after all, mass effect 3 got played.