Valve announces Steam Machines, the Steam Box hardware beta

Underwhelming.

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I guess this is interesting for those who buy manufactured gaming PCs from Alienware or their competitors. I think most of their existing market will just continue to build their own machines instead given how much cheaper it can be done that way. I think what they are really hoping for hear is to convert console gamers who aren't willing to try and build their own machines. The problem here is that very few games on steam are actually designed for Linux. People won't be very happy after they bring home their brand new steam box and find out it can only play a fraction of the games. Also, what about Origin and uPlay? Buying one of these boxes means you are limited to what steam has unless you also install windows and that kind of defeats the purpose. Bottom line, if you want to play everything you need windows.

If this takes off and the vast majority of steam games start becoming Linux compatible I can see the benefit. They are offering this OS for free so home builders who don't want to spend $100 on windows can use this instead. How good will driver support be though? From what I have read Linux users have a terrible time with GPU drivers. They often have to wait for the public to come up with solutions for new cards.

There are some interesting ideas here and I don't care if they want to try this. I am perfectly happy with steam on Windows 8 and I'm not switching any time soon though. As long as they don't start making games like L4D3 and Half Life 3 steam box or steamOS exclusives I don't care what they do with hardware.




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There's that (much of what you just summarized was covered by the SteamOS announcement Monday) and that today they announced next to nothing. Just a beta program for hardware that they'll have in a beta format sometime in the next few months, for a reference design in 2014. It's like they weren't ready to announce this, but had to so it wouldn't be caught in the harsh glare of all the next gen console PR that's going to go into heavy rotation shortly.

I'm interested in the ability to stream from my windows PC to my living room with a simple solution, something like NVidia's Shield product w/ a Chromecast or Roku form factor. Beyond that I'm not sure there's anything else that can really wow me. A new take on PC controllers? The PS4 probably has that covered (with the added bonus of working on one of my consoles). New engine and L4D3, or HL3? Time constraints limit my excitement over an engine or a single title these days. Probably also get a vague 2014 'if it's ready' tossed it's general direction too.

meStevo said:

There's that (much of what you just summarized was covered by the SteamOS announcement Monday) and that today they announced next to nothing. Just a beta program for hardware that they'll have in a beta format sometime in the next few months, for a reference design in 2014. It's like they weren't ready to announce this, but had to so it wouldn't be caught in the harsh glare of all the next gen console PR that's going to go into heavy rotation shortly.

I'm interested in the ability to stream from my windows PC to my living room with a simple solution, something like NVidia's Shield product w/ a Chromecast or Roku form factor. Beyond that I'm not sure there's anything else that can really wow me. A new take on PC controllers? The PS4 probably has that covered (with the added bonus of working on one of my consoles). New engine and L4D3, or HL3? Time constraints limit my excitement over an engine or a single title these days. Probably also get a vague 2014 'if it's ready' tossed it's general direction too.

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This is the feature that may get many Steam users to try this. A SteamOS computer that can't play the vast majority of Steam's library isn't super useful as your main gaming PC. Many of Steam's customers are still tied to a desk, mouse, and keyboard. If they can stream their library from their beastly desk computer to a $100-$200 thin client in the living room when they want a more console like experience that could be pretty popular.

I am probably not their typical customer. I was always a console gamer who decided to build a PC and use it like a console in January. I was sick of missing out on Steam's prices and I was ready for a better gaming experience that my aging consoles couldn't match. My computer has never been connected to a PC monitor. It is in the entertainment center hooked up to my main TV and 5.1 sound setup right next to my consoles. I do 99% of my PC gaming with a 360 controller. I believe that playing on the big screen with the big surround sound system is a better experience than sitting at a desk. Lately I have been leaving my PC is big picture mode so I can use the controller for the steam interface too even though I am fine with using my wireless mouse and keyboard to launch a game in standard mode. My PC is only used for gaming so it really is more like a console than the computer I sit with at work all day.

I think that is the experience they want to give to their desk top gamers and that makes a lot of sense. I don't think a $500 PC running SteamOS can be a console replacement for the average gamer though. It could be if it had access to the entire Steam library but when it can only play the small fraction of games that support linux the masses won't leave their consoles.

Steam controller delayed to 2015, lol.

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I'm happy with my new 360 controller for now. If they made something that truly makes keyboard and mouse games more enjoyable from the couch I'll pick one up. I'm pretty skeptical that this will be the best way to play Civ 5 and Diablo 3 from my couch though.

RIP.

Poorly selling Steam Machines finally removed from Steam store front page

IMO a bigger threat to Steam isn't the Windows Store (which turned out to be a mess), but Twitch.

Twitch is now giving away games as part of Prime, and there's a lot of synergy there if Amazon decides to start pushing that as a digital sales platform.

meStevo said:

RIP.

Poorly selling Steam Machines finally removed from Steam store front page

IMO a bigger threat to Steam isn't the Windows Store (which turned out to be a mess), but Twitch.

Twitch is now giving away games as part of Prime, and there's a lot of synergy there if Amazon decides to start pushing that as a digital sales platform.

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Yeah, Amazon is definitely big enough to be serious competition for Steam if they decide to really go after that market. Giving away free games to Prime members every month is a great way to get their foot in the door too. So far I've been claiming the free games but I haven't actually downloaded the client or looked at their storefront yet.