Steam reveal

Nikumba said:
If this is to replace my HTPC what is the media side of it going to be like, will it be on par with XBMC? Will it scrape your movie data etc?
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I hope so - my current XBMC pc is just about good enough to run a lego game at 720p. If I can keep it and the XBMC functions, and add streaming games from my main PC, all for the cost of NOTHING, I'll be most chuffed.

I do not think Valve have fully thought out how this will work in the living room eco-system, also the streaming idea sounds interesting but what about input latency will you need to have a wired Ethernet connection from your main gaming PC to the one in your living room? Will the living room PC have to have a minimum set of requirements to allow streaming to work correctly?

Will wait to see what the reviews are like, but considering I can launch Steam from XBMC into big picture mode, there is no compelling reason for me to change over to this at the moment.
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For me, the draw is the difference in spec between my main PC and my HTPC. If streaming works (flawlessly) then I can see myself buying 'living room' games on Steam instead of on PS3/4, it's that simple. Obviously though, YMMV.
 
Really not interested.
I use steam on PC as an app to buy and launch games with the handy way of communicating and joining with friends. Whilst still using my PC as well... a PC.
I do not want to be pigeon-holed to an OS on a box/console in my living room. That's what PS /Xbox is for, those games that are console only. I have no interest in a Steam "bridge-between" solution.
 
I'm not quite sure what to make of SteamOS, but I don't see it as a bad thing.

I remember Gabe Newell making comments about how they managed to get superior performance out of some of their games when running under Linux. If they truly can get superior performance gains and there is enough traction among developers to support it then I'd give it some serious consideration.

We're living in a time where every supplier is trying to lock customers in to their content platform. The PC has always been considered an open platform, but the irony is that Valve "owns" a significant amount of users who play games on PC anyway, so why not capitalise on it?

As I said, if they can demonstrably prove better performance on any given set of hardware over a Windows OS version then I'd give it some consideration. It looks like they're going for an On-Live!/Shield/Gaikai video--streaming approach to make sure all games are compatible in the short-term.

Let's see where this goes.
 
Valve must easily have bucketloads of cash to subsidise this Steam box thing and bring it in at £350 same as PS4 with comparable specs. Both the new consoles have zero backwards compatibility and only 20-30 launch titles. At least Valve would have almost 200 Linux (SteamOS) titles ready to go and for those that have a big PC full backwards compatibility with the streaming.

But as has been mentioned, they need to get Activision/EA/Ubisoft et al. to make SteamOS games otherwise it just seems totally pointless. Or they may just as well give you a £100 Steam box for streaming only.
 
Something to remember is that this announcement is aimed at dealing with future issues with Windows, as Microsoft turn into Apple, rather than life as we know it now.

It's quite possible that the future may not be as restricted as it looks now, and Steam may be nothing more than a lever with which to help encourage Microsoft back onto a more flexible path... the path which made it so successful in the first place.
 
Rossi~ said:
Really not interested.
I use steam on PC as an app to buy and launch games with the handy way of communicating and joining with friends. Whilst still using my PC as well... a PC.
I do not want to be pigeon-holed to an OS on a box/console in my living room. That's what PS /Xbox is for, those games that are console only. I have no interest in a Steam "bridge-between" solution.
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My thoughts exactly it should just stick to what it primarily used for.
 
Kyo said:
My thoughts exactly it should just stick to what it primarily used for.
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Probably, when Valve released Steam, lots of people said "they should stick to developing games" or "they should stick to making Half Life".

And then look what happened. Steam has exploded, and Valve are a serious player in digital distribution.

Who knows how successful they can be with hardware. Doesn't hurt to try!
 
A lot of people in this thread seem pretty clueless on linux & opengl.

I think it's good valve are looking to expand their business, they are clearly looking at a different audience with steamos by making something that is sort of in-between a gaming pc and a console but as easy to use as a console.
Keeping some of the best traits from both, the ease of use of a console with the hardware potential & upgradability of a pc.
Also having the option of using it as a media centre / streaming system.
In SteamOS, we have achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing
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mortals said:
......they are clearly looking at a different audience with steamos by making something that is sort of in-between a gaming pc and a console but as easy to use as a console.
Keeping some of the best traits from both, the ease of use of a console with the hardware potential & upgradability of a pc.
Also having the option of using it as a media centre / streaming system.
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So its not as good as a pc, its not as good as a console its..... what exactly is it again?

I'm more curious now the more I have read. I'm finding it difficult to understand just who they are targeting.
 
=XDC=FluphyBunny said:
So its not as good as a pc, its not as good as a console its..... what exactly is it again?

I'm more curious now the more I have read. I'm finding it difficult to understand just who they are targeting.
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Only Valve know the answer. But it always seemed from what they said that they were concerned about MS closing Windows ecosystem in an attempt to mimic Apple.

Whilst Windows 8 doesn't do this, there is plenty of potential for Windows 9 to have a completely MS-controlled App Store, like Apple do. Valve are, quite rightly, concerned about being frozen out.

MS seem to have lost the plot completely in recent times, so the idea they could want an MS locked down App Store isn't something we can dismiss.
 
spoffle said:
Because they have no idea what they're talking about.
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Nail on the head.

Most of the posts in this thread have been clueless and all based on selfish needs (I suppose half the gaming comments seem to be like that these days :P).

Steam OS is a great expansion for Steam which will benefit everybody but it is not aimed directly at current Steam users as 60-70% of the playerbase would be classed as "core PC gamers" and wouldn't want to play with anything else than a keyboard and mouse.

But the PC market has been shrinking is size over the past year or two, not so much in playerbase but in sales due to tablets, mobile devices and consoles expanding and desktop PC sales shrinking. SteamOS and the SteamBox is Valves way of trying to continue expanding the Steam community/playerbase and hopefully bring some of the good sides of PC game to the none core gamers and none gaming desktop PC owners.
 
mortals said:
It is an OS (on a pc) :confused:

How is it not as good as a console?
As I said above it is an OS

Not sure why people are comparing hardware with software
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Yes its an OS that needs hardware to run on. How can you talk about an OS independently of any hardware (Steambox/pc)

Pushing a pc box in the lounge ( with the software running on it or OS if you will), particularly at this point in time (ps4/xboxone) seems an odd move.

They will have a hell of a job convincing PC gamers to game on their tv's which seems to be the focus of the OS and I would think they have even less of a chance in pulling sales from the consoles.

So again, as I said before "I'm finding it difficult to understand just who they are targeting."
 
=XDC=FluphyBunny said:
They will have a hell of a job convincing PC gamers to game on their tv's which seems to be the focus of the
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Not sure if I agree with that. There are already plenty of people who connect their TV to their PC.

People who don't watch much real 'TV' as we know it, but instead stream or download.

And people who simply don't have space for an office.

So the PC has already made its way to the living room for a decent chunk of (younger) people.
 
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