A new Steam console ?

mmj_uk said:
If you buy an XBox 360/720 it runs 0% of your Steam catalogue? what's your point?

Most new consoles only have 5-10 games at release, I'm sure they can bribe at least a few developers to port their games across to OpenGL and then it's all about garnering future support, if they have a magic wand to make all current DX games run on it well then that's just a bonus.
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I'm not a console buyer. As they don't run pc games. Well, have a wii I haven't used in years.
Consoles also play their back catalogues.
And I'm sure I'm not alone, a valve console would need to support at least a majority of your steam collection. And I don't think any lounge box will ever convert fps players. You just need a desk k&m to play properly.
 
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Glaucus said:
I'm not a console buyer. As they don't run pc games. Well, have a wii I haven't used in years.
Consoles also play their back catalogues.
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Xbox 360 B/C with XBox 1 wasn't there on day one, it was a gradual thing, and they've stopped updating it, so there's still games that don't work.

And PS3's B/C, well that was a shambles, my 40GB will do PS1 but not PS2.
 
Ah i thought this thread would be interesting, but....

Got confused at all the wine and wrapping talk, its not christmas yet :(?

Steam have found an amazing gap in the market though with this whole HTPC kinda thing going on, seen a big surge in these recently.
 
I can see this damaging the PC gaming market quite a bit.

In order to get the console into a resonable price bracket to compete with existing consoles it's only going to have the power of a mid-range gaming PC at best.

Once the console has been released, it makes sense that Valve are going to encorage developers to get as many of their games on the console as possible. This could result in PC games being stuck in a much worse 'spec-rut' than it has been with consoles. Valve are going to want to promote games which run smoothly on their new machine, and therefore developers are going to use this spec as the maximum target for their games.

In regards to the price... Valve may be able to go down the subscription route with this one to keep the initial price down. Sell the console at a loss but sign up with a monthly subscription to get the money back (ala Sky Plus). If they hook up with a teleprovider then it might be a good way to go - However, that's what BT thought with OnLive :)

It will also be interesting to see how much of the back catalogue is controller-friendly. However, Big Picture might increase this a bit.
 
hmmm could mean i upgrade even less vs games dont get much better graphically?

as long as the gameplay is their sounds good most games these days visuals are already really nice aren't they?
 
I can see Valve only developing an in-house reference platform and allowing OEMs to create their version of the Steam console with royalty payments. Valve is still a relatively small company, and I doubt they can manage the massive demand for support ect. if they introduce a console.
 
Valve may be small, but Steam is massive. Valve can just be the middle man, and the games maker. Steam handles all the content, and they can just use a hardware vendor to manufacture and then support the console itself.

I can fully see Valve being able to produce a sealed box that runs Linux and a Steam only front end and connects to your TV with wireless keyboard and mouse and controllers. The problem is, while I can see how it would be done, I fail to see the point in doing it.
 
All I want is a console with full keyboard and mouse support, and I'd dump my PC in a heartbeat. Consoles have it right in some ways, you have a closed system by which everyone has the same hardware, games just work regardless and you don't have to spend time downloading things, googling issues particular games may have, going in and messing about with configs, or just generally jumping through hoops to play something (At times).

When PC gaming works, it's fabulous, but sometimes it's so frustrating I just wish I had a console with native Keyboard and Mouse support. If Valve can do this, I'm all for it.

I am a massive Steam fan, though, so maybe my view is distorted. But I just think most things they do are just great and they're 1 of few gaming companies which care about their fans.
 
I would imagine a Steam console would be download only.

The problem with consoles is their longevity. The 360 and PS3 are really starting to show their age now compared to PC games. Also, Steam games are designed for the PC and keep pace with PC development. Modern games on Steam now would really struggle to run on a top flight PC from over 5 years ago. Unlike consoles, the games on Steam wouldnt be designed around the fixed Steam console hardware, they would be designed for the ever increasing PC market specs.

The answer is to either make the Steam console upgradeable, or release a new version every couple of years. But that happens, why not just buy a PC?

The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. A linux distro designed for Steam and some specifically designed hardware (like set top box style cases) allowing people to build their own boxes makes more sense. A sealed Steam only box just doesn't.
 
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