Nvidia powering Valve's Steam Box prototypes

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

That's good for them, but not for anyone at any other time.

Even at £70 its nothing in context of the hardware you spend in a gaming rig.Nothing.

Vista SP2 after nearly 7 years will work fine as a gaming OS even now. Windows 7 is supported until 2019 and with its massive market penetration will be the next XP.

It will be the major baseline non-console OS for the next 5 years.

Windows has proven support for games,better backwards compatability and a more open choice of gaming hardware for a gaming rig,meaning lower hardware costs. No farting around worrying whether your GPU works fine,etc.

If you want cheap up front costs than consoles are more enticing for many people.

Windows and consoles are well known entities in traditional markets,and it is going to be an upstream struggle for them to target MS.

MS and Sony and all their affiliates have massive vested interests and MS has more money in hand than AMD,Nvidia and Intel combined.

SteamOS is just not a viable option IMHO.

 

[teppic]

Even at £70 its nothing in context of the hardware you spend in a gaming rig.Nothing.

Vista SP2 after nearly 7 years will work fine as a gaming OS even now.

Windows has proven support for games,better backwards compatability and a more open choice of gaming hardware for a gaming rig.

SteamOS is just not a viable option IMHO.

I've no idea why you're so hostile to something that hasn't even been released yet...

And nobody's being forced to abandon Windows.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I've no idea why you're so hostile to something that hasn't even been released yet...

And nobody's being forced to abandon Windows.

Behind all the Valve PR,I can see where this will all go. We will see.

 

[FoxEye]

I've no idea why you're so hostile to something that hasn't even been released yet...

And nobody's being forced to abandon Windows.

I guess he enjoys being MS bitch Monopolies are great, aren't they. I mean, who doesn't trust MS to do what's best for consumers?

It's a shame we have Android for smart phones, and Unix/Linux for servers. Can you imagine how awesome it would be if MS made the only OS for... everything?

I can't see any downside!

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I guess he enjoys being MS bitch Monopolies are great, aren't they. I mean, who doesn't trust MS to do what's best for consumers?

It's a shame we have Android for smart phones, and Unix/Linux for servers. Can you imagine how awesome it would be if MS made the only OS for... everything?

I can't see any downside!

Like Valve is doing whats best for their customers too??

Are you some Valve fanboi bitch yourself then?? Its funny how I have made several criticisms of MS in the past - maybe you should search my posts on forums and see this. Or is it anything good to say about MS and bad about Valve,is sacrilege by you??

People talk about monopolies and then swear by only Steam. Why not install all other similar services too,to break the monopoly?? Instead we have people complaining there are too many alternatives and Steam should be all that exists for delivering games and game content digitally. Heck,I prefer Steam. OTH,just because you think something is better does not make you support a monopoly.

I only mentioned MS and gaming specifically. Not for phones. Not for general purpose usage. Not for running scientific applications.Just gaming.

Or is it the fact that any big company is the next evil one??

First Intel,then MS,then Apple and now probably Google. I suppose its Blizzard next,etc.

Valve and MS are businesses which only care to make money out of you.

All I can see people swallowing the whole "open" crap by Valve PR,while they are peddling an OS optimised to run on one set of CPUs and GPUs which is basically a hardware monopoly from the start(a big different from just be able to run anything).

Yes,its an open choice of hardware in theory,but in reality it is some kind of Hobson's choice.

"You can have any colour as long as it's black."

People are so dumb,not realising the reason why Windows gaming PCs are still cheap is the constant battle(especially at the lower and midrange levels) between multiple companies. Your hardware is the major cost of a gaming PC not the software. Its no point trying to think you are saving money when in fact you are not.

I have a Core i5 and a GTX660,which is their specification of a midrange SteamBox,but I am not interested in being locked into one set of hardware brands for ever at an OS level,by being presented with a Hobson's choice.

For every G92 moment we have an HD4000 moment too. So,if you want to lock yourself into a "pretend" money saving scheme then do so.

At least MS and Sony are honest when their consoles are advertised as closed. Valve OTH jumps on the open bandwagon,while laughing all the way to the bank,and people believe it hook,line and sinker.

 

[teppic]

How are they dishonest? You can upgrade the parts, you can install other operating systems. You can run the OS on your own PC, it doesn't need to be on Valve hardware.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

How are they dishonest? You can upgrade the parts, you can install other operating systems. You can run the OS on your own PC, it doesn't need to be on Valve hardware.

The whole webpage about their OS is just pretentious PR. GN complaining about Windows a while back was just more disguised PR for their OS. People give Valve way too much leeway for anything they do.

Yet,they optimised their OS for only one set of hardware(and just because I might have that hardware,it does not make it valid to say it is fine). Yet they bang on about openness.

Just a flipping Hobson's choice. Open as long as it is one set of hardware. Competition in hardware is the keystone of affordable desktop gaming PCs. Hardware monopolies have never been a good idea for PCs.

Edit!!

Maybe,Valve with surprise me,but I am cynical about it ATM. So,I will have agree to disagree with you and a few others about SteamOS and the SteamBox.

 

[gpuerrilla]

Your hardware is the major cost of a gaming PC not the software. Its no point trying to think you are saving money when in fact you are not.

If you apply this to the gaming industry the software has actually increased. With a console once you have bought it, the titles being released are £40 a pop then it is considered a major cost factor.

The only people who save money are the ones using torrents.

 

[Craterloads]

Can't see the point of this after the initial excitement.

Chasing the living room with a console type device without any of the console like benefits. Should have had max 2-3 fixed spec systems maybe entry, mid and high-end, which would help devs by not having to the same as they are now on the PC. Going to cost a left but too.

I would have liked to see just a single unified device, same for everyone and similar to design to next gen console aka unified ram etc. Which could be user upgraded in say 4 years time with slot in and out updated hardware.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you apply this to the gaming industry the software has actually increased. With a console once you have bought it, the titles being released are £40 a pop then it is considered a major cost factor.

The only people who save money are the ones using torrents.

I was meaning the OS,not the games. Moreover,SteamOS will be limited to Valve to provide games for(I don't see them wanting Desura to get in the way either).

Steam is not the cheapest place to get games always anyway,even if it has a nice layout.

With Windows Steam has multiple competitors,and sources for game keys. It means prices are decent.

Console games are still saleable,and people tend to buy less(but more expensive) games over 5 to 8 years with a console. However,think how many computer parts a computer gamer will have bought over that time. Steam also essentially meant the secondhand Windows game market went kaput.

 

[David Bisset]

Yes but imagine if Steam takes care of all your OS upgrades, your driver upgrades, everything.

It's a PC, but potentially with the ease of use of a console.

So Windows but with MS swapped for valve is what you're saying? Great... :S given steam has had a terrible history of not working, poor error messaging, not recognising when it is or isn't up to date I'm hardly itching to jump into an OS made by them. Add in the valve work ethos of we'll do it if enough of us feel like it and not if we don't and you've got a recipe for disaster.

 

[Minstadave]

Anything that drives a more open market for gaming can only be a good thing. Especially if they use Linux as a base and it brings benefits to other flavours of Linux. It would be great to have a main Windows/Linux desktop, a lounge steam box, and steam on your Android mobile. All with cloud saves so you an pick up and play on every machine.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

SteamOS will most likely be limited to Valve to provide games for(I don't see them wanting Desura to get in the way either) and it only means they have an OS they can have more control over games supply with. Is Valve really going to even allow alternatives to Steam on SteamOS?? The answer is in the name!!

Its all about control.

Since Valve is kindly "giving away" SteamOS and are not doing ad supported things,they only way they are making money from this,is trying to push more people to use Steam to buy games and any paid services that they might start introducing. Having their own OS,ties into this very well in their attempts.

Do people seriously think Valve is here to be a knight in shining armour,to save us gamers?? No,they are just another corporation trying to make more money.

OTH,Steam is not the cheapest place to get games always anyway,even if it has a nice layout. How many times,have I bought games even cheaper than the Steam sales,throughout the year??

I have even bought boxed copies of games,cheaper than what Steam sells them for. People are blinded by their love of Valve so much,that they ended up spending more money then they ever really need to. Even the Steam sales,are overhyped to a massive degree. With Windows, Steam has multiple competitors,and sources for game keys. It means prices are decent.

Why would I want an OS,which is limited to certain hardware only potentially locked into one way of buying games?

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

Do people seriously think Valve is here,to be a knight in shining armour,to save us gamers?? No,they are just another corporation trying to make more money.

It's a play against Windows as the gaming platform of choice. Microsoft have expressed a strong desire to have all games on Windows going through their marketplace, effectively shutting out Steam, Origin, Uplay etc.

SteamOS is based on Linux and any of those competing platforms can develop a Linux presence too. We don't currently know how locked down SteamOS will be in terms of 3rd party apps (not provided through Steam), so it's all just speculation at the moment. Competition is a good thing.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It's a play against Windows as the gaming platform of choice. Microsoft have expressed a strong desire to have all games on Windows going through their marketplace, effectively shutting out Steam, Origin, Uplay etc.

SteamOS is based on Linux and any of those competing platforms can develop a Linux presence too. We don't currently know how locked down SteamOS will be in terms of 3rd party apps (not provided through Steam), so it's all just speculation at the moment. Competition is a good thing.

I don't think it is going to change much in its current state. Its locked to certain hardware,with a Hobson's choice, and to one application to deliver content all controlled by Valve. All Valve is doing is trying to limit competition to Steam and then jump on the open bandwagon as a good source of PR.

Windows has the hardware choice and software choice now. Moreover,MS might express a strong desire to do certain things,but it will not really happen,due to combined will of multiple software companies,and well, government regulators.

If Valve does allow competitors to deliver content to SteamOS and makes sure that a much wider range of hardware works well,with their OS,I might feel differently though.

 

[Boomstick777]

Windows 7 is supported until 2019 and with its massive market penetration will be the next XP.

Yeah Windows 7 is really popular, def the new XP. Shame that W8 hasn't taken off, I'm on 8.1 now and it is awesome for gaming, lightning fast to boot up and around desktop. That initial bad response W8 received will probably haunt it forever and stop it being as popular as it should be. Microsoft always seem to have staggered OS launches, one that is unpopular followed by one that people love.

I.e Windows 2000 / Windows Xp
Windows Vista / Windows 7
Windows 8 / ???????????

So if Microsoft do follow up with a new release it should go back to being popular.. I plan on dual booting SteamOS and Windows 8.1. Best of both worlds.

 

[Orangey]

OI, Windows 2000 was great! Especially after Win ME... the joy of a WORKING, stable, bluescreen-free OS was like coming out of the desert.

 

[drunkenmaster]

If there are Kaveri based SteamBoxes planned AMD would NOT allow Valve to put these out as dev boxes to essentially the public. It only makes sense that a steambox potentially released late this year or next year would be Kaveri rather than Richland/kabini.

Something about Steam making an OS and trying to get customers onto their own OS, when Steam are the least competitive digital content platform out there. AS much as I want MS's lock in broken, the idea of moving to a software seller's OS is just a different lock in which I don't want at all. Steam OS might do sales on indie games but buying AAA titles on it is a joke. A future where SteamOS is dominant and you can no longer add keys but only buy through them for console like game prices......... is not something I look forward to.

I as yet can't really see where Steam are going with this. I personally wouldn't want to buy a full on PC and the cost with that and hardware/performance, to have a fairly locked in console like OS. While a PS4 will have EA and other games, SteamOS will almost certainly you would think be missing some major titles. If I'm paying for a "real" PC, I want to use it and I really don't want to play PC style games with a controller.

It's likely to be a lot more than a console, have significantly better hardware, but be very limited compared to a plain old Linux or Windows install in terms of software available.

But that is assuming SteamOS is more like a console OS, it's based on Linux but it's not an open OS in which you can install and do anything. Just steamOS running on a linux kernel.

 

[FoxEye]

It's a play against Windows as the gaming platform of choice. Microsoft have expressed a strong desire to have all games on Windows going through their marketplace, effectively shutting out Steam, Origin, Uplay etc.

SteamOS is based on Linux and any of those competing platforms can develop a Linux presence too. We don't currently know how locked down SteamOS will be in terms of 3rd party apps (not provided through Steam), so it's all just speculation at the moment. Competition is a good thing.

This.

CAT, everything you say Valve 'might' be doing, Microsoft IS doing. MS wants all software bought for Windows to be bought through the Microsoft Store. Not now, but certainly in future versions of Windows.

MS wants to kill Steam, Origin, hell EVERY competing distribution channel apart from their own.

Valve have seen the writing on the wall and want to make sure that when the time comes, there IS a choice. If Valve don't do anything, and bury their heads in the sand, then MS will simply gain a total monopoly on all software sales by default.

 

[Gregster]

Just thought I would show the steam controller in action and personally, I want one. Looks quite easy to get to grips with.