Valve will release PC/console next year

Small form factor games machine with a controller. Question is, How locked down will the upgrade options be?. 

Will be over rated just like pc gaming.

Pandamobile

thebudgetgamer

They also stated that they want to bring as many Steam games as possible to Linux. That and the fact that they are not crazy about Windows 8 makes it at the very least plausible.
http://www.steamforlinux.com/?q=en/node/74

This is not reason to believe that the Steambox will run Linux. If they do that, they're limiting the appeal of their own product because it can only play 2-5% of the games on Steam (that's probably a really generous estimation, too).

Not exactly - it'll be easy for most developers to port games to Linux (Remember that porting from Windows to Linux is significantly easier than porting from console to console, or console to PC), since they use the same hardware. Since Gabe wants both the Steambox and Linux to succeed, it is not unlikely that he'll choose for Linux as the operating system - it'll push developers to port their games to Linux, it'll make the games run better on Steambox than on the average PC, it's not prone to hacking and viruses like Windows is, it doesn't require a license agreement with Microsoft, and it's easy and free to modify as much as they want. On top of that, it's not impossible that Steam would still support older games through some sort of emulation, much like Wine. 

There's a lot of reasons for Valve to go with Linux, not least in terms of long-time profitability. There's also a lot of reasons for them not going with Windows, the biggest reason being that they'd be paying royalties to their competitor for every sold steam box. 

"I dont need to read Sonys technical crap, its for the fanboys who believe 6 year old tech is still some super computer lol. "


^^
Front-pagers are funny

sjaakiejj

Pandamobile

thebudgetgamer

They also stated that they want to bring as many Steam games as possible to Linux. That and the fact that they are not crazy about Windows 8 makes it at the very least plausible.
http://www.steamforlinux.com/?q=en/node/74

This is not reason to believe that the Steambox will run Linux. If they do that, they're limiting the appeal of their own product because it can only play 2-5% of the games on Steam (that's probably a really generous estimation, too).

Not exactly - it'll be easy for most developers to port games to Linux (Remember that porting from Windows to Linux is significantly easier than porting from console to console, or console to PC), since they use the same hardware. Since Gabe wants both the Steambox and Linux to succeed, it is not unlikely that he'll choose for Linux as the operating system - it'll push developers to port their games to Linux, it'll make the games run better on Steambox than on the average PC, it's not prone to hacking and viruses like Windows is, it doesn't require a license agreement with Microsoft, and it's easy and free to modify as much as they want. On top of that, it's not impossible that Steam would still support older games through some sort of emulation, much like Wine. 

There's a lot of reasons for Valve to go with Linux, not least in terms of long-time profitability. There's also a lot of reasons for them not going with Windows, the biggest reason being that they'd be paying royalties to their competitor for every sold steam box. 

 


Don't forget the general (in)stability factor too (outside virusses etc), Microsoft/Windows is its own biggest enemy. Remember Vista, or even worse, Win 98 introduction done live and Bill Gates stares at this Blue Screen of Death after a few seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/w...e=youtube_gdata_player

redDevil87


Will be over rated just like pc gaming.

Don't hate on it bro i know you want one.

N4G Adventure Part 1 - screw it

Pandamobile




I don't think it will be Linux-based; in fact, I'm willing to put money on it using Windows.


My prediction is that it will simply be a custom designed PC with a few additional features that make it living room ready (wifi, controller integration, etc).

Assuming Valve wants mainstream success, then yes....It almost has to be linux based.

Persistantthug

Pandamobile




I don't think it will be Linux-based; in fact, I'm willing to put money on it using Windows.


My prediction is that it will simply be a custom designed PC with a few additional features that make it living room ready (wifi, controller integration, etc).

Assuming Valve wants mainstream success, then yes....It almost has to be linux based.

How do you achieve mainstream success when 99% of your content library isn't currently on that platform?

Pandamobile

Persistantthug

Pandamobile




I don't think it will be Linux-based; in fact, I'm willing to put money on it using Windows.


My prediction is that it will simply be a custom designed PC with a few additional features that make it living room ready (wifi, controller integration, etc).

Assuming Valve wants mainstream success, then yes....It almost has to be linux based.

How do you achieve mainstream success when 99% of your content library isn't currently on that platform?

You start making and employing Linux...or whatever Linux based underpinnings.

You certainly don't achieve said success by making said console more expensive with Microsoft Licensing fees.
That's why almost all consoles use some form of Linux......or didn't you know?

Why the hell would it be linux based when 90% of the games on Steam cannot run on linux? The new Steambox is probably gonna be essentially a locked down PC, one that would be able to run most steam games currently out, and games released in the future for steam at medium levels. If they're aiming to compete with consoles with that thing then that's what it would have to entail. If they're nice they'd let you upgrade GPU by offering specific GPUs or something along those lines. 

ZombieNinjaPanda


Why the hell would it be linux based when 90% of the games on Steam cannot run on linux?

I already answered this in my comment above. In summary:

- OS Stability
- OS Efficiency
- Ease of porting games from Windows to Linux
- Gabe Newell dislikes Windows 8
- Gabe Newell likes Linux (e.g. he'd want to motivate developers to port their games to Linux rather than Win 8)
- Linux doesn't require Valve to pay licensing fees for each sold Steambox to their competitor
- Linux is far more secure than Windows is
- It's an open source system, meaning they can modify it whichever way they want (this is not possible with Windows)
- Older games can be emulated on the Steambox, or ported to Linux

It makes a lot more sense for the SteamBox to run Linux than it does to run Windows. The only counter argument that I'm aware of is the one you just gave - Windows has more games. The problem there is that, even if only 10% of the games on Steam run on Linux, it'll still have a significantly higher number of games than Ps4 and Xbox 720 will at launch. 


Edit:
Here are some links for you to read:
http://panicgamer.com/New...8-linux-steam-support/
http://www.pcworld.com/ar...ows_and_use_linux.html
http://www.theregister.co...games_faster_on_linux/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
http://www.winehq.org/


Here's also an interesting link:
http://www.phoronix.com/s...ws_item&px=MTExMDM

Why would Valve need Kernel developers if they aren't modifying Linux? ;)

"I dont need to read Sonys technical crap, its for the fanboys who believe 6 year old tech is still some super computer lol. "


^^
Front-pagers are funny

That better be the design for their PC-console. 

Interesting sjaakiejj. Though that would alienate many developers who wouldn't want to port to Linux.  Unless it's as easy as you say it is.

ZombieNinjaPanda


Interesting sjaakiejj. Though that would alienate many developers who wouldn't want to port to Linux.  Unless it's as easy as you say it is.

Interesting thing about that is that Linux support is incredibly easy to add if you take it into account when building your engine. This is why indie developers on Kickstarter are able to do it. There's an interesting article where John Carmack talks about making a game multiplatform, and how little your code cares if it's using OpenGL or DirectX, the main difference between Linux and Windows (there's some extra code you need to add in order to run it on Windows, but that's just a matter of putting some conditional macros in your code to remove that stuff when you're compiling on Linux. In terms of external dependencies, Linux has, in my experience, a much larger set of libraries to use than Windows does, and most common libraries are defined in the language standards, guaranteeing that it'll be available on any platform that supports the language)


http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/01/Why-you-should-use-OpenGL-and-not-DirectX

In the end, I believe Valve is in an incredibly strong position here. As for alienating developers, remember that Playstation 3 runs a Unix-based OS as well - most multiplatform games will be very easy to port. 

"I dont need to read Sonys technical crap, its for the fanboys who believe 6 year old tech is still some super computer lol. "


^^
Front-pagers are funny

ZombieNinjaPanda


Interesting sjaakiejj. Though that would alienate many developers who wouldn't want to port to Linux.  Unless it's as easy as you say it is.

It's more so about convincing developers to abandon DirectX for OpenGL in the long run.
I'd expect Microsoft to put up a fight, because using OpenGL allows those games to work on Linux and OSX. 

This really could shake things up...I do agree with that statement made here a few times from others...


Steam online client is a monster power house on the PC... other companies are living in the shadow of steams lay out....


Games will be huge if they can take PC games and make them available to every one...

Only problem I see... is selling it....

They will need a huge amount in sales push to get their product onto the level of XBOX, nintendo and playstations for name recognition...

The other thing they will have to convince consumers how there system is better than the other consoles and better than putting money into a new PC system....



This really could work out... nintendo has its target market... and it looks like MS Sony and now steam will be having an all out war....

All I can say is this... it is a good time to be a gamer... PC XBOX NINY or Playstation it is all good for us... each push different areas of tech and designs and games... games games... they will invest in IPs of their own brand making system sellers...

Yes indeed a good time

 Say goodbye to Ouya.

thorstein


 Say goodbye to Ouya.

Ouya was never relevant. It was dead the moment it was announced. An android level console? And they call the Wii-U underpowered? HA

thorstein


 Say goodbye to Ouya.

Ouya has its own audience. It is sub 100 bucks. Besides the facts it plays the Android kind of games (aka no full retail games like Half Life, Left4Dead/other Valve stuff or most retail stuff that is on steam too), it seems to be more open than the Steambox.

Running XBMC on Ouya is a reason not to search for a jailbreakable AppleTV with XBMC installed on it for example.

Totally different product. Seeing how Ouya got in millions and millions on kickstarter easily, it found its niche audience pretty well.

ZombieNinjaPanda

thorstein


Say goodbye to Ouya.

Ouya was never relevant. It was dead the moment it was announced. An android level console? And they call the Wii-U underpowered? HA

Lol totally different story.


Nintendo hyped the WiiUnderpowered a bit too much to be for the hardcore gamer. Everyone expected it to outdo current gen PS360 by a pretty good margin. Instead it just pretty much matches it, outside having some more RAM.


Ouya is clearly positioned to do something else. Besides that, the pricelevel of sub 100 compared to a WiiU at 300 to 350 is something you seem to forget.


And again, how is Ouya not relevant when they get what almost 9 mln USD when they were just aiming for just under a million. That are a lot of pre ordered Ouya's already. If AppleTV gets sold for 100, an Ouya for the same price and running XBMC native is a good deal.

Yeah it's not a totally different story. Considering the developers were egging on people to hype up the "console" to high heavens. There are people out there that donated because they believe the Ouya will play Assassins creed 3, Halo, Gears of war, battlefield. 

One mention of the Wii-U and you're drawn to it like a fly.