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  1. #1

    Gabe Newell says Valve will release its own console-like PC for the living room

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/8/37...room-steam-box

    Valve has stayed mostly quiet about its plans to enter the hardware business, but in an interview with Kotaku at last night's Video Game Awards, Gabe Newell confirmed the company's plans to sell its own living room PC that could compete with next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft. The biggest revelation is that Valve seems set to release its own complete hardware and software solution. When we first reported that the company was working on a "Steam Box" back in March, it appeared that Valve was working on a prototype that would establish a baseline for hardware manufacturers, but it wasn't clear if the company would sell its own product or simply release the designs to others. Newell's comments to Kotaku provide a much clearer picture of what's happening; Newell said that he expects companies to start selling PCs designed for the living room next year — which Kotaku says could have Steam preloaded — and that Valve will create its own distinct package.

    "Surprise: Valve will create its own carefully managed PC ecosystem"

    Newell suggests that the company will create its own carefully managed PC ecosystem that's distinct from the one offered by other hardware partners — a possibility that our own Sean Hollister exposed after looking at the company's comments and actions in recent years, including its aversion to Windows 8, its recent embrace of Linux, and its existing push into the living room with Steam's Big Picture Mode. Newell tells Kotaku that "our hardware will be a very controlled environment," and that some people will want a "turnkey" solution for their living room. "The nice thing about a PC is a lot of different people can try out different solutions," he said. "Customers can find the ones that work best for them."

    As a digital distribution platform, Steam is wildly successful, with more than five million concurrent users on any given day and over 50 million users in total (by comparison, Xbox Live has more than 40 million users). But Valve doesn't reap any income from the sale of hardware that runs its platform or the software it hosts, and the company doesn't control Windows, which is the most popular platform among computers running Steam.

    Newell stopped short of saying that the company was building a Linux-based Steam OS, but he reportedly said that the next step for the company's living room operation is to enable Big Picture on Steam for Linux. From there, the timeline is still pretty murky — we only know that Newell expects some hardware to show up sometime next year — but Valve's intent to compete in the living room in a big way is no longer a secret.

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    Looks like those "steambox" rumors from a few months ago were actually sort of true after all. So damn exited!

    Although I do think its a bit hypocritical for Gaben to be criticizing windows 8 for being controlling and locked down when he is going to be doing the exact same thing with his console.

  2. #2
    So does this mean Linux will finally be able to play more games? I feel like this alone could help make Linux be competitive with Apple OS very quickly.
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  3. #3
    Mechagnome Dembai's Avatar
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    ...there's a huge difference between Windows 8 requiring you to pay a tariff to use other companies software on their operating system, and Steam making a console.

    A console does one thing and one thing only - Steam won't be changing that. One's PC is supposed to be able to use any program in order to do a multitude of things - but instead it won't be able to.

  4. #4
    I like Gabe he is an awesome guy and Valve is one of the few companies I still trust (ye looking at you greedy Blizz). Dunno if I will buy it, but I will keep an eye on it.

  5. #5
    What I am curious about is the manner they release games for it.

    Do they use the same library as on actual PC? If so, how powerful the "console" is? In what manner the changing system requirements of the games are being dealt with and how much graphical tweaking would playing on the system require?

    Do they release "console" specific game list for it and if they do will those games get the amount of optimization your usual console system would get?
    Modern gaming apologist: I once tasted diarrhea so shit is fine.

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  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Defengar View Post
    http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/8/37...room-steam-box

    Although I do think its a bit hypocritical for Gaben to be criticizing windows 8 for being controlling and locked down when he is going to be doing the exact same thing with his console.
    How is it hypocritical? He's making a console, not an operating system, so the two are not comparable. He's also doing because there are people that specifically want that sort of locked down system you get with a console. For everyone else, they can keep PC Gaming the same as before.

  7. #7
    Mechagnome Loaf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dembai View Post
    ...there's a huge difference between Windows 8 requiring you to pay a tariff to use other companies software on their operating system, and Steam making a console.

    A console does one thing and one thing only - Steam won't be changing that. One's PC is supposed to be able to use any program in order to do a multitude of things - but instead it won't be able to.
    Microsoft and Sony made the 360 and PS3 able to do more than just play games. Do they do those things as well as a pc? No, and a pc can still do oodles of things that a console won't be able to do, but saying that consoles are only able to play games it just plain silly :3

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  8. #8
    maybe he could talk about what is up with Half life series future

  9. #9
    Void Lord Aeluron Lightsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mongoose19 View Post
    I like Gabe he is an awesome guy and Valve is one of the few companies I still trust (ye looking at you greedy Blizz). Dunno if I will buy it, but I will keep an eye on it.
    ...Was the Blizzard bash even necessary?


    Still shocking Value is going with hardware.
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  10. #10
    Oh lawd... What if they made HL:3 a valve box exclusive... I am sure they won't, but if they did, there would be a massive shit storm... and then everyone would buy the valve box lol.

  11. #11
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    I'm wondering how people with relatively bad history in it would ever fit open-source.

    HL3 is not going to happen until there is anything revolutionary to license (and then mask it with terms like "heavily modified").
    Back in time it was Quake, then it was Havoc... They were always kind of glorified re-sellers.
    Last edited by mmoc064457dc87; 2012-12-10 at 02:11 AM.

  12. #12
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Worgenite View Post
    Microsoft and Sony made the 360 and PS3 able to do more than just play games. Do they do those things as well as a pc? No, and a pc can still do oodles of things that a console won't be able to do, but saying that consoles are only able to play games it just plain silly :3
    When the game goes on, all it has to do is play the game. It's not about what else it can do, but what it does concurrently while the game is going on.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vrealiabronze View Post
    maybe he could talk about what is up with Half life series future
    It'd be. Oh right... Half Life 3. Soon. D:

    Quote Originally Posted by Defengar View Post
    Oh lawd... What if they made HL:3 a valve box exclusive... I am sure they won't, but if they did, there would be a massive shit storm... and then everyone would buy the valve box lol.
    Perfect marketing.

  13. #13
    Scarab Lord bergmann620's Avatar
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    I'm predicting a crash-and-burn here.

    There's simply no way (that I can foresee) to get around the fact that the vast majority of PC games are developed to run on Windows. Fracturing your games library to sell them to a small subset of your users (SteamBox install base) doesn't make much sense financially.

    Second, I have never heard an explanation of the Windows 8 freakout that makes sense to me. I don't have it on my laptop yet, but my roommate's desktop doesn't seem to be limited or 'locked down' as far as what he can download and install, or install from disk.

    Third, at some point, M$ is going to realize that the route they're pursuing with their tablet division (produce what is essentially a 'reference model' while allowing 3rd parties to also make licensed models) is what they should be doing with their XBOX brand... I was actually surprised to see an XBOX 360, seeing as consoles had already moved so far towards off-the-shelf PC parts.

    How long will it be until we see PC's with 'XBOX Inside' stickers on the chassis and a Media-Center style XBOX app on the desktop? The advent of Intel HD 4000 and ATI integrated cards will lead to a very near future in which every PC, whether desktop or laptop, will be 'gaming capable'. When you mix in the idea that every generation coming up is more comfortable with technology, the strengths of the console (simplicity, ease of use) are no longer making up for their limitations. Even though consoles have been taking on more and more PC abilities, it is much more likely that PC's swallow consoles than the other way around.
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  14. #14
    Scarab Lord Kickbuttmario's Avatar
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    I'd be happy if they do. I don't care much for competition since I would mainly buy on steam, but if they can create something like this, I will truly be grateful. Heck, I prefer to play my games on the TV instead on the PC. Much better than playing on a place where you would watch movies... and by movies I mean porn.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Remilia View Post
    It'd be. Oh right... Half Life 3. Soon. D:
    C'mon now, we ALL know Valve can't count to 3, and Gaben certainly can't. It'll be Half-LIfe 2: Espisode 2: Part 2

    I just hope they don't do what most of us looking forward to the continuation of HL (ESPECIALLY AFTER THE ENDING OF EP2 )might be thinking and make it exclusive solely to the Steambox, or something like Halo and put it on the Steambox for 2-3 months before releasing a port to the PC.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Remilia View Post
    When the game goes on, all it has to do is play the game. It's not about what else it can do, but what it does concurrently while the game is going on.


    It'd be. Oh right... Half Life 3. Soon. D:


    Perfect marketing.
    I see them releasing it at the same time as HL3 and offering it free with the console, or at the same time as a new orange box and releasing that free with purchase of the console. Orange box 2 would include Portal 3, Left 4 dead 3, and Team Fortress 3 that and a couple other strong launch tittles would keep everyone busy with for a few weeks while they work with EA and activision for getting new games on their system.
    HL:3 Team Fortress 3, and Left for dead 3.

  17. #17
    I think what they are meaning in the article is that Steam plans on releasing a "console" aka a pre-built HTCP like computer that is dedicated to gaming through Steam's Big Picture thing. Now how they do this software wise is questionable. They could use a custom OS or simply a windows overlay type thing like at a gaming lounge. But you could build a computer for ~400 that would beat the graphics on xbox/PS3 and still play any game at like medium settings. But if steam does this im sure they could get some OEM discounts from the manufacturers.
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  18. #18
    the problem is optimization. 250-400$ consoles can still play games the same after 6 years with no upgrades. a 300-400$ computer (not including the other 300$ for mouse, keyboard, and monitor) will struggle to play new games well on the lowest settings, if at all. and 6 years later it will be a piece of garbage unless you spend hundreds of upgrading it.

    Unless they take an absolutely massive hit on this, I don't know how they are going to make a "PC" for the living room thats cheap enough for the normal consumer.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Defengar View Post
    the problem is optimization. 250-400$ consoles can still play games the same after 6 years with no upgrades. a 300-400$ computer (not including the other 300$ for mouse, keyboard, and monitor) will struggle to play new games well on the lowest settings, if at all. and 6 years later it will be a piece of garbage unless you spend hundreds of upgrading it.

    Unless they take an absolutely massive hit on this, I don't know how they are going to make a "PC" for the living room thats cheap enough for the normal consumer.
    Not true, as long as you dont get a graphics card that is garbage to begin with, you could play any game to come out for a long time. The CPU is semi unrelated to the gaming performance unless you are trying to max out a game. An APU or a i3 paired with a mid range card will play any game u want for a while at medium settings. I have a 9800 GTX+ from 2008 that can still play any game on it with playable FPS. The CPU in that rig is a original phenom that my brother is playing farcry 3 on as I type this probably and that game is currently one of the more demanding games out there atm.
    Last edited by Helieos; 2012-12-10 at 03:01 AM.
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  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Mongoose19 View Post
    I like Gabe he is an awesome guy and Valve is one of the few companies I still trust (ye looking at you greedy Blizz). Dunno if I will buy it, but I will keep an eye on it.

    You shouldn't trust any company in the first place. Valve is no different.

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