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

[Remilia]

What contradicting evidence?

What is the hard thing here? Microsoft offers money to Bethesda for exclusive Elder Scrolls DLC for a limited time for the sake of publicity, which undermines the competition at the same time since if they want it early, they have to roll with Xbox

Then Microsoft doesn't offer money for Bethesda for Arkane Studio's Dishonored because it's new IP and unsure investment.

Contradicting evidence is that it in itself is a one time occurrence. Everything else says it is only a once time occurrence.

Again, doesn't matter if Microsoft waves around cash, it depends on whether Bethesda decides to do it.

I really don't see what's the huge thing here

You started this whole thing...

Either way it's just getting way too off topic.

[Wilian]

Contradicting evidence is that it in itself is a one time occurrence. Everything else says it is only a once time occurrence.

Again, doesn't matter if Microsoft waves around cash, it depends on whether Bethesda decides to do it.

It's a corporate process by businessmen where they weigh in the profit and if the money from Microsoft is enough to pay off the probable losses over the period of agreed time, of course they are going to take it. There is no idealistic thought put into it.

The only error in this whole thing was to call it Bethesda instead of ZeniMax

You started this whole thing...

Yes, someone asked a simple example of how Microsoft has tried to get on the pot of competing platforms and I gave one.

[Afrospinach]

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.

I don't think console people want locked down systems, they want plug and play.

OT: I looked at big picture, it was pretty cool but not as functional as a list so away it goes, I assume this is what they want to used on their steam box. At the very least I am hopeful this system might steer game developers back to the PC as their native platform.

[Deleted]

So why would I want to stop using my PC for gaming and buy SteamBox instead?

Because all games will run great no matter what because of the standarizeed hardware? Don't consoles supposedly do that already?

[Deleted]

So why would I want to stop using my PC for gaming and buy SteamBox instead?

Because all games will run great no matter what because of the standarizeed hardware? Don't consoles supposedly do that already?

because steam games are cheaper to buy usually, having the option of playing in a room without a computer is appealing, potentially getting more developers working on better ports, bigger pc only titles etc etc.

This isnt necessarily aimed at pc gamers but people who always say that pc gaming isnt user friendly enough or its too expensive. Its pretty easy to see why this might be appealing to some..

[Mothhive]

So why would I want to stop using my PC for gaming and buy SteamBox instead?

Because all games will run great no matter what because of the standarizeed hardware? Don't consoles supposedly do that already?

You wouldn't want to stop because it's not for people who already own gaming PCs. Yes, consoles run games on standardised hardware already, but currently no console can compete with Steam's catalougue of games (which can all be downloaded), user created content, value for money (cheaper games as standard, plus amazing sales). I'm not a console gamer, but I'd imagine all that available through a console like piece of hardware would be mighty tempting.

[Xucuroz]

Don't really see the point. I'm sure whatever they sell will be a good mid range gaming rig, so automatically better than most general prebuilt PCs on the market that don't even have a dedicated graphics card. Also likely to have hardware 'stronger' than the nextgen consoles. That said i think the target audience most likely to buy such a thing are the type that also build their own PCs. I don't see Linux being a strong platform to go with, because of all the compatability issues with other software.

Big picture mode is nice, but most games either don't/ fully support controllers. I can think of several infact that launched in 2012, that even though they were ports from console titles, didn't bother to include controller support. Sure there are work arounds for that, but most people looking to buy the "console" Steam box, don't want to deal with it. I can imagine driver support for peoples controllers(including fancy mice/keyboards) ect being a nightmare as well, if its just Linux. Sure plug and play works for basic functioning, but a lot of that stuff requires specific driver software.

Still i love Valve and Gaben is awesome. Even if his stance on Win 8 is totally ridiculous /ot . I'm all for more competition at the end of the day, so i hope its something that works for them.

[Deleted]

Still i love Valve and Gaben is awesome. Even if his stance on Win 8 is totally ridiculous /ot . I'm all for more competition at the end of the day, so i hope its something that works for them.

how is it ridiculous.. i guess all those other developers and especially indie's are just wrong and youre correct

performance wise its pretty good windows 8.. well pretty similar to windows 7 anyway but it has an awesome metro interface on desktops lol.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ance,3331.html

from that article... this is what gabe is annoyed with along with alot of other developers.

"I believe Gabe's main issue with Windows 8, and it's one he's addressed, is the new Windows Store. This is Microsoft's equivalent of Apple's App store, and the company similarly takes a 30% cut of everything sold there. An ever bigger concern is that Microsoft might disallow certain software to run on its new operating system. Sound a little like Apple's closed platform? The development community is rightly afraid that Microsoft's Windows Store is going down the same path. And while it's clear that the company will exercise control over what is offered in its Store, nobody is certain what will happen outside of it. Hence, Newell is willing to spend (or at least threaten to spend) big money on development for Linux.

As far as I'm aware, Microsoft hasn't done anything to wall off Windows 8. You can install Steam without an issue, along with any other legacy application. Of course, this is a different story entirely on Windows RT, which is being limited to applications available through the Windows Store. As a result, it's going to be harder for Valve to make as much money on Windows RT-based devices, and developers have to be worried that Microsoft may go a similar route in Windows 8 as well, taking a share of each sale they make."

[Deleted]

Great, more tools for weekend gamers to take games away from the much hated PC users OR have shitty porting for the PC versions.

Why don't all game devs unite and decide to tell PC users to go fuck themselves ?!

[Mothhive]

Great, more tools for weekend gamers to take games away from the much hated PC users OR have shitty porting for the PC versions.

Why don't all game devs unite and decide to tell PC users to go fuck themselves ?!

You do realise Valve's "console" will essentially be a PC running Steam, right? Anything that runs on it will run on regular PCs (obviously if powerful enough). If their console is successful, it could mean the end of shitty ports and the growth of the PC gaming market, so basically, the exact opposite of what you just said.

[razisgosu]

Great, more tools for weekend gamers to take games away from the much hated PC users OR have shitty porting for the PC versions.

Why don't all game devs unite and decide to tell PC users to go fuck themselves ?!

No need to hate on PC's when they're the superior gaming experience. The graphics output of a PC is vastly superior to any console out there, or coming out in the future.

That being said, I am really curious how valve plans to make this work. Personally I think entering the console market at this point in time is a very risky maneuver. My reasoning for that is, people who have a console now, have their niche, their preferable system. A lot of people won't risk this new console after having an xbox or ps3 for years.

EDIT: Wrote the wrong opinion, I do think entering the console market now is a bad idea.

[Deleted]

No need to hate on PC's when they're the superior gaming experience. The graphics output of a PC is vastly superior to any console out there, or coming out in the future.

That being said, I am really curious how valve plans to make this work. Personally I don't think entering the console market at this point in time is a very risky maneuver. My reasoning for that is, people who have a console now, have their niche, their preferable system. A lot of people won't risk this new console after having an xbox or ps3 for years.

totally disagree just look at the reaction ouya had.. still plenty of niches to be filled.

[SirRobin]

Valve with its own console? Meh... It would have to be pretty cheap for me to get it. I mostly use my consoles for Netflix.

[Kelimbror]

You do realise Valve's "console" will essentially be a PC running Steam, right? Anything that runs on it will run on regular PCs (obviously if powerful enough). If their console is successful, it could mean the end of shitty ports and the growth of the PC gaming market, so basically, the exact opposite of what you just said.

Exactly what this guy said. And whats to stop them from then creating a physical Steam Store, with upgradable parts for your 'console'? They could take this idea and seriously blow it up to be the best thing to happen to PC games in a long time. Imagine being able to go into a store like Apple, except it's crammed with computer parts, fans, lights, coolers, crazy cases, etc. It would be like a wonderland of amazing I would never want to leave.

It would essentially replace the outdated idea of static consoles that stay the same and never improve for 5-10 years before we get the next one. It could even have software that knows exactly what games you can run at what settings, eliminating the need for any real knowledge about computers. It would basically achieve what consoles do, but better, with a much higher ceiling of potential based on personal knowledge and/or money you can spend.

I hope this is where this is going and it needs to happen fast.

It could also 'stream' itself to portable devices like a Roku so that you could take your PC to any room of your house, have keyboards/mice that utilize the same technology (maybe blu tooth?) as the roku remotes so direction to the source doesn't matter. It would revitalize what we think about computers and help it grow alongside the monster that is mobile/tablets.

[Leonard McCoy]

Hardware is a bad business to get into. I'm not sure valve is is smart about doing this. Console manufacturers routinely lose money from the hardware end (they make it up on liscening) and sony hasn't made a dime on any of it's hardware blunders over the past couple of years. I'm curious what kind of licensing scheme they will have.

[Defengar]

Well, the easiest example which many people can relate to is their business deal with Bethesda, where Xbox gets their expansion/DLC releases ahead of others.

I think thats more about shitting on the PS3 and Wii U than PC.

[razisgosu]

totally disagree just look at the reaction ouya had.. still plenty of niches to be filled.

Never heard of the ouya. Checked it out. So it's an android console? It's interesting, but i doubt it will see many current triple a titles, due to developers needing to work with android, making it non-competitive with the current big three.

[cudomix]

Pushing Linux may be Gabe's strategy to get Microsoft to loosen up on Windows Store and Windows RT restrictions (see above), don't forget Rob Pardo also made negative comment about Win8, joint push from several large gaming companies could result in powerful OS (thus eating into MS profits). Also, console with unified hardware reduces developer costs (less testing and bug fixing), indie devs would welcome any cost reduction.