Slashdot Mirror
Valve's 'Steam Box' Console Is Real, Says Gabe Newell
symbolset writes "The Verge is reporting that the Steam Console we discussed in November is a real thing. Gabe Newell said it will be a locked down platform for the living room. The source is a Kotaku interview with Newell at the Video Game Awards. Newell said, 'Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment. If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general-purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that's what some people are really gonna want for their living room. The nice thing about a PC is a lot of different people can try out different solutions, and customers can find the ones that work best for them.'"
is Steam Big Picture as a desktop environment for ubuntu, or something along those lines - a linux OS which boots up into Steam. So you can build your own steam console with the hardware you want (and is fully upgradeable when new tech comes out) and ready to rock as soon as the OS is installed.
... wait, what?
Arguably, Valve probably wouldn't be pushing full "steam" ahead on this if Microsoft hadn't dreamt up a Windows Store. This is in my opinion a real game changer for the PC ecosystem and the future of Windows.
Valve's move into this space breaks the virtual oligopoly that presently exists in the livingroom console market and opens the opportunity for further value through on-demand video with the existing STEAM infrastructure.
It sounds like the Windows Market Place was the catalyst for a true market shift.
How long until someone has it cracked and running general-purpose Linux? Bonus: How long until someone makes a cluster of them?
I am a geek attorney, but not your geek attorney unless you've already retained me. This is not legal advice.
For gaming.
For linux.
For users.
It could only be bad for Microsoft, unless Valve screws it up, and judging by thier track record for the last few years I don't think they will.
My hope:
If you want a brain-dead easy, pre-built machine, buy a SteamBox: all the advantages of PC Gaming, with Wide Screen, TV support and the ease of use of a console.
If you want the same experience only BETTER- learn how to build your own pc, match the guidelines set forth by Valve as far as recommended hardware and build your own with upgraded performance levels.
This is a great thing to see and I truly hope they succeed.
And my 12 year old nephew already wants a SteamBox too.
Have you read the Kotaku story? Newell expects 3rd party hardware specifically for Steam and its big screen mode; these would obviously be PCs. Their own hardware will be locked down, but you don't have to buy it.
http://www.moonlight3d.eu/
He's not saying they're doing away with Steam on PCs. Steam will still be available on Windows, Mac and - soon - Linux. If Steam stops working on Windows it won't be Valve's fault. And if it does stop working on Windows you'll be able to get most of your Steam games without buying them again - complete with all the in-game content - on a platform that is less hostile to successful Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). They'll maintain Windows Steam for as long as it is possible and financially feasible to do so but given the history of Lotus, Wordperfect, Borland, Aldus, Sun, Star, Netscape, Novell and many others, that won't be forever. Sooner or later Windows will be updated in a way that Steam won't run on it, and that won't be Valve's fault. They're hanging in there for you as best they can, but they don't write the platform.
By doing this he's maybe building an intimidating counter-threat to Microsoft: break Steam like you break the OS for other competing ISVs and we'll take our users elsewhere. By doing so he may be incentivizing Microsoft to not break Windows-based steam. By making a platform they DO own, Valve is making a commitment to continue to offer you a platform your Steam games will run on, in as much as their participating developers will support it. They can't make the developers support it, but this is the best they can do. Buy the Steam console, and your Steam games will be able to continue to be supported because they DO own the platform.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
It won't make it past its 2nd iteration
All your 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 are belong to us
I'm hesitated to get excited about this... I have to wonder just how locked down it will be. Hopefully it will continue in the tradition of steam drm being not malware infesting and generally just enough to get the job done. Advertisements and other annoyances will hopefully be easily disabled like on the PC (the xbox 360 is just disgusting to navigate these days).
With the increasing use of tiny solid state drives in hardware these days (the ipod classic going the way of the dodo, slim models of everything),
I wonder how much space the unit will have? Team Fortress 2 on its own is like 18gb with all the updates. I can't see the unit realistically being less than 300 if a standard hard drive must be included.
Valve over the years has gotten a large foothold in Windows gaming, now working on Linux gaming and set-top gaming. All they will be missing is smartphone (and mac?) presence before they can start having a google-like influence and presence.
http://interserver.net/
PC gaming has been dying since the mid-nineties. Now excuse me, I'm going to go play more Guild Wars 2.
It doesn't matter. The "cheap valve box" owners will quickly rise in numbers and the "real PC gamers" will be dwarfed by this. The incentive to develop games for anything beyond the four low-end-hardware-consoles (MS, Sony, Nintendo, Valve) that cost less (combined) than even half of the cost of your gaming PC will be gone. Why sink the expense in something that will grind high end rigs when you can just hit the same target you were hitting six or eight years ago?
Good intentions, I'm sure, but the outcome will be awful.
Sooner or later Windows will be updated in a way that Steam won't run on it
Given that Windows 7 (what I use... haven't tried 8) still natively runs things designed for Windows 95 and 98, I'm not sure when or how you think Steam is going to "stop working" on Windows.
Read Pynchon.
I am assuming that by locked down, they imply a signed bootloader and/or a signed kernel image. I wouldn't be opposed to that provided all games remain available for the open PC platform as well.
Such a thing is reasonable if they want to subsidize the hardware with games purchases and minimize tech support costs (There's far less headache to deal with if they can't do anything other than what you specifically approved. Anybody who has ever worked in an end user facing IT position would know this.) We can talk about software freedom all day (which I very much do want) but if ma, pa, and billy joe average either can't afford it or otherwise won't use it anyways due to it being too technical to them, then what's the point in having freedom over something you otherwise have nothing to do with?
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
Why would this kill PC gaming? It's sounds like just another new console. It's locked down. Not any different than an Xbox or PS. Except without a designated controller, and good luck trying to find a wireless keyboard and mouse that will work for gaming.
You don't have to spend $1000 on new gfx cards every year. There is a sea of awesome games out there that will run more than happily on a $100 card or on integrated Intel gfx.
Until this is resolved, I'm wary of locking myself into Valve any more than I already am. The thought of a locked down environment worries me, too; that seems antithetical to what has made PC gaming and enthusiasm what it is.
Still, it's Valve, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but being trapped in one more walled garden not only with software but hardware is not the direction I like the industry to move.
We don't need more hardware, the current PC is good enough. Just give us some good software/games for it already.
I had the privilege of trying to install stream from behind a hotel firewall/router. Still doesn't work. Would download at under 16 kb/sec and there is hundreds of megs to download. I seen to recall that this is because it only uses a single tcp connection when there is a firewall and basically steam wasn't designed with this in mind. Remember, steam is fundamentally a web browser and file downloader. I know a few games where the stream based server browser also is very spotty. Firewall/NAT issues are pretty common, so if valve is aiming for mainstream then they have so far failed miserably. You need system administrator privileges to get stream to work.
You do know that Gabe Newell used to work for Microsoft, and knows how they play this game, don't you? When he was there he worked this to his advantage and now that he's competing with them he's working his understanding of the way they do things to his advantage also.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
70 million xbox sold, 5.6 million simulatenous users on steam tonight(presumably more total)
Yup, microsoft wouldn't even notice.
A more comparable figures would be Steam is 54 million active user accounts [concurrent peak users did peak at 6 million]. The numbers seem surprisingly close to seriously threaten Microsofts console gaming platform with Steam Cross-Multi-Platform
As for Microsoft not even noticing, they would be incredibly foolish not to, Microsoft has very little benefit over other platforms right now, even installations will be overtaken by android as soon as next year. Its gaming...and its control of the Graphics API lock-in are essential to if remaining relevant to the consumer market, which is being increasingly challenged.
Microsoft ALWAYS notice the competition they will be out with their chequebooks and lawyers banking on steams door.
Because the gaming market is NOT one homogeneous bunch?
I mean, let's be honest, casual gamers buying $5 games for their cellphones do not have any of the returns of the dedicated gamer buying $50 games for a console, let alone a fanatical gamer who buys those $80 game + DLC / expansion packs with expensive gaming rigs. You probably won't get rich with the former, whereas the latter has been quite profitable. There may be more 'casual' gamers, but they don't spend nearly as much as intense gamers.
In short, you can be Ford, or you can be BMW.
I am John Hurt.
When Microsoft decides the best way to go ahead is with mandatory software signing?
The long and inglorious history of Microsoft killing their most successful ISVs to take their customers is a part of the public courts record. It is not a disputable nor debatable thing. Microsoft considers the broad realm of ISVs an orchard where they can pluck the finest fruit, leaving the rest to ripen or rot.
The Windows app store is a move to cut off Valve's "air supply". Steam is an app store.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
If they do, it will be along the same lines as Google's Chrome - free, but impossible to actually build from source and use.
From the chromium web-site "Due mostly to its history and its complexity, Chromium uses a nonstandard set of custom tools to check out and build. Here's an overview of the steps you'll run:"
http://code.google.com/p/chromium/wiki/LinuxBuildInstructions
Depends how tuned the emulator for it turns out to be. I would find it entertaining to play PS3 and XBox360 games on a Steam 'console.'
It's even more amusing to think of the presidents of those respective companies hearing that news.
I am John Hurt.
It doesn't matter. The "cheap valve box" owners will quickly rise in numbers and the "real PC gamers" will be dwarfed by this. The incentive to develop games for anything beyond the four low-end-hardware-consoles (MS, Sony, Nintendo, Valve)
This is the current state of play, I'm pretty sure the idea is for "3rd Party Hardware Vendors to Compete", they will have only two things to compete on price/performance, looking at the not too dissimilar Android phone/tablet market. This seems incredibly good for the consumer.
They don't threaten each other. One is a Console and one is a pc.
You need to re-read my post, I coin the word Cross-Multi-Platform. I could have used the words "Steam ecosytem" if you prefer. The fact that you think gamers are either console gamers or PC gamers that is a nonsense. Ironically so as Microsoft are pushing for a convergence of their self styled ecosystem. The reality is in the modern world they are just shop fronts. I look forward to steam on my Android tablet; running on my Tivo box.
I have rechecked my original post. Its on the money.
His inside understanding about how Microsoft does things is almost 20 years out of date.
Exactly the same flaming idiots who complain about the Apple's walled garden are championing the same thing for valve
With the massive difference that Value does not restrict you from loading alternative software on that machine, or limits the platform your running on...On second thoughts its nothing like Apples closed garden. In fact its starting to be incredibly cross platform...In fact it breaks walls. In fact Steam is doing this because it fears Microsoft's Walled garden,
Now it does have [loose] DRM, locking programs to the store, at the cost of convenience. Which is completely different issue...whatever you think of that.
Its only slightly off-topic Tomi's latest article is about Android replacing Windows as the dominant computing platform http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2012/12/android-won-windows-lost-now-what-the-battle-of-the-century-is-decided-microsoft-relegated-to-ever-s.html but I like this quote which is relevant.
"Android will breach the rarefied Billion user club in just six months from today, by June of 2013. A Billion users? Only a handful of brands have ever reached that lofty level. Facebook, Skype, Windows, Nokia, Coca Cola, Visa and Mastercard."
So the apple app store was designed to cut of steam's users as well then? and the Google one.
Your half getting it. Microsoft is trying to mimic Apples walled garden, so the possibility of not allowing other stores other than Microsoft's on your machine is very likely...unlike Google on Android which allows for you to have multiple stores on your device.
As for being in Microsoft control or Streams...My vote is for competition which is why I will always chose devices that are more open. :)
Cultures change slow.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Don't assume. I like hardware DRM: sure it's strict, but console games don't require activation (this is changing... but still mostly true). That's the sticking point for me - retaining ownership of my media. I've never used Steam, I've avoided it since its debut for this reason, but I would get one of these if it meant that I could play games without going online to ask permission first.
And you would have the console everyone missed.
You could just plug it in, and play straight away few seconds later, nothing beats that feeling.
Today everything has to boot forever, it takes several minutes just to wait for another game to boot up, I hate that. I live with it, but I don't like it.
With todays amazing solid state drive developments, this shouldn't be impossible. USB-memory sticks costs almost as little as CD's and Floppy Disks did back in the days, so we're getting there.
And the first console to do this, will win.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
So . . . you're suggesting that the console market (including Steam Box) will stick with their $60 or $70 (whatever it is next generation) titles and gamers with high end rigs will some how get games created just for our dwindling market and they'll be sold at a $100 premium or something? Because we're talking about full-fledged full-price games, in both cases, here, otherwise. Not $5 casual console games and $60 PC games...
Exactly. It's taking the incentive away from playing on a beefy PC gaming rig to get access to PC games and transitioning those people into just more "console players", further dwindling the "PC gaming market", which in-turn diminishes the potential return for developers to target high end gaming systems (or, rather, anything other than console-quality hardware systems).
To be of any use, your high end gaming rig needs software developed for it that will take advantage of it.
To compel developers to create demanding and impressive software and engines that need the power of a decent PC rig, there must be a large market.
Putting out a Valve-Console improves the Steam market/audience at the cost of the more general "PC gaming" market.
And the circle is complete. Fewer people gaming on PC, fewer developers developing for it as a result, and fewer things for you to play, which means less reason for you to buy beefy hardware and so on and so on.
Performance is irrelevant, when the developers will have little incentive to create games targeted at anything but the lowest-common-denominator
...That has always been true...but its demonstrably not true. The reality is if you look at the current PC gaming platform, Android gaming platform. Its not true, why would you think something different would happen here. If you do not know why it doesn't happen. Its because maximising your *potential* market, is not the same as sales, revenue or even profit.
Your answer completely sidesteps the GP's point. He's not arguing that the Microsoft app store, when it comes out, will not be in direct competition with Steam. He's pointing out that one of the strengths of Windows is the time and effort spent to ensure backwards compatibility with older applications, which is considered an important reason why it rose to such high prominence on the desktop. Which completely invalidates your original post, since it is based on a false premise. I'll give you a slashdot story as reference to back that up.
It's happened before, it happened again.
A prime example is Boxee. It started as a fork of XBMC, and the software was free. They made some hardware (Boxee box) to make it easier for people. Then they gradually phased out the software, and it's no longer being maintained (don't know if it can be downloaded). It seems that it's easy for companies to get fixated on money^W control^W hardware.
GabeN is protecting his customers because he cares about them. I know this whole "caring" idea is alien to you, but some of us think it's important.
Also, your algorithm seems to have found an asymptote. You might want to have that looked at.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Wow, a Valve fan. Kinda like an Apple fan. I really don't know how to answer to this, because there is nothing to answer to. I'll try to rephrase my last post, even though I know it is a waste of time.
symbolset: Since Steam will stop working on Windows, Valve is doing this to protect us...
caithsith01: I can still run programs written 15 years ago on Windows. Why would Steam stop working?
symbolset: MS is well known to take over the market previously occupied by ISVs....
chryana: What the hell does this have to do with caithsith01's point?
symbolset: Gabe protects his customers. You're so heartless.
chryana: I'll try to rephrase what I just said in a way that you can understand, but I don't think it's possible.
If will not bother replying to any further post you make, because I think you missed the opportunity for a rational discussion to take place.
Also, the way they do things in this regard seems not to have changed in 20 years.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
When they wanted to win the browser wars, they bundled their browser with windows and made it tightly integrate into the OS. It worked.
When they wanted to win the media player battle, they bundled their media player with windows and made it tightly integrate into the OS. Then their CD ripping ability and consumer media editor too, able to save only to their own formats. It worked, though not so well.
And now Microsoft wants to take over software distribution they are bundling their own store with windows and tightly integrating it into the OS. Chances are this will also work.
Why would Microsoft change the way they do things, when it has such a track record of success?
I'm going to give you the real answer they aren't going to accept or use for many years: "Because it works."
Please don't tell them about this innovative intellectual property. It's my exclusive and I have IP rights to it..
Help stamp out iliturcy.
... I think I'm switching to Haiku.
*Tadum* *Crash* *Thud*
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
You make what is current and then a few years later something else. It works for Nintendo etc.
So is microsoft :(
Few details, but if he's talking about a box that's actually running games, I have to say I think they're going about this the wrong way. I think they should try solve the problem "How do we bring gaming from your already existing personal computer in another room, to your local devices (TVs, tablets)". Think "short range OnLive", creating a bridge between the computer and the display and sound output/controller input. You could even (for not so resource intensive games) run multiple instances on the SAME computer and have the I/O going to different devices, allowing separate-device multiplayer that way.
If they think they can 'take on MS and Sony' then sure the spoils from a stand-alone box would be greater, but I think growing the existing costumer base makes more sense than trying to build a new one. If you're spending a lot of money on steam, it's because you already have hardware to play games on. You don't need or necessarily WANT more hardware thingymajingies.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
Locked down, in this case, I think means something different from what you think it does. When developpers talk about locking down hardware requirements, they mean having a set spec to develop for.
If, for example, the "Steambox" ends up being a Core i3 dual core @ 2.9GHz, with 4GB of RAM, and a Radeon HD 7750 video card, then hardware developpers know that if they make sure their game runs on this spec then they're safe. It's a fairly cheap spec which could easily hit the sub-$400 PC market and go directly for consoles (could probably get it sub-$300 with that spec), and yet it's still powerful enough to run most modern games at max settings on 1080p.
Similarly, if you'd prefer to build your own, maybe have a bigger hard drive (which they'd have to skimp on to keep it sub-$300) and a more powerful processor or an optical drive, then you can. Stick Linux of your choice on there, pull down Steam from the repositories, and you have a reasonable assurance that anything built for the Steambox will also run on your own computer. And if you *really* want to continue running Windows, then you can, for now, and will be able to do so until Microsoft finally kicks Steam out. But Steam is going to be pushing developpers to start making stuff that works on Linux (and is making sure their own engine works on Linux for starters).
I would be surprised if this isn't similar to Gabe's vision, given what he said in the interview itself.
They aren't stopping you from using the hardware you want, they are just making available a ready made device that is guaranteed to be compatible... Buying and using a gaming PC currently requires a relatively high level of knowledge, you need to know about the hardware and different models, you need to mess around with driver installations and updates etc, and also deal with conflicts between background software and differing drm schemes. You still have the option of doing this, but for the vast majority of people who have no interest in doing this a steambox provides an easy route and should expand pc gaming to a much larger market.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
You can do that now with Steam... just put it in "offline" mode. Games will no longer automatically update themselves is about the only disadvantage. All of your Steam games will run just fine, and will continue to run just fine even in "online" mode if you don't have a current Internet connection. As far as DRM goes, Steam is easily the least intrusive.
There's a handful of old games where entering the product key doesn't seem to work properly, and you need to be "online" so you can get your key from the Steam community console every time you play it, but other than that I have never seen a problem running Steam in "offline" mode. In fact, for the first year I had it, I never left offline mode, because all of the "steam" games I had, I had physical media for them too. Never had a problem with it.
Is DRM good or bad for linux this week?
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
Because valve can't afford a code signing certificate?
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
Kill PC gaming? Nah, it might slow down the rate of hardware advancement a bit, but IMHO this will be a good thing. The current gaming hardware is FINE. Developers are currently spending way too much time optimizing new graphics engine for the hardware flavour of the month, and spending fuck all time on actually making a decent game.
If the hardware race slows down a bit they'll be forced to actually make a decent game to compete again.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
So yeah they'll probably have developers targeting a console which is what developers already do, but those games should run on PC too since it'll be the same thing.
It's not a point of the games running on PCs or not. The point is what they will be aiming their development for. If everyone has weak console-grade systems (Steam or otherwise), then there is no reason for them to develop games that make the most of additional power. We already have plenty of games developed for the console today that "run on PC too", but when you play on PC and make the investment into PC hardware, you're not looking to "be able to play it". You're looking for a better experience. A lot of today's games which are targeted for consoles and "run on PC too" run poorly on the PC and don't make the most of the power they have. You end up with ports that don't look much better on a $1,000 GPU than they do on a $300 eight year old console. Not because of any limitation of the PC, but because they simply didn't have any compelling reason to do anything extra for it. (Though, occasionally, you'll see them make a half-attempt at appeasing PC users by putting out an additional downloadable "HD textures pack" to install).
When we've moved a lot more people to Steam Boxes that compete with existing consoles, we're not looking at rising water lifting all boats. There will be less reason to develop anything that exploits additional processing power and the lack of that software will, in turn, mean there's no reason to build a nice rig for yourself (gaming-wise, at least). I mean, if a $300 console is all software is made to take advantage of (again, look at a lot of the ports from consoles today that look just about as bad on the highest end rigs as they do on eight year old consoles), then why bother spending a couple grand or more on something else?
And while that might seem fine, in a way, to some -- think about what games we have seen that demand more processing power and would have been difficult or impossible to pull off (to that degree, at least) in today's games. I don't think you'd have the equivalent of Civilization V, EVE-Online, Red Orchestra 2, or even BF3 (which is drastically different on current higher end hardware versus the console versions).
We're not just talking about "graphics". We're talking about things like multiplayer number caps of 24 on the console versus 64 on the PC. We're talking about complex systems in Civilization, Sim City, Shogun and other games which bog down CPUs processing each turn today --- and would be unbearable on a console.
I would love it to be a case of "both world's can co-exist", but I see it more as PC potentially laying down and giving up and being content with having whatever those console guy's are having -- because an expanding PC audience driven by things like more potential complexity, better graphics, more concurrent events occurring in games, more simultaneous players in a game and so on is the only thing that will keep developers interested in the platform.
(And for the record, I'm not a PC-only gamer - I own and enjoy all of the platforms).
That is only if the hardware fails within the warrany and the user doesn't have to go out and buy another one or opts to just buy another one because they're impatient.
Because Microsoft will want a percentage of sales.
I'm hoping it will be both a console and a solid Linux desktop system. It would be a nice introduction to Linux desktops for a lot of people, without any of the potential hardware problems that you run up against when you install on random hardware.
Ask much as I hate MS I realized that the Tabet UI could be a way for MS to sell a lot of W8's licenses to people who want a 10-Foot UI for their HTPC. I just built a A-8 5600K HTPC last week and I'm running Linux Mint on it but most of the Netbook UI's have disappeared and the Kubuntu Netbook Plasma was too flaky with the AMD drivers. Yah I adjusted the font sizes and what not but if you want to use non XBMC software you need to get close to the tv. Noe thing that might save my sanity for browsing the internet might be Kylo browser http://kylo.tv/ Will try it out today.
So I wouldn't write W8 off yet, money is money as long as people are installing in on PC hardware im sure MS will be happy.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
caithsith01: I can still run programs written 15 years ago on Windows. Why would Steam stop working?
All the programs that don't compete with Microsoft's core products still run, unless they use functions that had to be deprecated to make competing applications not run.
...Word Perfect...
This is ridiculous. There'll always be a reason to develop for the next gen of processing power. There'll always be a Steam Box Mk II, Mk III etc. You can't expect people to upgrade their XBox's though - but you can expect your Steam players to think "this game is awesome, I want it awesomer" and to upgrade their systems. With the attendant benefit for everyone that the Steambox Mk III can run all the same games just as well.
yea keep hoping
You can do that now with Steam... just put it in "offline" mode. Games will no longer automatically update themselves is about the only disadvantage. All of your Steam games will run just fine, and will continue to run just fine even in "online" mode if you don't have a current Internet connection. As far as DRM goes, Steam is easily the least intrusive.
Nonsense. Can I sell my game? Can I lend it to a friend? Suppose I want to come back to my game years later when Steam's activation servers are gone, can I pull it out of my closet and install it on my new computer? Offline mode is not a substitute for media ownership.
They'll maintain Windows Steam for as long as it is possible and financially feasible to do so but given the history of Lotus, Wordperfect, Borland, Aldus, Sun, Star, Netscape, Novell and many others, that won't be forever. Sooner or later Windows will be updated in a way that Steam won't run on it
Out of the list of companies that you've provided, and their corresponding products, which ones, exactly, became financially unfeasible because Windows was updated so that the software won't run on it?
When Microsoft "won" the browser wars, Netscape's software quality wasn't too hot, and there was no Firefox or Chrome. It took some time, but IE isn't the de facto standard it once was. Also, no one has yelled at Apple for bundling Safari with OSX, or Canonical for bundling Firefox.
When MS took its stab at the media player market, it was indeed trying to win based on 'bundled default'...but really the only thing it did was cost Winamp/MusicMatch/Realplayer some download stats. At the time, there *wasn't* a standard media player on Windows. Microsoft never really 'won' that battle, Apple did...and for what it's worth, Windows Media Player rips to MP3 now, and has since WMP10, I believe. Bonus points: they lost to Quicktime, and later Flash, for in-browser video streaming, too.
Microsoft is trying to make the App Store model work for Windows 8, but any success they have in this regard will undoubtedly be in spite of the Windows 8 store, not because of it. MS seems to be under some delusion that people want tablet apps EVERYWHERE. I was actually in the Microsoft store the other day, talking to several of the staff members there, asking for *one* app that took advantage of a reasonably-powerful GPU. Not a single one could give me a title of an app that would make my Nvidia GeForce 460M kick up the fan speed beyond its idle RPM rate. Sure, this is just fine for people who are perfectly happy playing "Cut the Rope" on their Intel integrated video chipset, but Valve's millions of users tell me that there are at least a handful who put a modicum of stress on their machines. If Microsoft doesn't cater to these users, then sure, you'll get sales from the handful of Surface users and Office 2013 sales, but Microsoft's success won't come from ignoring the strengths of the desktop computer and treating everything with i7's and dual Xeons like a Surface tablet.
If nothing else, it behooves them to keep the antitrust lawyers at bay. If bundling IE was enough to get them a monopoly conviction, preventing Valve - a company with plenty of cash in the bank - from selling their software on their platform would be an open-and-shut case that they can't afford to lose.
So I understand Valve is going to make a killing off of this, but why would I as a PC gamer want to buy a console that pretends to be a PC? This isn't a PC, although Valve is going to market the shit out of it as that. This isn't increasing customer awareness by telling them what their computer can or can't run. This wont have adaptive and ever increasing hardware. There is really NO benefit to buying one of these except to fit the trend.
If it can run on a steambox, it can run in windows. With big mode you can have the same experience simply by buying a Xbox PC controller and hooking your PC up to your living room TV. I am personally ashamed and devestated by the direction Valve is taking with this. PCs were the last bastion for gamers wanting more then the watered down console experience and now Valve is going in to fuck that up too. There will no longer be a better version for the PC, there will be a better version for the PC (aka Steambox), which will be nothing more then another watered down PC wannabe in a year or two... let alone when it's going on seven. The PC moniker is going to mean nothing more then the Steambox in the future.
Fuck this, fuck Valve for killing the one last arena for PC gamers. Hardware baselines are killing the gaming industry and encourage nothing more then regurgitations of CoD23. I thoroughly hope developers don't develop for this and it dies before it gets off the ground (I doubt it though).
Because what you're really complaining about is that all the games act like they are the *same* game and playing different games simultaneously is somehow wrong.
If Steam knows which games you are playing, then what you want, is to be able to log in however many times you want, and play only _one_ instance of each game.
The problem of course, is that everything else associated with Steam (buddies, achievements, etc) is not set up to do that. Even with the proposed solution, how will messaging work? Accounts within accounts? This whole inconvenience is looked upon as a feature to software developers. See those 2-pack combo deals in the store?
Given how slow Valve operates (HL3 anyone) I would place the likelihood of this ever happening at zero. Go with whatever your Plan B is.
You don't seriously think that the Nintendo Wii, which hasn't had a firmware update in a while, is running brand new drivers for its video card?
Video and audio drivers on Wii are statically linked into each game. The firmware (called IOS, not to be confused with Apple's or Cisco's) handles only USB, Bluetooth, storage, and networking.
No problem, I'll just ls, pipe grep, pipe xargs... oh. Windows. Right.
What surprises me is that you haven't already installed MSYS or Cygwin, which provide a GNU command-line environment on Windows.
Not since the Dreamcast has the OS come on the disc.
Then explain the system update partition on every Wii disc since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
A majority of games being made for PC these days already have native support for game controllers
Since when? I was under the impression that PC games had support for a game controller, singular, not game controllers, plural, in part due to publisher greed.
PC and Console gamers are playing the SAME games these days. Sure there's platform exclusives, but the big games are multi-platform.
Multi-platform in many cases has meant PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Where's Mortal Kombat (2011) for PC? Where's any fighting game other than Street Fighter IV and MUGEN for PC?
Tablets and smartphones, be they Android or iOS - run an OpenGL variant.
I thought Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 ran Direct3D and only Direct3D.
How is yet another console a real game changer?
Startups have trouble getting into Sony's and Nintendo's developer programs.
If your concern is the accessibility of text in the image, I have transcribed it for you.
I like playing Borderlands 2, but my wife likes playing Worms Reloaded, while my daughter likes playing Sonic Generations. But if we all tried to do this, the error message is "This account is currently logged in elsewhere." If I have purchased Borderlands 2, Worms Reloaded, and Sonic Generations, why can't we play them all at the same time? Every other digital service does this: for example, "2 computers are authorized to play content purchased with this Apple ID." Why can't Steam do something like this: "Account type: Family (3 devices)"?
Why are you putting everything on the same Steam account?
Presumably the daughter isn't old enough to have her own electronic payment method. If all gamers were 18+, there would be no need for ESRB or foreign counterparts.
Hello, everybody, the good shoping place, the new season approaching, click in. ===== http://www.sowotrade.com/ ===== Discount Air Jordan (1-24) shoes $35, Air max shoes (TN LTD BW 90 180) $36, Nike/shox (R4, NZ, OZ, TL1, TL2, TL3) $35, Handbags ( Coach Lv fendi D&G) $36, T-shirts (polo, ed hardy, lacoste) $20, Jean (True Religion, ed hardy, coogi)$35, Sunglasses ( Oakey, coach, Gucci, Armaini)$16, New era cap $12, (NFL MLB NBA NHL) jerseys $25, free shipping, Accept credit card and (PAYPAL), ===== http://www.sowotrade.com/ =====
Exactly.
Help stamp out iliturcy.