Valve Announces Steambox, Sort Of

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Valve Announces Steambox, Sort Of

Posted by timothy on Saturday September 21, 2013 @09:21PM from the rumor-of-a-leak-of-a-buzz-generation-machine dept.

wbr1 writes "A new page has appeared over at Steam with this slightly cryptic text, a countdown, and an image of a console controller. 'Last year, we shipped a software feature called Big Picture, a user-interface tailored for televisions and gamepads. This year we've been working on even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room. Soon, we'll be adding you to our design process, so that you can help us shape the future of Steam.' It appears Gabe Newell wants to throw his hat in the console ring now with the Xbox One and PS4 about to be released. The countdown to the announcement is targeted at Monday."

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They've got a good shot at it by msobkow · 2013-09-21 21:27 · Score: 4, Interesting

I think Valve has a very good shot at taking on the console market.
They have a recognizable and respected name.
Their online delivery system is tested and reliable.
Their software quality is generally good.
What I know of their test betas has been solid.
They have a huge catalogue of games for the platform before it's even released.

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1. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Torp · 2013-09-21 21:40 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Actually they don't have a huge catalogue, since it will supposedly run Linux.
  Unless they'll provide a lot of games prepackaged with a version of Wine customized to run like lightning on their hardware... hmm...
  
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2. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Alef · 2013-09-21 22:00 · Score: 2
  
  It's not going to be easy. Bootstrapping a console ecosystem is immensely expensive. You need to become big very quickly, or you get a negative feedback cycle where you have few users, leading to few games being developed for it, leading to fewer users, and so on. To an extent, they can leverage their PC gaming presence, but it's still going to be an extra cost for developers to support an additional platform, which they aren't going to take unless there is a significant market there. And if the consoles are much more expensive than the competition, it'll be a tough sell to console gamers. If they don't have the economy of scales, they'll have to subsidise the hardware, and that costs serious bucks. Microsoft took an enormous investment when they entered the console market with the original XBox.
  I'm thinking their best bet is to make it an open specification for which they develop a standard software stack, kind of like Android did for smart phones. That way, they can get hardware vendors (Samsung et al.) to make the heavy lifting.
3. Re:They've got a good shot at it by wertigon · 2013-09-21 22:03 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  200 launch titles is nothing to scoff at, actually...
  
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4. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-21 22:07 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Well the current count on the store's Linux list is 297. Maybe not huge, but I don't remember many consoles having nearly 300 games before being even announced...
  And yes, they ARE working on releasing games with Wine. System Shock 2 and Wizardry 8 are on the list AFAIK (ok, not the freshest games, but still...)
5. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Carewolf · 2013-09-21 22:13 · Score: 2
  
  More launch titles than most consoles have dad?
6. Re:They've got a good shot at it by wbr1 · 2013-09-21 22:43 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  They may not have a huge library of linux games, but what they do have are some exclusive AAA titles they could trot out. L4D3, HL3, Portal 3, etc....
  
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  Silence is a state of mime.
7. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Hadlock · 2013-09-21 22:48 · Score: 2
  
  If Valve managed to talk Rockstar in to developing a linux/steambox edition of GTA V, that alone would cement them as a Real Console manufacturer. GTA V PC is supposed to launch around the same time as the Steam Box is. Just sayin'...
  
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8. Re:They've got a good shot at it by ubersoldat2k7 · 2013-09-21 22:56 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Apart of the 200 already existing titles already mentioned, SteamBox + HalfLife3 would be a killer move from Valve and place them, at least, at a very good starting position. I can dream, can't I?
  What worries me is that, some big shots like GTAV are not in those 200 titles.
9. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Alef · 2013-09-21 23:27 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That's one part of the equation; a few big titles is more or less necessary for them to stand a chance at all. But they still need someone to produce the consoles cheaply (if they cost like a gaming PC it'll never compete with XBone or PS4), and that requires volume, which in turn requires a huge initial investment and commitment. I'm not saying it's impossible, and as a Linux user, once a gamer myself I really hope they succeed, but they only way I'd bet on it is if they've managed to attract some of the big players in the hardware industry (e.g. Samsung, LG, Asus, Acer) that might be interested in grabbing piece of the console gaming pie and are willing to chip in some serious resources to do it.
10. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Mike+Frett · 2013-09-21 23:44 · Score: 2
  
  Who cares about GTAV?. It's rehashed material designed to make money. You really think those EA's and Rockstars CARE about Games anymore?.
11. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Rolpa · 2013-09-22 00:22 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Who cares about GTAV?.
  I have a billion dollars that would like to have a word with you.
12. Re:They've got a good shot at it by aliquis · 2013-09-22 01:08 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Bundle it with all their own titles (Half-life, HL2, CS, TF2, Portal 1 & 2) would be a start for people who haven't played it, maybe not that exciting for people who play games though.
13. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-22 02:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  They may not have a huge library of linux games, but what they do have are some exclusive AAA titles they could trot out. L4D3, HL3, Portal 3, etc....
  Oh come on guys, lighten up. Just because its called a Steambox doesn't mean it actually has to be filled with vaporware.
14. Re:They've got a good shot at it by Zero__Kelvin · 2013-09-22 05:32 · Score: 2
  
  What a well thought out and poignant bit of absurdity. It really brings to the forefront your ability to say stupid shit, that you know is stupid, and make yourself look like an idiot in the process. The Linux Kernel didn't adopt GPL V3 in large part specifically because of the Anti-DRM clauses added to V3. Linus has specifically came out and said DRM is OK on Linux as far back as 2003. There is absolutely nothing that prevents Digital Restrictions Management on a Linux system.
  
  Of course that assumes that Valve will insist on only distributing games that are DRM'ed, which is a claim you just pulled out of your ass.
  
  "FOSSie Faction"
  That was by far one of the more ignorant things I have ever seen on Slashdot by the way.
  
  --
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Re:that name.. by AliasMarlowe · 2013-09-21 21:45 · Score: 5, Funny

XBone.. is that really what people are calling it, in a non derogatory way?
Some of us had assumed all references to XBone were derogatory, one way or another.
But it's hard to tell, as even fans of the XBone seem to use the same term. It's as if they somehow enjoy being boned.

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Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Console controller? by El_Muerte_TDS · 2013-09-21 21:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

That device is called a "gamepad" and has existed on the PC for years.
1. Re:Console controller? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-21 22:31 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  It existed in game consoles before PCs even had color graphics.
Re:Not gonna happen by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-21 21:52 · Score: 3, Interesting

Then you, my friend may not be their target audience.
If Valve make titles available to play on both PC & Steambox with just the one license then I would likely purchase one.
Re:Not gonna happen by LRAD · 2013-09-21 21:58 · Score: 2

I believe that a Steam Box will be a modified PC running linux or windows that is designed to have a steam shell for maximum gamepad gaming. You'll use the same Steam account over however many systems you have, as it is now.
Re:that name.. by wbr1 · 2013-09-21 22:42 · Score: 5, Informative

OP here. I meant it as derogatory.

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Silence is a state of mime.
Re:Not gonna happen by wbr1 · 2013-09-21 22:50 · Score: 4, Informative

Half Life 3? Left for Dead 3? Portal 3? Team Fortress 3?

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Silence is a state of mime.
Re:that name.. by Opportunist · 2013-09-21 23:10 · Score: 5, Funny

And what would you call the next one after that? Infinity+1? Infinity++?
You have to be careful with superlatives and absolutes when naming your product, unless you're pretty sure that it will be the swan song to your line of ...
You're right. XBox Infinity would have been fitting.

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They want my input by Aboroth · 2013-09-22 01:18 · Score: 3, Insightful

Soon, we’ll be adding you to our design process, so that you can help us shape the future of Steam.

Oh great, because I have some features I've been wanting for a long time, like being able to sell or trade my games to other accounts, or selectively appearing offline to different contacts on steam, or at least not broadcasting what I'm playing to certain people...

Oh, you don't want that kind of input. You don't really give a shit about what I want.

Well screw you then.
Re:Not gonna happen by click2005 · 2013-09-22 02:22 · Score: 2

No, if you buy a game on Steam you get it for Linux, Windows & Mac (if its available on those platforms).

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Re:Not gonna happen by Nerdfest · 2013-09-22 02:22 · Score: 3, Informative

Windows is pushing towards the "Metro"/Apple model where they get 30% of all software sold. Valve sees this coming a little earlier than most.
Virtual Console: It prints money by tepples · 2013-09-22 02:33 · Score: 2

200 launch titles
...are certainly something to scoff at when you're talking about old games.
I beg to differ. Wasn't Virtual Console one of the reasons that Wii printed money?
Subject matter by tepples · 2013-09-22 02:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

There's no Nintendo GTA5
There's also no Nintendo Katamari, despite the Wii being more powerful than the PS2 on which the series debuted. Perhaps Nintendo just doesn't want the subject matter of GTA5 on its console.
Re:that name.. by O('_')O_Bush · 2013-09-22 04:51 · Score: 2

XB ONE

XBONE seems like a pretty reasonable name.

I mean, Microsoft chose it after all.

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How much longer will consoles last? by ducomputergeek · 2013-09-22 06:30 · Score: 2

My Xbox 360 is now a glorified Netflix player. I was looking at Battlefield 4 and the next gen consoles. Frankly I'm BSD fan and the PS4 intrigues me.
12 Years ago I switch to mac for my primary computer platform. As a computer, especially, for work it's done it's job extremely well as I worked around *iux environments and had MS Office. I own a total of 3 games: Knights of the Old Republic (bought on a may 4th deal), Wing Commander Privateer (GOG/Dosbox), and Falcon 4 Allied Force.
When I wanted to play games, that's what I got the Xbox for. But @ $500 for a console it begs the question of whether or not it's time to go back to the PC. Especially with Star Citizen coming out. SC runs okay on my MBP (I have Windows 7 via Bootcamp). But for $500 I can upgrade the home PC (new PSU & Graphics card, has a quad core 3Ghz CPU & 16GB of Ram) and get a decent quality HOTAS & Pedel set up.

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Re:It's not quantity it is quality by tlhIngan · 2013-09-22 17:13 · Score: 2

Thing is, most devs don't want to code for Linux. When you are talking modern games with modern 3D graphics, and the demands those bring on the hardware, porting to Linux is not trivial. Even without that it still takes time and effort (and thus money) but particularly when you talk a game that wants to use modern features of the 3D card.
Given that, and the fact that so far games sales on Linux are pretty low, most developers will give the port a miss. Just not worth the money in their assessment.
This is where SteamBox comes in. It's a fixed Linux distribution where there is well known locations for libraries and everything. No need to worry about what version of a library a user has, when on SteamBox it's guaranteed you'll get the version you need.
No screwing around with AMD or nVidia or Intel drivers - it uses just one driver and one chip and guaranteed to work in the way you expect.
Basically, it console-ifies Linux into one configuration. Linux purists may hate it, and if they try to do something beyond the basics (like say, upgrade a library) things can break so badly it has to be restored (which if fine - users are not supposed to do such things).
Sales for SteamBox will probably be better than doing it for Linux because it's something you plop beside the TV and play. Steam for Linux will probably start to tightly control libraries so SteamBox games will run on Steam for Linux relatively easily, even if it means breaking the Linux tradition by having Steam ship with tons of libraries.