What Valve's Announcements Mean for Gaming

Now that we have the full picture of Valve's efforts to bring PC gaming to the living room (SteamOS, dedicated hardware, and a fresh controller design), people are starting to analyze what those efforts will mean for gaming, and what Valve must do to be successful. Eurogamer's Oli Welsh points out that even if Steam Machines aren't able to take the market away from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, they put us a step closer to the final console generation. "Valve has hopefully sidestepped the most depressing aspect of console gaming: the enforced obsolescence that makes you consign your entire games collection to a dusty cupboard every five years." GamesRadar notes that Valve's approach is fundamentally different from that of the current console manufacturers because it's about putting more power into the hands of the users. "The takeaway from SteamOS, then, is that openness breeds innovation. Valve's putting the very source code of its operating system in the hands of everyone who wants it just to see what happens. Comparatively, Microsoft is pushing its Windows Store, turning Windows into an increasingly closed platform (i.e. one that charges costly development licensing fees and restricts access to certain content providers)." Everyone's curious to see how the controller will perform, so Gamasutra and Kotaku reached out to a number of game developers who have experimented with prototypes already. "[Dan Tabar of indie studio Data Realms] said the configuration map for the controller allows you to do 'pretty much anything.' For example, developers can slice up a pad into quarters, each one representing a different input, or even into eight radial sections, again, each section representing whatever you want, mapping to key combinations, or to the mouse." Tommy Refenes, co-creator of Super Meat Boy, wrote an in-depth description of his experience with the device. He summed up his reaction by saying, "Great Start, needs some improvements, but I could play any game I wanted with it just fine."

Comments

Unless your engine already supports OpenGL

[tepples]

I was under the impression that engines that already support OpenGL won't need too much modification. SteamOS is just a desktop Linux distribution bundled with the Steam client in Big Picture mode. This means it uses the same video drivers and the same APIs as desktop Linux. The only engines that would need extensive modification are the ones that target only Windows and Xbox 360, as the other gaming platforms use OpenGL or something very much like it.

Re:Unless your engine already supports OpenGL

[bfandreas]

SteamOS is propably pretty X-less. AMD has just announced a new low-level API(they seem to be supported by DICE/EA on this one) and NVIDIA just this week have been falling over each other in their rush to announce proper Linux drivers.

Valve has a lot of weight to throw around and it seems like they did just this.
I'm not convinced by the controller design since it seems to lack the haptic feedback of twin stick, but I'm actually quite intrigued by this whole Steam OS thing. If they price their SteamBox right and actually pull off that streaming thing it might just be my thing. At the moment I'm considering a 20m HDMI and USB extension from my PC to my TV. Some games I prefer to play with a controller and then I might just as well do that on my TV, on my couch, in my living room.

...and no, I'm not interested in a console.

Re:Unless your engine already supports OpenGL

[Rockoon]

Indeed, the AMD API they are proposing is supposed to be much lower level than OpenGL because console developers are used to getting away with being much closer to the metal when they only have 1 hardware target to shoot at. To get an idea of this, in neither OpenGL nor DirectX is there an efficient method of just taking a pointer into video memory and fucking around from the CPU side of things.

But when you look at AMD's APU setup, memory is memory.. video memory and main memory are one and the same.. there is no reason that you shouldn't be able to just go ahead and write to individual texels in a texture efficiently, and so forth.. something quite inefficient on a PC with a dedicated video card in the x16 slot.

AMD plans for this API to be "open" so Intel will be free to implement it on their integrated GPU's as well... NVidia, without its own x86/x64 architecture, will be screwed of course.

Re:Unless your engine already supports OpenGL

[Mike Frett]

Valve wants native ports, not Wine usage. Their strategy for streaming is sort of a Microsoft tactic. Consumers will find Steaming to be cumbersome and eventually demand native ports from publishers, that's valves goal with streaming; Native ports. They've had plenty of time to figure all this out and gather the data. It's a big risk for them, they aren't just going to throw something out there and hope it catches.

In the end we all need to stop thinking about Wine. It's more of a problem, than a solution.

Re:Unless your engine already supports OpenGL

[Curunir_wolf]

The vast majority of triple AAA games aren't ported to the Wii

Just how many AAA AAA AAA games are out there, anyway?

Re:Unless your engine already supports OpenGL

[Gibgezr]

>I'm not convinced by the controller design since it seems to lack the haptic feedback of twin stick

I thought that one of teh things Valve was pitching was much-improved haptic feedback. From http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamController/ :
"Haptics
Trackpads, by their nature, are less physical than thumbsticks. By themselves, they are “light touch” devices and don’t offer the kind of visceral feedback that players get from pushing joysticks around. As we investigated trackpad-based input devices, it became clear through testing that we had to find ways to add more physicality to the experience. It also became clear that “rumble”, as it has been traditionally implemented (a lopsided weight spun around a single axis), was not going to be enough. Not even close.

The Steam Controller is built around a new generation of super-precise haptic feedback, employing dual linear resonant actuators. These small, strong, weighted electro-magnets are attached to each of the dual trackpads. They are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement.

This haptic capability provides a vital channel of information to the player - delivering in-game information about speed, boundaries, thresholds, textures, action confirmations, or any other events about which game designers want players to be aware. It is a higher-bandwidth haptic information channel than exists in any other consumer product that we know of. As a parlour trick they can even play audio waveforms and function as speakers."

Sounds great to me.

Re::Living Room?

[ichthus]

What the hell are you talking about. Contrary to the Verizon commercials, people aren't watching movies on their phones in subways or coffee shops. They're scarcely watching them in theaters either. Where, then, are they watching them? In ... *cough* the.. ah... LIVING ROOM. Yeah, and people still game there too.

When will the right people get to test controller

[ShiftyOne]

I'd much rather see the headline "pro-gamers get their hands on the steam controller and approve" than anything else. Especially any that use the claw or hammer grips (aka keeping a finger on the a b x y buttons at all times). Game developers aren't necessarily known for being good at their games.

Re::Living Room?

[drinkypoo]

The living room died so many decades ago, and so many cultures that game don't know what that is,

More houses have a living room than bedrooms — in some cultures, they only have one room, and everyone lives in it. Of course, most of those cultures don't have game consoles. However, you may note that many people do in fact have living rooms or their equivalent, and they seem to still be buying consoles and console games. Otherwise it would have been tough for GTAV to smash all previous sales records.

Re:Growing weary of "Steam Box" talk

[tepples]

Exactly how long does it take to build a special purpose PC?

Building is the quick part. Convincing retailers to carry it takes a bit longer. The last four major entrants to the console market had to do something special to get noticed. Nintendo had to disguise its NES as a "toy" by using a finicky front-loading mechanism and a gimmicky robot. Sega had an initially disastrous distribution deal with Tonka during the third generation but made its market during the fourth by being the first to allow "MA-17" (now "M") rated games. Sony and Microsoft had to rely on their earnings from other industries.

This is the future

[tom229]

This is another company using open platforms, and standards, to sell their services. We've already seen this work extraordinarily well with Android, and being that Steam is already the largest online repository for games, I see this working out well for Valve.

This is a fantastic leap forward for gaming and open standards. Unfortunately Microsoft is just barely figuring out how to poorly copy the declining success of the Apple model... looks like they'll have to play catch up again.

Re:This is the future

[minasoko]

Haha, you Slashdot freedom fighters are so funny. Do you have any idea why Valve was so popular in the first place? It's because they could sell games on Windows, and the games just magically keep on working through the years, from XP => Vista => 7 => 8. And all this thanks to Microsoft, not Valve.

What drivel. No wonder you ACd. Microsoft sell a platform, Valve had a enterprising idea 10 years ago that used the platform and it's been a success. Now Microsoft want to get into Appstores, in typical "me too" Microsoft fashion. This is a threat to Valve's business and so like a responsible company head, Newell is working on a plan B, in case MS decide to make it much harder for Steam to exist on Windows.

And how much did Valve pay Microsoft for all those sold games on Microsoft's platform? Not a goddamn cent. There's no appstore.

Microsoft got paid through Windows sales, it is in their interests to make that platform appealing. They even took the piss by forcing newer Windows releases on gamers using arbitrary restrictions. Do Adobe pay Microsoft every time someone buys Photoshop?

And the REAL irony? Now Valve wants to sell their own app store to Linux gamers

I don't think you know what irony means. And what's the RRP on SteamOS?

Re:This is the future

[Ost99]

You see, it's because if you want a standard platform for gaming, there's one above the rest - Windows. Like it or not, that's the truth.

What Valve understood, but you fail to understand is that this is the way it WAS. It's no longer true with Windows 8, 8.1 and Microsofts plans and new limitations.

Re::Living Room?

[higuita]

Thank you, but i spend all my day at work... where of course, i can't play...
traveling home, i'm driving... so i can't also play
at home, i'm in the couch relaxing... i can play some games in a tablet (not a small phone, forget that) or in the big screen. As most tablet games are simple, if i wan't a more rewarding game i must go the the PC (with linux)... or i can play directly on the TV. Valve helped in both solutions.

Mobile is for kids and teenagers, all rest prefer the office or the couch

which market

[__aaqvdr516]

I think Valve's target audience are the console gamers that can't be bothered to build a gaming rig. I know quite a few of them from work. They're intimidated with using a keyboard and mouse for gaming.

I'm not really interested with trying to play 99% of my library on the "big screen". There's really no benefit to bringing the remaining 1% to the TV as they play just fine with what I already have.

I'm not their target audience.

Consoles have DRM

[tepples]

Consoles have digital restrictions management too, as they use cryptography to ensure that there's no endorsed way to load a game that hasn't been greenlit by the console maker. True, the major console makers have eased up on their developer qualifications for this eighth generation in the face of competition from OUYA and Apple's App Store and Google Play Store. But as I understand the SteamOS reveal, you'll still be able to add games that haven't been greenlit by Valve to your library.

Re:Consoles have DRM

[DudemanX]

You've been able to add shortcuts to non-Steam games from within Steam since... oh... forever. I've got a shortcut to notepad in Steam that I rename whatever I want so people that I'm friends with can see shit like...

Dudeman
In non-Steam game
Nerdfest has full-blown AIDS

You can make shortcuts to any executable you want and name it anything you want. It's pretty cool.

Public transit

[tepples]

traveling home, i'm driving... so i can't also play

That depends on what city you choose to live in. Some cities have high-quality public transit, allowing use of games designed for mobile platforms such as PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, iPhone, and Android.

Re:When will the right people get to test controll

[stms]

I've watched a bunch of stuff (indie-game the movie, Interviews, ext.) with Tommy Refenes and Honestly if I trust anyone's opinion on input it's him. Doesn't mean he couldn't be wrong but if he says it works well that's a pretty good sign to me.

I am disappointed in Valve

[asm2750]

I wish Valve would start announcing new games. This console infatuation is getting annoying.

Re:When will the right people get to test controll

[AdamHaun]

They're sending out controllers as part of the Steam Box beta. The participants are pulled from Steam users who volunteer and jump through a few hoops, so we'll no doubt see reviews from outside gamers very soon.

Samsung & Huawei Consoles

[Tim12s]

Nice, due to this we'll have Samsung and Huawei games consoles. Give it all away.

Re:Samsung & Huawei Consoles

[aiadot]

As a Xperia Android user myself, I think there is a few critical difference between Android and SteamOS and why Android success may not transfer to Steam:
1)Smartphones are a necessity. Game consoles are a luxury.
2)A smartphone is useful without buying any app. A game console is a paper weight without a game.
3)Smartphones can be sold for cheap/free because they are subsidized thanks to the 2-year monthly payments. High end proprietary game consoles are also subsidized in the early years thanks to game sales and subscription services. How are the SteamBoxes going to compete against that?
How device makers are going to make money? PC hardware is already sold for razor thin profit margins. Game console costing more than $400 either fail(3DO) or have to drop the price(PS3, and probably the XBOX ONE in the near future). Game sales profits go to Steam, not Samsung/Huawei and there is no monthly fee. Will they fill up the console with bloatware like they do with their pcs/smartphones? I hope not.
4)Game developers don't like to support too many different hardware configuration(see gaming on iOS vs Android or the fact that the PC is usually a lower priority platform compared to consoles)
5)The Android user interface hardware experience is fairly "standard" compared to iOS and other mobile systems. The SteamOS official controller is a monstrosity compared to gamepads so far. Yeah, its "different, innovative, etc" but that doesn't necessarily make it good or even wanted. The closest thing I know of is the PS4 controller. It has motion capture(6-axis, LED marker) and also a touch panel along side the standard buttons/sticks and no one cares.
6)Patents. This is actually not a difference, but a similarity. Who is going to pay for the proprietary codecs, etc, they put on SteamOS. The digital multimedia business is an IP minefield. Android already suffered a lot from this.
7)Maybe easier piracy?

There are other issues and I could go on forever, but that is fruitless. There is a significant chance SteamOS could be the next big thing. There is a huge chance it's going to survive as a niche product. There is a very small change it could be the end for Valve. I don't care about it's success, but I won't bad mouth it because regardless of how it turns out, Linux will get something out of it(how much depending on how really "open" Valve is).

Re:AMD Mantle on SteamOS = perfection

[jonwil]

The SteamBox will have whatever hardware Valve decides to include. Valve will be able to choose the CPU and GPU combo that makes the games they intend to run on the device (i.e. Source engine titles, whatever else is on Steam for Linux etc) run the best (including picking a GPU with good OpenGL support)

Valve can also publish a set of specs and say "if you want the best SteamOS experience, buy this hardware.

"more power in the hands of the users"

[swampfriend]

What I see is less power in the hands of users as all games become subscription and "early access." The developer is freed from its obligation to ever provide a finished product that actually belongs to the user, rather than being leased or sold "on spec"

Re:It means there's now one more API to target.

[hobarrera]

Nope, wrong, it's just steam on linux really.

Re:Mobile has iffy controls and recurring fees

[bfandreas]

...or you connect a simple PS3 controller like I just did. I felt the urge to beat my Riptide GP highscores just this afternoon. So I hooked up ma tablet to my TV and connected my PS3 controller via Bluetooth to it.

Whenever I read of somebody who complains about mobile devices only being capable of touch controls I really read of some bloody idiot who hasn't even tried. PS3 controllers work on Android at least since 4.0. No root required.

Re:A $40 controller for a $3 game

[bfandreas]

You may find that while the US and Canada are not the market majority when it comes to mobile computing. It is at best tied with Europe. Asia will in fact be the biggest market. Due to the lousy network coverage the US still is considered a developing country compared to Europe.

Also I didn't have to buy a controller for my tablet since my PS3 controller connects to it via Bluetooth. All I had to do was to connect it once per USB and now it is registered with my tablet.
The only problem you get with Android gaming is iOS ports. Those typically don't properly support controllers.

So please excuse me for laughing at you while playing Amiga games with a stock PS3 controller on my tablet wherever I go.

Re::Living Room?

[Omestes]

Except that mobile gaming is a completely different beast from living room or PC gaming. Mobile gaming is about quick bites, simple controls, and shallow gameplay (this isn't a bad thing, per se). Mobile gaming is casual, by default. Its hard to get into an epic RPG while on the bus, or in the dentist's office. If I'm going to play something like Skyrim, I'm going to do it in a comfy chair, on a good screen, with mature controls.

Tethering a controller to your phone or tab is counterproductive, since you "un-mobiled" mobile gaming, by forcing someone to carry around a controller as well as their device.

Mobile isn't replacing anything, I wish that fallacy would die. Mobile is supplementing a certain part of traditional markets, but it isn't replacing the core of those markets. Looking at console and traditional game sales back this up, they aren't slowing down in relation to rise in mobile device sales. Nor will they, since they fill a very different niche than traditional consoles and PCs for gaming.

Same with the stupid trope that mobile will magically kill traditional PCs... This is said by people who never used their PC for anything more serious than email and light web browsing. There is very little in my daily computer tasks that can be moved to mobile, outside of light email and web duties. Sure, this is a gap MS is targeting (badly) with the Surface Pro, but suddenly we're not talking mobile anymore, but a traditional laptop with a floppy keyboard and optional touch controls. And still it isn't going to be as good as my large screen for most tasks.

The living room died so many decades ago

I'm now picturing a family of four huddled in their backyard streaming watching movies on a 10" tablet. I feel kind of bad for them, since they could be inside, sitting in their living room watching it on an increasingly affordable giant HDTV.

Re: It means there's now one more API to target.

[arendjr]

What are the odds they are building off of Mir or Wayland to get their improved graphics and input performance? If they choose one of these it would add a lot of weight to the respective choice.

Re:A $40 controller for a $3 game

[VGPowerlord]

Game developers can't rely on the end user to buy a $39.99 controller for a $2.99 game.

Also I didn't have to buy a controller for my tablet since my PS3 controller connects to it via Bluetooth.

So... your correcting him by pointing out that you are using an MSPRP $54.99 controller instead of an MSRP $39.99 controller?

HL3

[Glendale2x]

No, the only thing this means is that they're still not working on Half-Life 3.

Re:When will the right people get to test controll

[mechtech256]

The dev behind Super Meat Boy (comically difficult side scroller with a cult following) put up a nice synopsis of his experience testing the controller:

http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/62476523677/my-time-with-the-steam-controller

Pretty good review for a 3d-printed prototype. Importantly, it seems like it's not fundamentally flawed, and the touchpad based control system works fine in practice.

Re: It means there's now one more API to target.

[techprophet]

Wayland stands in one corner, hailed by the majority of the Linux community. In the other corner stands Canonical's canonical display server, all alone. Given Valve's actions so far, I'd wager a healthy amount of btc on wayland.

These are still PC games, ultimately...

[HerculesMO]

And it's why SteamOS I think, doesn't really have a huge draw towards it. Yea on Slashdot it will -- Linux OS made for gaming? What's not to love? But in reality PC gamers prefer the mouse/keyboard combo to play their games, and taking games that work *perfectly fine* in Windows and putting them into a dedicated box to play with a controller (which I still think won't work as well as KB/M) doesn't really have any allure to most 'mainstream' (ie, not technical -- just give me my goddamn game and let me play) type of gamers.

The only way SteamOS and Steamboxes take off, is if there are SteamOS EXCLUSIVES. That's why people choose Xbox vs PS, because of exclusives in many cases (though now the argument can be made for the achiements, friends list, etc). And while Valve might be crazy enough to release Half Life 3 as a SteamOS exclusive, I don't think all the other development companies out there are going to do that. Steam will still work on Windows *just fine*. It will continue to have a "big picture" mode that if you are so inclined, will work *just fine*. So why would you want another box to do something you can already do just fine?

I don't get the allure -- but that's just me because not all of my games are on Steam, and by going to a SteamBox I would actually have less options and games available to me (and often, with worse FPS and performance since not all my games are Valve games and would presumably be a Wine port or something like it), than I would than sticking to Windows.

If this works out

[drolli]

then Linux really has won. Game consoles are the last piece of customer devices casually used where Linux has not a strong foothold

-e book readers: most based on linux
-all sony entertainment equipment like cameras, television etc (PS3 excluded): Linux
-most medium to high end media players:linux (exclude ipod)
-most phones (except feature phones and iphones): Linux
-netbooks for consumers: chrombook share seems to explode

The last bastion where Linux never got any foothold were all things related to gaming. If steam now makes a "reference design" for a linux based gaming machine, that could settle some battles at ones. This has the potential to kill the PS4 and the XBOX, since every cheap chinese manufacturer can clone the thing. And like android the marketplace will be the cash-cow holding this together.

Re:Growing weary of "Steam Box" talk

[Nyder]

Gabe and Valve keep talking about innovation but it's now been nearly 3 years since they floated the piston box prototype and with this new announcement we'll be waiting for another prototype in spring 2014. Exactly how long does it take to build a special purpose PC? That is all this Steam Machine is after all, correct?

The last time I paid attention to what Valve had to say it was Gabe back in 2010 or so talking about how with the Steam platform they would be delivering small incremental updates to Half-Life 2 instead of the "lengthy" episodes or even longer Half-Life 3 box sequels. Sorry Gabe, but 2014 is around the corner meaning it's been 7 years since Half-Life 2 Episode 2. You want the industry to follow your company's lead with Steam and games on demand type development then please lead by example.

While I agree they are overdue for a Half-life 3, I think Valve is being smart about their new console. We aren't talking some giant mega world corporation with deep pockets funding a gaming console. We aren't talking a company that can easily get Nvidia or AMD to just out of the blue, after decades of linux users asking for better drivers, to get them to make some decent drivers. No, see Valve had to get the ground work done. They had to get linux working with Steam, which they did. They managed to get AMD on board with the drivers, which in turn now has got Nvidia trying to bust out decent drivers. They also had to see where the current gen of consoles were heading. It would be foolish to put out a underpowered Wii-U type of machine earlier, as Nintendo has shown us.

You might want everything right now, but good stuff takes time and Valve seems to be going about this smart.