Slashdot Mirror
Windows 10 App For Xbox One Could Render Steam Machines Useless
SlappingOysters writes: The release of Windows 10 has brought with it the Xbox app -- a portal through which you can stream anything happening on your Xbox One to your Surface or desktop. Finder is reporting that the love will go the other way, too, with a PC app coming to the Xbox One allowing you to stream your desktop to your console. But where does this leave the coming Steam Machines? This analysis shows how such an app could undermine the Steam Machines' market position.
No, the whole point of Steam Machines is so that Steam can survive Windows. If the best streaming experience for Steam winds up being through Xbox One, I don't think they will care all that much. Steam Machines exist primarily because Windows 8 onward aren't a level playing field. Applications sold through Windows Store get special APIs (like a UI toolkit that isn't a horribly bad abomination) that non-Store apps aren't allowed to use. And Steam can't sell applications using the Windows Store APIs since those kinds of applications are installed by the TrustedInstaller account, which has privileges above and beyond normal administrative accounts in Windows. I have seen no indication that this situation has changed in version 10.
Steam machines were predicated on a functional SteamOS, which has spent a year in beta. barring that, Valves pet project of running steam on linux ran arground when AMD graphics drivers for linux were revealed to be completely useless. nvidias blob seemed to work well but Valves blockbuster titles on linux remain seriously limited when compared to their Windows ecosystem. maybe this windows 10 feature will be enough to spur additional development resources into the platform, instead of just treading water in the linux pool.
That having been said, microsofts sharing technology isnt about to kill Valves distribution model. Valve distributes titles like Dont Starve and other inexpensive, very fun indie games to a multitude of platforms that are not consoles. MS is also banking on a large assumption that PC gamers and console gamers are inextricably intertwined...the "pc gamer master race" meme is enough to think otherwise. Windows 10 is a free upgrade, but if you're already a steam gamer the games still run. if you're a console gamer, an upgrade to windows 10 might not be in your wheelhouse if youre an ardent call of duty madden or fifa enthusiast (that PC might be ancient.)
Finally, Redmonds XBox is the revenue jumper cable that keeps cringe-worthy projects like phone and surface alive. Its not something thats going to find cross-platform marketshare outside of their usual blockbuster exclusives. console gamers and windows 10 gamers already share titles by virtue of Microsofts initiative to port their big titles between platforms and in some cases those platforms offer enormous advantages that the other does not. Playing xbox from a PC means, for example, some titles lose half their framerate or adopt other console-specific eccentricities the player might not want.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Steam's streaming is good enough that I used it to play GTA V Online from my Linux computer. It might have put me in a disadvantage in firefights against other players, but then again, I could just be using that as an excuse to justify how bad I am at shooter games. I suspect it's the later.
generally if you have a "gaming computer" you're going to want to use it directly over any other device even if streaming were perfect.
True for single-player or online play, not so much if the game supports local multiplayer. At this point, you'd want to either A. put your gaming PC in the living room or B. stream the game from your gaming PC to the device connected to the TV. Otherwise, you're all stuck crowding around a desk.