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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.
Those vapors could be bad for you.
I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
No one has gotten streaming one machine to another to work anywhere near as well as just running on native hardware.
They probably mean redundant. Having an alternative doesn't make something useless.
is only what, $50 compared to $350 for an Xbox One? If you're looking for PC -> TV streaming that will be far more economical than buying an Xbox.
Steam Boxes have always had questionable value, they aren't going to be as efficient as consoles and do you really want that gaming PC in your living room?
"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."
I understand it's not normal to RTFA, but to not even read the summary?
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.
Did you even read the summary? They announced an app for XBox One that lets you stream you PC games to your console.
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.
I'm not sure I understand why this would make steam machines useless. The main value of a steam machine, as I see it, is that it allows you to have the convenience of a console in what is essentially a generic gaming PC. That is, it has a controller and a GUI aimed at connecting it to a TV and not using a keyboard or mouse, but it's not a locked-down console. It's just generic hardware that will play all of your PC games, and those games don't become obsolete and unplayable when you upgrade to the next generation.
The article says:
if you can use your Xbox One to play your PC on your TV, then your Xbox One can use Steam and effectively become a Steam Machine.
So what they're saying is, if you have a PC running Steam (which is really all a "Steam Machine" is) and an XBox One, then it's kind of the same as having a Steam Machine. Yes, it is... because you're starting with the scenario where you have a Steam machine. It's like saying, "There's no reason to buy a car, since if I already own a car and I buy a bicycle, it's like owning a car!"
Look, you shouldn't assume that I want an XBox. I can get a PC with better graphics and avoid being locked into Microsoft's ecosystem. I can install game mods, my games don't all go unnecessarily obsolete with every new generation of PC, Steam often has very good sales, Steam doesn't make me pay a monthly subscription for online services, and I can use that PC for other things if I like. To me, the only thing that would want me to buy a console at this point is if there were an exclusive game that I really wanted to play, and I've found that I can live without it. I don't want an XBox, so it doesn't make sense to me to say, "If you buy a Steam machine and an XBox, then it's like having a Steam machine!" I'll just buy a Steam machine, thank you, even if it's not a branded "Steam Machine".
Why would a streaming XBox make a steam machine irrelevant?
The $50 streaming device from Valve makes the XBox+App irrelevant: Steam Link Streaming Box
Love sees no species.
Plus, I don't have an XBOX.
Somebody at Microsoft trying to breed a FUD strategy ("Don't buy SteamBoxes now, there's better 'planned in Microsoft's pipeline', it's gonna be much better: you'll see once it's there (eventually) you won't regret this, you're going to like it !).
Hmm..... I'm sure I've heard such stratgies before....
Where did it come from last time? Oh, yeah, from microsoft!
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Try hitting CTRL+ALT+F1
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.
They announced an app for XBox One that lets you stream you PC games to your console.
Huh, no. It's the other way around.
- The thing anounced, that's coming is a way to stream games from the Xbox to windows 10 powered devices like tablets, laptops and/or desktops.
- The reverse direction PC tower streaming to living-room console (the same as stream) doesn't exist yet. It's not even being really developed yet.
For those who haven't been around for the last ~3 decades, that's usually MS-marketing speak for "We didn't see that one comming, but we'll pretend we're consider to evaluate public interest for that. Let's pretend that we'll make one to see if we can catch back the lost attention. If press and general interest seem to catch on, tell everyone that we actually did develop it and that we're about to publish it, any time soon.".
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]