Valve boss says living room Steam PCs coming with Linux support
The pieces are coming together for Valve to push into the hardware space, as it increases software support for Linux boxes and points out that the OS would allow more flexibility for hardware plans.
Valve boss Gabe Newell says that now that Steam's Big Picture mode has launched, the addition of Linux support is the next crucial step in developing its own hardware plans. The company already appears to be preparing itself with increased support for Linux in its games.
Newell told Kotaku that once Steam Linux is out of beta, and Big Picture can run on the Linux platform, it will give the company more flexibility to make its own hardware without using Windows as its backbone. The head of Valve has been critical of the Microsoft OS recently.
To that end, Engadget reports that the company has been updating select Steam games with Linux support as it continues to test the OS. Ubuntu is reportedly the most supported distribution available so far.
Once Linux and Big Picture are playing together nicely, Newell said that both Valve and other companies will create PC boxes meant for the living room. "We'll do it but we also think other people will as well," he said. "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." He also said these boxes could compete with the next-gen consoles coming from Microsoft and Sony.
Speculation surrounding Valve's approach to the hardware market kicked off with a report of a Steam box, which the company claimed were just Big Picture prototypes. More recently, the company has talked about developing hardware, though it wasn't clear if it was referring to experimental solutions like wearable computers.
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replySteve Watts posted a new article, Valve boss says living room Steam PCs coming with Linux support.
The pieces are coming together for Valve to push into the hardware space, as it increases software support for Linux boxes and points out that the OS would allow more flexibility for hardware plans.-
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It's a console, and mouse and keyboard simply don't work from the couch. Believe me, I've tried - I've built couch lapdesks and everything, but it's simply not a great solution there.
Right now I'm using one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Cideko-Keyboard-Conqueror-PlayStation-3-6306200/dp/B0067G55YW/
And it works okay for anything that isn't an FPS, mouse cursor works like wiimote pointing sans sensor bar, but it's a kludge and I'd love to see more experimentation in this space. -
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No matter how much they push Linux for their box, a lot of PC releases will still be Windows / DirectX only, especially multiplatform / ports from the Xbox consoles. I don't see many developers putting in the time for native linux os ports when the Windows versions still aren't being showed the love they need a lot of the time.
It will be fine for Valve games and a lot of indie stuff I'm sure.-
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Windows is going to remain the PC standard though, even with all of Valve's backing of Steam on Linux that's not going to change. Some developers will do Linux ports when it makes sense and is viable, but the point was there's always going to be a slew of big releases that just won't work on their Linux Steam box, unless emulation somehow improves and solves that problem.
It's always going to be lacking, as great as I think Valve are I just don't see it going where we'd all like to. Perhaps in a decade or two if they stick with it.-
Though if Linux is their way of getting their stock Steam OS and hardware into homes without paying MS licensing fees for bundling a version of Windows, and you can still dual boot or straight up format and throw Windows on there for the full Steam experience with all games available then I suppose it doesn't really matter.
I just don't see how much demand there would be for a Linux only Steam box and super limited library, especially at the outset.
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Even then, it's still a non-trivial investment to port properly.
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I just don't see the money yet.
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For established players no. Especially if they have some for of backwards compatibility out of the gate. They start with a foothold in the living room. Valve is nowhere near the household name that Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft is. They could change that, but it's an unenviable uphill battle.
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Microsoft and Sony are also giant corporations, Valve is not. One huge difference is they can afford to pay developers for exclusives.
The barrier to entry for Sony was not difficult. The Saturn was hard to program for and the N64 was held back by cartridges and apparently Nintendo had alienated a lot of developers. The Playstation didn't materialize out of thin air either, it evolved from the SNES-CD.
MS was able to endure the loses of XBOX because they're Microsoft.-
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Episode 3!!!!
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So Valve enters the console wars. The next couple years are going to be very interesting.
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Neither did Apple with the iPhone & iPad at first.
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But the iPad and iPhone arguably offered new experiences and created new markets. HTPCs have long existed. It doesn't sound like Valve is designing and pushing custom hardware, just preloading software? If they don't partially subsidize the cost what incentive do I have to suddenly buy one/replace the one I have? For the computerphobic, surely everyone knows at least 1 person who could help them set up an existing HTPC. I'm not seeing the mass appeal here.
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Sort of off topic... but I've noticed today that we are now able to select where to install the games, we have the option of creating a steam library in a directory of our choosing.
I believe this function has only just come out of BETA.
Cool!
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Hahah if Valve actually uses Linux for their Steambox, it's not going to be the amazing thing that everyone has been hoping for. The vast majority of games don't run in Linux, and the publishers will have no motivation to port unless there's a large install base there. And nobody will buy the console if all you can play is Left 4 Dead!
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Chicken/egg for sure. Not sure what the end game is here for them.
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Irony is, the cost of making the games isn't any less, it's just that the OS is free. So, in the end it's really not going to be much cheaper for end users on Linux.
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This might be what he meant by "cheap": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUo1PgKksgw
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It took Steam a LONG time and it had a major Trojan Horse called Half Life. What's the killer app to get Steamboxes into the living room when you already have a 360 or PS3?
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Half-Life 2 was a Steam exclusive, so it's possible.
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IT wasn't HL that sold steam for people. It was CS.
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Not for me. I played CS, but it wasn't what got Steam on my machine it was HL.
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I installed Steam because HL2 required it. THAT was the platform's killer app.
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And what else? I think it's safe to say you need a handful of half decent exclusives combined with some good ports to launch any new platform.
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In all fairness...the 360 didn't have a lot of good exclusives out of the gate...only Project Gotham Racing really comes to mind. I bought one early on, but I knew I was buying it for the games that would come out later...not what it released with.
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And the PS3 had an amazingly bad launch as I remember. The Wii's two big titles were a port of a Gamecube Zelda game (with the GC version admittedly held back) and Wii Sports. The original XBox had Halo...that was about it in terms of its launch (a great game...but not a handful of anything). Its been a long time since we've had even semi-strong launches in terms of both hardware and software hitting hard right out of the gate.
I remember the big title of the 360 launch being CoD2...and that was a game that I played on my PC even though I owned a fucking 360...that lack of exclusivity didn't hurt the 360 at all wrt that game.
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I don't think stability is the main hurdle here. It's content. Valve games, especially ones we've already played, aren't enough to drive a new platform into the living room.
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ah, okay. Your sarcasm in the previous post was a bit too subtle.
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"glaringly obvious bugs in the some of the most rudimentary of features like menus showing up that have existed since launch and have never been fixed."
Example? I don't know what you're talking about but I'd like to see it. Steam was a POS on OS X for the first couple months but it seems totally fine now, ditto their Source game ports. TF2 and Portal 2 run great now but were completely unplayable for a little while.-
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Ah yeah, I fired it up and I see it in the "window" drop-down. Really weird. There are similar things like that in the Windows version that bug me Jump lists for example never got fixed, it would either forget what you've pinned or stop working entirely. I kind of gave up on them after a while.
Steam has weird little issues here and there, but in the end they don't bug me because lists and patching work. Even lists was sketchy back when it would regularly forget your "favorites" list.
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Cool. I haven't seen that stuff but I also don't run Steam in OS X all that often. I'll keep an eye out. Either way, hopefully they get to work on keeping the non-Windows versions in shape. The Windows version of Steam was actually buggy as hell for the first couple years, but that was then and this is now. It should all be good
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It's not a matter of how good the Steam client is, it's a matter of what games are available and how many users does it attract.
They hyped up Steam on OSX, and years later, it has less users than the just-released Windows 8 that Newell despises so much.
Linux will be an even higher hurdle and unless they have something really compelling up their sleve, I'd have modest expectations.
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You're comparing something free to something that will cost hundreds of dollars. People were also forced onto Steam to consume new Valve content. Unless they plan on SteamBox exclusives that won't work on normal PC Steam that incentive is missing.
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And a new console with just HL3 wouldn't be enough for the sales needed.
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I don't buy that. Not every game is suitable for both platforms. Also, the Steam client on Mac might be successful, but even that's nowhere near what you need to get on the radar for the living room gamer. The big three spend massive amounts of money just building brand awareness with TV ads and the like. Valve is successful, but this is a step up from what they do now.
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So, they are going to sell to a market that is already aware of them and already owns a PC or Mac? That's not what I call a recipe for massive success. You are pretty optimistic, but I still don't see how you get from A to B here.
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It doesn't cost users hundreds of dollars to install Steam for Mac
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Well in all fairness they already own a Mac...so hundreds are dollars wouldn't be a barrier to entry even if it did.
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I dont see this as a direct competitor to the next xbox or the pc for that matter.
This is aimed at people like myself who were once a pc gamer, who is looking for something to plug into their tv that does all kinds of streaming and stuff.
I've long wanted to play a bunch of pc games that i cant run on my laptop but i really dont want a fully fledged pc in my house. This would be a cool solution for me.-
How big of a market is that?
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Pretty small, but i'd expect that is what they're aiming for.
I think it would be a mistake to make a huge expensive splash like a typical console launch. I see them taking the steady gradual approach.
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So, like the rest of us hardware junkies, Gabe looked at the next gen Console specs and wanted to cry. Then he tried Windows 8 and did cry.
Valve is still my favorite Dev on the planet, and I'd love to see them take a huge chunk out of MS and Sony's market share. After this ridiculously long console cycle, I think the time is ripe.-
Can't help but LOL this.
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pretty much this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWoYmTAfDbk
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People who have or like to build gaming PCs, need to get one thing straight, this isn't meant for them. It's meant for people who game exclusively on consoles.
Like the Gabe's statement in the article hints, it's gonna be a closed system, like a console. Not a general PC.
And with an OS based around steam and it's awesome prices, I think this could definitely push the industry further into the digital age, something PSN and XBL can't do with it's inflated prices and licensing fees.
I'm definitely considering this over the next xbox and more than likely to get it instead especially since I don't want anything to do with the next xbox. Giving Microsoft's direction for it.-
You realise the steambox will essentially have license fees too? Valve takes a cut of any title sold on steam which basically works out as a license fee, the percentage might vary from title to title but its a fact.
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