[lasersquad]

Originally Posted by Overheal

Valve are the last people I expected to want to kill PC gaming.

Valve might be privately owned, but it doesn`t change the fact that they care about one thing - $. Admittedly they go about acquiring these in a very clever way trying to minimize damage or win over fans in certain ways, but the fact remains.

Some lofty ideals like "PC gaming" really do not come into play here. They`ve seen the success of OnLive and their little shop ain`t doing too badly either - meaning there`s enough people with broadband and credit cards to justify such move. Sod the rest

[the_syco]

Citing "uncovered information" from unnamed sources, the tech blog says that Valve is developing a platform for low-cost, micro-sized PCs that would offer access to Steam's vast library of games, but in a streamlined console-style experience.

This screams "cloud computing" to me.

[K.O.Kiki]

Rumoured pic:

[marco_polo]

Originally Posted by Overheal

Valve are the last people I expected to want to kill PC gaming.

I doubt it unless Valve have secretly done a complete UTurn on everything they have every said in favour of open gaming platforms.

[RXMPS]

Originally Posted by lasersquad

Valve might be privately owned, but it doesn`t change the fact that they care about one thing - $. Admittedly they go about acquiring these in a very clever way trying to minimize damage or win over fans in certain ways, but the fact remains.

Some lofty ideals like "PC gaming" really do not come into play here. They`ve seen the success of OnLive and their little shop ain`t doing too badly either - meaning there`s enough people with broadband and credit cards to justify such move. Sod the rest

Onlive is a great app, I always use it at work when the boss is not around and to try out demo's at home.

It is the future, my machine at work is a pentium 4 dinosaur that can barely play solitaire, but workplace has a fast open internet connection, so I can play Dirt 3 and the like perfectly, it's amazing.

I am not a tech head at all, only found about it few weeks ago from mate at work.He was playing Fifa 12 on his break, it looked amazing,looked like a PS3 game, on his ancient machine.

I was like how the hell can you play that?

That's a brand new game, you surely need a modern pc for that I said.

You have a playstation connected to it I said.

He told me it was streamed like youtube, metacafe etc and I couldn't believe it.

I like Onlive but I have felt that it needed a huge company like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo etc to push it on to the next level, as in mainstream.

Maybe Valve are the company to do it?

To bring it mainstream with a proper cloud computing console.

They can't generate revenue like a huge powerhouse like Sony or Microsoft, but they do have a lot more financial power than Onlive it would seem.

Maybe they have some new tech/software that makes 1080p games stream perfectly on low connections like 2mb.

That's the biggest problem now, at work onlive is great but my eircom 8mb connection is hit and miss with it.

[lasersquad]

"It`s the future" - well, unfortunately you might be right.

While I admit that OnLive`s progress is quite amazing - when I first heard of the idea I was in quite snigger/wtf/that`ll-never-work mode - the prospect of future gaming turning into youtube-like streams is quite terrifying. Even on very good connection pic quality/latency is an issue (depending on game) and it always will be. Games will get even more complex and even more people will want their Netflix and what not streamed too, hoggin the tubes.

Then there`s the small matter of not owning the actual games and the fact that NOT everyone has a kick ass connection - quite a chunk on this planet has none in fact. But, that stopped being a concern long time ago (see Steamworks, Ubi, Arkham etc)

I wouldn`t mind this online obsession if it ran parallel to the "traditional" model of gaming where you go to the shop, buy a physical game and have a solid single player campaign there. But, that was deemed "inconvenient". Or something. If true this GabeBox will definitely be a cloud affair, then you have D.Perry`s Gaikai skipping console entirely and streaming into next-gen TVs, wouldn`t be surprised if Apple piped up and I bet PS4/720 will be even more net-slaves than they`re now.

[wyrn]

I think we shall see a Steam Box console with Half-Life 3.

That's what I am going to keep telling myself

[Voodu Child]

Originally Posted by K.O.Kiki

Rumoured pic:

That's a realan case, I recognize it because I was looking at them when I built a HTPC a while back. Sold under various names.

There's damn all cooling in that case, its good enough for a Atom/Fusion type build. Whoever is assembling it doesnt know much about hardware if they're putting an i7 into that. I doubt very much it is a prototype of anything.

[5uspect]

Depends on the CPU and the cooling solution really. There's plenty of laptops running i7s with a heatpipe blower configuration.

[Wossack]

mobile i7's though, not real ones

[Andy!!]

How dare you, my i7's are real!

[Voodu Child]

Originally Posted by 5uspect

Depends on the CPU and the cooling solution really.

No it doesnt because I know that specific case.

[5uspect]

Originally Posted by Wossack

mobile i7's though, not real ones

It hardly matters, a Sandy Bridge a TDP around 65~95W. A fast GPU probably a bit more. A combined dual heatpipe cooling solution would be a bit noisy but acceptable.

I'm sceptical about a steambox myself. I would imagine there could be come sort of beamer system where you can transmit HD gaming video processed on your PC with controls sent back to your PC. This would fit into their bigscreen idea or what ever it was called. Local OnLive I guess.

[jaykhunter]

It depends on how well it's marketed really. Would they have any exclusives? For it to work, all Valve games would have to become this-console-only; which is a risky manouvre. Like i don't know if there's much of a market of console gamers looking to jump to PC; and PC gamers likely know how to build a cheaper/better PC. It'd have to have a sales hook and a very easy-to-use interface; even with steam sales I can't see PC gamers flocking to a rigid system.

TBH it's worth a shot but I personally think it'll fail. Console gaming is huge and casual gamers don't have a hook to make the switch rather than the Next-box or PS4. The only one I think who could have a good go at breaking the 3-system console race are Apple - try hook the tech posers who might do casual gaming; make it a media hub too. They have amazing marketing.

Oh Steam-Box? Ice-Box would be better

[Digy123]

Fans Want Ep3 Gabe Releases...Steam For Mobile
Fans Want Ep3 Gabe Releases...SteamBox?
But i think this could be great and to everybody saying it will be outdated soon The 360 is outdated...Still works Great,Ps3 is outdated..Still works Great.
This would be MUCH more powerful than those two so i dont see this going "Outdated" For a while it would run alot of games Maxed but in a few years maby medium but still this would Destroy Systems like PS3 an Xbox,Graphics and FPS Wise.Also You wouldnt have to go out and buy a game at gamestop you could just download it via Steam.