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Valve developing steam box console
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03-03-2012 09:29AM#1
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Only thing I hope is that they don't make their own IP's exclusive to this. This could have the opposite effect really when you think about it, rather than making people who play consoles get this, it could make PC gamers favour this instead.
Never understood how a mouse and keyboard was supposed to work for a 47" TV, how close would you have to be? (I know they're making pads for this)0 -
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The report claims that baseline models will have an Intel Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA GPU and 8GBs of RAM, such as the Alienware X51, which may have been designed to be a Steam Box-capable device.
That's not going to be cheap, last I checked i7 based systems where anything but 0 -
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The i5s and the i7s are based on the same core architecture, the only real differences are the number of cores, cache size and support for Hyper-Threading. The Source engine is already multi-threaded unless you mean the Steam client itself?Not if Steam are getting round to properly using i7's multicore architecture... developers will do eventually.
These are a different kind of rumor, not the ones you'd read about on Kotaku.In fairness theres been lots of talk about ep 3 for years
Doesn't really mean anything tbh.0 -
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The i5s and the i7s are based on the same core architecture, the only real differences are the number of cores, cache size and support for Hyper-Threading. The Source engine is already multi-threaded unless you mean the Steam client itself?
These are a different kind of rumor, not the ones you'd read about on Kotaku.
even the core number is same, just it makes 2 more virtual cores. so the real difference is HT like you said m8.
i dont even know where steam client comes in to play
its already very optimised and it has jack **** difference in performance. 0 -
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Well there's the i7-3930K with 6 physical cores. :pac:ShadowHearth wrote: »even the core number is same, just it makes 2 more virtual cores. so the real difference is HT like you said m8.
i dont even know where steam client comes in to play its already very optimised and it has jack **** difference in performance.
I'm not sure about the reference to Steam client to be honest, he mentioned Steam in his post, so I assumed he meant Valve but the Source Engine is already multi-threaded. If he meant Steam then he could only be referring to the client itself which would be pointless.
As for the box itself, well I was quite surprised I didn't see a thread around here for the Alienware X51 due to its supposed similarity. It's certainly a step in the right direction but there's one major issue here: upgrade ability. From a development point of the view this is the biggest headache. If users are able to chop and change parts as they see fit then it means the optimisation process gets incredibly hard (read: non-existent) and testing becomes a nightmare. If developers target the launch hardware then users who do upgrade will take to the internet to complain that their more expensive hardware isn't being utilised to its full extent.
The original Verge article regarding the Steam Box, however, makes no mention of the ability to upgrade and instead mentions a "baseline for hardware" which "will give developers a clear lifecycle for their products, with changes possibly coming every three to four years". So you're basically talking about a beefier console with a shorter lifecycle for the core components.
Then there's the issue of the OS. Given the fact it'll be running Steam and other "rival gaming services" then I think it's safe to assume it'll be Windows based. I assume it would also come with at least DVD drive which would then enable the use of normal PC games from retail. So now what do we have? A fixed hardware spec PC. Throw in the ability to ability to use controllers or a keyboard and mouse and this is even more reinforced.
Practically speaking in terms of the games though, this would also open the door to widespread abuse during multiplayer games. Since the platform would allow for both controllers or keyboard/mouse, developers would be forced to include filtering options for different games so the two couldn't mix. This would end up splitting the community. If this was ignored then it would lead to those using a controller being completely annihilated and many players just giving up or wanting to move to a keyboard and mouse. Unfortunately, this is still a console whose place is in the living room and I'd wager that the vast majority of people would be ill equipped to have a keyboard and mouse, wireless or otherwise, in this room.
All things considered, I don't know how it would work.0 -
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Well there's the i7-3930K with 6 physical cores. :pac:
I'm not sure about the reference to Steam client to be honest, he mentioned Steam in his post, so I assumed he meant Valve but the Source Engine is already multi-threaded. If he meant Steam then he could only be referring to the client itself which would be pointless.
As for the box itself, well I was quite surprised I didn't see a thread around here for the Alienware X51 due to its supposed similarity. It's certainly a step in the right direction but there's one major issue here: upgrade ability. From a development point of the view this is the biggest headache. If users are able to chop and change parts as they see fit then it means the optimisation process gets incredibly hard (read: non-existent) and testing becomes a nightmare. If developers target the launch hardware then users who do upgrade will take to the internet to complain that their more expensive hardware isn't being utilised to its full extent.
The original Verge article regarding the Steam Box, however, makes no mention of the ability to upgrade and instead mentions a "baseline for hardware" which "will give developers a clear lifecycle for their products, with changes possibly coming every three to four years". So you're basically talking about a beefier console with a shorter lifecycle for the core components.
Then there's the issue of the OS. Given the fact it'll be running Steam and other "rival gaming services" then I think it's safe to assume it'll be Windows based. I assume it would also come with at least DVD drive which would then enable the use of normal PC games from retail. So now what do we have? A fixed hardware spec PC. Throw in the ability to ability to use controllers or a keyboard and mouse and this is even more reinforced.
Practically speaking in terms of the games though, this would also open the door to widespread abuse during multiplayer games. Since the platform would allow for both controllers or keyboard/mouse, developers would be forced to include filtering options for different games so the two couldn't mix. This would end up splitting the community. If this was ignored then it would lead to those using a controller being completely annihilated and many players just giving up or wanting to move to a keyboard and mouse. Unfortunately, this is still a console whose place is in the living room and I'd wager that the vast majority of people would be ill equipped to have a keyboard and mouse, wireless or otherwise, in this room.
All things considered, I don't know how it would work.
well yeah, i really dont think they will put a 1k eu worth cpu in it! which will still have no advantage!
i know about his steam reference, and it was more aimed at him. you right there, steam already well optimised and steam has **** all to do with game optimisation, its just a launcher.
Its still too early to say what the hell they will do. It looks really weird that they would go with their own console when they gave steam support on ps3 with portal 2. ( thats some food for thought )
agree with hardware flexibility. the best and worst point of console - its fixed hardware. i wont tell you anything new here too about optimisation and so on blablabla.
thought if you make fixed PC machine, then you making a very bad move. thats why we all encourage build your own pc, then buyng build up pc like dell etc. those things are really bad for upgrading and we know how vital is it for pc.
i think they could make their own steam OS m8. why not? that in a way would make the product they want to do - console. If they will still have to stick with windows then it will be just fixed hardware pc with steam label on top of it. One of the best thingsto come out now - HDMI connection. it makes it perfect for pcs and consoles. in fact i do have my old gaming pc connected to my telly with hdmi connection and wireless keyboard + mouse. so in a way i got steam console!
still too early to say. knowing its valve we talk about it might be just a rumor too. Valve would not let such thing to leak.0 -
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The i5s and the i7s are based on the same core architecture, the only real differences are the number of cores, cache size and support for Hyper-Threading. The Source engine is already multi-threaded unless you mean the Steam client itself?
Sorry I meant to say Valve. At some point i7s should be better for gaming; it's just a matter of devs getting better at properly assigning tasks to that amount of cores.0 -
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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 0
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