Valve developing steam box console

Sierra Oscar

Azza wrote: »

Thats due to other reasons. Steam and Valves others games have been very successful but Valves plans to release games episodically so they could make games faster failed spectacularly. Valve have a very good track record but they have made mistakes.

Of course they have, PowerPlay anyone? Now that was a fail. :P

I don't think people were really expecting what they saw today regarding the pricing. The 'base' version looks like it will retail for €500 whereas the high end model will be closer to €1000. I cannot see this replacing an enthusiasts rig considering the price - but then again I am not entirely sure that this is even aimed at the enthusiast PC Gamer.

Azza

Sierra Oscar wrote:

Of course they have, PowerPlay anyone? Now that was a fail.

If I had known about that I would of cited that. Would of proven my point quicker.

Also I agree if those are the prices, I can't see it being a success.

degrassinoel

So that's what it's gonna look like, pretty nifty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isfqiYG7wiI

ShadowHearth

Emmmm I read more about that tiny box and u have to say I doubt it's going to be a steam box.

That thing is 500-1000eu and it is still not even near as powerful as a custom built PC for that price.
The selling point of that yoke is being small all in one PC out of the box. Now here's where my logic goes with this. Does steam really care about it being as small as possible? That allienware Area 51? Was a perfect example of what steam box should be. It's compact size with quite a powerfull hardware for such thing. Plus it's cheaper then this tiny box thing.

Did valve confirmed that its going to be based on this? Or that's just journalist jumping the gun again?

Sierra Oscar

Hmm . . . so they have technology already on the market?

Newegg.com - xi3 Corporation 902-0001-001 Xi3 x5a 16gb ssd linux

marco_polo

I was pretty doubtful anyway that Steam for Linux had anything to do with the Steam box, other that being mentioned by Gabe in the same interviews that they were two projects Valve were working on. And I am even more convinced now that that is the case.

A catalog of 40 odd games combined with a potentially $1000 piece of niche equipment is not the stuff of open source gaming revolutions are made.

Sierra Oscar

marco_polo wrote: »

I was pretty doubtful anyway that Steam for Linux had anything to do with the Steam box, other that being mentioned by Gabe in the same interviews that they were two projects Valve were working on. And I am even more convinced now that that is the case.

A catalog of 40 odd games combined with a potentially $1000 piece of niche equipment is not the stuff of open source gaming revolutions are made.

To be honest I think choosing the Linux platform is for a far more basic business reason rather than an ideological one.

Linux is free, with Windows they would be forced to pay an expensive license fee which would shove up the cost of an already relatively expensive piece of hardware.

marco_polo

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

To be honest I think choosing the Linux platform is for a far more basic business reason rather than an ideological one.

Linux is free, with Windows they would be forced to pay a license fee.

I am certain something like that is in there longer term plans, but I just think that this product smacks of them testing the living room PC waters rather than a massive launch (My money is on windows here). And meanwhile they will continue on this year (quite seperately) with getting the desktop steam for Linux out of open beta.

At some point the two may meet but not 2013.

If I am completely and utterly wrong we will find out in the next day or so.

Sierra Oscar

Indeed, it will be interesting to see. This doesn't really hint at the really bold launch of hardware aimed at targeting the current console market.

It sort of just looks like Xi3 approached Valve with the idea that they create a new version of their hardware that has Steam pre-installed with native support. I thought Valve would be playing far more of an active role in the actual creation of the hardware itself, but I guess time will tell.

EDIT: Although it is important to note that we dont know the official price for the 'Piston' device yet. The current prices being floated are merely based on some of the hardware already offered by Xi3.

cherryghost

There's a number of other factors to take in regardless.

1) Price will inevitably come down when the product enters mass production.
2) Valve may sell the box at a small loss and make up in bigger commission gains.
3) There could also easily be added advertisements on the client to add revenue and further reduce the box price.

Either way, selling at over 400 euro is suicide imo, at least 1 of the 3 options above will come into play at some point.

ShadowHearth

cherryghost wrote: »

There's a number of other factors to take in regardless.

1) Price will inevitably come down when the product enters mass production.
2) Valve may sell the box at a small loss and make up in bigger commission gains.
3) There could also easily be added advertisements on the client to add revenue and further reduce the box price.

Either way, selling at over 400 euro is suicide imo, at least 1 of the 3 options above will come into play at some point.

True.



Werent xbox360 and ps3 sold at loss? pretty much any console hardware? surely steam will have to do same thing?

Magill

Azza wrote: »

You could but I doubt a console could.

Honestly, i can't see it ever competing with the xbox/ps4 unless it had EA's support. Games like fifa/NHL etc are too big not to have on the console imo.

Big Knox

Magill wrote: »

Honestly, i can't see it ever competing with the xbox/ps4 unless it had EA's support. Games like fifa/NHL etc are too big not to have on the console imo.

EA's business is selling games first and foremost and if the steambox gives them another platform to do that then they will not turn their nose up at it regardless of how they see Valve!

ShadowHearth

Big Knox wrote: »

EA's business is selling games first and foremost and if the steambox gives them another platform to do that then they will not turn their nose up at it regardless of how they see Valve!

more chances of seeing origin box! :pac:

Kur4mA

The "Piston" is just one of many, apparently.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3851740/steam-box-inches-closer-to-reality-CES-gabe-newell

Varik

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Werent xbox360 and ps3 sold at loss? pretty much any console hardware? surely steam will have to do same thing?

Yes the PS3 had a reported 200 loss per console at launch and that was excluding additional overheads. Even Nintendo who have never sold at a loss had to sell the Wii U at a loss, it's not that large and 1 games(likely a first party game) brings them back into the black.

Azza

Yeah I've heard it could be like the old 3D0 console in that different manufacturers could make it. They just stick to the specifications valve gives them

Varik

Azza wrote: »

Yeah I've heard it could be like the old 3D0 console in that different manufacturers could make it. They just stick to the specifications valve gives them

That's even worse, then as with the 3DO they won't be making any money off game sales so all their profit will need to be from the hardware. The 3 big console manufacturers can sell at a small margin or even a loss as they'd made the loss back through game sales but a third party does not have this option.

johnny_ultimate

Looking like there's going to be much more to Valve's hardware move than that wee little box: http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming

One version at least will be sold by Valve themselves, running on Linux, user-customised stores, biometric feedback etc...

Gabe also looking older and wiser with that epic beard of his.

Magill

This is what i want !

The Steam Box - code-named "Bigfoot" at Valve - won't just be a PC. It'll be a server, too, with the near future enabling you to "have one PC and eight televisions and eight controllers and everybody getting great performance out of it". The LAN party just made a comeback. Only without all the cables.

Vyse

I'm just wondering who this system targeted at? I'm not sure it will appeal to the typical console type gamer as

1) They are happy with their current lot i.e. PS, Xbox
2) The concept may come across as slightly confusing (multiple systems, upgradable etc,)

Additionally, would it appeal to the PC gamer as it would be seen as a step towards console gaming? I would imagine that this would be the group most interested in the system but could see it as being divisive.

ShadowHearth

It's hard to say at who it will be aimed witouth the full story of wtf it is. There is more speculation then facts out there.

So far if its not going to be stupidly priced I could see few people it is targeted too:

PC gamers, who might want to throw a PC in living room and have something for transportation. Again it is all about price. If it will be more then just building your own PC then it will fail.

There are plenty of open minded console gamers, who would love to try out pc gaming, but get way too much fed with false claims, by people who know jack **** themselfs about PC gaming. This could be their entry PC gaming device, which will show them ins and outs of PC gaming. Who knows, maybe it will be powerfull enough and right priced to be a decent and fair valued alternative to gaming PC.

Anyone who is in to gaming and not fanboism. It's a new platform for games. Some fantastic exclusives are on PC only. So this might be a great addition to PS or Xbox.

gizmo

ShadowHearth wrote: »

There are plenty of open minded console gamers, who would love to try out pc gaming, but get way too much fed with false claims, by people who know jack **** themselfs about PC gaming. This could be their entry PC gaming device, which will show them ins and outs of PC gaming. Who knows, maybe it will be powerfull enough and right priced to be a decent and fair valued alternative to gaming PC.

I'm also kind of torn on the issue of who this device is for but I've seen this bit mentioned a few times and it confuses me further. Do you really consider a non-upgradable, *Linux-based machine, *with a Steam-based front end, designed for use in the living room with a controller to be a true reflection of PC gaming for someone new to the platform?

* in the case of the official Steambox

Kiith

I thought it was upgradable, with removable slots for certain bits of hardware?

Andy!!

See it sounds weird when we are getting third hand information, but once we see it hopefully we'll see what they are shooting for.

Like when I heard about Big Picture coming out. Couldn't picture at all how that would work, or why they even bothered. But it's quite handy to be honest!

Mind you they didn't charge $1000 for it. If those prices are true I get the feeling this thing is DOA.

gizmo

Kiith wrote: »

I thought it was upgradable, with removable slots for certain bits of hardware?

Well Newell talked about this in his Verge interview...

We've heard lots of rumors about the Steam Box, including that Valve's own hardware would be "tightly controlled." Can you tell us more about Valve's own hardware effort?

The way we sort of think of it is sort of "Good, Better," or "Best." So, Good are like these very low-cost streaming solutions that you’re going to see that are using Miracast or Grid. I think we’re talking about in-home solutions where you’ve got low latency. "Better" is to have a dedicated CPU and GPU and that’s the one that’s going to be controlled. Not because our goal is to control it; it’s been surprisingly difficult when we say to people "don’t put an optical media drive in there" and they put an optical media drive in there and you’re like "that makes it hotter, that makes it more expensive, and it makes the box bigger." Go ahead. You can always sell the Best box, and those are just whatever those guys want to manufacture. [Valve's position is]: let's build a thing that’s quiet and focuses on high performance and quiet and appropriate form factors.

To me, that sounds like the "official" Steambox will be one of the "Better" models which will be more controlled and have that appropriate form factor. Neither of those two point to something which will be upgradeable. Again, this is pure speculation of course, but with the "Good" tier sounding just like an Oyua-esque piece of hardware designed for streaming and the "Best" tier sounding like a fully fledged HTPC, I can't see the "Better" tier being much different.

I did find their inclusion of the Alienware X51, which ShadowHearth and I discussed earlier, in their test suite to be amusing though. That seemed to straddle both the "Better" and "Best" tiers in terms of form factor and performance but again, no real upgrading from what I can see.

ShadowHearth

gizmo wrote: »

I'm also kind of torn on the issue of who this device is for but I've seen this bit mentioned a few times and it confuses me further. Do you really consider a non-upgradable, *Linux-based machine, *with a Steam-based front end, designed for use in the living room with a controller to be a true reflection of PC gaming for someone new to the platform?

* in the case of the official Steambox

That is true, that's why I said it could be "entry device". It would give a taste of it. So far it does support controller, but if it is based on that mini yoke, who said that mouse and keyboard is not supported? I really doubt they will shoot themselfs in a foot and restrict if to controller only.

Come to think of it this steam box might make quite a **** storm in controller vs mouse and keyboard world. Can you imagine al poor steam box users playing call of duty vs people on proper pcs with mouse and keyboard. There will be nerdrages.

What do you think if it will be a separate platform from PC steam? Like a brand platform with its own steam shop? This controller thing really makes me wonder now.

stevenmu

From the Verge interview I can't really see what they're bringing to the table with this. It seems like Steambox is more of a certification/grading process than anything else. The box they will sell themselves doesn't seem to be anything really special, just a small form factor PC aimed at living room usage that will come with Linux and Steam pre-loaded, but doesn't seem to be anything you couldn't build yourself or buy elsewhere.

It doesn't seem to be OS specific, so OEMs could ship a Windows machine which is Steambox certified, or ship a Linux box which is Steambox certified, and it'll continue to be up to developers to support one or the other or both. Unless they have some software layer planned as well, so that any Steambox game will run on Windows or Linux.

I think what I'm really missing is how these Steamboxes will be any better than any other PC running Steam.

At the moment it all sounds a bit Games-For-Windows-Live-ish.

Evilsbane

stevenmu wrote: »

I think what I'm really missing is how these Steamboxes will be any better than any other PC running Steam.

Well, to be fair no console (which seems to be how to view this machine) is better than a high-end PC. The benefit will the same as any console: standardized architecture will free developers from having to include as much inefficient platform independence layer code for multiple different architectures and so the hardware can be pushed further due to the code being optimized for it.

I thought the whole "running multiple games on multiple screens from one box" thing sounded cool, and the biometrics stuff could be amazing if they use it for the kind of stuff I'm imagining.

Dyr

stevenmu wrote: »

From the Verge interview I can't really see what they're bringing to the table with this. It seems like Steambox is more of a certification/grading process than anything else. The box they will sell themselves doesn't seem to be anything really special, just a small form factor PC aimed at living room usage that will come with Linux and Steam pre-loaded, but doesn't seem to be anything you couldn't build yourself or buy elsewhere.

It doesn't seem to be OS specific, so OEMs could ship a Windows machine which is Steambox certified, or ship a Linux box which is Steambox certified, and it'll continue to be up to developers to support one or the other or both. Unless they have some software layer planned as well, so that any Steambox game will run on Windows or Linux.

I think what I'm really missing is how these Steamboxes will be any better than any other PC running Steam.

At the moment it all sounds a bit Games-For-Windows-Live-ish.

Pretty much this, from that interview the steambox sounds like a toe in the water exercise. All the innovative ideas are still only experiments in steams labs