It's Happening!!!! Valve Demonstrate Portal VR on Source2!!!!

Dayum

Steam Shop Is Now Live

http://store.steampowered.com/universe/

Falthyron

Great to see some footage of Source 2.0, irrespective of the quality of the video.

Steam just posted this: http://store.steampowered.com/universe

It would seem the Steam Machines are coming November, same month as the other technology and the month Half-life 2 launched in 2004. All they need now is some mind-blowing, amazing, desired title to launch with all this technology... say... Portal 3? :P

Dayum

Why was this moved to PC Gaming?!

The mods must be as clueless as the rest....

...everyone's a filthy casual peasant. If something doesn't come out of Gamestop with a PS/XB sticker attached to it for 60+ Euro they just don't understand it....

Kiith

It's about a PC specific piece of kit, so suits here more than Games.

Also, lets try to keep things civil and don't bad mouth anyone, mods or otherwise.

Kiith

Glad to finally see some real info about the engine, and i'm looking forward to seeing a proper (non-cam) video of it. I remember being blown away with the original source engine and the modifications during the Half Life 2 series.

It's also brilliant that it's free. Unity 5, UE4 and now Source 2. So many options for game designers. Things are looking good

CastorTroy

So the cheapest Steam Box is $479.99, which with the usual exchange rate will probably be €479.99

Kiith

It's decent price, but the lower spec machine won't play new games at anywhere near full details.

I don't see myself ever buying one to be honest. I know enough about building my own pc to stick to that, but i'll maybe install SteamOS if it takes off. Hopefully, it will introduce more people to PC Gaming though.

dreamers75

Cant see how Steam PC is better than a HDMI cable.

gizmo

dreamers75 wrote: »

Cant see how Steam PC is better than a HDMI cable.

It's not trying to be though. I can't imagine there being a significant number of people who will want any sort of a reasonably sized desktop in their living rooms. In this case, an AV unit friendly mATX-style case such as those used in the new Steam branded boxes will be a nice first step in the PC direction.

Personally I'm interested in a Steam Link which lets me keep my proper desk-based setup in one room and allows me to play any console-friendly games on the TV at 1080p60 with a controller from the comfort of the couch.

As for the current Steam Machines storefront, you gotta laugh at the fact that the Alienware is the cheapest option. :pac:

Connavar

Kiith wrote: »

It's decent price, but the lower spec machine won't play new games at anywhere near full details.

I don't see myself ever buying one to be honest. I know enough about building my own pc to stick to that, but i'll maybe install SteamOS if it takes off. Hopefully, it will introduce more people to PC Gaming though.

Only chance I would end up with one is if they can sell them cheaper than a custom build due to mass production. (I would be surprised if this is the case though with so many companies involved)
I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere but will the steam box have an ability to say it cannot run certain games, to stop people purchasing things they can't run? (this could be one of the things that put people off the steam box)

jumbobreakfast

Connavar wrote: »

will the steam box have an ability to say it cannot run certain games, to stop people purchasing things they can't run? (this could be one of the things that put people off the steam box)

That's a good point, it should flag a warning if your steambox doesnt meet the minimum spec before you make the purchase. Although you could be making purchases from a web browser on your work PC or main gaming PC. Perhaps Valve needs to store information about your various systems and present you with a breakdown of what systems your purchase will work with before you buy it.

Connavar

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

That's a good point, it should flag a warning if your steambox doesnt meet the minimum spec before you make the purchase. Although you could be making purchases from a web browser on your work PC or main gaming PC. Perhaps Valve needs to store information about your various systems and present you with a breakdown of what systems your purchase will work with before you buy it.

A simple system registration service to link to your account would sort that out

Sierra Oscar

You got to wonder as to what game Valve will launch to accompany this impressive piece of kit.

Antar Bolaeisk

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

You got to wonder as to what game Valve will launch to accompany this impressive piece of kit.

Ricochet 2!


Have a look at November 1998 and November 2004.

Genghiz Cohen

Kiith wrote: »

It's decent price, but the lower spec machine won't play new games at anywhere near full details.

I don't see myself ever buying one to be honest. I know enough about building my own pc to stick to that, but i'll maybe install SteamOS if it takes off. Hopefully, it will introduce more people to PC Gaming though.

Doesn't have to. If it can play on medium settings at 1080p 60 FPS then it is well ahead of the consoles.

Dayum

Can anyone explain to me what market Valve are actually trying to capture here?

As far as I can tell they're seeking answers to a problem that doesn't actually exist. If the premise was to simplify the scope of PC gaming and deliver the benefits to your casual everyday consumer I think they've dropped the ball altogether....

For example, looking through those third party Steam Machines it seems to me that what you're getting are over-priced/under-powered pieces of kit. It would be far cheaper to build your own rig so there's two things to consider right off the bat here. One, the specs relative to cost is nowhere near what can be achievable with, say, a PS4 - so you're going to have little Mick wondering why Mammy spent 500 quid on a machine that can't even play the latest Batman game on full. So if the idea was to reach the console market they've sadly failed on that count. Second, who is going to supply the customer service if something happens to these machines? Do consumers contact Valve? Alienware? It could potentially be a marketing nightmare for the Steam brand. There's so little co-ordination across the platform. These kinds of projects need a strategic unification plan of some description. To me there seems to be little. Third, it hasn't been simplified at all. We are not casuals because we're here on this forum. My guess is that most people reading this post has even a basic idea about PC gaming. We're not their targeted market - the mainstream Gamestop crowd are and if that is indeed the case, then selecting a Steam Machine has become even more complicated now. They haven't simplified it at all because now you're going to be lost if you can't distinguish between a CPU and GPU. At this point, I think Valve should be embarrassed as to what has been put up on their website.

I think for these Steam Machines to take off Valve would had to have made their own hardware and said "this is it, it has so and so specs". And to bring down the cost on the shelves they would of had to have subsidised the production and took a loss on the hardware to recoup later in the Steam Store.

The Steam Machines don't interest me because a) I understand just enough about PC's to build my own and b) I have no interest in switching to a gaming only set-up when my PC is already in the living room and houses a host of other applications such as XBMC that I enjoy.

With that being said, I would have seen value in the Steam Link if I didn't have my PC in my living room for the last four years. So yeah, they're four years too late on that count. In fact, the only things I'm looking forward to is the controller and the VR headset.

C14N

Dayum wrote: »

Can anyone explain to me what market Valve are actually trying to capture here?

Console gamers.

Dayum wrote: »

For example, looking through those third party Steam Machines it seems to me that what you're getting are over-priced/under-powered pieces of kit. It would be far cheaper to build your own rig so there's two things to consider right off the bat here.

99% of people don't want to build a PC, ever. They also don't want something that looks like a PC in their living room.

Dayum wrote: »

One, the specs relative to cost is nowhere near what can be achievable with, say, a PS4 - so you're going to have little Mick wondering why Mammy spent 500 quid on a machine that can't even play the latest Batman game on full.

The PS4 also can't play the latest Batman game on full. There's no way of knowing how the performance will compare until it 's launched in November. Alienware haven't detailed their GPU yet but it's an nVidia 2GB card so it's not exactly on-board graphics, it will run games and run them well.

Dayum wrote: »

Second, who is going to supply the customer service if something happens to these machines?

The manufacturer, just like with any computer.

Dayum wrote: »

the mainstream Gamestop crowd are and if that is indeed the case, then selecting a Steam Machine has become even more complicated now. They haven't simplified it at all because now you're going to be lost if you can't distinguish between a CPU and GPU.

This makes no sense at all. More complicated now than when? It's clearly simplified, you can pick a system and it will run the games. The more you pay, the higher you can put the settings but all of the ones are made specifically to play games and will do that. That's very simple.

Dayum wrote: »

I think for these Steam Machines to take off Valve would had to have made their own hardware and said "this is it, it has so and so specs".

That's a terrible idea and defeats the purpose of what they're doing. Valve don't want to make the hardware, that costs a lot of money and would be a significant investment for them. They don't want to set the specs because then that ruins competition. They've clearly set some sort of baseline for specs, and that's enough.

Dayum wrote: »

With that being said, I would have seen value in the Steam Link if I didn't have my PC in my living room for the last four years. So yeah, they're four years too late on that count.

I'm sure they're very upset that you specifically have a PC in your living room already. It's very unfortunate for them that they were four years behind the curve, which is defined by the moment you buy a living room PC. I bet in future they will be sure to only make things that are of interest to you personally.

fergus1001

Ricochet 2 (half life 3) had better make an appearanc for teh launch of valve vr or all hope will be lost

Sierra Oscar

Dayum wrote: »

Can anyone explain to me what market Valve are actually trying to capture here?

It looks like they are trying to create a new market entirely. That is what they did with Steam after all.

To me it looks as if Valve are trying to blend the best of consoles with the best of PC gaming, coupled with an entirely new way of experiencing / consuming gameplay.

jumbobreakfast

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

It looks like they are trying to create a new market entirely. That is what they did with Steam after all.

To me it looks as if Valve are trying to blend the best of consoles with the best of PC gaming, coupled with an entirely new way of experiencing / consuming gameplay.

You could be right. The best of PC gaming includes a big catalogue of cheap games and another selling point is that you can create your own content which is not easy on a console. Perhaps the Source 2 SDK will be targeting this market too.

Overheal

You know you could make a killing selling custom made steam machines now..

fergus1001

**gabe walks into press conference**

Press "Hl3 or gtfo "

C14N

Overheal wrote: »

You know you could make a killing selling custom made steam machines now..

I'm wondering if there are laws around creating "Steam machines". I mean, can anyone just throw a computer together, install SteamOS and then sell it as a Steam machine? Or do they need Valve's permission for the sake of quality control?

Shiminay

There's probably an OEM deal for Steam OS that will get you in on their "approved vendors" lists, but beyond that, if they really want it to be a success, SteamOS will need to be free for anyone to use and instal cause there's no way I'd pay for it when I've already got a copy of Win 8.1 that does everything I need and then some.

jaffusmax

I gutted an external 500GB hardrive stuck it in my rig, disabled all my other drives and installed steamos on it.
After playing around with it I am keeping it!!!! It is truly geared towards TV and controller which suits as I have my TV also hooked up also. Here is one big plus to think about, I have spent hours upon hours reinstalling Windows due to malware and other crap so to have steamOS and my games safe on a cheap HDD means I don't need to spend another minute reinstalling Windows and drivers just to get steam up and running again.
Now I have a quad boot Mac OS, Windows, mint and my steamOS tucked away nice and safe on a separate HDD!