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Those with an attentive eye will realize quickly that the clunky new feature on Steam, Big Picture, is kind of crappy on a PC. Its clunky, unintuitive, and while nice too look at, not the easiest thing to use (but then it is a beta). But those with a speculative mind would notice quickly the similarities to the Xbox and PS3 dash boards. Well, here's why:
Steam's Big Picture mode was just the first step: according to Valve boss Gabe Newell, you'll be able to buy a living-room-friendly PC package next year.
Speaking to me during a brief interview on the red carpet at the VGAs last night, Newell said Valve's current goal was to figure out how to make PCs work better in the living room. He said the reaction to Steam's TV-friendly Big Picture interface has been "stronger than expected," and that their next step is to get Steam Linux out of beta and to get Big Picture on that operating system, which would give Valve more flexibility when developing their own hardware.
He also expects companies to start selling PC packages for living rooms next year—setups that could consist of computers designed to be hooked up to your TV and run Steam right out of the gate. And yes, Newell said, they'd compete with next-gen consoles from companies like Microsoft and Sony.
"I think in general that most customers and most developers are gonna find that [the PC is] a better environment for them," Newell told me. "Cause they won't have to split the world into thinking about 'why are my friends in the living room, why are my video sources in the living room different from everyone else?' So in a sense we hopefully are gonna unify those environments."
Newell said he's expecting a lot of different companies to release these types of packages—"We'll do it but we also think other people will as well," he told me—and that Valve's hardware might not be as open-source or as malleable as your average computer.
"Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment," he said. "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."
I also asked Newell what sort of software they're working on these days. He wouldn't give specifics, but he did reiterate that they're working on their next-generation engine—which he said will work with next-generation consoles as well.
"Hopefully that's gonna give us some interesting opportunities on the game side," he said.
It's not quite what some expected. Valve isn't actually producing the hardware just yet, and isn't planning to make a console system like Xbox of Play Station but rather will take advantage of a new upcoming line of living room PC's, that can run Steam (Gab suggests Valve itself will be making such a system, which explains all the rumors and buzz going around the past couple of months).
Personally, I didn't know such systems existed (here's a list of 5: http://latemag.com/5-small-pc-s-for-the-living-room) and I wonder what kind of power they can muster and what kind of games they can play, but things'll get a little interesting next year (or maybe the year after? Hell never know when these kind of things might fall through the floor).
Its still effectively a console though and as such I have no interest in it. It may be more open and utilitarian than the current generation of consoles but my laptop still wins.
Valve don't have many failures but I'm not sure if this is going to work to be honest.
RegalPhantom wrote: If your fluff doesn't fit, change your fluff until it does
The prefect example of someone missing the point.
Do not underestimate the Squats. They survived for millenia cut off from the Imperium and assailed on all sides. Their determination and resilience is an example to us all.
-Leman Russ, Meditations on Imperial Command book XVI (AKA the RT era White Dwarf Commpendium).
Its just a shame that they couldn't fight off Andy Chambers.
Warzone Plog
The risk for Valve is actually making a system for this. The software already exists, but if they want to push a "PC gaming in your living room" kind of thing, they're gonna want to ensure the presence of a platform that can do it (and they could do it at a price aggressive with traditional consoles). That's the big risk.
I'm mostly interested less in the 'PC games on TV' sense and more in the ramifications for tradition media, namely broadcast television. People like streaming. They can watch what they want when they want and not have to deal with any of the crap of commercials or programming schedules (I get the sense this is partially how the living room PC started from my reading).
The whole PC games on a TV is interesting and a more easily packaged console platform might spark a rebirth in enthusiasm for PC games in general, but what I think we might really be seeing is something big: The death of broadcast television (?). Why pay hundreds of dollars a year to Comcast, Virizon etc, just so you can watch the seven or eight hours of TV a week that actually interest you, when you can pay Netflix $8 and watch what you wany when you want? Some producers have already started releasing their newest episodes online within 24 hours of the broadcast, and the number of shows doing it grows every year.
Make a living room PC, give internet browser power, social media, Skype, shopping, and streaming and maybe video games as well and put them on the TV and all that broadcast TV has going for is that its established the market currently favors it. But if the market shifts...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/12/09 09:20:17
I wouldn't object to this. With wireless USB gamepads, it'd allow me to play old ROMs with my nephew on the big screen in the living room (Which is currently only used for movies and the wii).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/12/09 16:20:17
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Oh, they just mean a PC hooked up to the big screen? That makes more sense.
Yes, basically. It's a PC hooked up to the big screen, with software that makes it attractive to people who prefer the big screen to the usual PC fare.
Have you seen Steam's "Big Picture Mode"? It's the part of "The Steam Box" that has already been released, and any PC can use it at the moment.
Then again, all consoles are is just highly limited and specialized computers, so why does this surprise you?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/12/09 18:08:31
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
Apparently the origin for the Living Room PC is to market streaming better and for people who really only use the internet for social media as they can be bought fairly cheaply and it lets people quickly access internet while pausing their show (stream or broadcast). But stuff gets new uses. We'll see in the coming years if this will be another crazy Valve success story (remember, the industry laughed its ass off at Steam a decade ago and said it would never work).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/12/09 18:48:53
The centre of a massive brood chamber, heaving and pulsating.
Well, expect outpours of rage from PC snobs going "OMG VALVE IS ABANDONING THE PC MASTER RACE FOR FILTHY CONSOLE GAMERS TROLOLOLOL!!!" like they did with Battlefield 3, complaining it was "Consolized".
Squigsquasher, resident ban magnet, White Knight, and general fethwit.
buddha wrote: I've decided that these GW is dead/dying threads that pop up every-week must be followers and cultists of nurgle perpetuating the need for decay. I therefore declare that that such threads are heresy and subject to exterminatus. So says the Inquisition!
Well, BF3 was consolized but not anywhere near as bad as other games.
And no. PC gamers are pretty enthusiastic because anything that'll run on these systems will run on PC's. Valve is known to be developing a smart keyboard for controllers, which means that controls will be able to utilize hotkeys and complex commands more readily. If successful this change could revitalize the platform.
And no. PC gamers are pretty enthusiastic because anything that'll run on these systems will run on PC's.
That isn't new, though. The question isn't whether or not a thing will run on PC, but whether or not the port is good. Hypothetically a living room PC can eliminate console exclusivity, so you don't get Dark Souls style petitions, but that is only hypothetical and still doesn't address the root problem: any standardized box will always hamstring game developers.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
THe issue for PC ports has always (primarily) been two fold: Ineffective controls that don't work well on the PC, and poor optimization.
Because consoles don't tote honking graphics cards with their own memory, they do most of their processing via numerous cores. When ported the carries over to the processor carrying a larger burden of graphics processing even though the graphics card is sitting there underutilized.
This isn't a problem with rigs being standardized, its a problem with consoles streaming their hardware differently (and switching is very expensive). But presumably, a living room PC would run the same set up as a desk top, eliminating that problem.
Steam is also know to be developing a smart keyboard, and if it works it'll also reduce the control issue.
I'm not saying all of the PC's woes will disappear. Just that this leaves an open door for things to be better than the current state of affairs.
I find the regular interface works just fine for me. At first I did not like the concept of Steam, but over time i have learned to like it a little more.
It does seem the "Big Picture" interface is meant for Console or something. Which is cool. I just do not need it.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/06 14:32:32
Currently it's not meant to be a console thing but a controller thing. At least that's what they say.
You can start Steam on your huge ass TV, sit back with just controller in your hand, pick and play whatever you want without your ass leaving the couch. No need for mouse / keyboard.
Good things are good,.. so it's good
Keep our city clean.
Report your death to the Department of Expiration
The Steam box will be running on Linux. If its successful I wonder how much damage that will do to Microsoft?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/07 23:10:44
RegalPhantom wrote: If your fluff doesn't fit, change your fluff until it does
The prefect example of someone missing the point.
Do not underestimate the Squats. They survived for millenia cut off from the Imperium and assailed on all sides. Their determination and resilience is an example to us all.
-Leman Russ, Meditations on Imperial Command book XVI (AKA the RT era White Dwarf Commpendium).
Its just a shame that they couldn't fight off Andy Chambers.
Warzone Plog
According to who? Cause the entire point of the endeavor is to put Steam on living room TV's (and most people will just keep using the windows living room PC's cause microsoft is an evil empire that cornered the market ages ago for OS) and it took Valve over a decade just to put steam on the Mac.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/08 14:16:31
Valve are also apparently working on tools to allow standard PC games to run on linux easily and if they do that hasslefree PC gaming on linux could finally be a reality. That has the potential to really hurt Microsoft.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/01/08 18:26:23
RegalPhantom wrote: If your fluff doesn't fit, change your fluff until it does
The prefect example of someone missing the point.
Do not underestimate the Squats. They survived for millenia cut off from the Imperium and assailed on all sides. Their determination and resilience is an example to us all.
-Leman Russ, Meditations on Imperial Command book XVI (AKA the RT era White Dwarf Commpendium).
Its just a shame that they couldn't fight off Andy Chambers.
Warzone Plog
They should make steam for the PS3 and XBOX 360 just so we can play some of our favirote steam games (half-life 2,team fortress 2...ect...) without worrying about "can my computer run this" or "does my computer have enough memory to install it?"
Valve are also apparently working on tools to allow standard PC games to run on linux easily and if they do that hasslefree PC gaming on linux could finally be a reality. That has the potential to really hurt Microsoft.
I doubt PC gamers have that much buying power anymore. maybe like, 10 years from now if things turn around? Even then, most businesses rely on Microsoft Office even though better (freer) alternatives exist.
But that'll be interesting. Apparently there is a Linux Steam beta I hadn't noticed so yeah.
Melissia wrote: all consoles are is just highly limited and specialized computers
While technically true, this misses all the important points.
What important points?
I mean aside from people telling themselves "well at least I'm not a PC elitist" (instead being an entirely different form of elitist) even though all they're doing is calling a glorified gaming PC a smeerp. Which a lot of people seem to do.
Because honestly that really is all it is. You can say there's a benefit to not having to upgrade... except of course that you still have to upgrade.
This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2013/01/10 18:04:48
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
orkdestroyer1 wrote: They should make steam for the PS3 and XBOX 360 just so we can play some of our favirote steam games (half-life 2,team fortress 2...ect...) without worrying about "can my computer run this" or "does my computer have enough memory to install it?"
You realise you can get both of these on ps3 and xbox right?
Valve called XBox Live "such a train wreck" because it's a horrible service for developers, especially ones who want to release free content. The TF2 on Microsoft's dedicated gaming computer, aka the XBox series, is... somewhat inferior to that of the one on a more general-use PC and, IIRC, the PS3.
Amusingly, Gabe Newell went from calling Sony's PS3 dedicated gaming computer "a waste of time" to praising it, especially for its PSN online service.
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2013/01/10 17:27:13
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
I doubt PC gamers have that much buying power anymore.[/quote
A couple of years ago PC games outsold one of the consoles (PS3? which ever is less popular) so its not as if the PC gaming market is negligable.
RegalPhantom wrote: If your fluff doesn't fit, change your fluff until it does
The prefect example of someone missing the point.
Do not underestimate the Squats. They survived for millenia cut off from the Imperium and assailed on all sides. Their determination and resilience is an example to us all.
-Leman Russ, Meditations on Imperial Command book XVI (AKA the RT era White Dwarf Commpendium).
Its just a shame that they couldn't fight off Andy Chambers.
Warzone Plog
Melissia wrote: all consoles are is just highly limited and specialized computers
While technically true, this misses all the important points.
What important points?
All the points that drive billions of dollars of console sales. Whatever a console technically is, people do not perceive it in the same way that they perceived a "computer" (i.e., a desktop or laptop).
Manchu wrote: All the points that drive billions of dollars of console sales.
Marketing.
Manchu wrote: Whatever a console technically is, people do not perceive it in the same way that they perceived a "computer" (i.e., a desktop or laptop).
Just because people are irrational does not make them right.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/01/10 18:46:45
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
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