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Steam Machines

Discussion in 'News' started by danrok, Sep 25, 2013.

  • by danrok, Sep 25, 2013 at 10:21 PM
  • danrok

    danrok Administrator Staff Member

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    The next of Valve's Steam installments is Steam Machines (not Steam Box it would seem).

    More here: http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/

    Looks like you can follow the steps on that page if you want a chance at being a hardware beta tester.

    They will ship prototype hardware to 300 testers, sometime this year.

    Square_Steam_Logo.png
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Comments

Discussion in 'News' started by danrok, Sep 25, 2013.

  1. booman
    I just saw that LinSteam is up to 340 games.
    That a decent number for the release of Steam Box console.
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  2. danrok
    All they need on there is one title... Half-Life 3. ;)
  3. booman
    I was reading somewhere that it would only take one BIG game to make the Steam Box successfull...
    I think Half-Life 3 would do it!

    How come I didn't think of that?

    Valve has had plenty of time to work the story and develop the assets. Their Source engine is ready and Linux compatible. Man, Everyone would flock to Steam Box just to play Half-Life 3!
    Just like people buying a Wii, Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 for one game!
    I've never understood purchasing a $200-$400 console for one game, but people do it.

    Shh, don't tell anyone, but I think you nailed it!
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  4. graywolf.theheathen
    That would make perfect sense. They have been holding out on continuing the Half-Life story for some time now. Releasing it at the same time as their Steam Machine/ Steam OS would be perfect.
  5. booman
    Agreed, lets see what they decide to do.
    Make us proud Valve!
    Make us proud
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  6. graywolf.theheathen
    I know I would love it. The Half-Life series has always been one of my absolute favorites.
  7. booman
    Not my absolute favorite, but I've played them all twice. So I love em too.
    Actually I havn't played Episode 2 twice yet.
  8. Daerandin
    I am just so happy that Valve is promoting Linux so much now. There is one upcoming game I really hope will have a native Linux client, and that is The Witcher 3. Just being able to play the previous games does not mean a new addition to the series will work through wine, so I really hope the devs will decide to make this game available on SteamOS.

    And like everyone else, I have been waiting for HL3 since I finished Episode 2, if it will be released natively on Linux from the start I might revert mentally to a three year old on christmas.
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  9. booman
    Good point!
    If Steam Box is successful, then developers for consoles will need to decide if they should port their old and new games to Linux.
    Hopefully there won't be anything proprietary about Steams Linux Distro so we can run those games in Linux also.

    Its a pretty daring move if you think about it. I guess the "selling point" is that the Steam Box is a PC built with all the necessary hardware to play your games. Cause its a console and a PC. So all of the games should run out-of-the box. Download and play.
    An additional benefit is some of the games you have already purchased on Steam will also run in Steam Box. So you may already have a few games on your list when you plug it in the first time.

    Kinda the best of both worlds...
    Us PC Geeks will figure how to hack it and expand the memory, HD & Video.
    Maybe we can put a SSD drive in there?
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  10. Daerandin
    Personally I will not be getting the Steam Box or any Steam Machine, as I swear by my PC. It just seems logical to me that any SteamOS games will be native Linux games, otherwise game devs will have to make special versions for SteamOS. That just seems like it would overcomplicate everything for everyone.

    Of course, this may just be wishful thinking on my part.
  11. danrok
    I'd imagine other Linux distros will work just fine.
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  12. booman
    Yup, same with me. My PC does everything I need when it comes to games and computing. Since I have 10+ computers, I won't be needing a PC console.
    Its the rest of the world that "need" the ease-of-use console to play games.
    I'm sure the Steam OS will let you install Linux programs like Gimp and Firefox, etc.

    You are right, whats the point of creating a proprietary OS that requires a bunch of compiling tools when you could just use Linux and have devs develop for Linux?

    I know Playstation did it and have heard good & bad about it. Should have stuck with Linux.

    There are enough platforms out there already... why re-invent the wheel? Just use Linux and provide a secure & reliable environment with capability to use modern hardware?
    I'm hoping this is Valve's goal.
    As for the rest of us Linux users, we stick with our PC's and enjoy all the Native Steam games too.
  13. graywolf.theheathen
  14. booman
    I love watching her videos!
    She's very convincing... I know she didn't go into detail, but she makes some good points.
    I know a main concern for Windows users is "will it play my Windows games?"
    Maybe SteamOS will run PlayOnLinux or maybe we can just install our own Distro.
    Windows users will also complain about the foreign interfaces (Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, etc) but by now they should be used to a foreign interface called Windows 8.

    I think Windows users who do more than gaming will find it very hard to move to Linux.
    If they use Adobe products, Autodesk products, Intuit products, Game Development products, etc. Who knows how long it will take for those to run well in Linux.

    If you are just a gamer who has a Playstation or Xbox and want a Console that actually gives you the freedom to use it how you want.... SteamOS is a very nice choice.
    Specially if you already invested in a few games that have been converted to Linux already.
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  15. graywolf.theheathen
    Yeah the businesses that use products like you mention will be harder to switch over. I think home users and students and of course gamers will be easier to switch. But the gamers switching will depend on how well companies like Valve and other developers do at getting good game titles running games natively. Most gamers are not going to want to bother with WINE/POL, they just want to install and play.
  16. booman
    Unfortunately you are right. Most gamers don't want to mess with Wine and extra steps, but if it means running your favorite game in Linux, there is no other way.
    I have come to terms with PC gaming and Linux is my future. Even though some Windows games don't run perfectly, its better than not running them at all.
    Since most of my games seem to run almost flawlessly, I am getting more and more excited to have Linux on all of my machines.

    Not to mention, if I get a game to run in PlayOnLinux on one computer, all I have to do is copy the virtual drive to another computer and in a few seconds it will be running on it.
    Technically you can backup all of your installations and restore them with one folder.
    How easy is that?
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  17. graywolf.theheathen
    I agree completely. For me the last game that I enjoy playing that I can't get working yet is Star Wars: The Old Republic. When it is finally working all 4 PCs in my house will then have Linux on them. Everything else I play either plays natively or I have it working in POL.
  18. booman
    Very nice!
    Did you see Daerandin's post? He's got something like 200+ games
    I think he's in a different boat completely.
    He has to make a decision to scrap some games completely, or figure out how to run them in Linux. The only other choice is keeping Windows around.

    Lucky for me, I have Student/Teacher access to Microsofts Acedemic Program. So I can get Windows for free. That is the only reason I'm still using it at this point.
  19. graywolf.theheathen
    Between work and family life I just don't game as much as I used to. If I have to I will drop SWTOR. If it can't be gotten to play in Linux I'll just do with out it. I'm that fed up with Windows, I'll drop a game rather than dual boot.

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