The first wave of Steam Machines, console-like computers designed to run Valve’s Steam software and its thousands of PC games, will be in some pre-order customers’ hands on Oct. 16 and in stores on Nov. 10, Valve announced today. The Steam Controller and Steam Link will also hit on Nov. 10.
Not sure what to make of SteamOS at this point – it’s just a Linux distribution that launches Steam, and you can even close Steam to go to a desktop… On your TV – but the Steam Link is definitely interesting, so I pre-ordered one straight away.
I’ll probably wait till after launch to grab a Link.
I tried to get the game streaming thing to work on my Raspberry Pi, but there’s always some hiccup that prevents it from being a real solution.
I had an available Bluetooth dongle so I tried using my PS3 controller. I found that if pushed up on my my left analog stick and pushed down on the right it caused the right trigger to activate. Trying to play GTAV where you would need to walk forward, and aim or look down caused the weapon to fire and missions would fail, cops would arrive, I fiannly gave up.. :\
I then bought an $8 xbox 360 wireless receiver. Tested it on my laptop (streamed through the Steam Client) and everything worked out great. Hooked it up to the Pi, there seems to be a button mapping issue where one button seems permanently pushed causing the games to be harder to play. I also now have audio issues..
I hope (although I know unlikely) Valve would write a Steam Client for the Pi to handle streaming.
If I get a Steam Box, will I be considered part of the PC Master Race, or a console peasant?
Steam Box is just “The Prince and the Pauper” realized in hardware.
If you praise the lord gaben long enough, you’ll be part of master race indeed….
You’ll be a Master Peasant
The SteamCommunity.com announcement:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/announcements/detail…
I only use windows to launch steam, uplay and origin, so I’m sure what to make of windows at this point….
Most games are still only available under Windows.
Yeah, like asphalt 8 and modern combat.
Oh wait….
That’s where the term “wintendo” came from …
I was about to order the Link but with shipping costs of 25€ I will not. That is 50% of the Link price.
Shipping for the Steam Link and Controller bundle was £15 in the UK, ~€20. Not too expensive if it arrives on one piece.
It was like €6 here in NL.
GR here. Seems like different parts of Europe get very different shipping prices.
Blame the wildly differing tax rates and regulations
A 2-3% difference in VAT doesn’t justify a 200%+ difference in shipping costs and they are not different shipping regulations in EU last time I checked.
So, besides the 1% who are Linux fans and don’t care about freedom (Steam is evil DRM), what are the benefits for the rest 99% compared to a Windows box with Steam installed and Steam controller bought?
The Windows version of Steam has a much better catalog and a bigger one . Sure, Windows chews more hardware, but if you have a gaming PC, I am pretty sure it can handle Windows decently.
Sure, Windows costs money, but if you have a gaming PC and can spend for Steam titles, you probably can afford Windows and have a much better catalog.
It’s about the small form factor design and something to compete “out of the box” with consoles. You can put Windows if SteamOS is not the thing.
Probably most indie developers will support it now and in not so a distant future Steam will slowly separate itself from Microsoft. It kind of is a trend nowadays.
The same indie developers will support Windows (save for the rare game made by some two-man team that are ABMers). So, Windows has all those indie games and much more bigger-budget games.
PS: It’s obvious from the downvote that someone thinks I am anti-Linux. So, to get this out of the way of discussion, I think that Linux succeds in places where there aren’t “exlusives” (OpenELEC, Enigma2-based OSes), and where there is business muscle to secure ports (Android TV). Steam OS’s problem is not a technological one. It’s a business one. The damn thing does have content, but not enough content to compete and convince people to fork over a sweet half-grand.
Edited 2015-06-05 16:00 UTC
I think the big issue is the uncertainty of what Microsoft plans to do with Windows. Sooner or later they are going to pick a single platform to support for games. Hint, it wont be Windows. It will be Xbox. As such it makes sense to move to a non Windows platform. If Valve can get game makers on board, its a no lose situation. Valve is putting little money into building the Steam OS. In the long run they sell enough games on Linux to justify supporting it, and if worse comes to worse, they still have a firm grip on Windows.
There isn’t any uncertainty. Windows isn’t going anywhere. And neither is Windows gaming market. It’s crazy you think Windows gaming is going to be dumped in favor of Xbox. Or dumped period. I dunno where you got that idea but be sure to ask for your money back.
I am sure people though it was crazy to think that Atari would ever lose the market too. And Microsoft doesn’t have to end gaming on the PC, they could just try to take over Valve’s market. And if nothing else, this puts pressure on Microsoft to step up its game.
TechGeek you missed something. Valve games are performing better on Intel and AMD hardware under Windows since porting to Linux. Why being on Linux has put their developers in direct contact with Intel and Amd developers who can in fact look at the hardware specifications to work out why a GPU or CPU are doing something bad to performance.
The reality is even if valve did not sell 1 single game for Linux doing the Linux port and the Linux envornment was worth it for the access to developers it gives Valve.
Some of the first-round Steam Machines are already available running Windows, so we have a chance to see what the practical differences are in the short term…
The Alienware Steam Machine in preorders seems to be running about $50 cheaper than the Windows 8.1 version released as the Alienware Alpha. Assuming there’s no other hardware changes, that at least represents a slight cost advantage, but not a huge one.
For that, you trade off the smaller available catalog (which can be offset via streaming from an existing Windows PC, or eventual internet streaming).
More long-term, you’re simply investing in independence from Microsoft (in exchange for a different corporate overlord who at least only cares about your games, not your whole system
). Windows 8 set out a vision where future Windows software is meant to come through Microsoft’s Windows Store only, threatening to make other software distribution middlemen like Steam obsolete (directly bad for Valve; indirectly bad for consumers by reducing competition and increasing monopoly power).
Windows 10 is a huge improvement over 8 in terms of UX but it keeps the Windows Store vision — you can sideload ‘Modern’ apps in developer mode but by default they have to come through the Store…
Windows 10 is a huge improvement over 8 in terms of UX but it keeps the Windows Store vision — you can sideload ‘Modern’ apps in developer mode but by default they have to come through the Store…
But there is a big catch. A console is meant to be controlled by the Controller.
Games on console are also meant to be used by the Controller.
So welcome to hell Windows on a console with normal Windows games is fairly much a brick.
Supposedly, Vulkan (https://www.khronos.org/vulkan) will be the final piece in this plan.
Vulkan is the successor to OpenGL, a simpler 3D API based on Mantle with *huge* industry backing (pretty much everyone but Microsoft).
It will run on any OS, mobile device and even Playstation 4 and it will have amazing tools (Valve is actually in charge of a Vulkan Debugger). Game developers will no longer have a reason to use DirectX.
Why on earth would Sony drop their GNM API?!
Edited 2015-06-05 16:51 UTC
They’ll all join as soon as developers will start pressuring them. MS quickly changed their tune when developers started demanding standards compliance in the browser (which happened because of increasing competition). Same thing will happen with graphics. The only reason they get away with lock-in now is the lack of the said competition in consoles.
Edited 2015-06-05 17:24 UTC
I guess you never worked in the games industry.
No one cares about the openness of tools and APIs, what matters is publishing the games, the ideas.
For any serious game studio, the openness of the tools is secondary to the goal of producing a game.
I had a foot in the industry, still have contacts there, and if there is one thing I repent in my career is to have cared more about openness of tools than taking a few ideas to the end, regardless of the tools.
Can it be a ChromeCast?
Can it run Android applications?
Will it run Netflix or AmazonVideo?
Can I install xbmc/kodi on it?
… or would this be yet another device capable of all of these things but for which I need to shell out more money for?
They really need to get Android running properly on top of a regular Linux stack.
Ubuntu had a project like that for a while. Essentially a regular gnu userspace alongside Android’s userspace running on top of the same kernel.
It can already surf the web and watch Netflix. They are undoubtedly working on xbmc/kodi. As for ChromeCast, thats not needed if it can do those things natively. And Android, why would you want that pile of crap on your system? So it can spy on you?