SteamOS

Tuco_sl said:

Isn't that just a mediocre PC with an open source OS installed?

Click to expand...

I'll let you know about the OS tomorrow. I've installed it on a regular pc and I'll see if it plays the windows games well.

Tuco_sl said:

Isn't that just a mediocre PC with an open source OS installed?

Click to expand...

Well one of the people said they got intel cpu with 3.20 ghz 4 cores. 15.6 gigs of ram, gtx 780 gpu with 3 gigs video mem. I wouldn't exactly call that mediocre. Also cause free.

Featured Linux Games

There are quite a few but of course no AAA games.

I guess the question is, can Steam make a case for studios to produce Linux (or, rather, SteamOS) versions of their games? If they can and SteamOS builds up momentum, then I can certainly see it becoming the new standard platform for PC gaming. But, in order to do this, it HAS to offer some massive benefit over Windows. Like from reduced licensing fees as well as a friendly development environment (which I'm not sure about the latter -- Microsoft's tool-set makes game development comparatively pretty easy, right?)

I just think its early to jump the gun on what valve will do - they are a massively creative company who time and again has launched ideas that just work and work the best and work first. But with many many skeptics, keep in mind that what steamOS might do that people aren't really expecting is taking some Classic PC franchises (like Civilization) and opening up a method by which they can be played in the living room. You may see the steamOS become such a customized gamers platform that it pushes itself strictly on the virtue of how well crafted it is. It might be a flop, but I wouldn't bet against valve myself given what people said about steam at the beginning.

In the short term, the AAA games can be done, but running on a windows system and streaming to the steamOS box.
The interface is pretty good, so I'll mess with it some more.
The beta installation is pretty user abuser. It took me 30 mins to install and get to a grub (bootloader) prompt. And I still have to fix a line in the config.

How to stick Windows on your Steambox

How to stick Windows on your Steambox (it's pretty straightforward) | Ars Technica

Note this is setting up a dual boot system, using a second hard disk for the Windows installation and grub to choose which OS to run.

The whole using your steam machine to connect to a tv and stream from another PC is just retarded to me. Might as well call it a Xzibit box. You could just buy the most overpriced hdmi cable and still save money.

More Steam Machine stuff

Steam Machines are here: how Alienware is realizing Valve's console dream | The Verge

I personally like the idea of a Steam Machine. Keyboard and mouse in the living room feels too clunky, so I'm optimistic about that controller.

Sick design.. that controller is still fucking abysmal though.

I'll buy one when i can make a $500 steam machine that emulates/plays both PS4 and Xbox One~

Some interesting discussion on the controller, but I still don't have a good feel for how the haptic feedback of the pads is supposed to work with the pulsing linear actuators or whatever

I seriously do not understand who the Steam Machine is suppose to appeal to? Console gamers already have their living room machine. PC gamers, can buy, build and use a PC for the same purpose for a cheaper price. Those inbetween....its just too much money to try out something different. The only advantage Ive seen on any of these Steam Machine is form factor for a living room area, but that seems like such a small concern compared to everything else.

This isn't and never was about Steam machines. This is about SteamOS and bringing Steam games to the living room to compete with other consoles and getting away from Microsoft / Windows. The controller and the so called steam machines are there to promote the OS and complete the package.

I'm just praying that in addition to streaming TO a SteamOS box, that you can use the same technology to stream FROM a SteamOS box. I would love a robust, low-latency streaming system to be able to play high-horsepower games on my tablet, using a controller, while in random parts of the house. With a family I can't just disappear into the office for a couple hours at a time, and neither can I dominate the TV/living room.

you should buy a shield from nvidia, its basically like a 3ds/vita except it runs PC games. you can stream games from your desktop over wifi to the shield screen and you can even hookup the shield to your TV over HDMI and play on the TV, using your shield as a controller
Amazon.com: NVIDIA SHIELD 16GB: Video Games

i'm sorta tempted but it feels like a 1st try at handheld PC gaming, usually its the third try or so before the item is really good. I'd want a steam controller based shield like device before I plunge in.

also as gog said, this whole SteamMachine thing is just the start, a way to basically get the entire steam library everywhere. While in the last few years we have made some small strides on x-platform play, especially with phones/tablets, you still essentially have to pick a platform to play a game. Lord GabeN, hallowed be his name, sees the future and its buying a game once and playing it everywhere - your desktop/laptop, your tablet, your phone, your TV, your google glasses, whatever and wherever, all using (optional) cloud based saves and (optional) always on co-op/MP/ARG.

Microsoft sucks though, and so far Steam has been way too dependent on Windows, so SteamOS is just step 1 in moving towards a gaming platform that is completely independent of the underlying hardware and OS. In 10 years, you will be able to run your massive steam library anywhere, but its going to take a lot of baby steps to get there and some are going to work and some will not.

I tried that thing at PAX this year... theres so much input lag its unbearable to play imo