Gabe Newell: Valve will release its own console-like PC

Stay away from x86 and ARM and go with one of the most sucessful game console CPU arch. of all time.

MIPS CPU (used in Playstation 1 & 2 and Nintendo 64)
PowerVR GPU (used in Dreamcast and Apple iPhone)
It's also in almost every printer out there and has official Android support!

I'd buy that. ;)
 
That 30% cut on the MS app store is insane, it insures there will never be commercial Metro apps and every one is free to ignore it : there are competing stores that precede it (Steam, Origin), software in a box got in real store or through the mail, and even just download setup.exe after maybe paying the authors on their website. Which is not so different from buying shareware in 1992 really.

The MS store's cut ought to be something like 10% or 8% if they want it to work on a frigging unlocked desktop OS with 18 years of backwards compatibility.

Well Valve takes a 30 per cent cut of Steam sales.
 
Hmm, so Valve asks me to use a "free" OS which means I need to either abandon everything Windows or invest even more of my time and attention to maintain a dual boot PC. In turn I get to play some exclusive games.
I don't think so, they won't give up on the std steam users, it would make no sense. I think it is more of a long term move.
Well... will those games be better than what I get with a nextgen console? A system that also has a free OS and requires less of my time and attention to maintain...
I guess it depends on the hardware you use (self made pc, or whatever steam os configuration you may choose to buy).
Personally, I also keep my Windows PC around for the times I want to create some content, either simple documents or some past-time art practice or such, using apps that aren't available on Linux at this time. Can they offer a replacement?
Well you are a profesionnal, you have no need to switch to Steam OS. Again the steam client for windows is here to stay. I guess it is the same for PC gamers that don't want dual boot.
I think the move is pretty disruptive but that doesn't mean that it has to be a "flood" early on.
So I just don't see the point here. And Acti/Bliz staying out of it would be a pretty strong reason too, I mean no Blizzard games on a PC platform?? Who wants that? But how could Valve convince them...
I also want to learn more about the deals they have with various publishers, we should know soon.
 
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Making gamers hostages to a new OS isn't a good idea.
Microsoft tried that with Halo 2 being exclusive to Vista and it backpedaled really hard.

People were even more against Vista when they found out the OS "requirement" was purely fabricated.

It depends on how you spin it, beta only on Steam OS?
 
I liked when this discussion was about the true purpose of the whole thing, which is money :)

I'm glad that there's a company like Valve that can afford to take employees to a 1-week holiday on Hawaii, or invest in VR/AR research. But please don't take me for a fool, I can see that this is why they want my money and that a Windows 8 app store would stand in their way. So don't talk bull***t, Gabe.
 
Where the hell does the notion of Windows 8 being closed come from besides Newell's childish FUD?
Windows 8 is similar to any prior version of Windows and there's nothing closed about it at all in terms of app publishing are any other stuff. It's Windows RT (ARM) that can only run apps published through the app store.
Its not just rt but afaiks app store apps will only work with Windows 8 not xp/vista/win 7. The choice of APIs you can develop with is also way more limited than previous versions of windows. So yes it is more closed.
 
Good things about a Steam OS/BOX, should help the PC Platform to gain more ground. Could be cheap, no reason to pay Microsoft money for the exclusive gaming PC when all you do is start steam and play.

Could be cheap to build dedicated steam box, in a few years Intel will be able to produce a worthy HDXXXX option on their CPU, and AMD should be able to produce a OK CPU to go along with the graphics.

Bad stuff, goodby to physical media for all the games that run on that box, again relying 100% on one company and their servers.

Could be useful for me as the steam machine connected to the TV without any fuss.. But would require to be powerfull enough and small to make it worth it.
 
What Valve is trying to do, imo, is build a Linux/SteamOS box that can play some games on it's own, the linux/SOS games, and stream the rest of the PC games from the other PC in the house (eventually accomodate a controller also, since you play the game through Steam it's not that hard), and hope to get some traction on the OS as a viable alternative to Windows as platform for gaming.

I think they will keep the OS under their controll and not allow anybody to alter it, but leave the box open, and alow a new iteration every year - like SteamBox 2014 or 2015 or 2016 - where some selected manufacturers will build the box according to Valve's directions.
 
This will be a niche, barely move the needle. It might reach a percentage of PC gamers but it won't reach console gamers, which they'd have to attract, in order to move beyond what they already have.

The google console would have more impact, since they'd presumably be producing a box people could buy, take home and plug in, be up and running within the hour. Not a PC you have to build, then download a different OS, etc.
 
I know the purpose of all this is all about money at the core, but it might be very good for the consumer in the long run.

I believe that in 2 years (2 iterations after Kaveri), we'll be able to build a PC for $300 that is comparable to the next-gen consoles in GPU/CPU performance. In 3 years, for the same amount of money we'll get superior theoretical performance for sure.

With Windows, there's at least $100 more going for the OS, making it a $400 build. Plus, there's the fact that the Windows overhead causes a significant performance drop.

But if we make it a SteamOS build, it's $300 for the hardware and that's it. Pay $80 more for a good Logitech gamepad + cheap mouse and keyboard and we get a PC that not only matches the 8th Gen in cost but also gets similar visuals.
And then the strongest trump card is that games can be had for a fraction of the price.



Not that this makes me forget all the Windows games I bought so far, though.
 
But if we make it a SteamOS build, it's $300 for the hardware and that's it. Pay $80 more for a good Logitech gamepad + cheap mouse and keyboard and we get a PC that not only matches the 8th Gen in cost but also gets similar visuals.
Except they'll be $200-300 by then, probably. And you'll have limited software on Steam by comparison, so you won't get the same games. Unless Steam secures FIFA and COD and whatnot on Steam Linux, it'll be a software backwater.
 
Hmm, so Valve asks me to use a "free" OS which means I need to either abandon everything Windows or invest even more of my time and attention to maintain a dual boot PC. In turn I get to play some exclusive games.

I think Valve is aiming SteamOS at new system rather than dual boot market. A standalone gaming PC/HTPC made by enthusiasts or third party vendors not your existing workstation or even windows gaming PC. What Linux needs is support and backing. It has that in other sectors, but not gaming. So hopefully this will make Linux a viable gaming platform in the near future.

If this works out, it'll be nice not having to pay for a Windows license for my next gaming PC build.
 
Except they'll be $200-300 by then, probably. And you'll have limited software on Steam by comparison, so you won't get the same games. Unless Steam secures FIFA and COD and whatnot on Steam Linux, it'll be a software backwater.


You think the PS4 and the Xbone, which are selling for $400 and $500, will lower their price to $200-300 in two years??
:oops:
 
You think the PS4 and the Xbone, which are selling for $400 and $500, will lower their price to $200-300 in two years??
:oops:

It's unlikely. If anything, the price stays the same as they cost reduce so they can make bigger profit on each unit.

I don't see how SteamOS has much of a chance of success though. It seems unlikely that EA would be on board, because of Origin. At least Battlefield wouldn't be on SteamOS, unless they allow an Origin client or something. The next two announcements better be big, or I can't see this taking off.
 
Source 2 is for SteamOS only? (in my dream that was a reveal)



Third reveal was HMD included with the SteamBox.



I know, weird dreams!! Haha. ;)
 
personally the only reason i use windows is to play games. if steam can get dev support as they claim id happily jump ship.
 
You think you can get anything comparable feature and performance-wise in two years for $300 ?

Cheers

Well 14/16nm will be available around then. That's two process nodes ahead of x1/ps4. I'm not saying it'll happen, but it's within the realm of possibilities I think.
 
I think they will keep the OS under their controll and not allow anybody to alter it, but leave the box open, and alow a new iteration every year - like SteamBox 2014 or 2015 or 2016 - where some selected manufacturers will build the box according to Valve's directions.

No, they say on their limited announcement you can modify the OS at will.
 
You think you can get anything comparable feature and performance-wise in two years for $300 ?

Cheers

Performance-wise, I believe that whatever is coming after Carizzo will bring a 16CU GCN GPU at 800MHz, or at least something equivalent to that with whatever architecture AMD adopts at the time.
We're talking late Q4 2015 or perhaps Q1 2016. Intel should be selling its second generation of 14nm (Tock) and TSMC and Globalfoundries mass-producing chips on a matured 20nm.

I don't know what you mean with feature. If you mean we'll be able to fit a Kinect 2 into that budget, then no.
If you mean software/cloud features like constant recording of last 15-minutes of gameplay and cloud processing, then who knows...
 
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