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

Seen this while browsing the Anandtech forums:
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Also from Anandtech(can't copy paste wtf?):
So what's on AMD's plate for tomorrow? Hardware aside, according to Raja we can expect news on Eyefinity, Crossfire and Linux driver support.
We're told that tomorrow's announcement will make Linux users/developers especially excited

 
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They could stick a million CUs in there and it wouldn't matter one bit. They need to solve the bandwidth problem first.

Going to DDR4 will double bandwidth to 50-60GB/s. They then have the option for quad memory channels or embedded RAM of some sort, like Intel's Iris HD, but then we're pretty far away from a $300 price point.

Cheers

We don't know the cost, but HMC seems the right answer to this problem. First products are expected next year.
 
So no surprise on the hardware announcement, was expecting lots more info though. Sounds like the next reveal will be a controller? Maybe the one you can switch out the parts to fit your style.

Edit: This still reminds me of an HMD. O+O Or dual thumbsticks ;)
 
Today's unveiling is:
"We have something to unveil later."

So they say they have several different Steam Boxes being developed and they will distribute 300 of those to selected beta testers (Steam customers) free of charge, and then use that large scale pilot to decide which box(es) will be sold.

No word on hardware specs, size, shape, nothing.
Meh.
 
Yeah no actual news.

"Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS"
An elaborate way to say PC with SteamOS on them.
 
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So no surprise on the hardware announcement, was expecting lots more info though. Sounds like the next reveal will be a controller? Maybe the one you can switch out the parts to fit your style.

I expect a bit more than a regular gamepad. They have been working over innovative ways to interact with games for few years, maybe we will see the results on Friday. I don't expect a Kinect, but more like an "emotional-reader" gamepad.
 
Valve is so dumb. I didn't even see a link to the announcements on the steam main page or on their company page. I had to find the link again on this forum. You'd think they'd be putting these announcements front and center.
 
Only 300 beta participants for the Valve hardware.

Yeah it's actually hard to find information you want on the Steam system, even on the web page side. It's not even under their news.
 
This is the last question in today's FAQ:

Q: Am I going to be using a mouse and a keyboard in the living-room?

A: If you want. But Steam and SteamOS work well with gamepads, too. Stay tuned, though - we have some more to say very soon on the topic of input.

So yeah, a gamepad, something like Phantom:
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Or maybe a gamepad that connects to the PC but attaches to a tablet for remote play (drool).


Nonetheless, today's announcement was really disappointing.. they didn't say anything we didn't know already.
 
They could stick a million CUs in there and it wouldn't matter one bit. They need to solve the bandwidth problem first.

Going to DDR4 will double bandwidth to 50-60GB/s. They then have the option for quad memory channels or embedded RAM of some sort, like Intel's Iris HD, but then we're pretty far away from a $300 price point.

Cheers

If there was only some other ram type that offered higher bandwidth! :p There were rumors at one point of a GDDR5 based apu. Perhaps in the future it will resurface.

Also it's unclear if edram at that point would cost $$$ (not saying it won't). A small pool of edram combined with ddr4 or slower/cheaper gddr5 might be enough.
 
1. How are they going to address EA titles? I love Linux and if gaming came full force to it then I'd have very little real reason to stick with Windows.. But what of Battlefield? Crysis? Mass Effect? Etc and so on. I mean, it's seeming line Linux and OpenGL will increase performance all around. Hell, I know that running Ubuntu my PC screams compared to Win7. I'd love to jump on this..

2. Gamepads. This is a bigger issue than most people are commenting on, and here's my reasoning: PC 'elitists' hate gamepad users. Seriously, google something like "will x game work with gamepad?" read the forums. The vitreol and condescensions being hurled at pad users who want 'aim assist' because its 'nooby' and 'takes no skill' etc.

I have a monster PC but I am a console gamer (for FPS\third person titles) first and foremost. I prefer a gamepad. But I'm seriously put off with how all competitive MP titles on PC only half ass gamepad support\forbid aim assist. Case in point: Crysis 2. If you were in the beta (I was) they had full gamepad support. PC community bitched so loud that neutered it and said "the community has spoken".

This concern extends into big picture mod\console 'steam machine', since me and countless others won't want to use a kb\m in front of a TV and try to play competitive MP games (FPS titles). Valve has emphasized gamepads for big picture mode and it seems like they're preparing to go even further and release a controller of their own.

That's great, but what about REAL support for it?

How are they going to encourage\enforce gamepad acceptance? Will they request devs leave it in their code and face community wrath from a very vocal PC audience?

What will they do about EA?

I'm super pumped for STEAM OS, I just need to know these niggles are getting ironed out before I get my hopes up.
 
Q: Am I going to be using a mouse and a keyboard in the living-room?

A: If you want. But Steam and SteamOS work well with gamepads, too. Stay tuned, though - we have some more to say very soon on the topic of input.

I don't need SteamOS for using gamepad, Windows (7/8) support Xbox 360 gamepad (and most windows games too), and I can use PS3 game controller if I want.
 
For all their success, Valve doesn't have the resources to compete with MS and Sony on the manufacture and distribution of hardware.

Partners?

It's going to be the same commodity OEMs who are living on thin margins, who see their PC business declining.

MS tried to get some of the Windows OEMs to make their Xbox hardware and they weren't interested.

Valve doesn't have the resources to subsidize hardware, like Sony is doing, or get distribution. FOr hardware support, you're going to have to deal with these low-rent Asian OEMs, who don't have the margins to set up a service and support infrastructure.

Very much for enthusiast niche only.

Besides these hardware issues, there's no sign that they'd be able to get the kind of third-party support that consoles have.

It's too bad, because it seems like Steam DRM policies would be friendlier to consumers, like no charge for online gaming and so forth.
 
:devilish: Maybe we need to start a kickstarter for a 1) hybrid keyboard controller 2) hybrid keyboard controller with right trackball instead of thumbsticks. I have been prototyping one in my head since the original xbox days so it is pretty far advanced already. Hehe

And then call it a day.

Anyway, see if Valve can solve the PC/MMO game in the living room controller on Friday. About the only game type I have not found a comfortable way to play without bringing all my kit into the living room and still dropping the keyboard. I did mod my 360 controller to have an 8-way hat switch instead of the d-pad, so for the most part that was a huge boost of ease for MMO's and such.

So I wonder how they will handle buttons, give us more or less. A selector would be nice to scroll function bars while still keeping a dpad maybe.
 
People are talking as if EA is a big deal but they are small fry in the PC market. DOTA2 has more active users than every other game on the Steam top 100 list combined (and League of Legends has far more players than DOTA2). Taking that train of thought a step further 5 out of the 10 most played games on Steam wouldn't even work with a controller and out of the remaining games 3 of them are versions of CounterStrike (And what self-respecting CS player would use a controller?). In my mind if Valve doesn't show off some kind of revolutionary input device SteamOS is doomed to be a niche toy for enthusiasts.
 
People are talking as if EA is a big deal but they are small fry in the PC market. DOTA2 has more active users than every other game on the Steam top 100 list combined (and League of Legends has far more players than DOTA2). Taking that train of thought a step further 5 out of the 10 most played games on Steam wouldn't even work with a controller and out of the remaining games 3 of them are versions of CounterStrike (And what self-respecting CS player would use a controller?). In my mind if Valve doesn't show off some kind of revolutionary input device SteamOS is doomed to be a niche toy for enthusiasts.

I don't know ... An OS that can't run Battlefield, or Bioware RPGs, or whatever else EA has that's good. On top of that, Blizzard. I know DOTA is huge, but why play DOTA in Steam OS when you could play it in Windows and have all those EA, Blizzard games available without dual booting?

Edit:
If they sell a dirt-cheap streaming client for people that already have PCs, then I could see that being a success as a peripheral, for those that want to game on a second screen in the livingroom or whatever. Would I buy a $500-1000 Steam OS PC? Probably not, unless for some reason the hardware is really good value for money, but I'd still end up putting Windows on it.
 
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