I'm not sure you'd really need to. I doubt it'll have any extra functionality beyond the regular Steam for Linux in Big Picture mode. So install Linux, install Steam and you're set.
I'm not sure you'd really need to. I doubt it'll have any extra functionality beyond the regular Steam for Linux in Big Picture mode. So install Linux, install Steam and you're set.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
Ok thanks, I haven't really followed Steam on Linux until now.
That's the question. But what will be point of the Steam box then, just to offer branded HTPC (minus optical drive) with Steam Linux pre-installed, low latency controller included and provide minimum performance target for developers? If price is good it can be enough otherwise I can build my own PC.
I'm pretty sure that's the idea. Make a nice PC that's preloaded and attractive (quiet, maybe cool, minimalist looking) for the living room. For performance people, they can still build whatever PC they'd like to get the best of the best.
I think Valve should support Steam on Linux by providing free licensing to Source and its tools for linux based titles to any dev willing to give Steam exclusive retail rights for those linux ports. In that way Valve could provide substantial but inexpensive support to a dev community willing to release on Linux first.
Devs who released successful linux titles on Steam could then afford to license Source for Windows and gain access to a bigger market or Valve could just charge more than the customary 30% for titles sold to reduce some of the burden off a smaller dev while still allowing the chance of greater success.
Valve could do other things like drastically reduce their customary percentage cut on linux ports to encourage big pub linux ports or pay up for some of the cost of porting with the caveat of exclusive retail rights for those ports.
Given how small the Linux market is right now, Valve could to the above at very little cost to itself. Once the Linux market grew big enough, Valve could then change Steam on Linux into a profit center.
To add to my above thought. I think Valve should spurn the MS Xbox route with its emphasis on a hardware and go with with a Google Android model where the emphasis is on Valve's strength which is software.
I think Valve should create a Steam OS with Linux as its backbone and that that OS should be included and able to launch within any version of Steam. Gamers would be more willing to try Steam OS if Valve removed a lot of the extraneous steps of setting up a Window/linux dualboot machine. Steam OS operating as a modern day boot disk and a streamlined OS geared toward gaming would help create a reality where Linux ports would perform better than window ports on any of your set ups.
Where Google licenses Android for free to hardware vendors to gain deeper penetration into the market, Valve should license Source for linux, its tool and an a library of texture and models for free to developers in exchange for retail exclusivity. If Valve removed a significant amount of cost barriers when it comes to game development, a lot of smaller devs and start ups would be attracted to the ecosystem. Along with easy access to the Steam OS for uninitiated linux gamers, cheaper dev costs could seed the growth where the Steam OS gaming market could begin rivaling the windows PC gaming market.
That's exactly what Newell has talked about - making PC gaming accessible to the mainstream by simplifying the setup. With the rumoured next-gen specs, Valve may be able to offer competitive pricing, and can certainly offer a yearly revision providing a USP.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
So, basically Valve are setting themselves up to be a low end boutique PC hardware OEM targetted at gamers? My low expectations for their success has now dropped even lower.
Regards,
SB
Except they may also push novel hardware (headset displays), and provide a framework for other device manufacturers (ASUS SteamBox) for an Android-like TV gaming box ecosystem.
The Gabe Newell interview seemed to suggest they were going with a pretty top end GPU, because he was discussing the new Nvidia architecture that's coming, and how it could allow you to use a Steambox as a game server, offering up different games to different people in your household. I don't know. Gabe can talk a lot of shit sometimes.
"The Steam Box will also be a server. Any PC can serve multiple monitors, so over time, the next-generation (post-Kepler) you can have one GPU that’s serving up eight simultaeneous game calls. So you could have one PC and eight televisions and eight controllers and everybody getting great performance out of it. We’re used to having one monitor, or two monitors — now we’re saying let's expand that a little bit." - http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming
Using the car analogy
, Gabe is talking concept car not the production model being launched in the near future unless he is creating a game server for games with smartphone level visuals. Any Steam box that comparable in price to the new consoles will underperform them in terms of hardware prowess. If not, then MS, Sony and Nintendo are doing something horribly wrong and shouldn't be in the console business in the first place.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
I don't know what the price range for different Steam boxes is going to be, but it doesn't have optical drive or Kinect bundled in, saving costs and giving more room for cooling.
I think it would be under $500 for sure, and very likely intended to go under $300 pretty soon after launch, if not already at launch. The idea is that it sits nicely next to your TV in your livingroom, so it is limited similarly to next-gen consoles in what you can do in terms of heat, size, wattage, etc.
I don't know. Some receivers are pretty big. You could make a bigger box with a quiet cooling solution. And they don't have the disc drive to deal with, which is a big problem for air flow. In the same size box as a 360 or PS3 launch unit, they could put a big quiet cooler in.
Valve isn't going to get any kind of huge discount on hardware unless you think they are actually going to set up their own factory. I'd be shocked if they can offer anything above an apu at a reasonable price point. If you're expecting an i5 with something like a 7870 or 660, I'd expect a price around $799.
There's no reason to expect them to be able to offer better value than Dell other than excluding windows and an optical drive which is probably in the $50 neighborhood for Dell.
There's no reason to expect them to be able to offer better value than Dell other than excluding windows and an optical drive which is probably in the $50 neighborhood for Dell.
And what is saved by the lack of an optical drive will be eaten up by the lack of cost saving on just about every other component in the Steam Box due to Valve not operating at the same economy of scale that exist for MS, Sony and Nintendo.
Valve can't compete hardware cost wise with the Big Three. It will take a substantial investment by Valve to make the Steam Box cost and performance competitive with consoles.
The lack of an optical drive by itself doesn't bode well for a console like PC because it lacks an additional revenue streams like games for retailers. Retailers are going to want higher profit margins on a Steam box if its strictly a digital download based system.
If the Steam Box is going to compete on price it will be at the expense of hardware performance and vice versa when it comes to competing on hardware performance.
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They are also expecting a profit, and it's further enhanced by any bulk sale deals they get from component manufacturers.
If Valve sticks to PC standard industry parts, they still could have a custom designed mobo that cuts out unnecessary components (two RAM slots as opposed to 4, no extra expansion slots).
trainplane
Newcomer
Valve could also just partner with Dell. We're already starting to see Dell experiment with something like the Alienware X51 for a gaming centric PC. Have one or two very rigid hardware targets and let the Dells, HPs, and Lenovos build the machines. Games will be tailored for these machines above other configurations. Something like Nvidia's Tegra Zone. The OS will need to be clean, no antivirus, no background tasks. One of the big hurdles that PC gaming never jumped over is the pick up and play nature of consoles. It just has to work, and work with a controller except for RTS type games. No funny error messages, .Net installs, etc when first loading the game. Reducing hardware permutations and having strict OS controls is the only way this can happen. In fact it is MS more than Valve, if they wanted to, who are best equipped to do this type of thing.
