The R7 260X is probably going to be the best comparison point. Its basically a faster bonaire core with double memory and trueaudio. With mantle it should be plenty competitive with both consoles as well as being dirt cheap.
The R7 260X is probably going to be the best comparison point. Its basically a faster bonaire core with double memory and trueaudio. With mantle it should be plenty competitive with both consoles as well as being dirt cheap.
pjbliverpool said:
Well, I was discussing the actual prototypes to be released...
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse#announcements/detail/2145128928746175450
But sure, you could build your own with a 260X, if that is your thing...
The only thing interesting is the form factor.
The volume fits between X1 and PS4 so better for the living room.
But beyond the hardware, Valve has to try to secure content beyond the normal PC fare. Even if they deliver good living room hardware, doesn't mean they can take living room software for granted.
The volume fits between X1 and PS4 so better for the living room.
But beyond the hardware, Valve has to try to secure content beyond the normal PC fare. Even if they deliver good living room hardware, doesn't mean they can take living room software for granted.
I think people are mistaking Steammachine Valve hardware specs (which aren't known and Valve most likely don't have in concrete yet) and some varied configurations for the lucky 300 beta testers. And remember the various manufacturers are ultimately free to design it as powerful or as weak as they like so Valve is actually providing real world testing environments from end users for a wide range of performance hardware.
Yeah, HL2 was released 9 years ago and I could not be bothered to play the episodes that I actually have bought on Steam and downloaded it to my PC. I've given up on Gordon and whatever he's up to. There's already been far more time passed since HL2 than it's been between HL1 and its sequel and that felt like forever.
With that said... Valve still has the talent to build a game that can make millions of people care. I mean it's Half Life, dammit
But their window of opportunity is shrinking rapidly. People who got hooked on HL are 15 years older, which means almost every one of them has a family by now. Even the 9 years since HL2 are more than enough to settle down and quit gaming. They'll have to convince an entirely new generation of gamers to buy in, especially with the ever rising costs of development.
Not to mention that there's not that much room left for innovation in an FPS game, at least in my opinion. There's been just so many titles exploring every possible aspect, gameplay mechanic, story twist and whatever, it just doesn't have the same chances HL2 had. Should they keep the old mechanics or go more console? Should they try to outdo COD on set pieces or Halo on sandbox shooter gameplay? Can they even make a compelling story for every gamer so long after Gordon's last appearance?
I'd like to believe, but it gets harder and harder...
HL3 is not going to happen after all:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/01/half-life-3-trademark-filed-by-valve
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/01/half-life-3-trademark-filed-by-valve
Also, here are some specs for the steam boxes:
http://kotaku.com/valves-first-steam-machine-prototype-is-crazy-powerful-1441267520
http://kotaku.com/valves-first-steam-machine-prototype-is-crazy-powerful-1441267520
Expensive...
You will be able to buy a ps4 or X1 for half the price with likely comparable graphics for 2-3 years and a much more polished experience. Plus countless apps and Kinect if you're into that.
I must admit the lowest end system there does seem a bit pointless with its comparable to console performance and much higher price. If you take cost out of the equation though (which is perfectly valid for a niche of the market) then the high end systems look pretty attractive. That's 2-3x the power of the next gen consoles packed into a smaller (I think) case running a console style OS. Steam OS should be pretty slick with most of the standard community features of consoles for free although I grant theres no way its going to be on par with the new consoles. But your still left with a very real living room console with a truly gigantic and extremely cheap games library thats packing up to 3x the raw performance of the brand new "next gen" consoles. Its certainly something to take note of if you have a lot of disposable cash.
How noisy is that going to be?
Nothings been revealed on that yet so it remains to be seen. But given the high end components and the custom case I'd assume they will be using a custom and pretty decent cooling solution too. Will it be quieter than or even as quiet as the new consoles? Doubtful. But will it be quiet enough to fit into most peoples definition of quiet enough for a living room console? Quite possibly. No point speculating yet though without more information. We'll find out soon enough.
D
Deleted member 13524
Guest
I thought that Valve's long history of AMD partnerships would make them lean on AMD hardware, at least with the GPU. Also because AMD graphics cards tend to offer a better price/performance ratio.
Maybe Valve is just paying attention to their hardware surveys, or is more interested in keeping the balance in the market (AMD might be up to a surge in marketshare due to all the console design wins). Or maybe Valve is really interested in nVidia's streaming software that uses the Kepler encoder for the Shield.
Those concerned with the low-end variant, even if the hardware is somehow weaker than the next-gen consoles, the software will still be incredibly cheaper and PC customers will be able to save hundreds in games in just a couple of years.
Despite all, I'm really glad that Valve took the complete opposite direction of that Xi3 piston thing. Even the low-end system is worlds apart from that thing.
Thank goodness.
Maybe Valve is just paying attention to their hardware surveys, or is more interested in keeping the balance in the market (AMD might be up to a surge in marketshare due to all the console design wins). Or maybe Valve is really interested in nVidia's streaming software that uses the Kepler encoder for the Shield.
Those concerned with the low-end variant, even if the hardware is somehow weaker than the next-gen consoles, the software will still be incredibly cheaper and PC customers will be able to save hundreds in games in just a couple of years.
Despite all, I'm really glad that Valve took the complete opposite direction of that Xi3 piston thing. Even the low-end system is worlds apart from that thing.
Thank goodness.
trainplane
Newcomer
Getting away from the HL3 talk, in a lot of ways the Steam Machine is what I had wished for with the other consoles, namely an upgradable, multi-tiered gaming system. But there are some huge open questions.
Price. The chances of the systems being sold at cost like the PS4 and X1 is virtually nil. They are made by manufacturer's who need a profit. And even if Valve gets in manufacturing, they'd be system integrators only, not OEMs. So even the weakest Steam Machine can't be price competitive with the consoles. It'll be PC prices.
Components. If there are too many allowable parts, no one can code "to the metal". Valve would need to only allow one GPU/x86 maker or the other, basically saying, "This is an Nvidia GPU/Intel x64 box" if they want to allow lower level access--CUDA, AVX2, and NVidia's own future "Mantle".
DRM. Because Valve's system is more or less the original XB1 system, will there be an outcry of "no used games" and "required online checks to launch a game"? And related, if it is targeted to console buyers, would they not complain about no Blu-ray (assuming it doesn't have one) and inability to buy games at Gamestop/Walmart?
Price. The chances of the systems being sold at cost like the PS4 and X1 is virtually nil. They are made by manufacturer's who need a profit. And even if Valve gets in manufacturing, they'd be system integrators only, not OEMs. So even the weakest Steam Machine can't be price competitive with the consoles. It'll be PC prices.
Components. If there are too many allowable parts, no one can code "to the metal". Valve would need to only allow one GPU/x86 maker or the other, basically saying, "This is an Nvidia GPU/Intel x64 box" if they want to allow lower level access--CUDA, AVX2, and NVidia's own future "Mantle".
DRM. Because Valve's system is more or less the original XB1 system, will there be an outcry of "no used games" and "required online checks to launch a game"? And related, if it is targeted to console buyers, would they not complain about no Blu-ray (assuming it doesn't have one) and inability to buy games at Gamestop/Walmart?
Blazkowicz
Legend
You nail a point, it will be virtually impossible to buy games outside of Steam.
There is a market for native linux games, but it's very limited and hackish. Old ports tend to not work anymore (after a few years, a ton of crucial system libraries have changed which tends to make binary software incompatible) i.e. don't count on being able to play even the linux version of UT2004 or Doom 3 without doing hacker stuff.
I could find this short list of games you can buy on GoG and then use with either ScummVM or fan made open source ports : http://www.gog.com/mix/linux_native_source_ports
A difference with the consoles is you don't need to pirate the console to run emulators, dosbox and stuff like LibreOffice etc.
There is a market for native linux games, but it's very limited and hackish. Old ports tend to not work anymore (after a few years, a ton of crucial system libraries have changed which tends to make binary software incompatible) i.e. don't count on being able to play even the linux version of UT2004 or Doom 3 without doing hacker stuff.
I could find this short list of games you can buy on GoG and then use with either ScummVM or fan made open source ports : http://www.gog.com/mix/linux_native_source_ports
A difference with the consoles is you don't need to pirate the console to run emulators, dosbox and stuff like LibreOffice etc.
