I already spoke my piece earlier. The simple fact eddie hasn't ever heard of a HTPC before (a very significant market I might add), just proves he hasn't a clue what's going on with modern PC usage.
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I already spoke my piece earlier. The simple fact eddie hasn't ever heard of a HTPC before (a very significant market I might add), just proves he hasn't a clue what's going on with modern PC usage.
I don't know why some people are so nuts over this - it's a PLAIN WINDOWS PC with a minimum set of specs to get the Steam "seal of approval". It's yet another ploy to try to get people to spend more on a computer than they otherwise would simply because some sticker says it's "better" for some task. Instead of spending your hard-earned cash on an over-priced box with a sticker, look over the spec list and put it together from parts (from NewEgg, for example) yourself and spend 1/3 to 1/10 the amount of money.
:roll:
I think what most people here were hoping for was a PC in console clothing. Something that could easily plug into a TV, be TV friendly (no microscopic text etc) and have more subsidized hardware cost from the standardization.
What if:
Google builds a Steambox. Subsidizes hardware costs to increase adoption by embedding adsense/android into the UI.
Google makes content deals with Blizzard, and suddenly you have a cheap android HTPC with Steamworks, and if Steam's open on the software side of this platform, a parallel Battle.net client. OpenGL the backbone for everything.
Sounds good to me, and it's open for competition on the same setup. Sega could go for it.
This isn't that different from Razer's gaming laptops. Those guys want too much money though.
Valve & a number of partners could easily make money off the software side of it, and subsidize the hardware to make it attractive to cheap buyers. Microsoft & Win 8/DirectX licenses? They'd go for it, it's not like it would harm the Xbox.
I don't quite get it. Why is everyone throwing windows into the equation, surely to really get the cost of a Steam box down you would remove the whole OEM Windows stuff off the top and have the Steam software as a thin-client OS? Valve have even said there chasing after the Apple TV, and getting into the living room, Apple TV is a closed proprietary version of the iPhone's iOS.
I even mentioned that much in my post? Microsoft would not subsidise the cost of the OEM software for a SteamBox its directly competitive with Microsofts own gaming plans.
NOW that would really shake up the industry, and I would applaud Valve if they had the balls to do that.
Unless I'm mistaken I'm pretty sure steam applications still need Windows to a certain extent. Or does the Steam platform make all that transparent between host OSes?
If they could forgo Windows that would definitely be a plus.
I guess that's a good idea if you get companies like Dell, HP, and Lenova onboard to make sure that every PC they put out at least meets that spec. In theory it sounds great, but the reality is that those companies are still going to try to make the cheapest PC they can, for the mass market consumer that would probably buy their PC at Walmart.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamahl
Then there's the other end, PC gamers that have spent their hard earned cash to put together a PC capable of running the most demanding software out there. Where does that leave those gamers, when everyone is making PC games for the LCD? I'm sort disappointed that I've had a DX11 video card for over 1.5 years and I only have a few titles that take advantage of it. Most of the PC games coming out now are shared with the consoles, so the developers are using DX9 tools to make those games, with the PC becoming the other hardware.
Herp derp? Just build a basic Unix Kernal or on a Linux client, I know Steam's a Windows (and now Mac) application, it doesn't take much science rebuild the reprogram.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
Edit:
Oh shit I'll have to eat my own words. Of course Steam uses Windows own API's Direct X... etc. If it were OpenGl it would be a whole different story. :?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBcmEFrllG8Quote:
Originally Posted by TVC 15
And lose the entire Steam library? Steam's main asset? The majority of games on Steam run on Windows, if competing services like Origin will be be able to be installed that again requires Windows. Who except for a blind fanboy would buy this if the games are not available for it? I'll eat my hat if this isn't just a PC in small box, and I've reservations over how powerful or cheap it'll be; IHVs aren't going to risk their own PC component margins by delivering cut price parts, so if this is decently specced it's not going to be terribly cheap and competition will not drive down prices much because, like the 3DO (and prebuilt PCs, come to think of it), manufacturers will have to make a profit on each system.Quote:
Originally Posted by TVC 15
Microsoft DirectX support will happen. Steam wouldn't push Open GL on it's own, and Microsoft would be stupid by not licensing it to get it a part of the Steambox spec just because it suddenly competes with Xbox. They want as many developers stuck with .net as possible. The abandonment of windows or Direct X in this setup wouldn't make sense for anybody.
All signs point to Windows 8 being thin enough to run as an embedded OS anyway. It's coming to ARM and they are unifying the platforms.
It's not about who wins or loses, it's about expanding their revenue and cutting their losses when they can't compete. The next gen Xbox could even meet this spec and become a Steambox client. Nobody knows yet.
Oh I agree, the concept is great, I'll just wait and see how it plays out before I jump on the bandwagon for it. It just seems this generation newcomers to the pure gaming hardware market who aren't Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo seem to get a lot of hype around their announcement to their release, only to fall into obscurity shortly after. Look at OnLive for example. When that was announced people were going nuts over the idea. After release though it seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSonicRetard
Really the only company I could see entering the current console market and doing well would be Sega simply due to their History and fanbase. And that would only be if they were in a really REALLY good financial position.
I'm having a hard time understanding who the target audience for this is, it still sounds like a gaming grade PC.
Because you still don't get what this is. Valve isn't selling a PC. They're creating a spec.Quote:
Originally Posted by kokujin
this is so completely stupid.