Valve Announces Hardware Beta Test For 'Steam Machine' 271
Valve's second major living-room-gaming announcement landed today: they have produced a prototype model of their first "Steam Machine." They've made 300 units, and they'll be sending the machines to users in a very limited beta test. Valve hastens to add that this device isn't the only Steam-focused hardware: "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." They haven't released specs, but they guaranteed the prototypes will ship this year. They explicitly permit using it in any way — swapping parts, changing the OS, installing any software, etc. "The specific machine we're testing is designed for users who want the most control possible over their hardware. Other boxes will optimize for size, price, quietness, or other factors."
An open system (Score:5, Informative)
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That was 1999, when the TiVo came out.
Tivoization (Score:2)
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Re:An open system (Score:4, Informative)
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I'm going to hack mine to allow permanent offline play of my games, without it ever needing to check in with the Valve server gain. Gabe says its okay, right?
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And that's something you can do with PCs today.
But very few people care to upgrade their PCs - they just buy new ones because upgrading is just an annoyance.
So unless the steam box is supposed to appeal to hardcore PC gamers who basically build their own PCs, regular buyers wanting a console experience would just say "screw it".
They want a box that sits in
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Wow why did I post this without reading the preview.
I deserve the special level of hell I'm going to be banished to for this.
Unless the game gets an update (Score:2)
With a Steam Machine you may not be able to play the newest AAA games, but you can play all the games you once enjoyed
Unless the game gets an update, and the update has increased the game's system requirements. Didn't this happen when Valve upgraded the Source engine not to run on older machines anymore, breaking existing copies of Half-Life 2? I know Sony did it with an EverQuest update back in 2001 [slashdot.org]. Or is Valve going to do something like what Apple recently introduced [slashdot.org], allowing users to download a previous version compatible with a given machine?
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I'm not going to ask you to list out every case this happened, and yes this would be unfortunate, but really how often do you see this being a problem?
Honestly now. This is not getting in the water because one time you heard about a kid who peed in it.
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I can already do that now. Just run Steam on the same kind of hardware that this thing is likely to be built with.
Re:An open system (Score:5, Insightful)
I only hate DRM that keeps me from what I paid for. Steam's DRM has not done any such thing. If you want to complain about DRM, please target GFWL, Ubisoft, and EA.
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I
Re:An open system (Score:5, Insightful)
It keeps you from reselling what you paid for.
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And allows them to sell you copies of once AAA games for sub-$10.
Re:An open system (Score:4, Interesting)
And if they ship you a damaged install disc, or a cd key that they have released online so it has been marked as pirated. I'll stick to Steam. I realize there are downsides, but from my POV the upsides outweigh them.
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I have never heard of anyone running out of keys, is there a story or something that you can point me too?
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I like Steam, I really do, but I also consider everything I bought on it a rental more or less.
Re:An open system (Score:5, Insightful)
It keeps you from reselling what you paid for.
It also allows me to download the game any number of times, long after I would have lost a disk or lost a CD-check key. They also have huge sales on AAA games with discounts you generally will not find in retail stores. Steam has advantages and disadvantages. For a lot of people the disadvantages are not important.
Gamestop gives pennies on the dollar and I can't be bothered to sell used goods $10 at a time on Craigslist, including fielding emails and calls, arranging to meet the person, haggling, etc. If you sell used games on Ebay, you'll have nothing left after fees and shipping. For some people that much hassle for $10 might be worth it, but for a lot of people it is not.
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I've never wanted to resell my games. I actually think people that do are a little bit odd, but you may feel free to purchase the disc version from your local box store or Amazon. You can then resell that one. I will continue to snap up 6 month old games for 75% off through Steam though.
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No. The disc version of a steam game is little more than a steam key and a blob to save you some downloading time.
It is no more resellable than buying it on steam.
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Technically, I suppose I didn't buy the game, I just bought the right to download it and play it on any computer I want without ever needing to find or fix a disc.
Not saying it isn't a trade off, I would love to be able to resell my games, however, for me and many hundreds of thousands of gamers it is a system that adds value rather than subtracting it like every other DRM system out there.
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Re:An open system (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the very nature of the PC ecosystem keeps you from reselling what you paid for. Bootlegging PC games has been trivial for well over a decade even if you're only looking at optical-disc-based games. There's also the fact that you could never trust any used game with both a multiplayer component and a CD key (because how do you know the original owner isn't still using the key?) Those trust issues (not to mention the ease of piracy) made the PC used-game market essentially nonviable for years before Steam came out, and would continue to do so if Steam didn't exist. Especially since the publishers that are currently using Steam to lock down their games would continue to do so through similar methods.
Rob
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Steam is an evil trojan horse piece of shit that will turn on all those legions of pathetic fanboys once market dominance is achieved.
Haha holy shit do they make those tinfoil hats in women's as well? I wanna pick up a few for the family.
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Please throw more non-sourced attacks from behind an Anonymous Coward moniker, it really helps sell "crazy conspiracy theorist".
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Steam has an offline mode, but games can only be accessed if you at least occasionally authenticate with Steam. How often is occasionally? Well, in my mind, any number of times more than "the day that the game was purchased" is too many, but I know that if someone's internet connection is down and they haven't authenticated with the Steam client in the last couple months, games won't start.
As far as I can tell, "Offline Model" just stops all the non-authentication aspects of the Steam client, like the built
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Also, news flash, most people are not theologically opposed to DRM! Most people accept DRM if it doesn't cause problems most of the time! If you
Just like Google with Android (Score:2)
So SteamOS will tread where Google (with Android) has before. Deliver a bridge to your content in the form of a streamlined OS. This is really going to give the common folk a console like experience (pick a game and play) while enjoying the benefits of gaming on a PC (upgrade ability, mods, better game prices).
Hopefully folks will be more agreeable to downloading their games and this will succeed where the Phantom failed [wikipedia.org]!
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The phantom never even shipped anything, so it might not be fair to compare it. Steam already has a lot of users for their PC product so this should be easier.
Add in netflix and I will highly consider one.
Re:Just like Google with Android (Score:5, Insightful)
The OS is open source. If you want Netfix, you can add it yourself if you're motivated enough.
Otherwise, just make a large enough demand and the company themselves will put one out im sure. I view this thing as a gamechanger, a console system that is upgradeable like a PC? Geez I might even consider one.
Re:Just like Google with Android (Score:4, Informative)
Netflix is not opensource. So porting it is not possible. I could use the wine stuff, but that has performance issues.
Neflix is owned by someone who sat/sits on MS's board and seems to have no interest in proper linux support.
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Netflix is not opensource. So porting it is not possible. I could use the wine stuff, but that has performance issues.
Neflix is owned by someone who sat/sits on MS's board and seems to have no interest in proper linux support.
And this is why I just renewed Amazon Prime. Love that streaming on Linux.
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Netflix doesn't need to be open source. You can stream Netflix to a PC, so you can add it to SteamOS if you wanted to, even if its just through a browser.
I loved my PS3 for some things, but browsing the web was horrible on their terrible piece of garbage of a web browser. This thing can be built to support Firefox or Chrome if you wanted, and im sure the devs of both of those will be working to make sure that happends. That opens up so many options..this thing IS a PC, but its a PC that you operate like
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Netflix's browser streaming doesn't work on Linux because it requires Silverlight DRM. So no, you can't just add a browser to Steam OS; you would need to actually port Netflix's streaming code to something else (or Silverlight's DRM code into Moonlight)
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Not Anti-MS anti the guy who runs netflix.
HDCP is cracked, this means you can record from the Tivo or the PS3 just fine.
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HDCP is cracked, this means you can record from the Tivo or the PS3 just fine.
Some helpful links? I'd love to record from those devices.
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Googling "record ps3 gameplay hdmi" seems to return a lot of hits.
I don't plan to do that, I merely wanted to point out that if HDCP is good enough then so is nothing.
Re:Just like Google with Android (Score:5, Insightful)
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Because it's more then that.
It looks like their goal is for the consumer to stream anything they want.
Right now, getting thing streamed to the living room is a mish mash of technology.
One box that could stream everything I want regardless of container? that would be a game changer.
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Yes, I enjoy my current Linux-based gaming PC with a controller-based interface I can easily use from the couch to play a large selection of games and media.
Wait a second...
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Remember when netbooks changed the game, bacause nobody was mass producing cheap portable PCs that were portable enough, or when big screen smartphones changed the game, because nobody was mass producing smartphones that had a big screen, or when tablets changed the game, because nobody was mass producing a tablet that could run tablet software, or when the Raspberry Pi changed the game, because nobody was mass producing a cheap good enough computer with usefull I/O?
Steam is now mass producing a PC that wil
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Because you refuse (through ignorance or stubbornness) to see this as something other people can get excited for, and thus, feel the need to ask some question that you think will blow the lid off this entire project.
Right now there is someone at Valve who read your comment and is going "Oh shit that's right! We put literally no thought into this! Pull it! Pull it!"
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Fair enough, sorry for being a bit defensive but I've been (willingly, no excuses) reading a bunch of FUD/misinformation about these announcements.
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Why is this a gamechanger? We already had a videogame playing system that was upgradeable like a PC. It's called "A PC."
Because Windows 8 sucks, and this is Valve putting more wood behind the Linux arrow.
And their support of OpenGL has benefits for Mac gamers too, I might add.
Couch multiplayer (Score:2)
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> The phantom never even shipped anything, so it might not be fair to compare it.
True. Apparently they didn't have the content delivery side ironed out and investors may have been hesitant to pump more money into such an odd concept.
I'm just really stoked. This is such an awesome and smart move on Valve's part. Hopefully it will pay off for them like it did Google.
One huge bonus I could see really soon is more big box store PCs coming with proper video cards (or the better AMD APUs) instead of the cra
Same thing, different day. (Score:2)
This looks like this will just be a low profile PC tailored to gaming and Linux. In other words, it will pretty much be another variation on the ION nettops that some of us have already been using for quite some time now.
It will be nice to get some fresh blood in this area. If the kit is reasonably priced, some of us might just buy it for our own purposes.
Second announcement (Score:5, Funny)
Valve's second major living-room-gaming announcement...
...so we're done now, I guess. Next they'll move on to a pair of kitchen-gaming announcements, and maybe a hallway-outside-the-living-room-gaming announcement just to keep the hype up, but interest will wane, anyway... until the upstairs-bedroom-by-the-window-gaming announcement, which will bring back hopes for a third living-room-gaming announcement, and Valve will see the pressure, and release a backyard-gaming announcement.
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I'm still waiting on the bathroom-gaming announcement. "Turn your tired old mirrored medicine-cabinet door into the place to smash headcrabs, sap sentries, make headshots, dock your Kerbals' spacecraft, and maybe even brush your teeth."
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I heard that in Cave Johnson's voice.
Just give me access to the OS. (Score:2)
I'm looking to build a new HTPC. I have decided I was going to build a system powerful enough to do linux gaming and run plex on my TV. Just give me steamOS and I'll gladly use it (as long as I can still do my media center applications aka plex or something equivalent that works with my roku box).
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I know they said they will, but just do it already.
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You want a half-finished, buggy and untested Linux distro with bad driver support? Why?
Give them a chance to finish developing it first. Software development takes time. If I understand it correctly, this Steam OS is just going to be a Linux distro configured to run the Steam for Linux programme on startup, possibly with a few other bits of software and config in support. If you want it so badly that you're willing to put up with a half-finished
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I'd help write bug reports and such. Same reason I'd want a beta device.
Where Have I Seen This Before? (Score:2)
The idea as presented was to create a common reference platform and get multiple HW vendors to build to the spec and compete on price, like they all were doing with VCRs at the time. The 3DO Company itself wouldn't build anything, getting its money from per-disc royalties ($3/copy). Ultimately, th
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Technology and economies of scale have come a very, very long way from the 3DO. From what I've seen and heard I wouldn't bet against it, and I'd certainly place better odds on it than the 3DO.
Man, that Doom port sucked.
Half Life 3 (Score:3)
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It is quite clear that third thing in annoucement row is Half-Life 3 timed exclusive to this platform.
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"This is nice in theory, but HL3 would have to be a SteamOS exclusive in order for Steam Machines to take off at all... and if he's not a total moron, he won't do that. It will be released from Windows."
GTA5 was just released for consoles and earned billion in nearly two weeks. No, gaming don't need Windows anymore. They just need to to timed exclusive. It will be enough to get Steam machines in enough households to people start to enjoy them.
Also please get your facts stright. Valve itself said that NVidia
GamePad Requirement (Score:2)
install HeadSoft VJoy [headsoft.com.au]
open the Tray Icon
Enable vjoy checkbox top left
set Button #2 to a key on the keyboard (I set buttons 1 to 4 as numeric keys 1 to 4)
open Steam in Big Picture mode
navigate to library
hover over game with mouse
hit Button #2 to open game (Button A)
hover over play icon with mouse
hit Button #2 to open game (Button A)
free add-on (Score:2, Informative)
It also comes with a free "if it breaks, you're fucked and we'll laugh about you" add-on, courtesy of the Valve customer service [bbb.org].
Wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole. Not with Valve behind it.
Re:A truly useful gaming appliance (Score:5, Funny)
It'll only steam, not vacuum.
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It'll only steam, not vacuum.
So you're saying...it doesn't suck?
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If I understood the anouncements correctly, with aptitude you can have postgres quite easily.
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I think the idea here is that you might be able to do that, but most people would not be able to do that.
Valve can't count to 3 so do not hold your breath.
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Why though does it need to be a Steam Box if it's really just a PC with SteamOS on it?
It doesn't. You can have it right now with Ubuntu and the Steam Client in "Big Picture" mode. But by making a specific hardware spec, there are some massive economies of scale. And by letting us hack it, they get even more economies of scale. (More reasons to by it than just games) And the more boxes out there, the more games they sell. And the more games they sell, the more game developers they attract.
Re:A truly useful gaming appliance (Score:5, Insightful)
One word: Convenience.
How many people have bought Rokus or Tivos when they could just hook up a PC to their TV, install the right hardware, install the right software (Browser, Silverlight, MythTV) and get the same thing? Convenience.
The lack of convenience is what has been driving people away from PC gaming to the consoles. Why mess with drivers, OS updates, incompatibilities, updating your anti-virus, etc when you can just plop a game disk into your playstation or xbox and just enjoy the game.
Now if you already have a PC with steam installed, then you're not the main targeted demographic for SteamOS and/or the Steam Machines. Valve is (rightfully so) looking at all the peoples with wads of cash beating on the doors of Sony and Microsoft and asking themselves "What can we do to bring these people back to PC gaming?"
So now the consumers have another choice. The easy to use XBOX, Playstation, or pre-configured and ready to go Steam Machine by (Dell, Gateway, Alienware, HP). Just take it home, plug it into your tv, insert credit card, acquire games.
Already have the PC hardware? Get SteamOS and install it (or dual boot with your favorite OS) to get a similar experience. Want to leave the gaming rig upstairs while you chill on the couch? Get a smaller Steam Machine and stream your workhorse to your TV.
Their slogan should be: "Shh... No tears, only games"
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What drives me to consoles is the ability to have multiplayer without multiple consoles connected over the internet. Seriously, they just port the same code over anyway, why the hell can't you plug two USB game controllers into a PC and play a local multiplayer match? Never seen a single game support that...hopefully steambox will drive some more of that for PCs, since it will presumably be running PC versions of the games...
Couch multiplayer games for PCs (Score:2)
Seriously, they just port the same code over anyway, why the hell can't you plug two USB game controllers into a PC and play a local multiplayer match? Never seen a single game support that
I'll show you more than "a single game". Street Fighter IV supports couch multiplayer, as does the (2 years delayed) port of Mortal Kombat (2011). So do a lot of the games on this page [pineight.com] and on another page [co-optimus.com] that nschubach pointed out [slashdot.org]. Look for indie and amateur games, as their developers are less likely to have console licenses to fall back on.
Cracked's 7 Commandments (Score:2)
I expect most larger game publishing firms demand that you do not build in features to the game that allow you to buy less copies per person.
David Wong of Cracked would agree with you [cracked.com]. But are there documented cases of couch multiplayer being cut from a PC or console game so that the publisher can sell multiple copies to one household?
It's about gamepads and Big Picture mode (Score:2)
Why though does it need to be a Steam Box if it's really just a PC with SteamOS on it?
Because it ships with a gamepad and has a case designed to fit in next to a television. Your average PC has a massive case by consumer electronics standards: it makes Microsoft's infamously "XBOX HUEG" consoles look like a Wii or a PC Engine. It also ships with a mouse and keyboard and is marketed for use at a desk with a 19-24" desktop monitor. This is not the best fit for the sorts of games traditionally played on televisions, especially games that allow offline multiplayer using multiple gamepads. SteamO
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The platform is open, you own the machine. You should be able to just move over the software or even copy their kernel. I really doubt they changed that at all.
Re:Proprietary on top of linux = no control for us (Score:5, Interesting)
I do trust Valve, but the parent brings up an important point.
The difference between a PC and a console isn't hardware, it's about control. The hardware and interfaces will all change over time, but the real distinction is who gets to say what happens on the platform. For PCs, users control the environment. For consoles, a company is controlling the environment. There are benefits to users owning the environment, and benefits to a company controlling the environment.
The SteamMachine appears to be a weird hybrid between the two ends of the spectrum, and seems to be giving up the most significant advantages of both ends unless this starts to drive some major changes in game development.
Re:Proprietary on top of linux = no control for us (Score:5, Insightful)
Think carefully about those statements. Here are some possible consequences of SteamMachine:
Failure - Status quo is maintained.
Success (even moderate success) - LINUX Gains a huge user base dedicated to gaming. The calculus of game developers and publishers with regards to LINUX development and Linux ports does a complete 180. Native support for LINUX games becomes something publishers might actually consider as worthwhile instead of "WTF is LINUX?".
Success and Valve turns evil - Games will be made to natively support LINUX so they run on the Steam console hardware platform of the day. DRM can and will be circumvented as always, but now they'll run on LINUX instead of Windows.
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The SteamMachine appears to be a weird hybrid between the two ends of the spectrum, and seems to be giving up the most significant advantages of both ends unless this starts to drive some major changes in game development.
It's not so weird. You're thinking about it wrong because you're thinking in terms of "companies" in the abstract. Think what Valve is trying to get out of it and then think whether this has any value to consumers.
Valve wants to get away Windows because it doesn't want competition from the Windows App Store and because it doesn't want to be dependant on Windows as a platform. By going their own way they have the chance to lock out the MS App store and to prodce a dedicated gaming OS that might bring abou
What are "free software friendly games"? (Score:2)
Re:Proprietary on top of linux = no control for us (Score:4, Insightful)
GOG and other DRM free sites are fine, but they're not really in the same category for most games.
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Why not?
I will assume you trust the people who make you shoes, and shirt, and desk, and microwave and.. everything else in you house.
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If you're looking for a living room game machine, you need to pick one of these - and 3 of the 4 lock down their hardware and software, while Valve's option is open source and works on different hardware setups.
Three of five (Score:2)
Re:Proprietary on top of linux = no control for us (Score:5, Informative)
Give me a gaming kernel replacement (kind of like the real time kernel) in a general purpose OS that I remain in control of and that doesn't spy on me and I'll be a cheerleader. But this thing will do all the same old same old such as spy on me, try to control what I can and can't do on my own machine, try to lock my content, impose artificial limits that I have to buy back etc. etc. etc.
I don't see how any of the complaints you have apply to SteamOS or the Steam machines. In fact, they're giving you what you want. From Valve:
Will I be able to build my own box to run SteamOS?
Yes.
Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot?
Sure.
Can I download the OS to try it out?
You will be able to download it (including the source code, if you're into that) but not yet.
So, from what I can tell, they've taken a general purpose OS and fine-tuned some aspects of it for gaming, they're open sourcing it so that you can make your own hacks to it if you want, the hardware for this box will be general purpose stuff that you can hack on to your heart's content, and Valve has no history of engaging in the sorts of artificial limits that you're talking about.
Really, it sounds like your complaints are aimed at Steam (the app, not the OS) and its DRM, which is an entirely separate issue. I don't know why you started talking about kernels and other such things when the OS and machine are as near as I can tell exactly what you described that you wanted.
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Why would you even be concerned about this?
First, who the fuck are you? Ain't nobody got time to waste spying on you. I can honestly say that there is nothing going on in your life that anybody needs to worry or care about.
Second, its a game console. What are they really going to gleen by tapping into your gaming habits, are they going to figure out you need to be pushed more viagra ads?
Also yes, it's not something you control, its a game console. If you want control, buy a fucking shoebox and stuff it
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Give me a gaming kernel replacement (kind of like the real time kernel) in a general purpose OS that I remain in control of and that doesn't spy on me and I'll be a cheerleader.
Then use Ubuntu and the Steam Client. That is essentially what this is, but without the GP desktop.
A game that I do own (Score:2)
Thinking of a six letter word starting with T (Score:2)
Maybe that massive game development scene in soviet russia was a sign of the times to come, huh?
Alexey Pajitnov came from the Soviet Union and produced one of the most popular video game franchises ever, with ongoing sequels for nearly three decades and counting.
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So you've produced a prototype post, that may move into beta at an unspecified date, and may possibly make it to production at some time in the future?
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I plan on giving SteamOS a go on my HTPC, which is basically just an old workstation laptop in a dock. However it has an old crusty ATi X1600 256MB on the mobo, and that has kept it stuck as a WinXP-Pro machine all these years. I don't expect SteamOS to support the card's legacy Linux drivers anybetter than the other distros do...
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Seriously. With the shutdown of Games for Windows Live, confusion over the future of DirectX, and the implosion of the Xbox One's launch, it seems as if Microsoft is simply giving up on the gaming space. Considering, "...but can it play GAME_X" is the most common response many of us get from people when suggesting they consider an alternative to running Windows at home, this sort of thing may very well relegate Windows to the business world exclusively, thus fracturing the home OS market between Windows, Ma
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Re:Serious Question (Score:4, Insightful)
One of the benefits of traditional consoles is the (relative) lack of the kind of hardware fragmentation that can cause errors, glitches, and performance drops....Will it be up to standards adherence and vigilant devs to make sure hardware fragmentation doesn't get out of hand? Or is there some magic bullet that Valve has discovered?
Or are we looking at the worst of both worlds, with broken games that you can't fix?
My guess...as in GUESS, as in Gabe hasn't discussed with me over a game of Xcom...is that it will likely be closer to an AutoCAD kind of situation. AutoCAD gives a short list of Quadro and FirePro cards that are 'Certified'. They are stupidly more expensive than other cards...but if you have a support contract with AutoCAD and you say that there's a video bug, they will (in theory) work with you to get to the bottom of it, because those cards are thoroughly tested with the software.
What seems to make sense in this case is to have a Steam Machine that can have different modules like a PC, but in a much more simplified manner, like a console. You may not have a GeForce 790GTX contingent on a 1KW power supply and a compatible motherboard...you'll have all the Steam Machines shipping with baseline hardware and modularized core components. You'd be able to get a "level 2 GPU", "level 2 RAM", "level 2 SSD", and a "level 2 processor", and next year they'll have "level 3" versions, and so on. Driver updates can be a non-issue because they can be baked into the SteamOS patches; since they know what the modules will be, they can easily have the drivers ready without a problem.
It *can* be the best of both worlds if it ends up being "limited choice". Being able to throw any old GPU from Newegg into the Steam Machine will be a mess, but being able to have different combinations of hardware levels in the same box can still provide some degree of choice while keeping a level of consistency that will be in line with the advantages of traditional consoles.