It seems Valve have no plans to attend CES next year, but they did confirm they are planning a large presence at GDC. Looks like there will be a lot of Steam Machine news next year!
Here's to hoping they have settled down on a final revision for the Steam Controller which was holding things up, but it doesn't leave them long to really polish-up the SteamOS experience.
Personally, I doubt I will ever use SteamOS, as I have zero need for it, but I can see the attraction to it for others. I just badly want to get my hands on that Steam Controller. I really can't imagine what it's like to play on a game-pad that has touch-pads, it warps my mind.
Alienware seem to have properly jumped ship, and have launched what was going to be their Steam Machine as a Windows box that resembles a console. Although, we did already know they were doing this.
The news comes thanks to Techradar.
What are you hoping to see at GDC next year?
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
Like you, I personally see no need for SteamOS for myself. I'm quite content with Arch (every single of my computers is running it as primary OS now ;)) What I do hope tho, is that many thinks will benefit all of Linux, at least in the long run.
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The artice says: "The veritable steam behind the Machines weakened as the year wore on". So true. I didn't hear anything about it for quite some time and am happy there's at least some news now...
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I'm not very excited about a few Steam Machines. Future upgrade options aren't so clear, especially with the fragility of their warranties. I do expect a few to be above and beyond this consolification. ASUS ROG G20 won't be one of them until they change their warranty policy, if they ever do. Yay "warranty void if torn our removed" stickers! :(
Source: ROG G20 Compact Gaming Desktop PC Overview: http://youtu.be/rBwapJWWFP0
Source: ROG G20 Compact Gaming Desktop PC Overview: http://youtu.be/rBwapJWWFP0
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Oh, I am excited. Not because I want to buy one, but I think that it will require a "killer feature". I mean, I think there are some important things required for Steam Machines to become a success/compete with Windows:
- Staying with One Design
When first Steam Machines prototypes were shown at CES, all were different. Some cool, some not so much. But I think it is important that you have a branding and know at once that it is a Steam Machine
- "Standard" options: Casual, Medium, Powergamer, Custom: Average people don't want lots of options. They want to decide how much they spend and get a good computer for the price
Of course, the controller is important too, but basically a Steam Machine needs to be "just as good" as PS 4 or Xbone in that regard. I don't think it is that important (of course, it mustn't suck)
But basically, I do not care about these things since I don't plan to buy one.
But I think there is one more requirement:
- "A "killer feature": Valve really needs to push the Steam Machines with some kind of killer feature. Don't know, but something like: Use SteamOS and you get HL 3 for free. Something like that. A real hammer. Something that will move lots of gamers from Windows to SteamOS.
And that makes it an exciting thing.
- Staying with One Design
When first Steam Machines prototypes were shown at CES, all were different. Some cool, some not so much. But I think it is important that you have a branding and know at once that it is a Steam Machine
- "Standard" options: Casual, Medium, Powergamer, Custom: Average people don't want lots of options. They want to decide how much they spend and get a good computer for the price
Of course, the controller is important too, but basically a Steam Machine needs to be "just as good" as PS 4 or Xbone in that regard. I don't think it is that important (of course, it mustn't suck)
But basically, I do not care about these things since I don't plan to buy one.
But I think there is one more requirement:
- "A "killer feature": Valve really needs to push the Steam Machines with some kind of killer feature. Don't know, but something like: Use SteamOS and you get HL 3 for free. Something like that. A real hammer. Something that will move lots of gamers from Windows to SteamOS.
And that makes it an exciting thing.
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I built my own steam machine and have been using it daily.
They have been really improving the UI of late. No long is it covered with windows games you cannot play when you go to the store.
I used to have an xbox but now this is my "console" and has been great when mates come around for some local player coop.
I am looking forwarded to the controller however!
They have been really improving the UI of late. No long is it covered with windows games you cannot play when you go to the store.
I used to have an xbox but now this is my "console" and has been great when mates come around for some local player coop.
I am looking forwarded to the controller however!
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Quoting: crabelA real hammer. Something that will move lots of gamers from Windows to SteamOS.
And that makes it an exciting thing.
I really don't see them combating windows users front on with this. Its more to give the Xbox and PS users another option that will also be able to share the game library with whatever desktop they use (windows or linux).
SteamOS is not a desktop os its for next to your TV.
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I'm pretty excited about Steam Machines, but not because I'm going to buy one. I'm excited because this is hopefully what a huge number of people will be buying, which will bring more developers and games to Linux.
What I will be buying, unless there are bad reviews overall, is the Steam Controller.
What I will be buying, unless there are bad reviews overall, is the Steam Controller.
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Quoting: natewardawgWhat I will be buying, unless there are bad reviews overall, is the Steam Controller.
I will buy one no matter what, I just have to test it myself and throw it away if it sucks.
But I'll be the one deciding that.
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steams machines and the controller would be cool and all... but what i really want is a new game :D
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From reading many discussions on the steam forums, It led me to conclude that SteamOS is more OEM oriented for the Steam Machines (consoles) than a full OS for users to install on there own, like we would do.
This is why so many of us still have lots of problems when installing SteamOS on their computers: we don't have the required hardware to make it work perfectly.
Valve probably concentrated their efforts on making SteamOS fully compatible with the offical Steam Machines that are going to be sold. They probably already reached their goal in that aspect and it could explain why SteamOS development is stopped, atm.
For desktop users, like us, Steam prefer to recommand debian based Linux (officialy Ubuntu) with Steam client.
These are just my conclusions and you may disagree.
This is why so many of us still have lots of problems when installing SteamOS on their computers: we don't have the required hardware to make it work perfectly.
Valve probably concentrated their efforts on making SteamOS fully compatible with the offical Steam Machines that are going to be sold. They probably already reached their goal in that aspect and it could explain why SteamOS development is stopped, atm.
For desktop users, like us, Steam prefer to recommand debian based Linux (officialy Ubuntu) with Steam client.
These are just my conclusions and you may disagree.
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