A second company has come forward to announce they are no longer doing a Steam Machine, and this time it's Falcon Northwest.
I was hesitant to write about it after hearing about it in our IRC, but with lots of other sites picking it up and noting the weirdness I noticed I decided to cover it.
Venture Beat are the ones to originally cover it.
They aren't saying they will never do one, but right now SteamOS has issues for them:
What annoys me about their article is this section they wrote:
Nothing is more annoying than things like we have heard, as it usually means it's a load of rubbish they wrote themselves. There's nothing more annoying than secret sources of information for something that doesn't need to be a secret like this, especially since SteamOS is an open platform anyone can go and check it.
I have personally installed SteamOS myself, and if you weren't able to have more than one hard drive it wouldn't ask you where you want your boot-loader installed, it would just do it for you. With that said, I can't verify it myself as my Steam Machine is only setup with the single spare drive I had. If any one else in the comments would like to verify it, please do as it sounds very odd to me. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I was hesitant to write about it after hearing about it in our IRC, but with lots of other sites picking it up and noting the weirdness I noticed I decided to cover it.
Venture Beat are the ones to originally cover it.
They aren't saying they will never do one, but right now SteamOS has issues for them:
Quote“We met with Valve about our reservations concerning the limitations of SteamOS with high-end PC builds, and they agreed they were not issues that could be overcome in time for us to launch a Steam Machine this year,” said Kelt Reeves, president of Falcon Northwest in Medford, Oregon. “But they were genuinely interested in working to address them in future SteamOS builds. So the option for us to produce a Steam Machine is still open, and our Tiki PCs have been in production for years as Windows systems and are always ready. But for now, we’ve put our plans to offer a Steam Machine on hold.”
What annoys me about their article is this section they wrote:
QuoteReeves declined to go into specific reasons why. But we have heard that there are some technical challenges with the SteamOS, which is targeted at simpler machines where the number of options for expansion are limited. Right now, for instance, you can only use one graphics card with the SteamOS. And users also can’t use more than one hard disk drive in a system with the SteamOS. Valve is said to be working on adding support for more options, but that isn’t happening fast enough.
Nothing is more annoying than things like we have heard, as it usually means it's a load of rubbish they wrote themselves. There's nothing more annoying than secret sources of information for something that doesn't need to be a secret like this, especially since SteamOS is an open platform anyone can go and check it.
I have personally installed SteamOS myself, and if you weren't able to have more than one hard drive it wouldn't ask you where you want your boot-loader installed, it would just do it for you. With that said, I can't verify it myself as my Steam Machine is only setup with the single spare drive I had. If any one else in the comments would like to verify it, please do as it sounds very odd to me. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Segata Sanshiro Nov 16, 2015
Quoting: NyamiouIt's clear now, Valve have been too kind in thrusting the existing manufacturers, thinking that since they have an enormous interest in the success of Steam Machines and even in the success of alternatives to Windows they would look farther than the short future. These manufacturers are too dumb to save themselves, they prefer to drown their market in PC Master Race dumbsh*t and look at it diminish year after year because people are sick of it and prefer to go to consoles and even tablets than to deal with this. We need something new, I think Alienware get it, but it's not enough, think are not going to change by themselves, we need people to stand up and tell things that need to be told, and neither Alienware nor Valve are doing that right now.
Agree. They're all stuck in the past and have their head stuck in a world where having higher specs has more to do with a male inferiority complex than actually improving game performance to any considerable level. I'd say Alienware do get it, but to compete with consoles they're going to need a better price/performance ratio.
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philip550c Nov 16, 2015
The Falcon Northwest Tiki is one of my favourite desktop computers, you can get a marble base even. Very high quality and custom car like paint jobs. For a steam machine I think its an overkill but for a good desktop I wish I could afford it.
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Yeah, it's the bloody component manufacturers. No wonder companies don't want to put out Steam machines when SteamOS can't suspend/resume and the FPS trails Windows by a constant factor. And Linux isn't to blame for this, but fucking ATI/Nvidia, weird ACPI (or whatever) implementations and all the other little components with manufacturers catering only to Windows.
(Is my bitterness showing?)
Are we really doomed to this future of only Windows on the desktop and for PC gaming, forever?
(Is my bitterness showing?)
Are we really doomed to this future of only Windows on the desktop and for PC gaming, forever?
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Quoting: Segata SanshiroA lot of these companies seem to misunderstand the basic premise of a Steam Machine. It's not supposed to be something that costs upwards of £1000 with two graphics cards...
Why not? You really think people are going to want play Star Citzen with SteamVR on a $400 machine?
Or even Ark: Survival Evolved. If you want to play the game at release at 720-900p with low quality textures just buy an Xbox One. But if you want to play it at epic settings with VR support in your living room you're going to want a high end Steam Machine.
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It's a bit of a PR blow but on the positive side, it's far better to have a couple of good console class machines than lots of half-arsed high-end machines giving the manufacturers and Steam-OS a bad rep.
And who can blame those manufacturers? It's not only the graphic-card drivers lacking but OpenGL too just doesn't cut it for a $1000, year 2016 *gaming* PC.
I think it's a smart decision for them to wait how Vulkan will turn out. As for Steam-OS, they just had a bit of bad luck with the timing here, that's often the price of being the avantgarde. So nothing too dramatic happened in my opinion.
Last edited by Caldazar on 16 November 2015 at 11:28 pm UTC
And who can blame those manufacturers? It's not only the graphic-card drivers lacking but OpenGL too just doesn't cut it for a $1000, year 2016 *gaming* PC.
I think it's a smart decision for them to wait how Vulkan will turn out. As for Steam-OS, they just had a bit of bad luck with the timing here, that's often the price of being the avantgarde. So nothing too dramatic happened in my opinion.
Last edited by Caldazar on 16 November 2015 at 11:28 pm UTC
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The way I look at this is simply that Alienware stepped up where others did not. They were demoing at trade shows, they have done interviews, etc. It seems like they ought to be the ones to succeed here, even if their systems are rebranded Alphas, and not fully-upgradeable. Their system looks the nicest, too, at least to me.
I'm not saying I want them to be exclusive, just, they seem to have shown the most commitment so far. Perhaps Zotac would be second in line, though I've heard much less from them, and their systems don't look very pleasant.
A dozen or more retailers is a bit much for a launch like this... But I bet once the cream of the crop starts making money, we'll see more jump on board, including, probably, the ones who have jumped overboard already.
If I had the money, I'd buy an Alienware just to throw another +1 into the Steam Machines column. Valve will have to settle for me buying a Steam Controller, and buying Linux games, at least for now... My next big purchase might be a future Steam Machine, but that won't be for a while yet.
I'm not saying I want them to be exclusive, just, they seem to have shown the most commitment so far. Perhaps Zotac would be second in line, though I've heard much less from them, and their systems don't look very pleasant.
A dozen or more retailers is a bit much for a launch like this... But I bet once the cream of the crop starts making money, we'll see more jump on board, including, probably, the ones who have jumped overboard already.
If I had the money, I'd buy an Alienware just to throw another +1 into the Steam Machines column. Valve will have to settle for me buying a Steam Controller, and buying Linux games, at least for now... My next big purchase might be a future Steam Machine, but that won't be for a while yet.
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Quoting: SynnIf you want to play the game at release at 720-900p with low quality textures just buy an Xbox One.You don't get it, XBox and PlayStation consoles are not sub-par PC with low FPS that just sell because of marketing, they have something, an experience that is far superior to what a PC can offer right now. Valve try to bring that to the PC gamers world, and at the same time get an opportunity to seduce consoles gamers, but idiots think that it's only about FPS.
I bet you, if a console gamer that have never have to deal with Windows crap get a Windows powered "Steam Machine", unless you alienate him so much with PC Master Race dumbsh*t to a point where he watch the FPS counter instead of the actual game, he won't like it and he'll go back to play on consoles. Granted, consoles gamers are probably not going to like SteamOS either right now, but at least Valve is trying and that will be fixed with time.
Last edited by Nyamiou on 17 November 2015 at 1:49 am UTC
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Comandante Ñoñardo Nov 17, 2015
well... In Steam OS we can not add the game library on an specific disk and we ca not backup games like We can do with the regular Steam client..
Remember, in the bigpicture mode everything must be super easy; You can not tell an Steam OS user to open a terminal and sudo this or sudo that.
Remember, in the bigpicture mode everything must be super easy; You can not tell an Steam OS user to open a terminal and sudo this or sudo that.
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GustyGhost Nov 17, 2015
Quoting: TincheYeah, it's the bloody component manufacturers. No wonder companies don't want to put out Steam machines when SteamOS can't suspend/resume and the FPS trails Windows by a constant factor. And Linux isn't to blame for this, but fucking ATI/Nvidia, weird ACPI (or whatever) implementations and all the other little components with manufacturers catering only to Windows.
I don't think that any single entity is responsible for SteamOS's struggles. OpenGL was never envisioned to be used as a high end gaming solution in 2015. Valve have been unusually quiet with marketing. Linux graphics drivers still lag behind. The market is already saturated with solutions that fill people's needs. This is just a battle that everybody involved needs to tackle a little at a time.
Quoting: NyamiouYou don't get it, XBox and PlayStation consoles are not sub-par PC with low FPS that just sell because of marketing, they have something, an experience that is far superior to what a PC can offer right now. Valve try to bring that to the PC gamers world, and at the same time get an opportunity to seduce consoles gamers, but idiots think that it's only about FPS.
I bet you, if a console gamer that have never have to deal with Windows crap get a Windows powered "Steam Machine", unless you alienate him so much with PC Master Race dumbsh*t to a point where he watch the FPS counter instead of the actual game, he won't like it and he'll go back to play on consoles. Granted, consoles gamers are probably not going to like SteamOS either right now, but at least Valve is trying and that will be fixed with time.
EDIT: Let me reword this to be less combative. What console-only aspects of the gaming experience does SteamOS not yet have, that you feel it should?
Last edited by GustyGhost on 17 November 2015 at 6:27 am UTC
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Quoting: WodenThe Steam Link undermined the utility of a Steam Machine to the average consumer. Worse still, those who don't give a toss about Linux have seen the performance numbers, and will want to stick with Windows.
This isn't looking good for SteamOS in the long run. I just hope Valve doesn't abandon it altogether by the end of next year.
I don't think valve will abandon steamOS I think they knew right from the start that this was going to be the long haul investment, there's no way valve can expect to toss the gamepad and steamOS out there and expect it to be an instant hit with the crowd.
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