Some good news about the whole Steam Machine parade, OC3D did a pretty long review of the ZBOX NEN SN970 and they liked it so much they gave it an award.
They seem like they are one of the few major websites to actually talk about it all properly, and actually put some thought into what they are writing:
QuoteLike most things that are new SteamOS and Valve's Steam Machines suffer from a few problems, most of which are simply due to the fact that SteamOS is new, different and not like PC gaming as we know it.
This is very similar to a new games console, and a lot of the issues with Linux/SteamOS gaming can be easily described as the plagues of being an Early adopter. Right now many people will argue that SteamOS does not have many games, to which I will say that neither did the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One when it was initially launched.
Right now SteamOS has over 1000 compatible games on the Steam Service, which is a lot of games to say the least. While plenty of new games are not released on Linux right not, more are certainly coming, and more and more developers are becoming increasingly interested in PC gaming outside of Windows.
Stuff like this really gives me hope about our future, if only other sites were more positive on the experience. Hopefully in a year or so people will re-review it to see if it's any better.
What do you guys think? Would love one myself, but at £800 I can't afford it. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: mirowell, most other consoles all had one `advantage`, if you will, which was that they had exclusive titles or at least top-titles on launch. honestly, I thought that could be HL3 here, I bet that this title would have kicked the steambox to a best seller.
Really? You thought Half-Life 3 was going to appear out of thin air? You don't seem to live in the same reality that Valve and the rest of the world does.
As far as the other consoles "advantage" - first, good to see you agree that Steam Machines are competing with consoles. Secondly, which other console has Civilization V? Euro Truck Simulator 2? FTL? Papers, Please? Sproggiwood? Legend of Grimrock? Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition? Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition? Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition? Pillars of Eternity? Sword Coast Legends? Cryptark? ARK: Survival Evolved? Cities: Skylines? Prison Architect? System Shock 2? Shadowrun Returns? Shadowrun Dragonfall? Shadowrun Hong Kong? Crusader Kings 2? Empire Total War? Company of Heroes 2? The Stanley Parable? The Book of Unwritten Tales? Deponia? Shadowgate? Super Win the Game? DOTA2? And many more that are not, or are not yet, on any other console.
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Mohandevir Nov 29, 2015
Quoting: MayeulCTo me, it's more like the company behind the Mirage & Rafale Fighters, or the nEUROn drone :)
I admit that it could have been but you mean Dassault Aviation and in this case it's Dassault Systems. Two different entities. Oh! And I forgot to mention Google, in the list of Vulkan contributors.
Edit: Just for the record, Dassault Aviation and Dassault Systems have the same origin. At some point the company was split in two entities (1981).
Last edited by Mohandevir on 29 November 2015 at 3:50 am UTC
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The Zotac Steam Machine is definitely a hit. It's sold out on Amazon at 900$. The only question is: how many of those buying the NEN are buying it to install Windows on it and how many are buying it as an actual Steam Machine?
The problem is, we'll probably have no way to tell, and I don't think the Steam survey will show up in SteamOS to give us any indication.
The problem is, we'll probably have no way to tell, and I don't think the Steam survey will show up in SteamOS to give us any indication.
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Quoting: Purple Library GuyNo apps for Netflix and similar webby multimedia stuff. That's something well within Valve's power to fix, they should get on it.
I may be the minority here, but that's actually the biggest thing that drove me away from the Xbox 360. I wanted a simple videogame system, not an OS that clumsily tries to do everything my computer already does marvellously.
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I'm very tempted to get one of these. They've crammed an incredible amount into such a small form factor. It's definitely a feat of engineering, and testament to the low heat/power capabilities of recent Intel chips. Yes it's expensive, but dammit its tiny.
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Quoting: wleoncioAll the more ridiculous it is that Steam Machines can't easily do this. And it's not like it has to be built in (forced on you). The apps could be optional, and many people want them. In fact, the lack of Netflix and YouTube and a UPnP app are the reasons why I just keep a Linux distro with full repos (Debian) on my living room Steam machine, rather than SteamOS. If I have to much around with third-party repos and scripts and this and that, I may as well just use what I use on all of my other PCs... And my PS3 will stay hooked up so my wife can easily use the Netflix and YouTube apps without having to learn how to use GNOME3 (she uses XFce I think, with no virtual desktops) or shortcuts to switch between apps and virtual desktops and use my browser and whatnot. Hopefully SteamOS turns into a real living room OS sooner than later.Quoting: Purple Library GuyNo apps for Netflix and similar webby multimedia stuff. That's something well within Valve's power to fix, they should get on it.
I may be the minority here, but that's actually the biggest thing that drove me away from the Xbox 360. I wanted a simple videogame system, not an OS that clumsily tries to do everything my computer already does marvellously.
I, for one, would much rather have the multimedia apps than the built-in web browser that Steam has.
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Quoting: wleoncioI may be the minority here, but that's actually the biggest thing that drove me away from the Xbox 360. I wanted a simple videogame system, not an OS that clumsily tries to do everything my computer already does marvellously.
I'm having a similiar problem at the moment: I tried to find a TV that only displays what is send to it, without NFC, USB, EPG, three receivers, Ethernet, WiFi, recording, timeshift, internet, HbbTV, apps, "Smart". I gave up.
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FutureSuture Nov 29, 2015
Quoting: wleoncioI concur completely, especially as Valve still hasn't implemented Steam Broadcasting for SteamOS; a feature I deem far more relevant to gaming than Netflix.Quoting: Purple Library GuyNo apps for Netflix and similar webby multimedia stuff. That's something well within Valve's power to fix, they should get on it.I may be the minority here, but that's actually the biggest thing that drove me away from the Xbox 360. I wanted a simple videogame system, not an OS that clumsily tries to do everything my computer already does marvellously.
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I think Valve and their hardware partners knew this would be an uphill battle. I mean if they didn't they were kind of stupid. Lots of people think that something is only worth doing if it is easy, but maybe, just maybe Valve have the foresight to realise that some things are worth doing because they are hard. And this is an early adopter platform. It is cutting edge in many ways and that's why it sucks to some extent and has some problems like low performance, high prices and a limited selection of titles.
What I would do if I was Valve is discount the portion of the sale they take for their own platform. So if you port you get more of the cash for selling your game. This will go some ways to make up for the shortfall in sales and encourage porting. But that's not the only way. You just got to stick to it and make it work. The potential pay offs are huge.
Gamers in general seem like they have brains made of brick. They don't realise that even though the hardware is expensive, the games are cheap. And of course, they have to play the Uber graphics AAA titles that are overproduced, overpriced and unfun to play. If you buy a Steam machine there are plenty of games that you will sink enough hours into not to get bored, and they are really fun. It's like people have forgotten that games are supposed to be fun and just want ultra-realistic graphics and celebrity voice actors.
The thing for me is that even if Valve fails, they did something for Linux, and it will stick. The annoying thing about Linux is that no matter how stiff the competition is, it just never dies. It doesn't care about stock market crashes or buyouts. If linux desktops were products sold by companies it would have died a quick death, but it's not and it won't. If this isn't the time for Linux, it will come, because devs and users won't give up on it, and eventually an ambitious company with good sense and foresight will try what Valve and Canonical did and it will just work.
Sorrry for the long comment. Had a few drinks.
What I would do if I was Valve is discount the portion of the sale they take for their own platform. So if you port you get more of the cash for selling your game. This will go some ways to make up for the shortfall in sales and encourage porting. But that's not the only way. You just got to stick to it and make it work. The potential pay offs are huge.
Gamers in general seem like they have brains made of brick. They don't realise that even though the hardware is expensive, the games are cheap. And of course, they have to play the Uber graphics AAA titles that are overproduced, overpriced and unfun to play. If you buy a Steam machine there are plenty of games that you will sink enough hours into not to get bored, and they are really fun. It's like people have forgotten that games are supposed to be fun and just want ultra-realistic graphics and celebrity voice actors.
The thing for me is that even if Valve fails, they did something for Linux, and it will stick. The annoying thing about Linux is that no matter how stiff the competition is, it just never dies. It doesn't care about stock market crashes or buyouts. If linux desktops were products sold by companies it would have died a quick death, but it's not and it won't. If this isn't the time for Linux, it will come, because devs and users won't give up on it, and eventually an ambitious company with good sense and foresight will try what Valve and Canonical did and it will just work.
Sorrry for the long comment. Had a few drinks.
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A few people discussed netflix support. I really hope this shows up in steamos, I'd love to see a steam machine that could completely remove the need for an appletv or console. As it stands it just plays games, which I'm happy they focused on, but isn't enough to justify a purchase just yet imo. Personally I think I will buy either a steam machine when it gets netflix, or an appletv if it gets a steam streaming client :D
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