Rumors Arise Over State Of Steam Machines & SteamOS

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  • OneTimeShot
    Senior Member
    • Apr 2010
    • 718

    #21
    Originally posted by hajj_3 View Post
    I don't think valve has ever addressed what the delay has been.
    They did admit to doing a redesign of the controller. At a guess they were overly ambitious with their timescales, which is understandable given that this is their first major hardware project.

    It's ok for Valve as a software company, but not good for their hardware partners who are now justifiably a bit angry...

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    • Xaero_Vincent
      Senior Member
      • Nov 2014
      • 662

      #22
      Originally posted by hajj_3 View Post
      I don't think valve has ever addressed what the delay has been. We know that several of their games weren't released by the time the steam box was supposed to release such as counterstrike:go. I don't know whether it is because their upcoming games aren't ready to be released or if it is because intel and amd's gpu drivers aren't good enough yet. Shame valve won't be honest and tell us the reason why the project has been delayed for so long.
      I think it mainly has to do with their controller being in the design stage for so long. IIRC, they essentially scrapped the original controller design the prototype Steam machines shipped with.

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      • stevenc
        Senior Member
        • Jul 2012
        • 183

        #23
        SteamOS built a console gaming platform out of Debian. But why pretend to be a dumb console, mimic its limitations, the fiddliness of its UI and hide its inner workings. Knowing that the hardware and OS *could* run a full desktop and the whole Debian software archive, is all the more annoying, since that's been conciously stripped out or left broken.

        I'd recommend to most people to instead use the Steam for Linux client on a regular Debian desktop (that is, if they can figure out how to install Debian and overcome hardware and firmware issues; otherwise Ubuntu). The major feat is that so many games are available natively for Linux now.

        In time, improvements Valve made in Steam OS or the wider Linux ecosystem for better gameplay should feed into Debian (and Ubuntu). It may have been easier to do only that in the first place, than building a whole derivative Steam OS from it, but this can still be contingency in case they give up trying.

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        • johnc
          Official X.org Fanboy
          • May 2011
          • 2276

          #24
          Originally posted by stevenc View Post
          In time, improvements Valve made in Steam OS or the wider Linux ecosystem for better gameplay should feed into Debian (and Ubuntu).
          Are there any? I know they made some changes to Plymouth / X, etc. to allow for a hi-res boot process without flickers... but have they done anything else?

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          • log0
            Senior Member
            • Jul 2010
            • 891

            #25
            Originally posted by Xaero_Vincent View Post
            I think it mainly has to do with their controller being in the design stage for so long. IIRC, they essentially scrapped the original controller design the prototype Steam machines shipped with.
            Am I the only one who finds this controller fetish weird?

            For me consoles are all about the games. This is where I would set the focus.

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            • johnc
              Official X.org Fanboy
              • May 2011
              • 2276

              #26
              Originally posted by log0 View Post
              Am I the only one who finds this controller fetish weird?

              For me consoles are all about the games. This is where I would set the focus.
              I think one of the problems is that your typical console controller like the Xbox controller just don't work well for many PC games. I think something like WoW or Dota2 wouldn't work well, and even (just my personal taste), I wouldn't use one for an FPS either. So now if you're going to have a viable PC gaming platform in the living room you're going to need a more versatile controller, or use KB + mouse which is kinda meh in the living room. But based on some of the changes I've seen to the Steam Controller, I think Valve might flub this one. We're going to get an Xbox 360 controller that's going to suck for PC games. And so nobody is going to want to play them in the living room.

              The Steam Controller is a key piece to making this work, so they have to get it right. And if they don't, the whole platform fails.

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              • Dukenukemx
                Senior Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 1394

                #27
                There's some bad news about Steam Machines floating around that a lot of inside people know about and aren't talking. Steve from HardOCP has said that Valve screwed up big but isn't saying why. I hope nothing bad happened to Valve's SteamOS project that would have deterred them?

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                • Dukenukemx
                  Senior Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 1394

                  #28
                  Originally posted by OneTimeShot View Post
                  They did admit to doing a redesign of the controller. At a guess they were overly ambitious with their timescales, which is understandable given that this is their first major hardware project.

                  It's ok for Valve as a software company, but not good for their hardware partners who are now justifiably a bit angry...
                  Nothing wrong with doing a redesign of the controller. Xbox One's controller was redesigned 200 times, and there isn't much difference over the Xbox 360's nearly perfect controller, except the D-pad sucks. I think hardware makers are angry cause they're sitting on hardware they can't sell. Just look at the Alienware Alpha. This thing is attractive for anyone who want a gaming PC in their living room without the need to put parts together and learn stuff. Learning stuff bad for console people. Comfort zone, GOOD! It even comes with a black Xbox 360 controller. Holy crap that's awesome for $550. Course for $550 I could build a 2x better PC but it's not for people like me.

                  But the Alienware Alpha proves that hardware makers are itching to sell their hardware without the need for SteamOS or their controller. Also the Origin PC people aren't EA Origin. They sell over priced PCs with blinky red LED lights. The blinking red lights make the PC FASTER, and cost $1000 more. It just makes sense.

                  Comment

                  • Dukenukemx
                    Senior Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 1394

                    #29
                    Originally posted by nll_a
                    We just have to be patient. This is Valve after all. But things are still looking good, with more games being ported for Linux and the Steam controller still being worked on. Also, the Windows Store monopoly is definitely still on Microsoft's plans and therefore still a huge threat to Steam. Let's wait and see.
                    Valve has to find a better way to address that issue. The Steam local game streaming service is stupid. The SteamBox was meant for someone who doesn't have a competent gaming PC to begin with, but to play Windows only games you need a competent Windows machine. That doesn't make sense.

                    Gallium-Nine is the answer, if AMD and Nvidia also supported it in their binary drivers. Wine is not the answer. Though Valve has so much experience with Windows and Linux that you would think they'd make their own compatibility layer that works exclusively within Steam. That way they can control what games will get to use this compatibility layer and what don't.

                    Those things may be important to the USA and some other northern/western countries, but to many people in other countries they're just useless bloat standing in the way of games in our console menus. Many people don't even know what those icons do. That really is not a worldwide priority.
                    True but for SteamOS to become successful it needs the western market. You can't ignore it's needs.

                    Sega is not dead. It has merely lost the console wars. Nintendo may face the same fate.
                    The Sega I knew is long dead. What you see now is a ghost.

                    Comment

                    • johnc
                      Official X.org Fanboy
                      • May 2011
                      • 2276

                      #30
                      GameInformer: Valve To Have Large GDC Presence With Steam Machines ?Front And Center?


                      "Yesterday, a report emerged that the term ?Steam Machine? is dead. Valve refutes that assertion, which was made by Origin PC CEO Kevin Wasielewski (a Steam Machine partner) in a conversation with GameSpot.

                      ?We're planning a very large presence at GDC with Steam Machines being front and center,? a Valve representative told us via email."

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