Valve's Rumored Console, "The Steam Box."

[twonunpackmule]

But YOU started the Origin talk. That's the fcking irony of it all! ROFL.

This is what I said. Nothing more.

Many would probably be happy with it. Well...expect Origin. I could see a giant frowny face coming from EA, if the Steam Box takes off. I doubt EA could deny consumers their content anymore.

I mentioned it because it's truth. It is a rival client, that's going to have to now deal with the rival releasing a branded PC. If that doesn't spell an uphill battle for EA, I don't know what does. It's totally appropriate to mark how EA is going to have a lot too worry about.

The upcoming STEAM Box is going to put a damper in EAs plans, because, lets fucking face it, it will. How could it not? Sure it might run rival platforms, but that's like, whatever. It comes out of the box with Steam. EVERYONE is going to have it that buys the box. It requires no additional installs. Putting Origin on there, and having it run "appropriately" on the TV is something that will probably not happen for a very, very long time. This is just a highly educational guess, which I base on how slow Origin has been to improve itself.

You might ask, "Well, they can still just install it?"

It's a box built for casuals. That's what they are going after. Unless it's incredibly easy to install another client on the box, and have it run EXACTLY as well as Steam would, then I doubt many will even go for it. Unless they are beyond casual and are willing to deal with the less than ideal UI differences around big screens. Again...not the intended target of this box.

My whole point for bringing up Origin was to talk about it as a competing product that will now have to deal with a retail box on top of it. That's all I said.

With one *vomit* jab here...

More or less the same information but, with more emphasis that it could run RIVAL software. That means *vomit* Origin. Also, that it seems more real than rumor.

But, you come on in and bring the fun! Did you wonder why I had to move the thread to smackdown?

[Favelle]

Right, and because they aren't using proprietary parts, but instead are using high-end and readily marketable components, it simply can't be subsidized at all.

But that's just it, does it need to be? If they are buying products that are ALREADY mass produced, what sort of discounts can they get in batch runs. If I can buy 8GB of RAM for $30, what can they buy 10 million cases of it for? $20? $18? And I can buy a RETAIL 2600K i7 for $304...what would they be paying? I am just wondering what people think the total cost of this thing is..for VALVE to buy.

[Favelle]

This is what I said. Nothing more.




I mentioned it because it's truth. It is a rival client, that's going to have to now deal with the rival releasing a branded PC. If that doesn't spell an uphill battle for EA, I don't know what does. It's totally appropriate to mark how EA is going to have a lot too worry about.

The upcoming STEAM Box is going to put a damper in EAs plans, because, lets fucking face it, it will. How could it not? Sure it might run rival platforms, but that's like, whatever. It comes out of the box with Steam. EVERYONE is going to have it that buys the box. It requires no additional installs. Putting Origin on there, and having it run "appropriately" on the TV is something that will probably not happen for a very, very long time. This is just a highly educational guess, which I base on how slow Origin has been to improve itself.

You might ask, "Well, they can still just install it?"

It's a box built for casuals. That's what they are going after. Unless it's incredibly easy to install another client on the box, and have it run EXACTLY as well as Steam would, then I doubt many will even go for it. Unless they are beyond casual and are willing to deal with the less than ideal UI differences around big screens. Again...not the intended target of this box.

My whole point for bringing up Origin was to talk about it as a competing product that will now have to deal with a retail box on top of it. That's all I said.

With one *vomit* jab here...



But, you come on in and bring the fun! Did you wonder why I had to move the thread to smackdown?

But can you really go "bla bla bla vomit Origin...bla bla vomit Origin" and then blame people for talking about Origin in the thread? LOL, that makes less than zero sense. If you don't want to talk about it or get mad when people don't agree with your stance on it as a product, why bring it up?

[Badger3920]

But that's just it, does it need to be?

Yes, I would guess heavily unless they're only looking to sell a few of these things to the small niche of people with a chunk of disposable income, interested in gaming/pc gaming, but not interested enough to build their own rig or pay someone (or a business like NCIX) to do so. Again, that's why I strongly question what the market is for these things -and I'm interested in what their strategy is

If they are buying products that are ALREADY mass produced, what sort of discounts can they get in batch runs. If I can buy 8GB of RAM for $30, what can they buy 10 million cases of it for? $20? $18? And I can buy a RETAIL 2600K i7 for $304...what would they be paying? I am just wondering what people think the total cost of this thing is..for VALVE to buy.

I already mentioned that they'd be able to get bulk discounts, but theyre not going to get huge discounts on those items and then be able to pass it on to their customers. Why?? Arbitrage. Because if I can buy this think for $600 when the market price of these components is $800-$900, people are going to buy them just to take them apart and sell the components. No vendor wants that.

Valve cant subsidize these boxes nor, I suspect, would a vendor be willing to offer them massive discounts. That basically leaves you with a plan for high end kit, and high end kit costs. So who is going to buy -- what is the market? That's my question.

It's an intereting idea here, especially if they make these boxes such that replacing a gpu is as simple as sliding a tray out and putting a new one in -- it'd be like a personally upgradeable pc that any idiot can upgrade. But I'm seeing some pretty potentially big business plan issues that exist; especially if next gen consoles don't launch at $600.

[thejnc]

http://kotaku.com/5891697/shooting-d...-any-time-soon

Delay those dreams of a Steam Box competing with a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii. Valve Software is not making a gaming console in the near future and that the various rumors swirling around don't add up to them making their own set-top box.

"We're prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we're building boxes to test that on," Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said, referring to a new Steam interface that will make the online gaming service easily useable for people who want to play Steam games on a PC that's connected to their TV. "We're also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we've talked about a fair amount.

"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware."

Lombardi refused to flat-out say that Valve isn't working on a console. When I posted it to him this way—"What you're saying is, there's definitely nothing coming any time soon, nothing at GDC or E3, but what you're not ruling out is the possibility that, hey, maybe some day Valve would make hardware. "-he said, "I think that's accurate."

Rumors of an impending Steam Box have heated over the last week, since leading tech site The Verge reported that Valve was working on a console that it would develop in partnership with various hardware manufacturers, similar to Google's approach with the Android platform. Some of the evidence cited were patents for configurable controllers and rumors of an incorporation of Valve's public interest in tracking and reacting to player's biometrics into a Steam console. The Verge report also cited a hardware spec that turned out to match that of a PC built last fall by Valve's Greg Coomer. Could that have been a prototype, we had wondered?

"Greg's one of the guys leading the effort of the Big Picture mode," Lombardi said. "The idea is that you can take Steam to any display. What we're trying to do is say, 'here's a box that we're going to use for testing that's common for Big Picture mode and get performance at a base level.'... We're always putting boxes together. Going all the way back to the Half-Life 1 days, we built special boxes to test our software render… it's just part of development."

[rm082e]

Yep. Much ado about fuckin' nothin'.

[twonunpackmule]

Darn. Oh well, I'll be excited to see the new UI.

[Badger3920]

The idea is neat but doesn't really make sense business wise, so I'm not at all surprised to see this fizzle

[Tnecniv]

Back to 'hurry up and release ep3/hl3 you godforsaken heathens' talk then lol.

[rm082e]

Does anyone honestly care about Half Life anymore, or is it just second nature to bitch about it? I've reached a point where I no longer care.

[Misanthropic75]

I still play HL2: Deathmatch all the time, I'd like to have a new version of it...ha ha.

[twonunpackmule]

Does anyone honestly care about Half Life anymore, or is it just second nature to bitch about it? I've reached a point where I no longer care.

I still care about Half Life. But, as a fan of things...I also don't crave a fixing of it. I do revisits if I feel the urge. I will play anything Valve puts out. I will also be there day 1 when Half Life 3 or whatever comes out. I'm excited at the prospects. I know they take their time to insure a unique experience that sets the bar for everything else that follows.

It's like waiting for your favorite director to come out with a new film. Some are more prolific than others, but that doesn't depreciate the value. Look at Diablo 3. People are pumped for it, and it took its sweet time.

A film example, for me, would be that I'm a HUGE Terry Gilliam fan. Yes, it is true. I really, really like his films. However, as a knowing fan, I also know that his new films are NEVER guaranteed to actually come out.

Half Life always seems to come out when it needs to. Which, is perfect for me. Especially since I'm slowing down on what I actually sit down and play.

[twonunpackmule]

Looks like Steam is back on the menu, boys!

Valve will offer PC hardware for the living room



Speaking to Kotaku on the red carpet at the 2012 Spike VGAs, Valve's Gabe Newell openly discussed the company's intention to enter the living room with hardware of its own and said that there's been a "stronger than expected" reaction to Steam's Big Picture mode.

He anticipates companies will begin selling specialized PCs designed with the living room in mind next year, putting them up against the next consoles from Sony and Microsoft. "We'll do it but we also think other people will as well," Newell explained. Valve's "hardware will be a very controlled environment.

"If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that's what some people are really gonna want for their living room. The nice thing about a PC is a lot of different people can try out different solutions, and customers can find the ones that work best for them."

Between Big Picture, Steam for Linux, and in the increasing success of the distribution platform, this is hardly an unexpected route for Valve to take. Hooking up a gaming PC to a big-screen TV is a joy not enough people get to experience; I hope this opens some doors for those who would otherwise never try it.

http://www.destructoid.com/valve-wil...m-240222.phtml

[Favelle]

"If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that's what some people are really gonna want for their living room. The nice thing about a PC is a lot of different people can try out different solutions, and customers can find the ones that work best for them."

Oh you mean its a GOOD thing not to be pigeon-holed into a corner and forced to used archaic, closed systems? Choice? Say it ain't so! Hopefully they don't charge for online play.

[miDnIghtEr]

Lol.. so computer wants some of that console dough. This might mute the pc elitist a bit now.