Steam OS

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Lounge' started by MidianGTX, Sep 23, 2013.

  1. MidianGTX

    MidianGTX Well-Known Member

    Jun 16, 2009
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    Who's on board? I can't afford a second rig at this point in time, but once I can, I'm sold on the concept. Windows is not a safe environment for developers and their games. With a single update or a new OS, all of their hard work can be undone, and nobody wants to rely on Microsoft that heavily.

    Switching to Linux essentially future-proofs your game collection. If it works now, it'll still work in 20 years time. Valve has been pushing for developers to release Linux ports for a while now, for this very reason. They want your products to remain reliable and secure. Hopefully, Steam OS will cause a surge in Linux ports and we can all breathe easy once again.
     
  2. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    I think it's potentially pretty awesome. But I'm not entirely convinced Valve has the muscle to get devs to develop games for Linux. There's a risk that the in the mean time backup plan of supporting streaming games from PC/Mac will just turn the Steambox into another streaming device. Still, I'm sort of excited about the potential. Fingers crossed and all that.

    I wonder if there will be a way to dual-boot install the SteamOS on a MacBook Air? I hope so. Heck, all I really need is for Spelunky to be ported to SteamOS and I'll be happy! :)
     
  3. drelbs

    drelbs Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2009
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    As Steam encompasses more and more indie titles (Greenlight, anyone?) the percentage of linux capable games is increasing drastically.

    Plus, the thought of having SteamOS on a USB drive to take with you, logging into Steam wherever you go no matter what's installed on the PC is tempting. Not that they've said anything about that, I'm just thinking out loud. If they release an OUYA sized SteamBox I can carry around, that's even better (though it'd be one more thing to hook up to the TV.)
     
  4. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    What a huge disappointment todays reveal was. The more I think about it, the more disappointed I get. They aren't making a console, they are making a gaming PC. Actually they aren't even making it. One that can only natively play a fraction of games. Plus no prices. No pictures. Nothing. I'm not even looking forward to part 3 now.
     
  5. DannyTheElite

    DannyTheElite Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    Forum poster
    Area 51
    What was it?
    Please let part 3 be Portal 3...
     
  6. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    This is a pretty close-minded take on the whole thing. If Valve even slightly manages to de-mystify the PC gaming world for the average consumer it'll do leaps and bounds for the industry.
     
  7. saansilt

    saansilt 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Mar 23, 2013
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    Gabe Newell is superman!
    He still can't count to three tough.
    (Imagine if they annouce Half Life 4, so that number 3 never comes out.)
     
  8. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Steam OS is going to give Valve complete control over so may problems people have always had with their machines between drivers, weird extra software, and much, much more. Transparent driver and other software updates are going to create a console-like experience and Steam-approved hardware is only going to take that one further. Additionally, having complete control of the whole system is going to allow Valve to very accurately determine what your either home made or pre-built Steam box can handle.

    I'm guessing the way it'll work is that there will be a totally standardized benchmark that is used across the board for all steam games to show you which games you can run at low/medium/high settings which they can further standardize what those definitions actually mean in their ecosystem. From there, vendors can sell pre-built Steam boxes that are "certified" to score X points in the Steam performance scale, which will allow for a wide range of options for consumers to get in to PC gaming without needing to figure out how to build, maintain, or buy an actual PC.
     
  9. ImNoSuperMan

    ImNoSuperMan Well-Known Member

    Jun 28, 2009
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    A legit Gaming PC without windows? Count me in! Windows is the only reason I don't have one yet. Just the idea of dealing with windows gives me enough headache to not bother with it and stick to console gaming only.
     
  10. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    Might have been a good time to bring something like this up, eh?
     
  11. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    It's not coming out until next year, no one but people looking for things to get mad about on the internet need specifics right now. When Valve does things, they do it right, not through a series of crowdsourced changes as the whims of the vocal minority shift like the Xbox One.
     
  12. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    They gave some substantial specifics about SteamOS on Monday. So, yeah, I am disappointed in what they revealed today, especially with this drawn out week long reveal hype engine. If they weren't going to say much they probably should have been a bit more low key about it.

    I'm sure I'll check out the news of Friday, but I'm not that excited about it any more.
     
  13. Razoric

    Razoric Well-Known Member

    Considering all they did was put some countdown timers on their website I'd say they announced some pretty substantial stuff so far. SteamOS, Steam Machines, beta sign-up, beta hardware in 2013, release in 2014, etc.

    This is just Valve playing the game by their rules as they always do. Personally I can't wait to see where this goes.
     
  14. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    Well, I hope it works out.
     
  15. MidianGTX

    MidianGTX Well-Known Member

    Jun 16, 2009
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    This is what I'm hoping for. As much as hardcore PC fanatics love to fiddle about with settings and drivers and stuff, the majority of people would prefer a simpler "plug and play" system that just works in the same way a console does, but with the power of a PC. It's nice having complete control, but when all you want to do is turn it on and play a game, "dumbing down" isn't really a bad thing. At least make it appear that way, then hide additional settings deeper down somewhere for advanced users.

    I'm even happy to build it myself provided it proves itself to be secure and reliable.
     
  16. september

    september Well-Known Member

    Sep 14, 2012
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    I'll be in, MS are trying to take ownership of the PC marketplace by default distribution, developer requirements and so on so this will give them a good solid kick where they need it.

    Usability as already raised will be a nice bonus.
     
  17. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    I am all for an alternative to Windows. Heck, if it gets Spelunky with Daily Challenge intact, I will definitely try to install SteamOS in Boot Camp on my Mac. :) Hopefully that is possible. But truth is that I'd rather that Spelunky was just ported to Mac OS X. Then I don't have to switch OSs to play it.
     

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