Steambox

Anyone interested in Steambox? (the console being made by Valve). They will be revealing more details about it next week. I don't think I would choose it over a PS4 but I am definitely interested to see what it will be like especially as it will be running on Linux. More competition is also good.

In reply to a post by astateoftrance:

Anyone interested in Steambox? (the console being made by Valve). They will be revealing more details about it next week. I don't think I would choose it over a PS4 but I am definitely interested to see what it will be like especially as it will be running on Linux. More competition is also good.

Yeah, I like the fact someone as big as Valve are challenging Microsoft's hegemony of the PC gaming market with Windows as a basic requirement to play games. All the more power to Linux and alternative OSs. I'm doubtful Gabe Newell is developing Steambox for altruistic purposes or just because he hates MS/Windows 8 but the guy's obviously extremely smart so fair play to him.

In the main I like Steam quite a bit despite the restrictions. Using discs is a bit of a pain it's true, I'd rather have Steam copy-protection and Valve Anti Cheat systems installed than a ton of other crud, I like the convenience of download, auto-install and play. Some things I don't like though the Steambox thing looks very cool but I'm concerned about upgrade-ability and hardware performance over time. If all/most of my current games ran on Linux I'd multiboot my PC and get into Linux more with a view to ditching Windows for good.

I'm half expecting the Steambox to eventually fill a mid-low range market segment as I can see non-enthusiasts (hardcore gamers) fixing one up for access to a huge catalogue of older and less graphically demanding games, maybe strategy stuff as well rather than high polygon count shooters and suchlike. But I could (and hope to) be proved wrong (it would be nice to play BF4 and 5 on it!). Are you keen on it yourself then? Could be a good thing in the future: one in every home instead of a PC/laptop and individuals just using tablets and things eh?

Edited by deleted (Sat 21-Sep-13 21:40:03)

Would rarther go for one of these than a Xbox one or Nintendo Wii U,I looked into these about 6 months ago and they seem to have quite some power and are upgradable ....

Yeah, from what I recall there's like 2 models offered or something. But I'm more concerned with whether you can upgrade the Steambox and customise it yourself. I wouldn't mind one that I could swap out the GPU and CPU and maybe add more memory and an SSD say. Could kill the XBO and PS4 if done right.

Will all depend - is it going to be a "proper" console (preferably one which Joe Bloggs can program), or as reports suggest, just a way of playing Valve games on microscopic smartphones.

If its the former, they yey! If it's the latter, then ney!

The Steam Box is designed to play PC games. Specifically, it's designed to play Steam games:

Edited by deleted (Sun 22-Sep-13 01:44:41)

I don't think I would buy one myself as I would just build my own system. I am more excited about the fact that Valve will be using Linux on it which means Steam games will run on any Linux system. Hopefully this will make the OS more mainstream. I currently dual boot on my main desktop computer but I haven't booted Windows for ages, last time was to play the new Sim City.

Actually if Steambox ends up being a cool looking, compact system like a Mac Mini which I could install Ubuntu on I could be tempted to use one as my main system.

In reply to a post by time2die:

Would rarther go for one of these than a Xbox one or Nintendo Wii U,I looked into these about 6 months ago and they seem to have quite some power and are upgradable ....

In reply to a post by SPOOKish:

Yeah, from what I recall there's like 2 models offered or something. But I'm more concerned with whether you can upgrade the Steambox and customise it yourself. I wouldn't mind one that I could swap out the GPU and CPU and maybe add more memory and an SSD say. Could kill the XBO and PS4 if done right.

The system called Piston released earlier in the year is not the official Steambox, it was developed by Valves partner Xi3 though so maybe a sort of prototype for the final one.

Question is ? When is it suppose to be out........

Yeah, hopefully they will release all the details in the coming week.

I am not happy about it, quite why they feel the need tolaunch a console when their pc market is thriving no idea, suddenly developers on steam may feel pressured to make their games work on linux as well as windows and as such resources get split. Also quite why any pc owner would buy a steambox also makes no sense.

Yeah, I felt similarly that I'd just carry on doing self-builds. I'd be very disappointed if Valve somehow made their system proprietary just to flog Steamboxes.

I remember that about the Piston thing. Didn't Valve work with them then no? I really liked the design and principle of using the VESA mount on the back of your TV/monitor to position it. But I'm still concerned about having enough space for adding expansion cards where needed and maintaining good airflow for power hungry gfx cards.

I'd like to get into Linux. I've only given it about 10 minutes in time playing with it as I couldn't work out how to explore files so abandoned it (Ubuntu).

there seems to be some sort of thing in the gaming industry that assumes everyone sits on a sofa playing games on a big tv, most of the pc gamers dont do that, the steambox is out of place and I predict it will fail.

that small android console is almost certianly going to fail now with the vita tv announced. not all consoles succeed.

I thought they partnered with Xi3 but this article says they didn't

Valve has distanced itself from the Xi3 Piston, dubbed an unofficial Steam Box.

It had been believed that Valve had backed the grapefruit-sized computer ahead of the release of its own Steam Box, but this appears to be false.

Valve's Doug Lombardi told Eurogamer that Valve had some dealings with Xi3 Corporation, the company behind the Piston, but not any more.

"Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year, but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs," he said.

It is a really neat PC though. As I do not game on my PC I would like my next build to be a compact, energy efficient system. Doesn't have to be that small but something similar to the MAC Mini perhaps. For gaming though probably better to stick with a bigger case like you said so you don't limit your options.

Ubuntu is really user friendly these days, very simple to install and use and theres loads of how to guides for when you get stuck. But again as you are a PC gamer then not much point as they are almost all for Windows.

So Valve have today announced SteamOS based on Linux, obviously this will run on the Steambox but will also be available to download for free. Article here

According to Valve, "hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS," and announcements "in the coming weeks" will show off "all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014."

Yeah, I was reading about SteamOS at Eurogamer. Sounds too good to be true to be honest, running all your games (well, practically) in SteamOS instead of Windows.

So, will it be truly an open system? Or how open will it actually be in practice? And, will games run smoothly and will their performance jump dramatically from running a (hopefully) much more efficient OS?

Could be good tho. Could be very good indeed if SteamOS ticks all those boxes.

Im sticking with one thing only and its all I'm going to need........Its Called a Playstation 4

EDIT

MAY HAVE SECONDS THOUGHTS

The only draw back i see from this is having to have your PC/MAC on to stream the games to your television.....thats another reason why a bought a NASS system like MYBOOK LIVE to stream media without the need for the Imac to be on.

Edited by time2die (Tue 24-Sep-13 00:32:29)

That little Piston box thing would probably good for someone like you Timey. Just stick it on the back of you tv and you're good to go. Only thing is it's very expensive for what it is I reckon but there are variants of it on the website Trance links to.

You can have small and powerful, and even energy efficient it seems but personally I'd rather have a bit more space for expansion options (larger gfx cards) and improved airflow to keep it cool. But for casual gaming you might be well served with the likes of the Piston box.

whats wrong with a pc?

I dont see many steam users excited about this steambox.

You know me Spook........If i was to buy one of these it would be the top of the range option

I would be truly amazed if they manage to have the majority of Steam games running on SteamOS. That would be a milestone for open source. Anyway I am excited to see how this turns out.

Nothings wrong with a PC, I don't think they are really targeting the hardcore PC gamer as most will either build their own system or buy a high end system. I think they want to increase Steams audience and attract the console gamers.

Imagine if they annoucne Half Life 3 as an exclusive to SteamOS and Linux.. they could be onto a winner then

Hopefully it should be able to install/run standard linux programs - if not, then there is no point to it.

A fair few people think this could end up taking valve down, you need deep pockets to fund a console. I think this is a grave mistake.

The trigger seems to be when win8 was announced with its app store, this gabe guy took offense since it could potentially take sales of steam so started work on a linux alternative.

Pity your eyes don't see past PC gaming

What other gaming is there ?

For choice CONSOLES.....

In reply to a post by astateoftrance:

Imagine if they annoucne Half Life 3 as an exclusive to SteamOS and Linux.. they could be onto a winner then

I'd buy it

For $1 ?

In reply to a post by time2die:

Pity your eyes don't see past PC gaming

I do see past it, but there is no room for more consoles.

console gamers use xbox1/ps4 and the wii-u is struggling, plus we have vita tv coming.

PC gamers use PC's on a chair in front of monitor, they are not going to migrate to the living room.

The most popular opinion I see on gamefaq's is this will give valve financial issues then microsoft will buy them out to end the idea.

microsoft lost 100s of millions when starting the xbox, I dont know if it even ran into billions, sony also have had huge losses they have had to deal with, these 2 companies are behemath's able to soak that up. not valve.

Edited by Chrysalis (Wed 25-Sep-13 14:49:31)

Oh well we will have to see how it all pans out,releasing a new console has not always worked out ,take the Atari jaguar and the Panasonic 3DO,even Sega and the Dreamcast struggled once Sony came into the market.

But at the end of the day it's nice to have choice and multipull company's I only see this as competition and better games,god help us if all we had was Microsoft and PC Gaming as it would be a grave state of affairs..

You know yourself if your honest ,developers and focuss has shifted from the once mighty PC Gaming to the mainstream console market where there is far more money involved and more to make .

many developers have but not all developers. There remains core games that stay in the pc market as they not suited to consoles, mainly blizzard games, rts, most mmo's and some other games. Also the pc is the biggest indie market. There is 1000s of games on steam, its far from dead like you seem to think.

90% of games that are on consoles and pc are better on the pc as well.

Yeah if you like being 12 inches from your monitor in a small office with back ache

actually I do without the back ache.

I think its a far superior experience been close to a 22inch screen than far away from a 40" screen.

Also I prefer sitting upright in a office chair than lying down on a sofa.

Dispite what you thnik there is still a large pc gaming community who frequently play in the way you described.

How many do you see on twitch playing on sofas?

How about sitting upright, close to a 40" screen?

Or slouching at a 22" screen?

The one big win for PC gaming is control, as good as consoles are their joypads are rubbish compared to the good old keyboard and mouse

Yeah, that's the primary concern of mine when it comes to getting a PS4, the controller. It's been ages since I've used a controller to play FPS, that was Quake II on the PS One and it took me a long while to get used to it.

But I guess everybody's in the same boat when you get used to a controller? Or, can you get a leg up if you can use keyboard/mouse on the PS4?


Just read this story:

Valve Steam Machines to be tested with the public

Some food for thought maybe?

Edited by deleted (Wed 25-Sep-13 23:43:34)

I had no problems at all adjusting to a Joypad from Keyboard and Mouse,its like learning to ride a bike,once the stabilisers are removed its as easy as one.two three......And i know i had my stabilisers of last week

Another thing that would not work is the console gamers that want keyboard/mouse control....You need a nice pretty large flat surface for that to work and im not about to lie down on the carpet with some chopping board.

Edited by time2die (Wed 25-Sep-13 23:53:47)

You midlander got a carpet? Now you're just showing off!



How u getting on with the zimmerframe then? Is that easy too?

Ive also got a phone in one piece

Or perhaps you prefer the inaccuracy and lack of speed of a joypad ?

Listen..........I don't have a problem the games are optimised fine for custom playstation/xbox pads and going from a mouse and keyboard to a gamepad and playing FPS is a breeze.

And when it comes to Driving games then Joypads are King....Even though i don't like them.

I really don't see why you have to be so pro PC and slam everything else such as consoles which are a user friendly system without any of the hassle related to PC gaming.

PC Gaming is a dying trade mate so face up to the facts,go into any shops ,take a look around at the shelf space for PC games.........What do you see..............Nothing

Blockbusters only stock AAA games such as FIFFA 14 and dont bother with anything else,Games shelves are hardly much better,we have moved on mate,retailers,developers have seen that,but only the few on here still think its 1990.

Edited by time2die (Thu 26-Sep-13 14:17:12)

personally I think thats too big for gaming.

There goes me 55inch LED Samsung then

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

personally I think thats too big for gaming.

Size Matters..........Ask any Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL2XE0mbjrI

Is it a PC game

Blockbusters should have died years ago, game is only just surviving, you wont find many pc games as its all bought online from Amazon etc or on sale on steam/GMG at far cheaper prices then the brick and motar stores can compete with.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL2XE0mbjrI

At approximately 15:08 he claims the Steam Box will never compete with his PC unless they make the specs prohibitively expensive....which is confusing because the vast majority of PC gamers seem to believe you can build a PS4 equivalent for 10p.

At 11.00PM on Friday the 29th of November, I will face an agonising decision........Killzone: Shadofall or sex?


PC gamers won't have to worry on either count.

Blockbuster on my local high street serves my trading needs just fine and that's all I use them for,buy all my games online apart from the games I get rid of at Blockbusters for games I want.

Edited by time2die (Thu 26-Sep-13 20:39:28)

I thought they said 5p mate,Jeez what a complete rip off

They don't give times out matey so that's a lie......So is the Sex offer also

But you made me laugh with the bottom paragraph

You realise once toady reads this and the other PC gamer on here its War

Edited by time2die (Thu 26-Sep-13 20:46:51)

I'm not the one who admitted a preference for sitting 12" from the monitor in a small office.....

Anyways, I don't need to watch porn. I'm married.

Ha Ha

Nice one liners........Always brings a wee smile to my face.....

Like the sun, everything is dying - but like that, PC gaming will exist for a while yet.

Of course you see PC games in shops - Sainsbury's have 'em and other places too - they are just much cheaper online.

well the revelation that there will be multiple steamboxes makes me think even more it will be a mess now, pc gamers wont buy this thing and console gamers will be confused by it (plus as I said they will keep their brand loyalty).

Some will sell, but it wont be huge numbers, and without huge numbers it will fail, although I think steamos itself may get somewhere just not the console.

The time you reffering to if I remember right is when he points out that if the steambox was as powerful as his own pc it would be priced out of the market.

Edited by Chrysalis (Fri 27-Sep-13 02:40:35)

Why will console gamers be confused by it?

In reply to a post by mrnelster:

Why will console gamers be confused by it?

because most console gamers, arent that technical, knowing about ram, gfx etc. specs. They just want to buy a console and start playing games.

This is evident when they start saying things like the ps4 will be super powerful just because of gddr 5 ram and they think a pc costs £1000 to build and needs upgrading every year, they havent a clue.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

In reply to a post by mrnelster:

Why will console gamers be confused by it?

because most console gamers, arent that technical, knowing about ram, gfx etc. specs. They just want to buy a console and start playing games.

This is evident when they start saying things like the ps4 will be super powerful just because of gddr 5 ram and they think a pc costs £1000 to build and needs upgrading every year, they havent a clue.

Total and Utter Bullhang.

And that's putting it mildly

We like consoles because we don't like sitting in office chairs in darkened dingy rooms with a monitor 12 inches from our faces,face it most PC gamers are in such a place just like my Apple Mac is in the office in our house.

Any Gamer that has all his PC Equipment in the front room of there house has a very understanding girlfriend/ wife or is a compulsive hoarder

As for not knowing about graphic cards and ram then that is total rubbish,I bet most of us was PC gaming when you were in diapers only now some of us don't want the hassle associated with it and want to play games that are out on consoles already.....one of the biggest games of the Year GTA5 are you playing that......No....Does that not tell you that developers have all but given up on PC gaming apart from the indi developers and the odd game here and there.

GTA V for the PC should be optimised for the PC - Rockstar should have learnt from the GTA IV mess that we don't really like unoptimised directly-converted-from-console messes...

Agreed. Every gamer wants the best their chosen platform can achieve, and if the market was there, they would no doubt get it.

There is a petition (which I approve of), to keep Rockstar from bringing out a PC version. Here is the link : Keep the GTA mess away from PC gamers

Edited by deleted (Fri 27-Sep-13 19:03:37)

We like consoles because we don't like sitting in office chairs in darkened dingy rooms with a monitor 12 inches from our faces,face it most PC gamers are in such a place just like my Apple Mac is in the office in our house.

What do you do then ? Stand around in bathrooms, with binoculars so you can see the TV in your next door neighbours house ?

Any Gamer that has all his PC Equipment in the front room of there house has a very understanding girlfriend/ wife or is a compulsive hoarder

Or because it's the biggest (and best) room to have them ?

If you don't intend to buy it, why sign a petition to stop somebody else enjoying it?

To save people from themselves... If you are so eager for it to afflict the PC, why not start a petition to get it converted ?

Edited by deleted (Fri 27-Sep-13 20:04:40)

Seriously, there can be absolutely no response to that logic.

In reply to a post by Lt_Swan:

The one big win for PC gaming is control, as good as consoles are their joypads are rubbish compared to the good old keyboard and mouse

That is true, especially for FPS. It took me a while to get used to a controller when I switched from PC to PS3 but once you adapt it is fine and I actually rather it now.

Its turning into a PC v Console Forum but fun all the same.......2 PC members v the Rest

Controllers are however far more realistic in response time.

Its a piece of cake and no problem whatsoever....People don't like change and thats the problem.

They even want to argue when you agree with them.

Perhaps hand cramp makes them irritable?

In reply to a post by time2die:

And that's putting it mildly

We like consoles because we don't like sitting in office chairs in darkened dingy rooms with a monitor 12 inches from our faces,face it most PC gamers are in such a place just like my Apple Mac is in the office in our house.

Any Gamer that has all his PC Equipment in the front room of there house has a very understanding girlfriend/ wife or is a compulsive hoarder

As for not knowing about graphic cards and ram then that is total rubbish,I bet most of us was PC gaming when you were in diapers only now some of us don't want the hassle associated with it and want to play games that are out on consoles already.....one of the biggest games of the Year GTA5 are you playing that......No....Does that not tell you that developers have all but given up on PC gaming apart from the indi developers and the odd game here and there.

I actually do most of my console gaming in my office, I have a 27" LED monitor and a comfy office chair though a sofa is better I agree.

Sometimes awesomeness needs no response.

Yea I didn't and still don't like the change in my accuracy. I really don't like the auto assist in aiming either

if you think you are the typical console consumer I think you wrong, the typical console consumer doesnt have a pc and are not very tech savvy on pc components. Heck why do you think microsoft have got IE on the xbox? because they dont have a pc to browse the web on.

In reply to a post by time2die:

Its turning into a PC v Console Forum but fun all the same.......2 PC members v the Rest

if you want to turn this into a childish fanboy contest go ahead, I will stop taking part.

Dont assume I am playing a pc vs console game, I own 2 consoles and some pc's. To me its not one vs the other.

Look at gamefaqs to see how typical consumers are, its full of kids getting hard ons over the ps4 specs thinking its a god machine, and treating it like a war of ps4 vs pc. 1000s of them with that line of thinking, and you think they will know what they want when they have multiple steamboxes to choose from of different specs? I suppose you right in the sense that they will want a ps4 not a steambox.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

if you think you are the typical console consumer I think you wrong, the typical console consumer doesnt have a pc and are not very tech savvy on pc components. Heck why do you think microsoft have got IE on the xbox? because they dont have a pc to browse the web on.

You are seriously making it up as you go along now.

Look at gamefaqs to see how typical consumers are, its full of kids getting hard ons over the ps4 specs thinking its a god machine, and treating it like a war of ps4 vs pc. 1000s of them with that line of thinking, and you think they will know what they want when they have multiple steamboxes to choose from of different specs?

Jesus Christ. And you've got the nerve to call others fanboys?

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Like the sun, everything is dying - but like that, PC gaming will exist for a while yet.

Of course you see PC games in shops - Sainsbury's have 'em and other places too - they are just much cheaper online.

What do ya mean, the sun's dying? It flipping well better not be! We've got enough problems in the world.

I wanna live not die. I'm too young to die!

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

There is a petition (which I approve of), to keep Rockstar from bringing out a PC version. Here is the link : Keep the GTA mess away from PC gamers

That's just stupid, worse than cutting your nose off to spite your face really. GTA IV had its fair share of problems and some caused by poor porting but it finished as a fairly well polished game in the end.

No PC game is ever 100% without its faults. And I'm guessing a lot of console games - initially or not - are also plagued by bugs and stuff. They get ironed out. The good companies work towards doing this as a priority and the really good ones expand on it and release new content (for free!)

Like many others I'd comment on the petition just to say what a dumb idea it was to sign it.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

In reply to a post by time2die:

Its turning into a PC v Console Forum but fun all the same.......2 PC members v the Rest

if you want to turn this into a childish fanboy contest go ahead, I will stop taking part.

He's not. Tongue in cheek old boy.

As for Steamboxes... what possible difference is there to PCs if they're off the peg? There'll be choice, that's the good thing about it. Gabe Newell's already on record for saying that. Upgrade it if you like.

Did you miss the PS3/Xbox 360 vs the cruddy PC arguments when they were first announced? They were right up there in tech then and you'd have had to have spent over a grand on a decent PC spec to meet the same spec. So nothing changes if all the kids are getting anti-PC again and going all Sony/MS fanboy.

SteamOS/box will be a success.

In reply to a post by mrnelster:

At 11.00PM on Friday the 29th of November, I will face an agonising decision........Killzone: Shadofall or sex?


PC gamers won't have to worry on either count.

Steady on old boy. Some of us did have sex once or twice before they got a PC y'know. I remember the day well...

Edit
Ooh. Does this mean if I buy a PS4 with Killzone I'll get a choice? I'd save a fortune in Kleenex.

Edited by deleted (Sat 28-Sep-13 01:09:00)

Console gaming is fine as in your office as long as you have not got it set up like a PC and are sitting so close to your television monitor your getting a suntan.

if you want to turn this into a childish fanboy contest go ahead, I will stop taking part.

Really is that a threat or a promise and have we touched on a soft spot or what

Would never have guessed you owned any console because all you have done is ripped them apart, in fact i have seen a few anti console gamers on here but you take the biscuit.

Valve reveals haptic game controller for release in 2014

Looks cool...

Ooh. Does this mean if I buy a PS4 with Killzone I'll get a choice? I'd save a fortune in Kleenex.

I'm more of a white sock man myself.

So what do you reckon SPOOK, you still fancy a PS4 or what? We can start a clan and call it "Old Tricks". We could even get Timey to write the feem tune and sing the feem tune.

If you did, would you be a Bungie Destiny man or a Tom Clancy's The Division man? I love the look of The Division, but I still think Destiny will be an awesome game.

In reply to a post by SPOOKish:

Valve reveals haptic game controller for release in 2014

Looks cool...

Yeah does look cool. I'm not sure it will achieve it's aim though (excuse the pun).

For FPS, sticks encourage the most realistic battles (lots of shooting around the perimeter of the enemy ) while the mouse provides the fastest and most accurate targeting. I think the biggest risk with the uptake of this would be from an FPS perspective. It really can't afford to end up falling in between the two.

The mouses speed and accuracy is down to wrist action. IMO the extra dexterity of thumbsticks is what makes the turn and aim thing a little less certain and a lot more fun. But I can understand why competitive gamers would prefer the mouse and keyboard, and don't see how these owl eyes will appeal to them..

I still don't get how iPadders enjoy games whilst rubbing their thumbs all over the screen, but then I do have rather large thumbs.

And you will know all about Wrist Action wont ya me old matey

That looks really interesting its nice to see some innovation.

I like the look and sound of that. The whole steam console idea is growing on me

Are you suggesting I spend too much time ranking?

This pad would put me off, but I'm sure a stick controller could be acquired. I like the idea behind the SteamBox, but the main obstacle for me would likely be the price point. If I were to get one (big if), it would have to be the better one and I expect that will be pricey? I know the games are cheaper, but I don't play that many games, so paying more for the big AAA's with a lower hardware cost suits me better.


Do we have any good guesstimates of the likely cost yet? I read somewhere the top version could be £900.

Wow that's put me right off

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/385376/valves-s...

Take these prices with a pinch of salt mate, but if the entry level is $500 that's PS4 money and I wouldn't go there. The $1000 option is too high for me to justify, however well it performs.

I like the PS4 for sure. Your reasoning down below about the more expensive Steam box and cheaper games vs a console and more expensive games but less of them for time constraints is sound to me.

Of the two games - The Division and Destiny, I just had a little look and a quick read and neither would really be my cup of tea I don't think. They both are seemingly very progressive with cool graphics and an open world setting but there are major elements that put me off.

I'd love to be playing GTA V on the PS4 and maybe a follow up to Red Dead with improved graphics? A racing game with rally in it like Gran Turismo, BF4 of course, and something along the lines of Skyrim though I don't see myself getting Elder Scrolls Online owing to its monthly subscription. Sod that. It'd have to be really really amazing to get me to part with so much cash each month.

Yeah. Teaming up with some of the boys on the newly more active TBB Gaming forum would be fun for sure, we could have our own clan. That would be a good reason to get a console as I was discussing with our esteemed grandfather Timey only the other day, that I really miss comms in game, I think that could be a great addition twinned with playing with people you know who are more in tune as a unit. Not had that experience for a long time since BF2 but that was always half a squad who stuck together whilst the rest ran off and did their own thing (dying mainly).

Haven't read the article yet. I'm gonna read that link about the various Steam options tho. Mind you, you don't need to buy a Steambox, just install the SteamOS if you've got a suitable computer.

As for spec, Toady is right that a very modest spec is more than enough to run today's games at high enough quality levels. That said, with the PS4 and XBO out soon, we're gonna start seeing games taxing hardware a lot more than they used to (hopefully/finally!) I haven't needed to upgrade my PC since I built it 4 or 5 or so years ago, it still feels new.

That Steam pad looks good tho if they can pull it off. I haven't used a PS pad for a long time, I did really like the ergonomics of it but the thumb sticks used to do kinda dislocate my thumbs a bit when I used them so they'd click I recall, long time ago now tho. You can probably get used to anything but yeah, except for a touchscreen maybe! Playing an FPS on a tablet is a nightmare.

Its a PC so about £49.99 all in ...top of the range with 16gig of ram....

Well some would want you to believe that........

Don't we all...

Grandfather am i Thanks for that....If only they new i was your guardian Angel

In reply to a post by time2die:

Grandfather am i Thanks for that....If only they new i was your guardian Angel

Fairy Godmother!

Only jokin'

That's old news and no news really. We've been to Xi3's website already and though they worked with Valve a while back they were just one of several and should not be considered official Steambox providers. They look cool but yeah, £1000 or there abouts is way too much for most. Plus, upgradability with a thing that size? i don't think so! No getting away from the fact a PC is still more or less required for the living room even if it's micro-itx sized or somesuch.

The Valve pad looks really good as a concept tho. I hope the get it right in production as I'm really keen to try it out. I can't see any reason (beyond comfort and ergonomics as I can't tell what size it is) it wouldn't be good. Provided it hasn't been designed around Gabe Newel's hands or some adolescent American kid then we should be ok.

It's about time someone tackled the thorny issue of replacing the deadly keyboard/mouse combo. With that feedback it's still a very intriguing device for simulating textures and stuff.

I hope the new PS4 controller is man sized instead of the silly little things they gave us with the PS3

The gaming pad is the crucial part, if it turns out to be really good then the Steambox could be a huge success. Even if you already have a gaming PC you could buy the cheapest Steambox and simply stream the games to it.

Why would you want to though ? Unless you have multiple TV's, you're going to have to kick someone off from watching MOTD...

...something along the lines of Skyrim though I don't see myself getting Elder Scrolls Online owing to its monthly subscription.

How about this?

Two reasons that come to mind are because you want to play games on a bigger screen and also to be in more comfort while you do, i.e. on the sofa. It's not for everyone but there must be some who want to do this.

Or install SteamOS on your PC and dual boot!

Agreed about the pad. Definitely essential if it's to take off away from the desktop.

Cool find. I should spend more time looking out for new stuff instead of waffling on and on in here.

I'll give it a good checking over as I don't fancy spending like £9 a month to play Skyrim Online version. I'll definitely do the free month tho and see how it goes.

I cant see the steambox selling in the numbers it needs to be deemed a success.

The question is how many guys in this thread will be buying a steambox and for what reason.

In reply to a post by time2die:

if you want to turn this into a childish fanboy contest go ahead, I will stop taking part.

Really is that a threat or a promise and have we touched on a soft spot or what

Would never have guessed you owned any console because all you have done is ripped them apart, in fact i have seen a few anti console gamers on here but you take the biscuit.

Vs someone else on here who posts like all he is doing is promoting ps4 consoles.

Yes I do own a ps3/xbox360 and some pc's. But I am not a fanboy, so I am not scared to criticise these devices where the pitfalls are. I am also not loyal to the point I will spend £400+ on a new console that has no games that interest me, so somehow that is called ripping them apart?

The question is if you not a fanboy why do you feed the need to defend something you not a fanboy off.

Also I am not a fan of a situation where I will have "too many" gaming devices, I have limited space. If the PS4 eg. was fully BC. I may well have brought one as I could still play my ps3 gaming library on it, but it isnt. My ps3 gaming library is far too vluable to me to toss it aside for a ps4, and I havent got room for a ps3 and ps4 with both consoles, cables, controllers etc. So its not just about cash. Of course this is one thing that makes pc's great is the fact if you upgrade them, you not replacing a pc you just upgrade components and your old games arent suddenly obselete. Both sony and microsoft knew this problem which is why the current gen has lasted so long, I feel they both didnt want to go next gen but developers kept moaning and groaning about graphics power and eventually got their way. I am not bashing consoles specifically to attack them, just posting my point of view.

I have also gave my reasons why I think the steambox will fail. It will sell, but I believe we wont see the amount sold in the amounts playstation's and xbox's sell. Not enough to make developers code specifically for it instead of windows. The only chance it has is exclusive's from valve really. As exclusive's sell consoles. The question then is will valve risk damaging their vibrant pc steam market by making something exclusive to steamos? I think no. But maybe they will.

I am also well aware steamboxes can be upgraded, But the typical console gamer (who doesnt also own a pc) wont be into all that, the sort of people who would be interested likely already own a gaming pc. Much of the media has picked up on this also (I posted a video from 2 media guys). So I think it will be a bit of a niche market, it will be purchased by those who think its something cool to try, and those who consider it a cheap way into the pc market will give it a shot as well. I also think its sales will largely be consilidated in america and europe, it wont have the worldwide presence in asia etc.

Thats it really, and next I will get a ton of replies saying I am attacking consoles, and Ithat its sad to play games in an office, well my office is my bedroom and millions of people game that way. I game on my consoles this way also on a 22" monitor next to my pc monitor. My setup is very compact.

Plus are you really suggesting people will browse the net on a console with a virtual keyboard over using a pc out of choice? that facility is there for those who dont have another means to browse from their console location, I have tried using IE on the 360 and it isnt pretty. Even worse than using a touch device.

Yeah Im excited about the new Playstation 4 and share my thoughts and views on here with others,what I'm buying and what I'm not interested in like Xbox One.

Having owned all the various Companys Consoles over the years Fanboy I'm not,but this generation i have sided with only One Company at present and that is Sony.

I wont tell you why because you are more than likely not interested and i have already commented regarding this matter on other threads throughout the year.

But you are down right crazy to accuse the Playstation of been way to expensive at the sum of £349 based on what year we are living in and the original cost of the P3 and what you get inside the Playstation 4.

Because i can

The question then is will valve risk damaging their vibrant pc steam market by making something exclusive to steamos? I think no. But maybe they will.

The thing is even if a game was exclusive to SteamOS it could still be played on any PC if you install the free operating system on it. I am sure PC gamers can manage that no problem. If done right then this OS should actually give better gaming performance.

They seem to be very quiet about when it will be available for download - I wonder, if like the devices, it will be available next year ?

Its not attacking the ps4 as such and i think the xboxone is worse value than the ps4.

to me any console is overpriced at launch in the last 2 gens. I brought my xbox360 3-4 years after its launch. I only got my ps3 earlier this year a second hand fat ps3. cost me £100 of ebay.

The overpricing I base on the fact a price drop is inevitable, it will happen, Early adopters are paying to use them early, but obbviously value is individual dependnet, what i see as bad value another person sees as great value, thats the free market.

My comment to you was all the posting announcements of new ps4 stuff and telling people to buy a ps4 instead of ps3. I said it since you seem to think I am very anti console and on some kind of hate mission when I am not, but I am not afraid to criticise where I feel its due.

Nothing is perfect.

The price of the ps4 in itself isnt the main problem tho, the killer is the cost of the accessories and games. Defending a controller that costs £50 to buy but probably costs sub £5 to manufacture is a bit ott.

Just one question to you.

Do you think the ps4 will be the same price in 2+ years time?

Of course the price will drop over time, all technology does. That does not mean the price at release is bad value at the time. Sony are selling the PS4 at a loss - how can something sold at a loss not be considered good value?

Fair enough if you want to wait for the console to be cheaper, theres nothing wrong with that, I am just disagreeing with you saying it is not good value.

I agree the controller is priced too high.

Here are the specs of the 300 prototype Steamboxes

The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
CPU: some boxes with Intel i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB GDDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

Full article here

They are basically just making compact living room friendly PC's using off the shelf parts so there is not as much risk as people had thought before. It's not like launching a console.

I dont see the point of the steambox. If people want to use steams big box feature they can just build a small form factor pc using a mini itx board. or even get a shuttle.

It's not hard to imagine the attraction of fixing the one with the Titan in it, to the wall mount holes on the rear of a 42" + TV.

The price tag and missing exclusives are downsides though.

In reply to a post by kamelion:

I dont see the point of the steambox. If people want to use steams big box feature they can just build a small form factor pc using a mini itx board. or even get a shuttle.

Yes they could do that. This is just another option available and not everyone wants to build their own system. If they make these Steamboxes look really cool and the gamepad is good then they could be popular. Theres a lot of BUTs at the moment.

As I have said before the most exciting thing for me about this is that Valve will be using their own OS SteamOS which is based on Linux, they have declared war on Microsoft, if they succeed this could take away their dominance of PC gaming.

When has Microsoft ever had dominance in PC gaming ?

Aside from Halo 1, the half-hearted Halo 2, Midtown Madness and Motocross game, Microsoft's attitude to games used to be "Games ? What are they ?", although nowadays its more a case of "Games ? Buy an XBox, or a Windows Mobile device instead"

What I meant was their dominance of the operating system needed to play the majority of games on PC's. If Valve can successfully bring games to SteamOS and others follow then you no longer need Microsoft Windows.

What games are going to come to SteamOS other then Valves own games but even then they wont be exclusives as they will still be launched on Windows as thats steams biggest OS on their client base.

It will be interesting to see how well the steamOS does, we will just have to wait and see as i dont believe windows will no longer be needed.

Are you forgetting DirectX?

Valve will need to have all of the games available on Steam working on SteamOS otherwise their Steambox will be useless.

Edited by astateoftrance (Mon 07-Oct-13 16:46:08)

Ah, yes - who can forget that COM based mess ?

By the sound of it though, a PC will be needed - which does make it all pointless...

Unless, of course, they go for Windows emulation (WINE) which is going to cause even more problems...

If not, then how are they going to get publishers to convert their games to Linux ?

It is all rather vague...

Yeah it needs to be all games running natively under steamOS otherwise it's a joke. No idea how they will do it but it's how it needs to be for them to have a chance

Edited by astateoftrance (Tue 08-Oct-13 09:14:19)

AMD make a bold move: Mantle

Can't claim to understand it but it seems they're offering devs who program for the XBO and PS4 (both using AMD APUs) another choice to using DirectX when creating PC games.

I haven't read that article fully but I'm wondering if this will factor in Steam's OS ambitions to move away from a reliance on Windows and DirectX as an API? We need intelligent geeky people to tell us the answer really and unscramble the confusion.

Death to the PC. Long live the PC!

It reads as though it will allow PC developers to circumvent some of their OS specific overheads and code at a lower level. If it is embraced it should mean superior visual performance. I think they have been hinting at this ever since the console reveals. On many forums, PC elitists have spent an awful lot of time decrying the next generation consoles' new shared memory architecture. AMD have mentioned the availability of the same for PC's "later in the year", so I suspect November 14th we will find out exactly where all this is heading.

Great news for consoles if DICE has already embraced Mantle with Fostbite 3. It may help the PC pull further ahead, but could also greatly aid porting games between platforms which can't hinder multi platform developers' ambitions any.

Death to the PC. I'm developing my own platform, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the blackjack...

In reply to a post by mrnelster:

It reads as though it will allow PC developers to circumvent some of their OS specific overheads and code at a lower level. If it is embraced it should mean superior visual performance. I think they have been hinting at this ever since the console reveals. On many forums, PC elitists have spent an awful lot of time decrying the next generation consoles' new shared memory architecture. AMD have mentioned the availability of the same for PC's "later in the year", so I suspect November 14th we will find out exactly where all this is heading.

Great news for consoles if DICE has already embraced Mantle with Fostbite 3. It may help the PC pull further ahead, but could also greatly aid porting games between platforms which can't hinder multi platform developers' ambitions any.

Death to the PC. I'm developing my own platform, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the blackjack...

That was my reading, exactly.

Well I understood the gist of it, sorta. So, people are moaning about shared graphics/system memory in the new consoles? I haven't followed the news.

The thing with Mantle is you'd need a compatible AMD gfx card and the first two have just been announced I think. Might make sense to go with AMD in future though the majority of PC gamers are using Nvidia cards according to Steam's latest hardware survey. (52% NVIDIA 33% AMD/ATI)

The mrnelster platform seems to have promise. Let me know when it's available.

And is there a finance bundle

In reply to a post by astateoftrance:

Of course the price will drop over time, all technology does. That does not mean the price at release is bad value at the time. Sony are selling the PS4 at a loss - how can something sold at a loss not be considered good value?

Fair enough if you want to wait for the console to be cheaper, theres nothing wrong with that, I am just disagreeing with you saying it is not good value.

I agree the controller is priced too high.

of course if I think of it another way eg. comparing to a tablet, next gen consoles then look great value, as tablets I find waaay overpriced

Honestly its down to personal opinion mine is just how it is. But I will admit if at least 2-3 of the launch games ha dme excited I probably would have ordered one. But because the launch games dont do anything for me I will wait for the price to go down, I probably will buy a ps4 at some point tho since final fantasy 15 is been made for it.

I wont be buying a steambox tho of course as my pc is fine for steam games.

what really got my attention from the spec announcement is the fact all the steamboxes will have 3 gig of video memory.

Thats quite a leap from various PC specs, eg. my PC has 1 gig of video memory and most games are designed to run with less then that. Its then possible (especially if the steamboxes do take off) that min spec for steam games skyrocket up to 3 gig of video ram.

Edited by Chrysalis (Sat 12-Oct-13 19:09:05)

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

I wont be buying a steambox tho of course as my pc is fine for steam games.

And there is nothing to stop you installing steamOS as a dual boot either just to try it out.

Having looked around at small pc parts I cant see how valve are going to implement the steambox - prices are so volatile particularly for graphics cards.

Have you ever got anything positive to say except talk about your beloved PC that has little in the way of software on it to be truly beneficial.

Gaming has evolved mate,and so have many Gamers on here,sadly your still clubbing women,dragging your knuckles on the ground and living in the Stone Age

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

what really got my attention from the spec announcement is the fact all the steamboxes will have 3 gig of video memory.

Thats quite a leap from various PC specs, eg. my PC has 1 gig of video memory and most games are designed to run with less then that. Its then possible (especially if the steamboxes do take off) that min spec for steam games skyrocket up to 3 gig of video ram.

Go buy a Playstation 4 then...Welcome to the 21 st century

I presume they are getting ready for 1040dp gaming and detailed graphics.

oh dear lets keep things adult like and rational please, you need to stop this console vs pc kiddie thing.

dual boot would be a last resort for me, I tend to play my games in windowed mode so can access my others app quickly as needed. so dual booting for me would be an inconveniance.

for me to move into dual booting steamos would take for a lot of new games (which I want to play) to be steamos only, I think thats a while off yet and heavily dependent on steambox sales.

One thing valve havent taken into account is many people although they use a pc for gaming they dont necessarily use it as a dedicated gaming machine. I believe initially games will be emulated or streamed to the steambox from a pc, the native linux games will be further away if they happen.

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

I presume they are getting ready for 1040dp gaming and detailed graphics.

1080p is easy with 1 gig video memory. It depends how texture heavy a game is on the vram load.

eg. oblivion in its default unmodded state I can play at 1050p and it uses about 260meg of video memory.
However as you may know that game has many mods including texture mods, when I loaded some heavy texture mods onto it, it then saturated my at the time 512meg 8800GT which made it fallback to using normal ram (so slowed down) and I purchased my 460gtx to handle that as this has 1 gig of vram, heavy textures triples vram usage on oblivion from about 260meg to about 800meg.

The majority of games I have installed and played can handle 1050p/1080p fine with 1 gig of video ram at high detail settings. I think the amount of vram in the ps4 has painted a bit of a misleading picture on how much vram is needed. The speed of the vram and the gpu processing unit are bigger factors then the amount of vram. Of course with the extra vram dev's may then end up piling in extra textures simply "because they can" and then things could change.