Poll: What do you think the Steam Box could bring to gaming?

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

There have been a lot of rumours floating around about the new Valve-developed games console - dubbed the Steam Box. If you haven't read about it yet - check it out here [link]http://eclectic-review.blogspot.com/2012/04/rumour-steam-box-150412-daily-dose.html[/link]

My question is - what do you think the Steam Box/Steam Goggles could bring to gaming?

Will it be a radical/revolutionary step in gaming - with games playable out in the real world with the glasses and big titles streamed to your console with the Steam Box?

Or will it just be yet another console that adds nothing to the market?

Generally, I've always like what Valve have brought to gaming so I'm pretty excited about what we will be seeing from them in a few years time. Even ashamedly excited about the prospect of an Apple/Valve partnership as that was hinted at due to a meeting held between the two this week.

What does everyone else think?

 

[Tayh]

I'm not a steam/valve fan, nor am I playing games on consoles.
So to me, it'd just be another DRM-heavy game console that I would never, ever, consider buying or supporting.

 

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

Oh - and as a second question - will anyone want to play games through goggles?

Would that be a medium of gaming that people want to use, or would it be annoying/dangerous?

 

[endtherapture]

It would bring cheap games to everyone. Old games for consoles are like £20. Games from last year on Steam are like...£7.

 

[Squidbulb]

I don't trust that website at all, and even if it is real, it's too early to say. I'd be willing to bet that Half-life episode/3 would be a launch game though.

 

[ubersyanyde]

I'm sure that they aren't going to make a console. What would the the point of a download only machine when you can easily buy a PC to do the same thing but better?

 

[Squidbulb]

On the bright side, it'd be one console from a company I can trust. At least better than Microsoft.

 

[SarcasmoPope]

Didn't they already say that hardware-related stuff they are doing is for testing only?

 

[Lectori Salutem]

Anybody else thinks of a steampunk gaming console everytime 'Steam Box' is mentioned?

 

[DustyDrB]

Anybody else thinks of a steampunk gaming console everytime 'Steam Box' is mentioned?

I had a few thoughts:
-"Steam Box", eh? I guess steampunk is all right.
-But wait. It's gonna make my room really hot and muggy.
-But then again...I can put it near my closet and it will loosen any wrinkles in my clothes. Best console ever!

 

[MercurySteam]

People are already pretty heavily invested into their console of choice (PS3, 360 or PC) so Valve would have to pull something truly revolutionary to win folks over. With Sony and Microsoft already dominating the console market, Valve will have a tough job prying people away from their console/s of choice. As for PC gamers, well, they've already got them pretty much covered.

 

[omicron1]

1. Portable gaming.
2. A static PC spec for companies to optimize for - with the acknowledgement that other PCs may be able to run it, but the Steam box WILL.
3. Potentially some fun things with interface mapping, EG letting you play complicated games on gamepads using whatever control configuration works.

I do not think that it will be a console in the way that MS, Sony, and Nintendo think of consoles. That is, it will not be a closed down, proprietary box designed to run SteamBox games and only SteamBox games. It will almost certainly be a modified, streamlined PC - a device that marries the advantages of both gaming styles with the disadvantages of neither.

Hey, Valve's smart enough to do that.

 

[Yopaz]

Honestly nothing more than another console. I love Steam and the service it provides, but the beauty of Steam has always been that it's something PC gamers have to take advatage of what a PC can offer. If Valve wants to get more deeply involved in gaming they should focus on their biggest fanbase, the PC gamers.

 

[viranimus]

What do you think the Steam Box could bring to gaming?

Nothing. Valve has already dismissed the notion of this repeatedly and all it has ever been was wishful thinking. Cant bring anything to the table if your not actually making anything.

Now, looking beyond that and postulating, Again the answer is nothing. There is already console oversaturation. The most the industry needs is 2 competing consoles. Yet we have Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, the PC and even apple looking to horn in on it. Having another dedicated console would be pure redundancy.

There is only one niche left to fill as it relates to console gaming and that is an open source console, of which its abundantly clear that Valve would NOT be filling that niche.

 

[Hazy992]

Biased poll is biased.

I used to think the Steam Box was a good idea but now I'm not sure. If you want a gaming PC then buy a gaming PC. If you want a console get a console. It seems a 'Steam Box' would slot somewhere in the middle and not really appeal to anyone.

 

[Aerosteam]

Didn't valve dismiss the rumors about a console a while ago?

They also denied rumors of a new Counter-Strike...

But on the other hand, Valve aren't likely going to release a console, they have Steam, which is just fine.

 

[Darknacht]

Its just going to be a cheap PC that you can hook up to your TV, like all PCs, who cares.

 

[Woodsey]

Nothing, because they're not doing it.

Every rumour about it has made it evident that no one can think of a way in which it would actually fit into the market; Valve aren't stupid. They're doing R and D on 'wearable computing' because the guy in charge of the project feels it's something that's inevitable, and it would be beneficial to them to get a heard-start.

That's similarly evidenced by Steam.

What they're not going to be doing is launching a console when it doesn't fit and wouldn't do anything significant or interesting for them.