Valve working on 'Steam Box' console

[Reaper69lol]

I reckon the console itself is not a bad idea, since then we'l have like, 3 consoles on the market (for a decent gamer) not counting the wii, since well its wii. But that idea can fuck up so much so fast, and valve wil just loose tons of money on it. With the hardware they are said to be stuffing into that steambox the price has to be pretty high for them to make some profit, unless tons of people will buy it, which they wont because sony and microsoft, especially ms is the like the most popular choice I believe. I dont know who they are planning to market the console to anyway. If its an open source platform, on a closed hardware, I mean isnt that why most PC gamers choose pc?
Plus new xbox and playstation coming out, so thats not really improving valve's chances. Unless they are relying on their fanbase to buy the console, which they shouldnt, since their main market are PC gamers, who have gaming PC's.

 

[Alssadar]

Will it have $10 hat add-ons? Or can I just use normal hats?
Nonetheless--meh. If it runs on some Steam-like game saving system, that might be pretty neat for the console generations. But still, I don't really know where they could go with this--besides a release of Episode 3/HL3.

 

[Vault101]

*bangs head on keyboard*
No. No. No. No. No.
1. I think consoles are going to die out eventually. Probably soon.
2. Valve's main market are PC gamers, who have gaming PCs
3. We don't need more bloody consoles

why would consoles being dying out anytime soon?

anyway My only problem with this is its threat to physical copies

 

[MammothBlade]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Bandai_Pippin

The crux of the theoretical Steamcast is that it might be and/or try to look like an inexpensive computer specifically for gaming and Steam. As evidenced by Apple's failed venture, and the lack of enthusiasm from most here about the whole idea, that most likely just won't work.

Damn. I just realised I used a picture of an Apple Bandai Pippin, not a Dreamcast. As you can tell, I am familiar with neither.

I won't scold Valve for trying.

 

[CManator]

Will it run on a... *puts on sunglasses* STEAM ENGINE? Ohhhh, I kill me

*bangs head on keyboard*
No. No. No. No. No.
1. I think consoles are going to die out eventually. Probably soon.
2. Valve's main market are PC gamers, who have gaming PCs
3. We don't need more bloody consoles

1. Only when games in general become download only, which would work in Valve's favor. But no, consoles won't die anyway, dunno what makes you think that. A lesser man would interpret that statement as wishful PC elitist thinking. But I'm sure that's not the case.
2. Right, which is why they want to expand their consumer base.
3. Let's see, Big N only has their handheld systems to be proud of anymore, and MS and Sony have lost a lot of trust from their customers lately. I don't see any of the current big 3 lasting beyond the next gen as far as gaming is concerned. Even if that's not the case, more consoles is only bad if one plans on owning all of them. But my guess is we won't have more consoles, just different ones, most likely digital distribution consoles like the very one this topic is about.

 

[Ghaleon640]

from what I've heard about all of steam's practices, I can see this as a very good thing for independant and new game designers that would otherwise be screwed over by Microsoft or Sony if they wanted to put a game on a console. I have never been much of a PC gamer. I can see the benefits but have never found a computer more comfortable, so to see a bunch of innovative games on a console is comforting to me.

 

[CaptainOctopus]

*bangs head on keyboard*
No. No. No. No. No.
1. I think consoles are going to die out eventually. Probably soon.
2. Valve's main market are PC gamers, who have gaming PCs
3. We don't need more bloody consoles

1. Indeed.
2. Exactly.
3. Damn straight.

why would consoles being dying out anytime soon?

anyway My only problem with this is its threat to physical copies

Why consoles will be dying "soon":
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/consoles-are-the-new-coin-op

Physical copies easily break, they take up space, make games more expensive, developers get less of the profit and don't get as much control of their product, makes it a lot harder to adjust price, can never perfectly meet consumer demand, they require physical stores, have made it harder for indie developers to enter the market, they are bad for the environment ect, etc, etc. Physical copies just as consoles will aslo be a thing of the past, for better or worse, mostly for the better though, deal with it.

 

[WanderingFool]

If they really want this to work it would have to be cheap, like around $300. If this thing is like $500-600 at launch, nobody is going to buy it.

Anyway, as a console gamer I love the idea, but I lost faith in Valve years ago.

Well, I never claimed to love or really care about Valve, but Ill admit, im interested upon hearing this.

 

[Darren716]

I love this idea since I love all of the games that are offered at cheeper prices on steam but I don't have a very powerful PC so this would be perfect for me.

 

[Vault101]

*bangs head on keyboard*
No. No. No. No. No.
1. I think consoles are going to die out eventually. Probably soon.
2. Valve's main market are PC gamers, who have gaming PCs
3. We don't need more bloody consoles

1. Indeed.
2. Exactly.
3. Damn straight.

why would consoles being dying out anytime soon?

anyway My only problem with this is its threat to physical copies

Why consoles will be dying "soon":
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/consoles-are-the-new-coin-op

Physical copies easily break, they take up space, make games more expensive, developers get less of the profit and don't get as much control of their product, makes it a lot harder to adjust price, can never perfectly meet consumer demand, they require physical stores, have made it harder for indie developers to enter the market, they are bad for the environment ect, etc, etc. Physical copies just as consoles will aslo be a thing of the past, for better or worse, mostly for the better though, deal with it.

not untill internet in general gets good enough, because no fucking way am I waiting days to download that "must-have title" (and my internet isnt even bad)

also as long as I dont have ot be connected to play...

 

[Robert Ewing]

Hmmm... Sort of want. But I'm not sure yet. Maybe if it reveals some juicy specs and a low price tag, i'll go for it.

 

[vrbtny]

I know exactly how Valve are going to market this.

They are going to release Half-Life 2 : Episode 3/ Half-Life 3 as a Exclusive for it.....then f*cking millions will buy the damn thing.

 

[skywolfblue]

I know exactly how Valve are going to market this.

They are going to release Half-Life 2 : Episode 3/ Half-Life 3 as a Exclusive for it.....then f*cking millions will buy the damn thing.

That would be awesome! Purely for the internet outrage and valve fanboys defending it that would erupt.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I'm not really sure an "open-source" platform on "closed" hardware is the answer. Isn't that why most PC Gamers prefer the PC - upgradability? If Steam Box is going to run on variations of the Razer Blade or Alienware X51 then what's the real incentive for PC Gamers? Or console gamers for that matter? Certainly not hardware power. Certainly not exclusives.

Frankly, this just sounds like the Phantom Console 2.0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Entertainment

Never has the name of a console been so fitting. Outside of the 3DS.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Oh look my old article. I really should rewrite that as a 2.0 version though. I would if metacritic didn't stop updating its database in 2010. Without its database, I cant update the amount of games. Oh well, It can still serve a purpose to show how modern console gaming is getting slower compared to the last gen.

Luckily your article still stands strong on it's own. Which is precisely why I've bookmarked it and use it as a reference for such occasions. Thank you for your hard work.

 

[StriderShinryu]

This could be rather hilarious.. who would come out on top in the war between the PC Master
Race and the Valve Fanboy Army given that there is so much crossover between the two?

 

[Nouw]

I see what they'd be aiming at, but I think they've got it wrong. What I think would be a better idea is a minimalistic OS that lets PC gamers dedicate more of their resources to the games themselves. An OS with that is functions as Steam does: catalogue, library and basic browsing.

I second this. Gamers already have good gaming rigs. What would be nice is a dedicated gamer OS.