Valve to Make Three Big Announcements Starting on Monday

Valve, the company behind the popular PC gaming platform Steam, will make three major announcements with the first coming on Monday.

Read the full content of this Article: http://www.notebookreview.com/news/valve-to-make-three-big-announcements-starting-on-monday/

 

So valve will make THREE big announcements? Monday would be the 23rd....the 2....3.....Half life is 2 words.....and Monday being the 23rd is more than HALF of the LIFE of september. So this can only mean.....

That they MUST be announcing
The Steam Box
More Linux Support
Gabe revealing he is the lost half brother of George RR Martin.

YOU HEARD IT HEAR FIRST FOLKS!

 

I'm looking forward to Gabe explaining how Linux is the future of video gaming even though almost no AAA game makers are currently making games for the platform and almost no gamers currently own Linux machines.

 

Rumor is that the Steam Box would be Linux based. And the XBone is a new console just like the PS4, so this would be like a new console. Which means it is not about the existing games, but the ones that will be made for these consoles.

 

Microsoft and Sony have relationships with existing AAA game developers. Each of them is launching with a couple dozen AAA games with more continually on the way. I'm not aware of a single AAA game developer who is currently working on Linux. Trying to launch a new game console on a platform no AAA game developers currently cater to, competing against four dominant gaming platforms (Xbox, PS, Nintendo, and PC)? I just don't see it as having any more of a chance at success than the OUYA has had since it released several months ago.

 

I am not saying I disagree. But maybe on Monday there will be an announcement of the box and several AAA developers working on it. They would be under a NDA, so you wouldn't hear about it before hand.

But as of right now there are more Linux games availible than XBone or PS4. And that doesn't count the ones on this list http://www.gamingonlinux.com/crowdfunding/index.php5?title=List_of_crowdfunding_games

And rumor is that the Crytek engine will be ported to Linux. Tropico 5 and Metro Last Light are comming to Linux, and Football Manager 2014. I am sure there are more.

 

I specifically said "AAA games" because I know there's a bunch of crowdfunded indie games for Linux. But Steam is talking about taking on the PS4, the XBone, and Windows gaming head-on...and you don't do that with crowdfunded indie games. OUYA tried to do that and it's going absolutely nowhere.

 

I did list several AAA titles. I think this discussion is getting off track...

 

I would imagine that any AAA title that is on steam would get a push to develop a linux version for the steambox

 

Imagine if they announced a Linux-based Steam box, and gave it a 1-month exclusive for Half-Life 3.

 

All kidding aside, that would be an excellent business decision. PC faithful would cry havoc and beg to slip loose the dogs of war, but as long as the steambox was reasonably price (say $150 for mid-level version), has media features ( browser, netflix, youtube), expandable storage, and is compatible with all linux-ready game in your steam account.

Heck, I'd buy one just to help get a new contender out there in console world.

 

There's no way they can pull off $150 for a mid-level version and deliver acceptable quality, imo. Not without some substantial subsidizing, and I don't think that's in Valve's DNA.

 

I might stand corrected:

Valve's Big Announcement #1: SteamOS Coming to Your TV

SteamOS will support game streaming. Games run on your local machine wherever, and could be played by a small box under your television. Heck, ARM could even handle that. Tegra 4 specializes in it, even.

 

I'm semi impressed.

 

Any one have more info on this quote? " Ever since founder Gabe Newell decried Microsoft's Windows Store policies -claiming that it was against users' best interests, but likely driven by the fact that it cut Valve's Steam platform out of the running..."

Looks like the base Steam box would be $500. Valve Steam Box release date, news and features | News | TechRadar

 

I'm curious to see what the game streaming with SteamOS and Vita TV does in terms of lag/latency/whatever. Not a big deal playing a single-player JRPG, but if you're trying to stream TitanFall multiplayer through a SteamBox onto your TV, are you going to have a game-ruining tenth of a second of lag?

 

Here is the news straight from the horses mouth... SteamOS

And a quote regarding AAA games... " Hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS. Watch for announcements in the coming weeks about all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014. Access the full Steam catalog of nearly 3000 games and desktop software titles via in-home streaming."

 

Oh, whoops. Yeah, I totally forgot to add the link in the main story, hey? I'll do that now.

Not sure what you mean - Newell was very vocal against the Windows 8 store: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=gabe+newell+"windows+store"&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

That TechRadar piece might be right, by the way, but it's also a complete guess - Xi3 came out with their "We're the first Steam Box!" news at CES back in January, and Valve really kind of backed away from them after they did it. Anyway, it's all based on news from earlier in the year, dredged up because of the new announcements.

 

I took ajnindlo's comment as just calling Newell out for being disingenuous. He has complained again and again that Windows 8 is bad for the consumer and for the PC industry, but his real self-interest was that he didn't want the Windows 8 store as additional competition for his own company's business. The two are completely separate issues, but he framed business-self-interest concerns as trying to protect consumers.

Engadget called him out on this issue (in one of the first articles that your google search linked to):

Valve’s Newell: Windows 8 “catastrophe” driving Valve to embrace Linux | Ars Technica

 

Oh okay. I took him as calling me out for calling Newell out.

 

Lol. I think I get too much credit this time. It implies the Windows store didn't allow Steam. I was unaware that the Windows store blocked Steam. It doesn't seem like a big deal. I knew he hated Windows 8. I know he is doing this so MS can't block him in the future, thereby destroying his business or most of it.

 

Count me skeptical of the utility of either of these. A Linux gaming and entertainment OS, and presumably a pre-built PC in console form for using this OS. Unless Linux ports of major game releases become the norm rather than the distant exception, it's hard to imagine either of these...

*puts on sunglasses and stares off-camera*

...picking up steam.

 

Heh. +1

In all seriousness, isn't this just Steam's version of "Facebook Home" for Android or the Kindle Fire fork of Android? An open-source OS with functionality limited (or at least hidden) to make it a conduit for content from one particular content-provider?

 

Not necessarily. Valve says, "Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want." That's a huge difference in the attitude that a company like Amazon takes with respect to the Kindle.

I think it'll mainly be an Ubuntu box with a special version of Steam for Linux installed. I think Valve has this grand vision of companies like Alienware/Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer, etc., all making SteamOS-powered computers.

I don't think it'll be quite as big as all that (Google couldn't make GoogleTV work yet, for example, despite receptive manufacturing help), but it could still have an impact.

 

Valve's caveat definitely makes it more open than Amazon (not hard to do), but doesn't address the second half of the "functionality limited (or at least hidden)" criticism. Will you be able to install software from sources besides Steam (whether it be games from other gaming sources, or OpenOffice and Firefox) without "altering the software," which I suspect is beyond the technical abilities of most users?

The "Facebook Home" launcher didn't bar you from using other social networks and non-facebook functionality on your phone, but it made it a whole lot harder to do non-Facebook things while forcing FB down your throat during every minute of using it. I personally don't see the appeal of Linux that's been skinned (or whatever the Linux term is) to do something similar with a game store. Unless I'm drastically wrong with my understanding of what SteamOS is, I don't see it being a major success.

 

I don't understand where you're getting this idea of hidden software and functionality from since no one has made any reference to it. The streaming alone, if it works properly, is enough to make this popular with a notable fraction of gamers.

I think the idea is to create a smart TV box, that can access your media as well as your games, without having a giant PC in the house. It's like an Xbox, but with more control.

To be fair, I don't ever see this thing selling in the tens of millions, but I do think it could be popular among Steam users.

 

I'm getting it because nobody has mentioned being able to actually do anything with SteamOS besides play Steam games. if this was, out of the box, fully-functional Linux comparable to Ubuntu, just with Steam built in, you think "all the functionality of Linux" would feature into the unveiling pitch, at least a bit. I'm inferring by the omission. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't hear any commentary about being able to use SteamOS (in its out-of-the-box form) to do anything besides just play Steam games.

Here's Valve's unveiling page for SteamOS. No mention of doing anything with SteamOS besides playing Steam games. No mention of being able to install Linux software from other sources, or anything like that. Not even mentioned as icing-on-the-cake functionality. I just think that's a notable omission if it were actually to have that functionality in its out-of-the-box form. Because if it had that functionality out-of-the-box, don't you think Valve would have mentioned it as a competitive advantage of the SteamBox over a PS4 or Xbox One?

SteamOS

I could see that...as a set-top box alternative. But that's incompatible with the grand vision that Gabe Newell apparently has of SteamOS replacing Windows 8 on Alienwares, Asus "Republic of Gamers" machines, etc. I see why someone might want this OS on a $150 set-top box, but why would anyone want this OS on a $2,000 Alienware?

"Linux and open source are the future of gaming"--Gabe Newell, a week ago. That's a BIG claim, and I really don't see SteamOS delivering that grand vision.

 

But you still need a powerful PC in the house to play those games, don't you?

 

You just need the SteamBox running SteamOS. "Hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS. Watch for announcements in the coming weeks about all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014."

So this is kind of like a console where new games will be announced for it. Except this has pre-existing games that work.

 

With regards to users doing things: "Users can alter or replace any part of the software" - that's probably intended by Valve to mean that you can do whatever you want; that you aren't locked down like in alternatives from Microsoft and Sony.

Still, I think we'll probably see more details about that when we get news of a hardware partnership / launch (which I think is also probably coming this week, along with some sort of controller). Hopefully Valve pushes controller compatibility as a requirement for a game being published on Steam from here on out.

As for requiring another box - it depends on how you use the SteamOS. You can use it as the only OS on a device, and run games that way. You can also run it on something small and quiet with a linux-powered or Mac- or Windows-powered desktop in another room. It's pretty flexible.

If it doesn't suck - which is still a pretty big if - I wouldn't mind seeing an Alienware x51 come with this pre-installed. They slide nicely into an entertainment center.

 

Just as a tangent, Alienware already sells an X51 with Ubuntu factory-installed for $599, $100 less than their base Windows configuration (which has the same hardware).

 

Valve have finally learnt how to count to three. Just took them best part of a decade to do so! Now, Gaben, I just have one thing to say to you - Half Life 3. That is all.

 

If I were them, announcement 2 would be the SteamBox. Announcement 3 would be the upcoming AAA games, which includes Half Life 3 exclusive on the SteamBox or SteamOS. Or OrangeBox for the SteamBox, with Portal 3, etc, and Half Life 3.

It would explain why HalfLife 3 has been so delayed. Took time to get it working in Linux, and time for SteamOS/SteamBox to be ready.

Then after several months and lots on complaining, then announce Half Life 3 for PC.

Edit... Steam in BestBuy...

View attachment 102404

 

Announcement 1: SteamOS

Announcement 2: SteamMachines

Announcement 3? Well, the official press release for announcement 2 concludes with:

So I'm pretty sure Announcement 3 will be a SteamOS-specific controller.

Which doesn't leave any announcement time for the Half-Life 3 announcement that a lot of people are hoping/thinking is coming. I predict a rage tsunami across the interwebz come Friday.

 

Hmm my PC is already hooked to my TV lol and not that I use it but they already have the "big picture" mode made to work on TV's with a controller.

Wonder if there is anything for a person like me in all of this. The most important thing I heard so far was some sort of sharing where my GF and friends can play games in my library on a separate machine.

 

I didn't read or watch the announcement, but the prospect of Steam allowing concurrent activity from the same account on two machines seems highly unlikely.

 

Yes, not concurrent. But remember, you can always create multiple accounts...

Here is more info on Family sharing Steam Family Sharing

And for users in this forum, one thing SteamOS offers is better performance. So if a game is too slow in Windows, it might be playable in Linux.