Valve engineer confirms Linux-based Steambox for 2013, could appear at GDC or E3

[jmood88]

Quote: Originally Posted by mestevo

Still hard to see this as more than just a PC in a custom case. The money saved on a Windows license isn't going to put a CPU/GPU combo in this to make it last as long as the Wii did even. Wish it was at CES next week so I could take a look.

Exactly. I'm not seeing how this will avoid any problems inherent to consoles or how it's different than what Alienware has already done.

[Cod]

I really hope that's not the Steambox and just a partnership Valve has to "test the market". If that's the Steambox, then people are better off building their own living room PC for those prices.

EDIT: I don't think that is an "official" Steambox. Take a look at this article - http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...steam-box.aspx. Notice that Gabe says "Valve is also open to other companies creating and releasing their own versions of the Steam Box." For Valve's sake, I hope this is Xi3's version and not any sort of official or endorsed version.

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by mestevo

They've got a long way to go to get to the class of that Alienware on the previous page... http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/1...r#.UOupHG-un7I Hands on: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/h...lar-pc-at-ces/

Totally disagree with you here, If Valve made a similar spec'd "steambox" to a Xbox or PS then it would be very easy to get 100% 3rd party support as all games are made on a PC and there are no Royalties paid. It would be a easy sell for 3rd party developers to make a Steam Box visual setting, a game being made for consoles could be made for the steambox at virtually no extra cost.

I just look at the potential for this thing and I get excited. If anyone can pull it off, it is Valve.

[Cod]

To pile on what Cusefan said, developers can completely by-pass publishers and most marketing; thus, saving tons of money. Look at games like Bastion, FTL, etc. that are raking in the cash w/o publisher support. Valve makes this happen and has made it even easier for indies through Greenlight.

[Burns11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cusefan

Totally disagree with you here, If Valve made a similar spec'd "steambox" to a Xbox or PS then it would be very easy to get 100% 3rd party support as all games are made on a PC and there are no Royalties paid. It would be a easy sell for 3rd party developers to make a Steam Box visual setting, a game being made for consoles could be made for the steambox at virtually no extra cost. I just look at the potential for this thing and I get excited. If anyone can pull it off, it is Valve.

It doesn't work like that, system to system a samey speced PC couldn't play the same as a console, there's just way too much overhead and system variability.

[Burns11]

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/v...snow-steambox/

Quote:

Valve engineer explains Steambox comments: 'No current plans to announce anything in 2013' When Valve hardware engineer Ben Krasnow gave a speech at a German technology conference back in December, he spoke to the much ballyhooed "Steambox" concept we've been hearing so much about in recent months (among other, vastly different subjects). Following that speech, a report on Golem.de (translated at the Neogaf gaming forums) posited that Krasnow indicated a reveal of said Steambox at this March's Game Developer's Conference, or perhaps at this June's E3 gaming trade show -- but Krasnow tells us he didn't say that exactly. "With regards to the Steambox news -- there has been a lot of things stated in the media which I didn't say. For example, it's true that we are working on getting Steam into the living room, and are planning for a hardware box, but we have no current plans to announce anything in 2013," Krasnow said in an email. "The box might be linux-based, but it might not," he continued. "It's true that we are beta-testing Left for Dead 2 on Linux, and have also been public about Steam Big Picture Mode. We are also working on virtual and augmented reality hardware, and also have other hardware projects that have not been disclosed yet, but probably will be in 2013." Valve also chimed in with a boilerplate statement, which explained the company's presence at this week's big consumer electronics show. "Yes, Valve will be at the show to meet with hardware and content developers in our booth space. Many PCs optimized for Steam and Big Picture will be shipping later this year. We are bringing some of these as well as some custom HW prototypes to our CES meetings." We saw one such example of a PC optimized for use with Steam's Big Picture Mode last night in Xi3's Piston modular PC -- the first of many of these setups we expect to see in 2013. Valve continued, "These custom prototypes are low-cost, high performance designs for the living room that also incorporate Steam and Big Picture. We will be sharing more information to the press and public in the coming months."

[Cod]

Good find Burns!

[jmood88]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cod

To pile on what Cusefan said, developers can completely by-pass publishers and most marketing; thus, saving tons of money. Look at games like Bastion, FTL, etc. that are raking in the cash w/o publisher support. Valve makes this happen and has made it even easier for indies through Greenlight.

Greenlight has had the same problems as every other indie game marketplace. FTL was a kickstarter project and Bastion built up a following by being on XBLA.