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

[CaptainZombie]

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

German site Golem.de attended a conference on the 29th of December where Ben Krasnow, Valve electronics engineer, talked ( among other stuff) about the company's plans for a Linux-based console. Here are the main takeaways from the article:

- Valve's console will launch in 2013
- It will use Linux, not Windows
- Valve's hardware labs will reveal other stuff in 2013 (possibly controllers? VR?)
- Krasnow has been working on Valve hardware with Jeri Ellsworth since 2011
- Possible reveal at GDC, Phoronix thinks that E3 is more likely

[Blzer]

My friend mentioned this, and I called BS (or just a sour rumor) because OS hadn't ever mentioned it.

Would be interesting if true, but not enough of their products garner my interest, despite their excellent customer satisfaction ratings. I just hope that doesn't take away Portal from ever coming out on PlayStation again.

[DickDalewood]

As I said in my text with George and Brett:

Valve is not a name that people outside of gaming forums know. People who have never gamed a day in their life know what a Wii, ps3 and Xbox are. I could see it developing a hardcore, pc crowd following, but I don't believe for a second it will make a dent in and already saturated and uninformed market, regardless of funds.

I don't want to see the thing fail, but I certainly don't think the big three have anything to worry about.

[CaptainZombie]

It might not be a name that is well known in the eye of the general public, but like the original Xbox it can build a decent size fan base. I still think that it can and will put a dent into Sony's, MSFT's, and Nintendo's share of console sales if this is priced right. Can the market sustain 4 consoles? I highly doubt it and someone will be left in the cold.

Valve already has some first party titles that they can keep exclusive to the Steambox and available to PC. Now they will need more than this as exclusive to survive, but some of these titles alone would make people jump on this Steambox.

Half-Life
Left 4 Dead
Counterstrike
Portal 3
DOTA

Maybe and Valve is looking of this as an extension of their PC business so people can access games much easier than having to mess with various configurations of building a PC. They might not even look at it as competing with the big 3 in the console space.

We will see in the coming months what this turns out to be.

[23]

Then I'd like to see what it is. Onlive failed miserably already, so what do they have here?

[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.

[Burns11]

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.

Definitely agreed, I don't think this half console nonsense is a good idea. At best I think this will be a mediocre gaming pc, worst case it stifles pc gaming because Valve throws marketing dollars and industry weight behind a moderately speced machine.

[Cod]

The Steambox will have advantages over the "big name" consoles even if only half the rumors are true. Here are some the advantages:

- Incorporation of Steam (lower prices, more / better indies, etc.)
- Steam sales!
- Being able to buy game keys for cheap from places like GMG, Amazon, etc. and instantly use on the console
- Steam cloud back-up for free
- Ability to buy game once and play on "regular" PC and Steambox
- Free-to-play games all over the place (never have to buy a game)
- Can play games from multiple generations w/o any issues (theoretically); think backwards compatibility
- Ability to update parts instead of having to buy a new system every 5 years (this one is 50/50 based on speculation)
- Linux allows for much more optimization of memory, etc.
- OpenGL is much more efficient than DirectX; however, this will mean developers have to pick one or port, unless Valve develops a WINE-like system
- Don't have to pay for multiplayer
- Modding
- All the casual games you could want (as much as it pains me)
- 60 fps (new consoles likely to be 30 fps again - See Here)

Another potential advantage is that the big named consoles are already a generation behind when it comes to GPUs. The new Xbox is using AMD HD7000 series GPUs, so unless they are 7850 equivalents or better, the Xbox will be behind the graphics power curve.

With that said, the company still has an uphill climb. The biggest issue is still going to be the pricing model. If the parts are easily upgraded (plug-n-play), then there is potential for multiple versions. So again, pricing becomes a tough issue. The biggest disadvantage, especially for this community, is the lack of sports games. Racing and basketball is covered, but everything else is missing. Also, there may be an issue with EA published games if the Steambox utilizes the Steam interface (ie Big Picture Mode). With EA only releasing new stuff on Origin, if something doesn't change with EA's policy, this will prove a huge issue for the Steambox.

In the end, I don't think its a smart move for Valve unless they can greatly cut costs somewhere and fuse some great partnerships w/ Intel, Nvidia, AMD, etc.. I think its more beneficial for PC gamers to just build a custom rig in a small case that fits in a TV stand (think Alienware x51). Then again, if they bundle it with all the exclusives (TF2, L4D2, etc.), the new system could gain some traction.