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Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

arstechnica.com

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Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#11

Post by croon »

me_me_me wrote: post #8
fwsgonzo wrote: post #2

That's very interesting to hear. Not least because Steam hosts your multiplayer sessions for any game now, so it could potentially be very seamless. There is so much potential here! I hope they work hard on their voice chat feature too, and get everything right from the start. And finally, Linux, using Vulcan I assume!

This is very complicated and interconnected market segment. You cant just play games on this device out of the box (some games yes) you need some game devs to adopt it and have releases on this yet another platform. Valve would have to have a dedicated support team and long term strategy for it to become a switch rival. And with Valve track record it will be an abandonware from the get go.

What support is needed outside of controller support and whatever OS it runs (I'm assuming linux)?

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#12

Post by viraptor »

Ziomislaw wrote: post #7

Making a PC like console might backfire. PC games are full of botters and cheaters (not saying you can't cheat on console, but I see 1-2 cheaters in a year on console compared to 50% of PC games population). It's the main reason I play games on console only.

Not everyone is into multiplayer games. There's a lot of single player market available.

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#13

Post by viraptor »

croon wrote: post #11
me_me_me wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very complicated and interconnected market segment. You cant just play games on this device out of the box (some games yes) you need some game devs to adopt it and have releases on this yet another platform. Valve would have to have a dedicated support team and long term strategy for it to become a switch rival. And with Valve track record it will be an abandonware from the get go.

What support is needed outside of controller support and whatever OS it runs (I'm assuming linux)?

And Steam have been collecting that data for a while now - each game is tagged with no/partial/full controller support. They know what will work OOTB.

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#14

Post by libertine »

jsnell wrote: post #6
libertine wrote: post #3

I wonder who will be the target for these devices, because a great part of portable consoles strategy was: to be a gateway for kids to buy into the "big-boy" consoles down the line. Basically win their hearts and trust early, so they can become loyal throughout their life. So these devices had to check some boxes, one of the main factors being the price. These devices had to be cheaper then regular consoles (among ot…

The way I'd see this working is if it's not for playing games locally at all. Just boot straight into Big Picture, and allow for streaming games either from your local network via Steam Link or from a Steam cloud streaming service that gets announced together with this. I think you could hit a really attractive price point for a a device like that, and it seems like a compelling device for Steam's existing user base.…

I think I agree with you pretty much on everything.

>But nobody is making a dedicated portable streaming device as far as I know, and it seems like something that'd fit really well with a streaming service.

NVIDIA kind of did it with the NVIDIA Shield some years ago, and I think they're still supporting it.

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#15

Post by libertine »

txdv wrote: post #4
libertine wrote: post #3

I wonder who will be the target for these devices, because a great part of portable consoles strategy was: to be a gateway for kids to buy into the "big-boy" consoles down the line. Basically win their hearts and trust early, so they can become loyal throughout their life. So these devices had to check some boxes, one of the main factors being the price. These devices had to be cheaper then regular consoles (among ot…

Slap steam on it and take the Steam cut?

That's the tricky part, if these devices aren't locked to a proprietary OS/marketplace, users can shop around and you're basically helping your competitors while taking all the losses.

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#16

Post by Eric_WVGG »

libertine wrote: post #3

I wonder who will be the target for these devices, because a great part of portable consoles strategy was: to be a gateway for kids to buy into the "big-boy" consoles down the line. Basically win their hearts and trust early, so they can become loyal throughout their life. So these devices had to check some boxes, one of the main factors being the price. These devices had to be cheaper then regular consoles (among ot…

Mine is probably a niche use case, but I will absolutely jump on one of these simply due to my lack of storage space.

I live in a 450 square foot loft. I don’t have space for a tv here, so consoles were out of the question until the Switch came along. There is no room in my life — literally — for a gaming PC, but if they can cram that into another Switch? Sign me up.

It’ll be a big draw for university students in dorms as well.

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#17

Post by morsch »

viraptor wrote: post #12
Ziomislaw wrote: post #7

Making a PC like console might backfire. PC games are full of botters and cheaters (not saying you can't cheat on console, but I see 1-2 cheaters in a year on console compared to 50% of PC games population). It's the main reason I play games on console only.

Not everyone is into multiplayer games. There's a lot of single player market available.

And non competitive multiplayer. And multiplayer within a group of friends.

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#18

Post by texaswhizzle »

jsnell wrote: post #6
libertine wrote: post #3

I wonder who will be the target for these devices, because a great part of portable consoles strategy was: to be a gateway for kids to buy into the "big-boy" consoles down the line. Basically win their hearts and trust early, so they can become loyal throughout their life. So these devices had to check some boxes, one of the main factors being the price. These devices had to be cheaper then regular consoles (among ot…

The way I'd see this working is if it's not for playing games locally at all. Just boot straight into Big Picture, and allow for streaming games either from your local network via Steam Link or from a Steam cloud streaming service that gets announced together with this. I think you could hit a really attractive price point for a a device like that, and it seems like a compelling device for Steam's existing user base.…

Why not just buy a solid controller for your phone or tablet?

How could this hypothetical device possibly be better than an iPhone 12 Pro Max, Note, Galaxy S, etc?

Re: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC

#20

Post by aranelsurion »

libertine wrote: post #3

I wonder who will be the target for these devices, because a great part of portable consoles strategy was: to be a gateway for kids to buy into the "big-boy" consoles down the line. Basically win their hearts and trust early, so they can become loyal throughout their life. So these devices had to check some boxes, one of the main factors being the price. These devices had to be cheaper then regular consoles (among ot…

> yet they are failing in what I believe is crucial for these devices: price.

IMO Before coming to price, none of the Switch-likes are good products for the broader market. They lack the UX, polish, brand, games, and pretty much everything that makes Nintendo consoles such a big success.

I wouldn't compare the experience of playing Super Mario Odyssey on Switch and some old game on a janky emulator or some AA game on 20fps and broken UI.

Even if they had the same price tag, I wouldn't expect something like Aya Neo to eat into Nintendo's market share. Only a fully developed platform can do that.

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