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Valve is about to win the console generation

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Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#221

Post by napolux »

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #46

Valve certainly won't win it, but they're bringing the heat where it wasn't before. SteamOS is the important part here - if it is proven to be a good console experience (which the deck has basically proven already) then licensing of the OS to other manufacturers will put a lot of pressure on integrated h/w s/w manufacturers. Unlike the handheld format, the tvbox console is fairly easy to manufacture and is tolerant o…

SteamOS isn't perfect, but it's "open" to mods like a PS5 or XBOX will never be. As an avid console gamer it's time to go back to my roots.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#222

Post by bsder »

sunaookami wrote: post #171
bsder wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on a Switch and will not move because of the "Game Key Card" bullshit where you have a card but still don't get the files you need to play them game. However, Pokemon guarantees a certain amount of Switch 2 sales--Pokemon ZA sold about 6 million units.

That's not an argument in the Steam Machine's case as you have the same situation there (even worse because you can't resell your games).

You aren't wrong.

However, the single digital service that hasn't killed my digital library at some point is Steam. Games that I bought many years ago are still fine. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all killed digital games that I bought.

That having been said: I've transferred a lot of my purchasing to GoG. Steam doesn't get the benefit of the doubt anymore.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#223

Post by acdbddh »

baq wrote: post #217
acdbddh wrote: post #216

As much as I love hacking with various things, there are reasons why I buy "closed products" for myself and for my family. I like to do hacking when I want it (with ESP32, rpi etc). I don't want to be forced to serve as a free IT support guy anytime someone presses a wrong button. When it comes to gaming consoles, I want them to serve reliably to my family. The game console must be fun, optimized for best experience…

and then you have to download a 100GB patch each time you turn the thing on anyway, by the time it ends installing my time slot is gone

Agree. By "best experience" I also mean "don't force me to wait". But my console doesn't do that. Some online games may require patches before playing for better (anticheat) or worse reasons but thats a fault of the game supplier - not the console supplier.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#224

Post by pjmlp »

napolux wrote: post #221
Normal_gaussian wrote: post #46

Valve certainly won't win it, but they're bringing the heat where it wasn't before. SteamOS is the important part here - if it is proven to be a good console experience (which the deck has basically proven already) then licensing of the OS to other manufacturers will put a lot of pressure on integrated h/w s/w manufacturers. Unlike the handheld format, the tvbox console is fairly easy to manufacture and is tolerant o…

SteamOS isn't perfect, but it's "open" to mods like a PS5 or XBOX will never be. As an avid console gamer it's time to go back to my roots.

Some PS were open (still have my PS2Linux) and XBoxes have dev mode, even if it is stuck on UWP, and there was XNA as well.

Turns out most open consoles are full of either crapware or emulators, which is the reason Sony and Microsoft eventually gave up on some openess.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#225

Post by lewispollard »

29athrowaway wrote: post #14

Steam Controller 1 wasn't good IMO and is now accumulating dust.

It's the only controller I use (bar the Steam Deck's built in controller) despite owning plenty of other conventional controllers. Once you get used to it and make use of Steam Input's per-game customisation and mapping it works really well, especially if you treat it as a mouse-like input rather than conventional gamepad.

The only place it suffers for me is games that aren't coded to support simultaneous gamepad and mouse input, which you can work around by mapping the joystick as a keyboard input. Otherwise it's great.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#227

Post by theshrike79 »

pjmlp wrote: post #224
napolux wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SteamOS isn't perfect, but it's "open" to mods like a PS5 or XBOX will never be. As an avid console gamer it's time to go back to my roots.

Some PS were open (still have my PS2Linux) and XBoxes have dev mode, even if it is stuck on UWP, and there was XNA as well. Turns out most open consoles are full of either crapware or emulators, which is the reason Sony and Microsoft eventually gave up on some openess.

Random trivia: The PS2 Linux was purely for tax evasion.

EU had a higher tax rate for "gaming computers" than "generic computers" so Sony slapped Linux on the console to get better profits.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#228

Post by theshrike79 »

Yokolos wrote: post #205
eptcyka wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Licensing? What do you mean, licensing? Other manufacturers are free to take it. It's all open source.

Yes, you need to license SteamOS to preinstall it on devices you sell: https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/oem Why would you not need to license it? Steam isn't open source and Steam, the trademark, is owned by Valve. If we were talking about a standard distro like Fedora, no, I guess they wouldn't have to license it, but we aren't.

It's also about protecting their brand.

If someone starts selling completely shitty "SteamOS PCs" without licensing, it'll hurt Valve more than the no-name Chinese PC manufacturer.

Licensing -> Valve can dictate minimum specs and QA requirements -> Good for everyone.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#229

Post by theshrike79 »

crote wrote: post #209
SchemaLoad wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem I see is that if this is any cheaper than it's hardware, people will buy 100s of them and stack them in server racks for CI runners or whatever. Generating only losses for Valve and making the hardware unavailable to gamers. It needs to either be at market rate or locked down to only be useful for gaming.

I don't think they could possibly make it cheap enough for that - especially once you consider all the money being wasted on RGB/Bluetooth/a GPU you won't use. Messing around with weird consumer hardware in a datacenter context isn't exactly attractive. If all you need is some x86 cores, an off-the-shelf blade server approach gets you far more compute in the same space with far less hassle. Even if the purchase cost…

The RGB costs maybe 2€ to add, the bluetooth chip is maybe 50c.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#230

Post by theshrike79 »

silveraxe93 wrote: post #218
tapoxi wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This system won't run FIFA, GTA Online, Battlefield, Valorant or CoD, it's a nonstarter for many. Sure you don't need to subscribe to PS+, but that's somewhat easier to swallow since PS+ gives you games with the subscription. I'm still interested in this for playing older games but I have a Steam Deck and it still isn't remotely as seamless as my Switch or PS5.

Why not? You can just install windows on it.

"Just", YMMV.

It has a custom motherboard for example, which may or may not be supported by Microsoft.

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