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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

#261

Post by James_K »

christkv wrote: post #254

Unless it's reasonably priced who is the market for this box? If it's at 499 - 599 then it's probably selling well but at 799-899 I'm not sure who would buy it. If it's your first computer you still need more gear like screen, keyboard and mouse etc.

People who want to play video games would buy it. While us enlightened Computer Intellectuals may appreciate that there is no difference between a console and a PC, the majority of naïve computer peasants will much prefer something with the word “console” tagged on that boots straight to a game library. As for the keyboard and mouse thing, there's this other announcement they've made called the “Steam Controller” which addresses that issue.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#262

Post by swiftcoder »

walletdrainer wrote: post #176
ethmarks wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the idea is that if you get enough users on Linux, it seems foolish from the game studio's perspective not to add Linux support to their anticheat.

Not necessarily, the anticheat will end up much easier to defeat on Linux.

This depends heavily on how customised the linux is. Back in the day Amazon had to fork Android to add kernel-level support for DRM, otherwise the studios weren't going to permit streaming video on Fire tablets. One could imagine Valve adding an optional kernel DRM module to solve the same problem.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#263

Post by swiftcoder »

jonkoops wrote: post #214
ninetyninenine wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam needs IP. Something as iconic as Kratos or Mario. That's how you go toe to toe with consoles.

It doesn't need IP, it is already THE marketplace for PC gaming. People will get a box like this to play the library they already own, or get great deals on new games.

> it is already THE marketplace for PC gaming

Yeah, but console gamers don't necessarily know or care about that. If you want to cut into the console market, you kind of have to meet console gamers halfway

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#264

Post by jimmydoe »

kouteiheika wrote: post #84
TheRoque wrote: post #51

I hardly understand the headline. Steam machine is just a computer, and since it can be used for other stuff than playing games, then it can't have the cheap pricing of a console. Most consoles are sold at a loss, and the benefits are made when selling console-exclusive games. If you sell something at a loss, but users aren't forced to buy your games, then you're not gonna make any money. Hence, the Steam Machine (AK…

> I hardly understand the headline. Steam machine is just a computer, and since it can be used for other stuff than playing games, then it can't have the cheap pricing of a console. I don't understand this train of thought. It absolutely can have the cheap pricing of a console, as long as Steam is the default store, and the majority of users will use the console as-is and buy games on Steam. Let me give a quick analo…

It’s like android. You sell pixel at relatively high price but create a wave of other with cheaper alternatives, so you end up make money from being default store.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#265

Post by Orygin »

embedding-shape wrote: post #5
juris wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rumor has it that it’d be released with the VR set in 2026 ;)

It'd be a good plan. Make HL3 a VR game since you built VR experience by making Alyx, take it to the next level by launching your own VR headset, everything is perfectly made together and HL3 launch would be as big if not bigger than GTA, and you optimize it for your own hardware.

HL3 is most likely not a VR game as Valve said they aren't working on a first party VR title (plus data mining seems to confirm). Plus they already have Alyx as the masterpiece, and it was already made with their own VR headset in mind: the Valve Index.

Maybe HLX will have some kind of VR interaction possible, as they want to push technology further with each Half life game.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#266

Post by marginalia_nu »

intexpress wrote: post #94

To win this console generation and outsell the PS5, Valve would have to sell 85 million Steam Machines (as of today, and likely need to sell 120 million by the end of the generation). About a 0% chance of that happening. Looks cool, though

Surely the Steam Machine is in a newer generation than the PS5?

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#267

Post by iteria »

swiftcoder wrote: post #263
jonkoops wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't need IP, it is already THE marketplace for PC gaming. People will get a box like this to play the library they already own, or get great deals on new games.

> it is already THE marketplace for PC gaming Yeah, but console gamers don't necessarily know or care about that. If you want to cut into the console market, you kind of have to meet console gamers halfway

Not if you are playing the long game. You get console gamers by buying consoles. Steam now has the concept of parental controls and kid accounts. That's the story of why my kid has never played a console. And I have grabbed a lot of her friends as well. In 5 or 6 years when these kids are teens, they will stay with steam and play whatever works on that platform over picking up whatever Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft drop.

PC gaming had been dying because it was losing kids with the rise of tablets and phones. This is a decent solution even if it will not pay off immediately.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#268

Post by Orygin »

altairprime wrote: post #68
killingtime74 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's hardware level (on a separate device) ability to capture video and send key/mouse now. Impossible to be detected by anticheat. https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/kvm/NanoKVM_Pro/cua.html

Yes, but that works just as readily on consoles as it does PCs, so it doesn’t affect immutable Steam any more or less than any other gaming steam. Sealed protections are still valuable regardless!

It affects console too, but watch game publishers disable linux support, blaming cheaters while producing graphs that don't support their arguments. While console packs and cheats are rampant, and their game servers even being hacked during competition.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#269

Post by terribleperson »

silisili wrote: post #168
h05sz487b wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very much a PC gamer turned couch gamer. I have a capable PC sitting next to my Xbox Series X. The user experience is worse, as everytime I turn it on soemthing needs updating, I cannot control all of Windows through my gamepad. This ticks a lot of boxes for me. Might start witht the Controller first.

Two of us! As mentioned, I'm probably part of the target market and will probably check it out. It's not useless by any definition, but will it really outsell the PS5? Because that is, to me, what the headline is implying...

I don't think it'll outsell any current console. Not even the anemic and dying Xbox Series X.

I think that appropriately priced and supported, it will put Valve in a strategic position to actually compete in subsequent console generations as a real player. It's a little behind in terms of specs, but with as slow as uptake of this generation has been, I expect that developers will continue to target base PS5 specs for another six years at least (PS6 supposedly landing in 2027). Then they can drop their Steam Machine 2 in 2029 or 2030, hitting base PS6 specs at an affordable price. It's been a winning approach for Nintendo.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#270

Post by jaapz »

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…

> then licensing of the OS to other manufacturers

They already tried that the first way around when they introduced steam machines. That didn't really work.

The fact that they now took full control is what's exiting about this steam machine.

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