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Steam releases Big Picture mode

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Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#71

Post by rpm4321 »

Nursie wrote: post #69
rpm4321 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it be legal for someone to manufacture and sell 3rd party Steamboxes, if Valve has no immediate plans to do so? It seems like somebody like Alienware, or even just somebody on Kickstarter, could put together something impressive at a XBox720/PS4 pricepoint.

You might want to talk to valve before using the word "Steam" in the name of your product... Otherwise I can't see an impediment. Maybe Valve could even have a 'designed for Steam' certification program or something.

Well, obviously all PCs are Steamboxes, technically speaking. However, if it's a streamlined box that plugs right into a television and boots right to steam, I could maybe see them putting up a stink, even if the branding was sufficiently ambiguous.

The MistBox ;)

I don't know, though. To be honest, I'm kind of shocked no one has tried this yet. It seems like such an obvious winner, even if there is a slight chance you would go to court with Valve.

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#72

Post by Nursie »

rpm4321 wrote: post #71
Nursie wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might want to talk to valve before using the word "Steam" in the name of your product... Otherwise I can't see an impediment. Maybe Valve could even have a 'designed for Steam' certification program or something.

Well, obviously all PCs are Steamboxes, technically speaking. However, if it's a streamlined box that plugs right into a television and boots right to steam, I could maybe see them putting up a stink, even if the branding was sufficiently ambiguous. The MistBox ;) I don't know, though. To be honest, I'm kind of shocked no one has tried this yet. It seems like such an obvious winner, even if there is a slight chance y…

I was thinking the other way around - that they might be perfectly encouraging of selling such a device, just that using 'Steam' (their TM) in the name or advertising without permission might get you in trouble.

I think it's a great idea!

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#73

Post by Shorel »

rpm4321 wrote: post #66
mtgx wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything that tries to disrupt, or at least compete on the same level with the Xbox and Playstation, is a good thing, and that includes OUYA as well.

Would it be legal for someone to manufacture and sell 3rd party Steamboxes, if Valve has no immediate plans to do so? It seems like somebody like Alienware, or even just somebody on Kickstarter, could put together something impressive at a XBox720/PS4 pricepoint.

The killer feature would be to sell the computer with a preloaded Steam account that already has the orange box plus portal 2 and the L4D games.

Now that's a Steambox.

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#74

Post by tomkit »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #42
tomkit wrote: post #39

I haven't tried AppleTV's Airplay, but I think it just mirrors your desktop correct? So theoretically you could just run Steam's Big Picture Mode off of a Mac and use AirPlay to stream it to your TV?

I've attempted this; AirPlay does in fact lag too much for this to be useful.

Seems like Apple hasn't mastered video streaming compression as well as OnLive. OnLive seemed pretty playable to me when I tried it.

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#75

Post by ConstantineXVI »

tomkit wrote: post #74
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've attempted this; AirPlay does in fact lag too much for this to be useful.

Seems like Apple hasn't mastered video streaming compression as well as OnLive. OnLive seemed pretty playable to me when I tried it.

OnLive's protocol seems to be far more willing to sacrifice frames and quality to keep everything in sync; where AirPlay will (in my experience) hold up the stream until every last frame gets through, sync be damned. Also, AirPlay doesn't modify apps or input at all to compensate for the lag to the TV.

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#76

Post by sliverstorm »

damncabbage wrote: post #60
sliverstorm wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well guys, here's a first pass: http://gist.io/4199804 Is this something I should be submitting to HN directly? Also, let me know if there's any particular pieces of information you want expanded/shared. I haven't yet had an opportunity for photos or video of use this evening.

Please do submit it; this is a great write-up. :)

Well folks, I don't think we'll be seeing it on the front page. Perhaps I need to work on my titling.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4872751

Hopefully those who were interested have already had a chance to read it, by now.

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#77

Post by sliverstorm »

bbee wrote: post #21
sliverstorm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did literally just this last week, with an ITX motherboard, a 65W APU (Trinity), and a case to match. I'm quite pleased with the results, and with Big Picture mode (given it *was still Beta)

I'd be interested in hearing about that too. I just ordered parts to build my parents a computer, I'm using it as an excuse to try out a Trinity APU. If I like it I'll look into building an ITX size for myself.

As you may not have seen my further updates, I wrote a short bit:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4872751

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#78

Post by sliverstorm »

venus wrote: post #50
venus wrote: post #48

I'm looking forward to trying this out with my Mac Mini, which I use as an XBMC machine plugged into the TV. Hopefully the built-in HD4000 integrated graphics will suffice for Portal. I need a controller. Which is the best one to get?

Let me answer my own question: apparently the xbox 360 controller is the only one supported. Source: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/bigpicture/discussions/1/88...

Which is fine by me, it's one of the better gamepads I've used in a while and its widespread adoption makes for good prices and speaks well for future use.

Re: Steam releases Big Picture mode

#79

Post by 10098 »

Shish2k wrote: post #63
10098 wrote: post #10

Make a console, Valve!

I'd think it's fairly obvious that that's their step after next :P (the immediate next step being "make the linux games catalog decently large", so they don't need to bloat their $300 console with an extra $150 of MS licensing) On a tangent -- does anyone know how developing games for linux compares to developing games for consoles? I've heard windows devs complain about linux ("Braid will never be available on linux…

> Braid will never be available on linux because ALSA is shit and fundamentally can't handle it

I don't buy it, tons of games with sound effects have been successfully ported to linux with no problems. Probably the devs are just being lazy :-)

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