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SteamMachines

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Re: SteamMachines

#101

Post by hrkristian »

simias wrote: post #30
breckinloggins wrote: post #22

I'm excited about where Valve is going with this, of course, but to be honest I'm concerned about controllers the most. Buying a good controller for a PC is not hard, but it's not simple either. Picture yourself as a "living room console guy" getting into PC gaming. You'd like to use a controller for a certain game. Consider: - You can use your XBox360, PS3 controller, or WiiMote, but that's not obvious. You'll need…

That might have been true in the past (I remember having some trouble with a SideWinder controller on a dedicated control port in the 90's) but these days the 360 wired USB controllers are as plug'n'play as it gets (on windows at least). It Just Works. PS3 controllers are a pity though, you need those shady ad-ridden closed source third party drivers.

Hold the phone there. Why is Windows even entering the comment section of a SteamBox/SteamOS article? It's Linux-based, SixAxis controllers are easy to set up on both Linux and Android, Valve will have a very easy time creating a simple easy-to-use GUI for linking the two.

Re: SteamMachines

#102

Post by CrazedGeek »

__david__ wrote: post #91
CrazedGeek wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I've never been able to play Super Mario Bros. with a keyboard. It goes both ways.

Wait, that doesn't make sense. Super Mario Bros. uses digital inputs, not an analog stick, so it's essentially the same as a keyboard...Are you saying keys are somehow different than controller buttons?

Well, yes. There is a different feel to using a d-pad and using four distinct keys, and it throws me off when I'm playing a 2D platformer. In SMB, the inertia feels totally wrong using the arrow keys or WASD.

Re: SteamMachines

#103

Post by levesque »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #96
breckinloggins wrote: post #22

I'm excited about where Valve is going with this, of course, but to be honest I'm concerned about controllers the most. Buying a good controller for a PC is not hard, but it's not simple either. Picture yourself as a "living room console guy" getting into PC gaming. You'd like to use a controller for a certain game. Consider: - You can use your XBox360, PS3 controller, or WiiMote, but that's not obvious. You'll need…

>You can use your XBox360, PS3 controller, or WiiMote, but that's not obvious. Just a thought: In a few weeks every Xbox360 and PS3 will become obsolete. So, what are the chances of me installing SteamOS on there? I'd love to turn my PS3 into a SteamOS box.

For PS3 the chances are 0 percent due to a very unusual hardware architecture. For Xbox360 I'm not as sure, but I would say chances are also low. These devices are closed and contain chips to make sure only secure and encrypted code can be run. This is to prevent console hacking, game copying, etc.

Re: SteamMachines

#104

Post by chadwickthebold »

chadwickthebold wrote: post #72
jamesaguilar wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They haven't hyped HL3 or HL2E3, or even announced either of them. Kinda silly to blame them for not delivering something they never promised to deliver.

... Did you finish Episode 2? Have you lost internet access for the last 6 years? Valve confirmed it waaaaay back in '07, and Gaben has been dropping little nuggets about it every few years. You really need to understand how painful this is for HL fans. It would be like if AMC decided not to produce & air the final season of Breaking Bad... or delay the final season for 6+ years.

@gknoy It's just frustrating from a personal perspective... I mean, taking 6 years off to work on hats? It feels like heckling from the sidelines, but if Valve is truly great they'll find a way to, you know, make a great game again - alongside doing all of this 'extraneous' hardware/platform stuff.

Re: SteamMachines

#105

Post by Dirlewanger »

CrazedGeek wrote: post #13
Dirlewanger wrote: post #3

Que numerous random friend requests for the next couple days from a lot of people...

It'd at least be different from the random group requests I already get...

Those are so damn annoying. In addition I'd be willing to bet that ~1% actually engage members on the group splash page. Stuff like that in Steam seems like an oversight.

Re: SteamMachines

#106

Post by incision »

Marketing in the guise of a beta/prototype program. Google seems to have been pretty successful doing with Glass and I'm sure there were prior examples.

In any case, I'm pretty much guaranteed to buy the finished product. What little gaming I've done for the past 4 years or so has been almost exclusively via Steam.

Re: SteamMachines

#107

Post by Arjuna »

sillysaurus2 wrote: post #87
Arjuna wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that you will find this interesting... https://www.google.com/patents/US8241126 Video game controller having user swappable control components Original Assignee: Valve Corporation Abstract: A game controller is provided. One or more main control input interfaces on the game controller consist of generalized sockets. A variety of modular input interfaces can be plugged into these sockets. Hardware specific t…

This is why I love HN. Were you randomly looking up Valve-assigned patents and happened to stumble on this?

"This is why I love HN."

Thank you... same here!

I'm just very interested in the game industry (and a lot of other fields). I tend to R&R (Read and Research) a lot!

--

Edit: Valve Corporation patents, for those interested:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=pts&hl=en&q=%22Valve+Corpo...

Re: SteamMachines

#108

Post by jasonkester »

breckinloggins wrote: post #22

I'm excited about where Valve is going with this, of course, but to be honest I'm concerned about controllers the most. Buying a good controller for a PC is not hard, but it's not simple either. Picture yourself as a "living room console guy" getting into PC gaming. You'd like to use a controller for a certain game. Consider: - You can use your XBox360, PS3 controller, or WiiMote, but that's not obvious. You'll need…

Steam seems to have standardized on the XBox 360 controller. At least that's what they support with their current "couch mode" thing. So it seems like you don't need to worry too much about choosing the wrong controller since there is only one choice at the moment.

It works pretty well, for what it's worth.

Re: SteamMachines

#109

Post by jamesaguilar »

chadwickthebold wrote: post #72
jamesaguilar wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They haven't hyped HL3 or HL2E3, or even announced either of them. Kinda silly to blame them for not delivering something they never promised to deliver.

... Did you finish Episode 2? Have you lost internet access for the last 6 years? Valve confirmed it waaaaay back in '07, and Gaben has been dropping little nuggets about it every few years. You really need to understand how painful this is for HL fans. It would be like if AMC decided not to produce & air the final season of Breaking Bad... or delay the final season for 6+ years.

I know that episode 2 did not end the story. However, http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Future_of_the_Half-Life_seri... indicates that it did not contain any teasers. I don't remember the details of the ending since it has been a few years since I played it.

But in any case, leaving the story with a loose end is not the same as announcing or hyping a game. I don't see anywhere Gabe has even indicated they are working on HL3.

Re: SteamMachines

#110

Post by jypepin »

Arjuna wrote: post #60
breckinloggins wrote: post #22

I'm excited about where Valve is going with this, of course, but to be honest I'm concerned about controllers the most. Buying a good controller for a PC is not hard, but it's not simple either. Picture yourself as a "living room console guy" getting into PC gaming. You'd like to use a controller for a certain game. Consider: - You can use your XBox360, PS3 controller, or WiiMote, but that's not obvious. You'll need…

I believe that you will find this interesting... https://www.google.com/patents/US8241126 Video game controller having user swappable control components Original Assignee: Valve Corporation Abstract: A game controller is provided. One or more main control input interfaces on the game controller consist of generalized sockets. A variety of modular input interfaces can be plugged into these sockets. Hardware specific t…

that's awesome! good find!
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