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Steam Machine Teardown

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Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#91

Post by wyager »

Zr40 wrote: post #22
MartinCron wrote: post #18

My goodness, that thing has a PS/2 keyboard port. Maybe I can drag my first-generation Microsoft natural keyboard out of retirement.

Some gamers still prefer PS/2 if given the choice, even though there's little technical advantage. Although their most cited reason (key rollover) isn't valid; the keyboard determines how many simultaneous key presses it will transmit over USB.

The only ways to get n-key rollover over USB are through dirty hacks (like USB hub emulation) or through non-standard drivers. It is an issue.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#92

Post by brc »

swashboon wrote: post #48
Narishma wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are living-room PCs, not consoles.

I always laugh when I see 'PC' because I take it at is literal meaning - 'Personal Computer' - which always makes me wonder what about apple products, consoles, or even mobile phones makes them not either personal or computers. They all seem to be computers, they all seem pretty personal to me...

I have read a line (it might have been Steve Wozniak, or perhaps even Paul Graham, I forget) but it said that, when the idea of 'Personal Computer' was mentioned, it was audacious, like saying 'Personal Satellite' now.

When the term PC was coined, computers were fridge sized horrifically expensive things that ran in research institutions and very large companies. The idea of having your own was...crazy.

It is weird how the name has come to mean something based on the Wintel nexus, but that's marketing and differentiation for you.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#93

Post by vinkelhake »

joezydeco wrote: post #73
cma wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xbox One has unified memory with the GPU, which you can't get on PC (aside from via integrated intel graphics).

Xbox (2001) was pretty much a PC.

The first Xbox also had unified memory. If it was that similar to a PC, you'd expect there to be several good Xbox emulators around.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#94

Post by wtallis »

vinkelhake wrote: post #93
joezydeco wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xbox (2001) was pretty much a PC.

The first Xbox also had unified memory. If it was that similar to a PC, you'd expect there to be several good Xbox emulators around.

No, you wouldn't. There aren't even PC emulators that include 3d graphics, only emulators that provide graphics card passthrough or provide software to install inside the emulator to pass high-level graphics commands to the host's OpenGL implementation. Nobody has a binary-compatible GeForce (or Radeon) emulator.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#95

Post by ANTSANTS »

officemonkey wrote: post #85
ANTSANTS wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can? http://steamcommunity.com/market/ Most hats aren't saleable on the market, but you can trade the hats for keys, which you can sell for about $2.25 a pop.

Yeah, the trading shit for other shit meta-game doesn't interest me at all.

Me neither, I'm just saying this "sell your virtual hat collection to pay for video games" future is already here.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#96

Post by chongli »

freehunter wrote: post #90
Arelius wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android may be roughly on par with the openness of SteamOS. But you'd be hard pressed to argue that Android is roughly on par with the openness of the common Linux desktop.

Open source Linux core where installed software may or may not be open source, with an increasing reliance on closed-source cloud applications? Closed source graphics drivers, network firmware, etc? I don't have any statistics obviously, but I would be willing to wager at least 50% of Linux desktops have some closed source installed or some reliance on a cloud provider. Even if it's Flash for watching YouTube videos.

That's still not even close. How easy is it to side-load on Android? Browse the file system? Obtain root access? Recompile and update the kernel? Replace the window manager? Android may be a lot more open than iOS but it's not even close to a Linux desktop.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#97

Post by chongli »

leen wrote: post #64
xhrpost wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember going to E3 some ten years ago with friends and we couldn't stop laughing at the Phantom. IIRC, they were either going to charge per minute played or the games were going to be rent-only or something of that nature. It just seemed more like "how can we possibly exploit more money from players" versus Steam's idea of changing the way we do gaming. So I would personally argue that Steam is significantly diff…

Aren't games on Steam pretty much "rent-only"? Considering your don't own them in a sense that you are not able to use them without your Steam account.

How is that any different from Xbox One? Buy a disc off the shelf, get caught swearing online, get banned from Xbox Live and lose everything!

Far as I know, nobody was banned from Steam for swearing online.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#98

Post by gambler »

lectrick wrote: post #53

I hope 3 things happen 1) SteamOS is very successful along with Steam Machine 2) Windows is knocked out as a gaming platform 3) SteamOS users will be less annoying than Xbox and PS3 users

2) Windows is knocked out as a gaming platform

I will cheer for Windows demise only when GOG starts selling their games for Steam OS.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#99

Post by Arelius »

freehunter wrote: post #90
Arelius wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android may be roughly on par with the openness of SteamOS. But you'd be hard pressed to argue that Android is roughly on par with the openness of the common Linux desktop.

Open source Linux core where installed software may or may not be open source, with an increasing reliance on closed-source cloud applications? Closed source graphics drivers, network firmware, etc? I don't have any statistics obviously, but I would be willing to wager at least 50% of Linux desktops have some closed source installed or some reliance on a cloud provider. Even if it's Flash for watching YouTube videos.

That sounds a lot better then pretty much 100% of Android systems come with proprietary software from day one.

Re: Steam Machine Teardown

#100

Post by nitrogen »

geetee wrote: post #7

Does anyone remember Infinium Labs and the Phantom[1]? I'm not at all trying to make vaporware accusations. I just can't believe it's been 10 years. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Entertainment

I'm more reminded of the Indrema (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrema). I was so ready for an open console back in 2001. We only had to wait 12 years for someone to sort-of do it for real.
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