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Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

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Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#151

Post by pjc50 »

sfRattan wrote: post #121
hbn wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for MS bashing and laughing at their incompetence, but was there really any threat there? I don't know anyone on PC who was interested in buying a game anywhere other than Steam in 2015.

It was specifically the release of Windows RT (Windows 8 on ARM) in 2012 that had people nervous that Microsoft wanted to lock Windows down long-term in the manner of iOS and Apple. Windows RT only ran code signed by Microsoft and only installed programs from Microsoft's store. It failed, and Microsoft let off the gas locking down Windows, but that moment was probably the specific impetus for Gabe Newell to set Valve…

Yes. We could have had Windows on Arm ten years previously, but Microsoft tried to use the platform transition as an opportunity for lock in. Fortunately this meant there were no apps and basically zero take up of WinRT.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#153

Post by viktorcode »

littlecranky67 wrote: post #150
viktorcode wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But nowadays consoles have the same issues: Giant downloads At least for PS5 the opposite is true: if a game uses kraken texture compression, and many do, PS5 variant will be the smallest.

How is that even an argument - the PS5 has had proper discs. The issue is, the disc content is 1GB file that requires a 50GB download.

In modern game development practice you will have to download patches anyway, so whatever there's on disk is irrelevant. Hardware has nothing to do with that.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#154

Post by koolala »

snvzz wrote: post #141
rangestransform wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kernel-level anticheat doesn't necessarily need to be on a fully closed platform, it could be implemented like SafetyNet on the Pixel series to check for system integrity but still allow for bootloader unlock and arbitrary user software

It's still not desirable, because it artificially excludes the rest of computer users who run Linux.

Couldn't it be a simple reboot to switch back to normal linux?

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#155

Post by pjmlp »

ZeroConcerns wrote: post #5

Well, Valve got seriously concerned about the Windows Store, like, a decade ago, since that could have reduced the stranglehold of Steam on the gaming marketplace. Turns out that the usual Microsoft incompetence-and-ADHD have kind-of eliminated that threat all by itself. Also: turns out that, if you put enough effort into it, Linux is actually a quite-usable gaming platform. Still: are consumers better off today than…

It is clearly not, as long as it depends on running Windows games, developed on Windows, running on Proton.

It is like arguing Windows is a quite-usable UNIX platform thanks to WSL 2.0.

The right way to push for Linux gaming is how Loki Entertainment was doing it.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#156

Post by pjmlp »

nitwit005 wrote: post #102
ZeroConcerns wrote: post #5

Well, Valve got seriously concerned about the Windows Store, like, a decade ago, since that could have reduced the stranglehold of Steam on the gaming marketplace. Turns out that the usual Microsoft incompetence-and-ADHD have kind-of eliminated that threat all by itself. Also: turns out that, if you put enough effort into it, Linux is actually a quite-usable gaming platform. Still: are consumers better off today than…

Outside of XBox, Minecraft, and journalists trying it out, I don't think I've heard of anyone using the Microsoft store. The Wikipedia page has quite the description of the view from within Microsoft: > Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's gaming division, has also opined that Microsoft Store "sucks". As a result, Office was removed as an installable app from the store, and made to redirect to its website. https://en.wi…

Because games are on the XBox app store, not Microsoft store.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#157

Post by pjmlp »

hbn wrote: post #103
ZeroConcerns wrote: post #5

Well, Valve got seriously concerned about the Windows Store, like, a decade ago, since that could have reduced the stranglehold of Steam on the gaming marketplace. Turns out that the usual Microsoft incompetence-and-ADHD have kind-of eliminated that threat all by itself. Also: turns out that, if you put enough effort into it, Linux is actually a quite-usable gaming platform. Still: are consumers better off today than…

I'm all for MS bashing and laughing at their incompetence, but was there really any threat there? I don't know anyone on PC who was interested in buying a game anywhere other than Steam in 2015.

I never installed Steam, nor I intend to.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#158

Post by pjmlp »

stackskipton wrote: post #105
hbn wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for MS bashing and laughing at their incompetence, but was there really any threat there? I don't know anyone on PC who was interested in buying a game anywhere other than Steam in 2015.

Sure, if they pulled Apple and locked everyone into only installing from Microsoft Store, Steam would have been in serious trouble.

They still can be, Microsoft is one of the biggest publishers, and they can lock everything from their studios into XBox app store or Gamepass, if they feel like it.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#159

Post by pjmlp »

cyberax wrote: post #99
entropicdrifter wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise, the PS5 has absolutely dominated the Xbox's current generation in terms of sales in large part due to exclusives. Xbox Series S is far cheaper than a PS5, mind you. What platform has more exclusives than PC?

There is a current generation of XBox?!?

Xbox Series S|X.

Re: Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse

#160

Post by pjmlp »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #72
bryanlarsen wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2025 none of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo sell their consoles at a loss. They're sold for very slim margins, which is what I assume Valve will do with the Steam machine. I expect the Steam Machine to be price competitive. ish. Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo likely have contracts locking down RAM prices whereas Valve will have to negotiate theirs based on current prices.

If Valve sold the Steam Machine for any significant cost less than the Dell / HP / Lenovo equivalent, HNers would snap them up by the truckload to repurpose as home or work machines with guaranteed Linux compatibility.

This is why Sony killed the PS2Linux effort, and the PS3 Linux no longer offered graphics acceleration.

They had hoped for a second wave of Yaroze like indie developers, instead the large majority were repurposing their PS2 as MAME like emulators or Linux computers.

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