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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

#471

Post by snvzz »

Snowfield9571 wrote: post #422

I think this article makes one assumption that isn't correct. "This means that even though Valve will be selling this hardware at a loss..." From the reviews I have read, Valve is not planning on doing this. They are not doing an Xbox type of deal where games are overpriced and console is cheap. If I am not mistaken, I got this information from the LTT review where they talked with Valve about this directly.

Honestly, if I was Valve, I wouldn't just sell it at a loss, but I would also bundle some store credit.

Getting new people into the Steam ecosystem should be worth losing a bit through the machine sales, with long term thinking.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#472

Post by vitaflo »

Aerroon wrote: post #276
slightwinder wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a misconception. Majority of players are with the big Franchises, and they stay with them. The variety-gamers who are playing multiple different games are a minority, though they are a big crowd, loud and have for obvious reasons more attention, leading to this misconception. For example, Escape from Duckov, which you are speaking about, had at it's peak "just" roughly as many players as Battlefield 6 has on a…

I don't think it's entirely the case. They are on franchises, but not the ones you think of - they're playing live service games that have been around for years. Games like League of Legends, Counterstrike, Fortnite, Dota, WoW, PUBG etc. Games like Battlefield are up there, but I don't think they're the games people mainly play over the years. (Although Fifa and GTA definitely are.) For example, the top 10 games in K…

To be fair Brood War was like a national pastime in Korea for many many years and there are still pro tournaments held multiple times a year that draw a decent audience. That game will never die in Korea.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#473

Post by esseph »

neighbour wrote: post #20
esseph wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nintendo has a tiny library. Steam does not.

Steam Deck has a tiny install base. Switch 2 does not. I'm mostly a PC gamer but let's be real here.

People rarely buy a platform for the platform, they buy the platform to do the thing they want to do. A game is just a genre of software.

It is far, far better to have tons of high quality software available for a platform, than to have an amazing platform, but a limited choice of software.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#474

Post by brendoelfrendo »

Hikikomori wrote: post #248
brendoelfrendo wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, and I understand if that's a deal-breaker for you, but for me I refuse avoid kernel level anticheat wherever possible, so I'm none too fussed about it. If a game wants to run malware, it can do it on a console where it's nice and segmented off from my general-purpose computing.

Do you also game on a separate windows/Linux user?

I game primarily on my Linux PC, including multiplayer games. I do have a PS5 and other game consoles, though honestly, they see more use as set-top boxes than they do as gaming devices. I have a separate Windows laptop for work.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#475

Post by bobbob27 »

jsmailes wrote: post #242

For me, the big killer feature would be if this device is approved for modern media DRM. As much as I'm tired of streaming and its level of control over how I watch TV, it's still a decent part of my media consumption, but any Linux mini-PC I connect to the TV can only do low-resolution streaming from most providers. If the steam machine is approved for high-resolution streaming, it could totally replace the smart TV…

Hmm there's a chance you simply need to make sure the Widevine drm is installed on your system

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#476

Post by tintor »

sedatk wrote: post #33
SchemaLoad wrote: post #21

I think the hardest battle is going to be with anti cheat. The anti cheat that developers want basically requires dystopian levels of restrictions which are against everything valve has done on SteamOS so far. Personally I'd love if we all just went back to playing on personal servers with your real life friends or people you otherwise trust. But I don't think this is would go over well with the average online gamer.

If anti-virus software can function in user mode, anti-cheat software can too. https://www.theverge.com/news/692637/microsoft-windows-kerne...

That depends on Microsoft.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#477

Post by DuckConference »

somenameforme wrote: post #98
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…

> Most consoles are sold at a loss You're thinking of 'back in the day.' The original XBox's video card was worth more than they sold the entire system for, and the PS3 was a complete beast of computation (even if not entirely inappropriate for games...)! But in modern times (PS4 gen onward) consoles have become relatively vanilla midrange computers designed with the intent of turning profit on the hardware as quickl…

Tariffs/inflation/everything has raised the unit cost to the point that they're probably close to running a loss again sometimes on the latest gen consoles.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#478

Post by bryanlarsen »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #463
bryanlarsen wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but not in the years where they sell the most. Nope. Take 1 example, the PS3. It lost money in 2007 & 2008, but became profitable in 2009. They sold 16 million PS3's in 2007 and 2008 out of a total 87 million. So approximately 20% of PS3's were sold at a loss. And the PS3 is perhaps the console that was sold at the biggest loss at the beginning due to the horrendously expensive Cell chip. It's kind of moot, anyways…

The ps3 was certainly a unique case, because despite selling at a loss it still wasn't a competitive price. The infamous "599 USD" now translates to 950 dollars today, so that really shows you how utterly expensive it was (when the PS5 pro just needed to price hike to $800).so it coming down in price for consumers and manufacturers helped it immensely. But I do believe that was a unique case. Consoles don't typically…

Every console that sold over a hundred million consoles had over a decade of solid sales.

Those seven consoles significantly outnumber the 50 consoles that didn't.

Even the PS3 didn't sell 100 million units. Relative flops like the xbox one or the wii U are insignificant fractions of console sales.

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#479

Post by johnnyanmac »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #478
johnnyanmac wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ps3 was certainly a unique case, because despite selling at a loss it still wasn't a competitive price. The infamous "599 USD" now translates to 950 dollars today, so that really shows you how utterly expensive it was (when the PS5 pro just needed to price hike to $800).so it coming down in price for consumers and manufacturers helped it immensely. But I do believe that was a unique case. Consoles don't typically…

Every console that sold over a hundred million consoles had over a decade of solid sales. Those seven consoles significantly outnumber the 50 consoles that didn't. Even the PS3 didn't sell 100 million units. Relative flops like the xbox one or the wii U are insignificant fractions of console sales.

So, 4 consoles?

Yes, I'm aware on how consoles are monetized. They take a loss in the first few years and make up for that with software sales, which they take a 30% cut on.

I'm not dispelling if the model isn't profitable, I'm simply stating that the hardware is historically sold at razor thin margins early on, if not outright a loss (until this generation)

Re: Valve is about to win the console generation

#480

Post by array_key_first »

wmeredith wrote: post #366
AlexandrB wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is only possible due to how the console space has changed over the last 10 years. The killer app for console over PC used to be simplicity - you pop in the disc/cartridge and you just go. This is rarely true anymore. Even Switch 2 games often require waiting to download a bunch of stuff before you can play. Meanwhile the PC experience has generally gotten simpler and most games "just work", in part thanks to Ste…

Thank you for calling this out. As a long time console gamer, I hadn't noticed this creeping bloat until I started playing games with my young children. My son begged for a new Madden game after playing it at his friend's house. When we got the game, it probably took us an hour of fucking around with downloads and accounts. Off the top of my head, I had to set up a parents EA account and kids account, set permissions…

I had this experience playing couch co-op call of duty a few years ago. I had to make a fucking account. It's not even my console.

Nintendo has wavered a tad, but they're the closet to the original experience. You pop in a thingy, hook up another controller, or two, or three, and you're off. It just works, maybe you can input a name for your guy, maybe not, maybe you just always play Waluigi so everyone knows who you are.

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