Microsoft: Steam Box Not a Threat; Prototypes in 4 Months

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Although PC is my personal favorite for gaming, its very beneficial to the hardware & gaming industry to have multiple competitive platforms like this to become popular as well.
 
No app ecosystem might be a good thing, most gamers are there to play games, and considering that every other device has a million apps (tv's, phones, tablets, laptops, media centre's, other game consoles) who needs another device with all the same apps on it.

I dedicated upgradeable console like device with good games might hit that sweet spot of gaming in the lounge room without being bombarded with everything else
 
I still am failing to see how they plan to market the Steam Box. There's the Linux issue, Steam has a comparatively small library of Linux titles. There's the price/performance issue, for instance, Valve has said that the Piston would be one of many Steam Boxes (including their own), but it is expected to cost like $900, and yet it only has an APU, it could fall behind minimum requirements in just a few years. Why would a console gamer pay $900 for a system that'll be outdated faster than their $400 console, why would a PC gamer pay $900 for a Piston when they can build a system with 2-3 times the power for the same price? Yes, it's small, but you can get a much more powerful systems that is still small enough to easily fit in a living room. Yes, Valve is working on their own Steam Box as well and getting more price/performance will be easier with a larger form factor than the Piston, but I still don't see how they can compete with consoles in price/performance since consoles are usually sold at a loss. Is Valve willing to sell Steam Boxes at a loss and hope to make back their loss in Software sales?
 
This may end up being in one of those "dumbest things said in the last 10 years" articles a decade from now. I'm a PC gamer for life, but Gabe and Steam have shown they know how to do things right.
 


I'm guessing here but if Steam just breaks even or only looses just a little money it will be a huge success down the road. The biggest rod block for Linux and Mac's is gaming. If they are able to get enough future games to support Linux and possible Mac i.e. no Direct X then they will increase their sales in software. If they can set this catalyst off it should provide a lot of revenue down the road. We shall see, I am with you it will be an uphill battle.
 
[citation][nom]shikamaru31789[/nom]I still am failing to see how they plan to market the Steam Box and actually expect a success. There's the Linux issue, Steam only has a small library of Linux titles. There's the hardware/price issue, Valve has said that the Piston would be one of many Steam Boxes, but it is expected to cost like $900, and even then it only has an APU, it'll fall behind minimum specs in just a few years. Why would a console gamer pay $900 for a system that'll be outdated faster than their $400 system, why would a PC gamer pay $900 for a Piston when they can build a system with 2-3 the power for the same price? Yes, Valve is working on their own Steam Box as well, and getting more price/performance will be easier with a larger form factor than the Piston, but I still don't see how thay can compete with consoles in price/performance since consoles are usually sold at a loss. Is Valve willing to sell Steam Boxes at a loss and hope to make back their loss in Software sales? That'll be difficult with all of the Steam Sales where they're bound to be losing money on Software.[/citation]
Being on Linux gives them the advantage of OpenGL.....which means there won't be the concern of the next game coming down the line choking the GPU to death... OpenGL doesn't require near the processing power that DirectX does.
 
I think that a Steambox will be a good thing. That said, if it cant play my library of games that are Windows based, I'll have no use for it. I can already run my pc on my television, and play any game with controller support from my couch in 1080p & in 3d. For me to invest in this would definitely have to mean compatability with games already in my library.
 

You are right about OpenGL using less proccessing power than Direct X, so maybe the hardware in the SteamBox will be able to play games longer than I suggested before. What I'm getting at here, is that with the SteamBox using Linux, multiplatform titles that release on both Windows and consoles won't be playable on the Steam Box without porting the game to Linux. If the SteamBox can't play the same multiplatform games that a console can, there's not much incentive for console user to switch over and miss out on all the AAA titles they already know and love. Nor is there much incentive for a PC user to get one when they already have a PC, especally if they already have an HTPC they can use for gaming in their living rooms. Yes developers could make Linux ports of multiplatform games, but there's not a huge amount of incentive for developers to do that unless the SteamBox really takes off and pushes Linux along with it, because right now the Linux install base isn't big enough to offset the difficulty of porting in most developers eyes. Afterall, the PS4 and Xbox Infinity are basically scaled down PC's, that means developers have access to 3 platforms they can port between easily, then they've got two platforms where the ports are a bigger challenge (Wii U, SteamBox), seems to me most developers are going to pass over the Wii U and SteamBox for multiplatform games.

I think the SteamBox has an uphill battle to fight, so I can see why Microsoft isn't too concerned right now. Yes, the SteamBox could become a big threat in the future if enough developers back it, but for the time being it seems like a niche device to me.
 
" No thanks I'll keep my folding/gaming computer. I have a WII for the wife and grandkids and a PS3 for a media center but no games for it. "


Having a PS3 with no Games is like having a Car with no Engine. I will cry for you before i go to bed tonight.........
 
[citation][nom]hakesterman[/nom]" No thanks I'll keep my folding/gaming computer. I have a WII for the wife and grandkids and a PS3 for a media center but no games for it. "Having a PS3 with no Games is like having a Car with no Engine. I will cry for you before i go to bed tonight.........[/citation]
PS3 for media center? That's lame, the PS3 sucks for that purpose, there are tons of video formats it doesn't support. Only a poor bastard that can't afford $99 for a WDTV would rely on the PS3. If you're not gaming especially there is zero point, I don't get why you would do this to yourself?
 
i see steam box being an indie platform with a little more high end to it than normally in those. If that goes well we might start seeing some 60 dollar games on it in the future.
 
Wow games that react on your pulse rate sound pretty cool. I hope it doesn't mean worse accuracy and chance of death due or heart attack cause that would make it impossible for me to finish any game lol.

Also, I hope their steambox is decently equipped or that it has room to be upgraded. I can only hope that a starter version is something like a custom made mini-Itx case designed to fit even the most powerful cards like the freaking Tiki!
 
Tipicaly when compines say something is not a Threat. It is. I would not be supprised if both Sony and MS are keeping a close eye on what could become a serous competitor.
 
I'm curious how powerful it will be. Based on the size in that picture though, I will expect it around the Wii-U level, unless they do cloud game streaming
 
Valve is making Steambox just to mess with MS and give them something to think about.not enough support for Linux from game devs at the present time.
 
[citation][nom]aramisathei[/nom]Microsoft didn't think iPads and tablets were a big threat either.Just sayin'.[/citation]
It wasn't. EVERYONE with an iPad ALSO has a PC. Its utterly useless as a sole device. Its ONLY use is as a media consumption/crappy gaming/bad web browsing tablet.
 
Would be cool if this steam box ran most(or some) of the process on the cloud and rest on the box. That way you can half the load, and maybe over come the "latency" issues. Which you would probably still have them. Just wouldn't surprise me if valve pulled a rabbit out of the hat and released something we weren't expecting.
 
Of course it is a threat. Microsoft's exclusive stuff:

1) DirectX => there are NO alternatives really, OpenGL + Wine do NOT cut it, lot's of pain configuring, HUGE performance penalty
2) Microsoft Office (doesn't mean that much at home though)
3) Other stuff that applies only to corporations

If SteamBox is a success, it's GG DirectX.

It would also be a HUGE success for AMD, since steam box is using its APU, as well as PS4 and XBox720 would.
 
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