SteamOS Uses Nvidia's Streaming Tech; Ref Design on Weds

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The reason there is an impression that Microsoft is killing gaming is for several reasons. Their half hearted attempt at GFWL (which initially was a shot at a paywall like Xbox Live). This failed and the whole thing crumbled. Also, every other AAA publisher releases their games on PC and Console except the company that makes the Operating System! That seems like a huge missed opportunity especially when there could have been so much promise in cross platform gameplay. Finally, when does Microsoft ever talk seriously about PC gaming at any of the gaming conventions like E3. Its all Xbox all the time, all about the paywall and closing the platform.

Fortunately despite all of that headwind from Microsoft, PC gaming has gone on to thrive and Steam had a lot to do with that.
 
Tech, I've heard that talk before and it seems to me like there is a pretty big distinction between "killing PC gaming" and "actively pushing PC gaming." The fact that they focus on XBOX and are created pay-wall structures like GFWL and the Windows Store doesn't in any way show that they are killing PC gaming other than giving pay-wall alternatives to the more open PC gaming structure, and giving people an alternative platform to play on. In this sense, they're "killing PC gaming" about as much as Sony and Nintendo are, by offering its previous open format competition. If every other publisher endorses the other platform and puts their software into these walled garden type environments that might kill PC gaming as we know it, but others adopting these platforms can't be entirely piled onto MS. Heck, when you look at things like this:

http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Saving-a-penny----pirating-the-Humble-Indie-Bundle

MS may be providing alternatives, but, why is it that gaming companies are rushing to them? Things like the above don't help and those things are pinned right to the PC gamers, not the evil corporations who are supposedly "killing PC gaming."


And guess what... Steam? That thing you are saying has gone on to make PC gaming thrive? That in itself if a paywall not unlike GFWL was, and we are a community aren't just openly embracing it but rather rushing to it. I understand the concern with GFWL and the XBOX is that there is the potential for MS to make the PC no longer run games in the classic sense in the future, but, even with their latest iteration of Windows which introduces their "walled garden" of the Windows store, they have in no way limited the ability of others to release games in any format they choose with any level of DRM, freedom to release privately like Mojang did or through other pay-wall structures like Steam, or physical release or, or, or..

At this point MS has in no way limited the open release of titles on the platform. No licensing fee to design games for Windows, no mandatory DRM, no requirement to use GFWL/Windows Store/make it for the XBOX, no sign they are making it more difficult for the continued creation of progressively better gaming hardware... In fact, they openly support such hardware, continually code the OS to allow for fully open game creation on said OS. How can you pin "killing PC gaming" on Windows as a result of this?

And JD, yeah, pretty much what I thought. Windows may not be an ideal gaming platform because of how bulky it is, and with SSD's becoming more prevalent, a 22gb install is less a laughing matter than it was in the past. This isn't an instance of MS/Windows "killing PC gaming" though... It's a case of making it slightly more costly for people building their own gaming PCs.

I just don't see how MS or Windows are in any way killing PC gaming. They've continually made their platform perfectly PC gaming compliant. Tons of developers are jumping ship or using more DRM/pay-wall type structures... But heck, Tech here just heralded Steam as the saviour of PC gaming, and it is both a form of DRM AND a pay-wall and developers are jumping ship to that - at least in part because PC gamers are a bunch of pirating twats. Well, that's gamers in general, but PC gamers are *certainly* no better than any other type...
 
Actually, two questions for a lot of you who are heralding this as a great alternative to Windows because Windows is "killing PC gaming" etc.

First question... One, can any person or group make any game they want for a Windows PC, distribute it any way they please, program it to work with any types of hardware they want, and do so without having to pay any licensing fee/cut to anyone unless they willingly decide to make the game to work with a specific service?

Second question... Will any game made for Steam OS have to use Steam, or can games be made and distributed for it without being tied into to Steam's DRM and pay structure? I'm honestly curious about this second question. The answer to the first question is a big fat "yes" and that anyone can make whatever the heck they want without paying a dime to anyone - Mojang style, for instance.
 
Reading through the SteamOS web page - and correct me if I am wrong in this assertion - it seems to me that what I was pointing at with my second question above is entirely true. This OS turns the hardware it's on into, basically, a Steam console. Every single game that can and will run on it will be subject to Steam DRM and Steam getting a cut and the game developer following Steam's rules - and again, correct me if I'm wrong on that. To me, this actually seems less open than the Windows platform where an upstart like Mojang can make a game like Minecraft with zero ties to any pre-made distribution store, zero licensing fees paid, zero rules to follow (outside of the law). Instead, Big-Brother-Valve is going to have their fingers in every pie.

The funny thing is, for years I've been hearing PC gamers criticize consoles for being closed systems and the PC was awesome because anyone could do anything with it... Now I see a bunch of people jumping up and down for a PC OS that puts *everything* under Big-Brother-Valve's careful watch, pay structure, and DRM. Hey, I use Steam quite frequently and find it to be a great service... But I'm not sure I'm rushing to trade a more open platform for one where there is one central authority that dictates the terms under which games can be made. For all the "MS is killing PC gaming" talk in this thread, MS does not do that. Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but... It looks like Valve is going to do precisely that with SteamOS.
 
A lot of assumptions regarding how closed Steam OS is going to be.

First off, it's Linux! Even if its a "more closed" flavor, the fact that Nvidia is making real drivers AND more programming is based on Open GL rather than Direct X is a big deal.

@back_by_demand AOE and Flight Sim? That's the best you can come up with for Microsoft supporting PC? AOE has been discontinued since they killed the real AOE developer Ensemble studios, and the AOE online is getting no future support. Flight Sim is also on life support.

Finally, @stevejnb Your main crux seems to be DRM and Steam getting a cut of everything like a Windows market place. Lets see this all play out before making those assumptions, while Steam OS may be the best gaming Linux platform ever, they've build a level of trust and dedication to the gaming community Microsoft hasn't demonstrated in over a decade. I think its worth giving them the benefit of the doubt before you suggest they are trying to pull an Xbone.

 
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