Point of The Steam Box?

[Gary]

I was just wondering if someone could help explain to me what the point of The Steam Box is intended to be?

As it is, you can connect your computer via HDMI to your TV and use Big Picture and a gaming controller to do exactly what The Steam Box will do but without spending all the extra money on it.

It's just a question that's been eating away at me. Is the intention to just have a system that you know will work 100% with all games for it? Because if that's the case, there's no point when you already have a high end gaming computer...

[Kuehnau]

I guess a lot of you haven't heard of OnLive! Games, it was a concept that you could "rent" or buy computer games and run it on any platform, because it was all processed and run from their end and the result was streamed to your PC.

I was in the beta and I still have an account with them. If you have a halfway decent internet connection, it works great, in theory. The problem is I think they implimented the platform poorly.

If Steam Box works anything like that, this is not only a great way for Steam and Publishers to make more money, but allow people who can't afford to spend vast amounts of weath on hardware to still have access to gaming.

Are you telling me if you could play Skyrim or Far Cry 3, on medium or high settings, without having to actually buy a computer or a Xbox, you wouldn't? I know I would. I love saving money.

[KKiONI]

Publicado originalmente por WS Pimpmo Biel:

The only thing that then confuses me is this:
How many people that don't own a PC capable of gaming even know what Steam is?
If this is the demographic they're going for, they're not going to buy something from this mysterious "Steam" company they've never heard of and will instead go for their beloved Xboxes and Playstations.

Quite true. The console market is quite conservative, will only stick to what they know and will not venture far (or at all) from their safe circle of "the big three" of video games (or even just sticking to one and only one).
Though Valve have some really talented minds working for them. I would expect them to find some eye catching way to advertise their stuff.

[Gary]

Publicado originalmente por Kuehnau:

I guess a lot of you haven't heard of OnLive! Games, it was a concept that you could "rent" or buy computer games and run it on any platform, because it was all processed and run from their end and the result was streamed to your PC.

I was in the beta and I still have an account with them. If you have a halfway decent internet connection, it works great, in theory. The problem is I think they implimented the platform poorly.

If Steam Box works anything like that, this is not only a great way for Steam and Publishers to make more money, but allow people who can't afford to spend vast amounts of weath on hardware to still have access to gaming.

Are you telling me if you could play Skyrim or Far Cry 3, on medium or high settings, without having to actually buy a computer or a Xbox, you wouldn't? I know I would. I love saving money.

OnLive was a fantastic idea implemented insanely poorly.
They shot to high with high skill FPS twitch games that require minimal ping and video lag which was impossible to deliver from a 100% streaming service.

That's exactly why they failed and were bought out for just $4.8 million in October after they owed $18.7 million.
The way I see it, with our current global infrastructure and technology, streaming MMOs and RPG like games are as far as we're going to get practically.

As for The Steam Box utilizing streaming services, I wouldn't put it past Valve. They already have pretty good infrastructure set up for such things, so who knows!

[pocketghost]

Thing that i've questioned is the idea of how this would all work? With use of controllers and what-not, would that cause unbalances between keyboard/mouse users and controller users in fps games? And despite the argument of things like non-fps', how would this at all work? with all the commands from all the keyboard keys. I personally don't see this working out as a full out console. Hopefully someone can help explain it to me.

[KKiONI]

Publicado originalmente por Redux:

Thing that i've questioned is the idea of how this would all work? With use of controllers and what-not, would that cause unbalances between keyboard/mouse users and controller users in fps games? And despite the argument of things like non-fps', how would this at all work? with all the commands from all the keyboard keys. I personally don't see this working out as a full out console. Hopefully someone can help explain it to me.

Well it wouldn't be a traditional console setup, of course, but it can still have its status as a console. Just because some games require a keyboard to play does not mean it's automatically not a console platform. In fact some games on the PS3, such as CSGO, have keyboard and mouse support.
But this is going on the assumption something like this is in the pipes. Perhaps Valve is just going to release something that makes the experience easier. In particular, recall the patent Valve filed a few years ago for a controller with removeable modules:
http://kotaku.com/5890372/is-this-valves-control-pad-design/gallery/1

[ChrisW]

I don't know if Valve is going to make a gaming PC, but I am surprised some company like Dell has never released a console like PC. Add a cablecard slot and a built in tuner and these things will fly off the shelf. I'm pretty sure Valve would have to wait until there are way more Linux games on Steam before even considering making this box.

[H3X]

Linux support will probably be needed (and likely what they're waiting on working out) I agree, cause let's face it - the chances of microsoft signing off on a console like platform that competes with their own flagship gaming system is not very likely..

But think about it. If valve enters the hardware market, they're already most of the way there. They've got servers all over the place. They've got a huge store, that's being worked on to be ported to other platforms as they put it. They've got a fully fledged vehicle for their client capable of being used with a controller, on a TV, complete with all the benefits of the browser, overlay and community. Looking at it that way, it's not so big a step, all they need is to make the software run on the hardware they choose to run it on, be it powered by linux or whatever else.

[Tony]

I have my desktop in my bedroom which is kinda far from the living room so being able to connect your PC to your TV using HDMI doesn't help me at all. If I could enjoy PC gaming on my 46 inch 1080p 3D TV using Steam from the comfort of my couch, I would definitely buy a Steambox.

I'm also sure there is a huge, untapped market of gamers out there who would really love to buy high-end PC's and enjoy PC gaming but simply can't afford it or aren't confident or experienced enough to build their own PC. Most gamers wouldn't want to worry about all the problems that can come along with PC gaming like any number of the components dying, compatibility issues, needing to upgrade hardware, viruses, etc. That's why people like consoles. You buy one and that's it. You just put the games in and play. It's a lot simpler and less intimidating than PC gaming.

Steambox would be a way for all those curious gamers to cross over into the world of Steam without dealing with the intimidating, deep waters of PC gaming.