SteamOS/Machine Review - One year later

[sheehanje]

I've now had a Steam Machine for over a year now - I posted a review (under my kids account - sheehandp) on the Alienware steam machine that I bought at that time. I have since bought a Syber Steam Machine - that's much more potent, but much less portable. I ended up selling the Alienware to a friend, although I do have some regrets on it - mainly because the biggest selling point was the form factor and Alienware had that down.

Anyways, I figured I'd give my thoughts on it now...

First of all - I want to say that I don't get to use it much. My kids are constantly on it - so that's a good thing. They don't care about how many FPS it pushes out compared to Windows - they just care about playing games. The strongest point of SteamOS/Machine is the power to play time - from pressing the power button to playing a game is quicker than any other device I have (including a phone or tablet if you boot one of those from a cold state). This more than anything else is why I haven't stuck Windows on it. Some of the other reasons:

SteamOS doesn't get in it's own way for the most part. No annoying notifications during game play. The update process is seamless and quick unlike Windows 10, which has be pulling my hair out. I had one glitch with audio after an update in a year, but it was quickly resolved - I wish I could say the same about my Windows 10 devices. It's not trying to be a full desktop OS - and as a gaming OS it shines.

One thing - my kids don't use the steam controller - ever. They use a Xbox 360 wireless controller - and there is a keyboard/mouse hooked to the steam machine (which they mainly use for Surgeon Simulator).

On the performance side - it doesn't perform as well as my windows gaming rigs as far as GFX horsepower - but it kills the Xbox One. It has a GTX 960 in it - and it performs great in this system.

Ok - now for the irritations... No streaming video apps (Vudu, Netflix, etc.) - because of this, my Steam Machine is hooked to a spare 42" T.V. off of the living room. I get that I can use T.V. smart apps for this, but let's face it, they suck on most T.V.'s.

The library - yeah, it's grown by well over 1000 titles in a year, which is impressive. We finally got Rocket League, which my kids love, as do I... But the Triple A titles haven't come in droves... They've barely arrived in a trickle. Which leads me to my next negative:

The neglect. I don't know if Valve has an ace up their sleeve, but for the most part, the updates have been barely more than simpel bug releases. There are still UI bugs that have existed since day one (I still can't accept a gift in the UI, I have to do it in a seperate browser). I was shocked that VR didn't work with the steam machine from the day 1 release. It's almost an embarrasment, and has held me back from purchasing Vive. --- I know Steam Machines haven't sold well - but they have sold. But it almsot seems like an afterthought now.

The lack of community. Yes, I know there is one here, I know there is a SteamOS Wiki site - but the dearth of fan sites speaks volumes on how received SteamOS/Machines have been. Espeically in the Linux world where fan sites pop up for trivial apps. I'm sure there are many factors too this, including the low numbers, rejection of proprietary software, and just general malaise of everything SteamOS ---- and while it's not Valve's fault, it is still a negative. There are still fan sites for the Collecovision for cripes sakes.

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I've thought of ways that Valve could solve these issues. I really have no clue how they work internally - but starting with hiring a good product manager and community ambassador may help. Have a dedicated liason work with the different hardware and software vendors to bring better integration and more AAA titles to the platform.

Release a roadmap. Really. Instead of having your installed base wading in the dark with these things, give us some nuggets.

Start a port team. A team that will help companies port there products, that will get up and running on Vulkan.

Steam Controller 2.0 - I don't hate the Steam Controller - but you now have a year with some pretty good field tests - it can use a lot of improvement. Start on it.

Choose prefered partners. I understand the desire to keep Steam Machines in the hands of any manufacturer who wants to offer one - but screw it - pick 3 companies that you will certify as steam machine companies. Streamline what constitutes a steam machine - and make them offer sensible machines with sane options. Make them play to the strengths of what the platform can offer rather then get black eyes when companies like Falcon Northwest basically call the platform crap. (btw, I had a call into them and they flat out lied about SteamOS capabilites - even going as far to say it won't work with new intel CPU's - I was aghast).

Work with the media. Ars Technica had it out for SteamOS from the beginning. Instead of just sending them out machines - bring them in and show the strengths, show the gameplan, show them the comparisons not just with Windows PC's, but how they fare against consoles, whcih in my opinion is where they could have a leg up.

Finally - start some grassroots campaigns. Start a steam machine convention - it doesn't have to be huge - just something to make adopters feel like they are part of something - . It's the biggest thing I see missing with Steam Machines. You have to make people believe they are not just buying a gaming platform, but into a culture.

Get to work Valve - make these things great.... it's not too late.

[Balderick]

i think Valves ace up their sleeve is VR and think linux's thorn in its side is proprietary gpu drivers.

MS have allready announced companies like Acer, Dell and Asus will be releasing VR HMD's starting from $300 early next year. They will not rely on external devices like base stations for tracking.

Valve have also shown off new vr hardware recently and also have a long line of companies using the steamvr tracking hdk to help create the next gen vr devices.

HTC and Valve are also putting a lot of time and effort into premium enterprise projects including Cybercafes.


It is odd that the vive is listed as steam hardware when steamos does not even support vr!.


Tens of thousands of people are using their android phones and tablets to enjoy steamvr content using googlevr viewers!

I swear i can smell a steam for arm client! :steamsniff: :steamsniff:

imo valve have way more to worry about with google store than they do from ms store!

HTC are major organisers and contributors to a VR Institute in China. It will cost over $1.5 billion to construct.

Three years ago Nvidia prophesised that android was coming to encroach on pc gaming space. The then Tegra Kepler chip has evolved into the Tegra PX2 which uses Pascal gpu architecture with Parker cpu architecture. Nvidia more recently confirmed there is huge announcements too come regarding vr and computing at CES 2017. I found watching the european ndc 2016 keynote absolutely inspiring.

After using both a steam machine and a nvidia shield android tv it must be said the arm device blows steamos clean out of the water. In fact i would even dare to say the nvidia shield android tv does everything Valve claimed steam machines would bring to the living room and so much more.


It is more than obvious VR is very much on the agenda for Valve and their partners. I see steamos being pre installed on more arm devices than on x86_64 devices within the next two years.

Comparing all the other popular gaming platforms, linux on pc is really the last to the party.

Windows have a vr 3d optimised update incoming.

Android already have a vr optimised os through android nougat.

xbox users can use oculus rift hmd to enjoy vr conytent

playstation have their own vr platform



One thing is for sure though i am stocking up the beer n popcorn for CES 2017. I am more pumped for CES 2017 now than what i was for steam machines three years ago. I honestly feel i can believe Nvidias claims a lot easier after watching tegra hardware and shield ganming platform evolve and both doing so in a shorter time frame than what Valve have had for steam boxes. http://wccftech.com/nvidia-ces-2017/

[dirk.dierickx]

Not too worried about the AAA titles, because for one there are a lot of great games to be found in those indie offerings (just think about shovel knight which got a multitude of best game of the year) and second the AAA releases are building up, the last few months feral has been on a release frenzy, and also it seems valve has somebody dedicated to helping port games to steamos/linux now (i forgot who it was, though). The problem with the releases is that most of the time there is no simultanious release, linux comes months after the windows release, this needs to be fixed (will vulkan help with this? i don't know, but we can only hope).

[CrisFigueira]

Originally posted by sheehanje:

Ok - now for the irritations... No streaming video apps (Vudu, Netflix, etc.) - because of this, my Steam Machine is hooked to a spare 42" T.V. off of the living room. I get that I can use T.V. smart apps for this, but let's face it, they suck on most T.V.'s.

I'm also upset with SteamOS not having a lousy Netflix app after two years, but a $35 Chromecast solves the issue for me. Much better than smart TV apps.

[skinnyraf]

A nice review, mirroring my experience a lot - though in my case I'm the one using the Steam Machine, as my kids mostly play Lego games.

As for Netflix, I agree with Cris - Chromecast is so cheap and covers all streaming needs.

[ProfessorKaos64]

Superb write up, thank you. I hope you don't mind, I posted this to our subreddit.

[que movida]

great review

Im the owner of one of those vive sets... and im saddened by the current status :(

[aaronfranke]

+1 to all of these. Valve needs to step their game up.

[NeptNutz]

Great first-hand review. Thanks for this contribution!

Having tried--and returned--multiple monitors lately (4K/UHD among them), I think SteamOS with a solid Vulkan driver from AMD/Nvidia/Intel and a minimum-spec box and than can push a 4K and HDR benchmark at a baseline of 30 FPS would go a looooong way to set a target platform for many developers and future 4K users out there.

If the PS4 Pro upscaling and checkerboarding is any indicator, native 4K is far from being ready for prime time these days. 4K/60 FPS is within reach but is still cost prohibitive. However, 4K/30 FPS (the limit for most of the old HDMI 1.x connections still out there) seems imminently achieveable, while 4K/60 FPS and HDR (i.e. HDMI 2.0, which should be 100% mandatory on all newly branded Steam Machines) will still be the domain of money-no-object early adopters.

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ColecoVision - LOLZ! Did M-Network make cartridges for those?

[Pancakes4ever]

They always could release HL3 exclusively on SteamOS.

[halifax]

Originally posted by Pancakes4ever:

They always could release HL3 exclusively on SteamOS.

Yeah, at the end of the day, this is probably the best response.

Don't get me wrong, it's a long string of thought post by someone else who's pro Steam Machines and SteamOS and Linux in general - don't get me wrong, I love it too and am a card carrying member with a day one Alienware Steam Machine I use to this day.

But we are a speck of dust in Valve's eye. Steam Machines did not do well out of the gate as Valve had hoped for. And Valve generally is not one to stick around and keep spending valuable time and resources on something that didn't perform well early on.

But they didn't abandon us either. We are in a slow burn limbo for now. The HL3 comment would have been, imo, the best way to launch Steam Machines, IMO. I know there are altruistic thoughts and world-a-better-place motives out there - I'm just saying they don't matter for shit.

Valve decided they were too young new and hotshot billionaires to play by the old rules - and they released Steam Machines without a single exclusive title to pull consumers in.

Valve would have done better if they had just released HL3 as an exclusive when Steam Machines launched. Then the OP's long marathon post that is so well thought out would be about more successes we have experienced than failures, overall.

[aaronfranke]

Originally posted by Pancakes4ever:

They always could release HL3 exclusively on SteamOS.

It should just be a timed exclusive, for maybe a few months or so. That would be enough to incentivize more than enough PC gamers to try Linux and dual-boot.

[ProfessorKaos64]

I should make a SteamBuntu lol. You could take Ubuntu server. Add in the minimum bits, the SteamOS session packages, and raft a similar unattended-upgrades conf file. Not that simple, but it'd be interesting to see how it fares.

I wonder if I could help rnaintain Stephenson's Rocket.

[Pancakes4ever]

Don't get me wrong, I am not total happy with the current state of SteamOS, either. But in Valve's shoes, I don't know how it could be done differently. Valve finds themselves in a unique position to push developers to make linux-friendly products, but to do so means we, the community have to suffer in the meantime. Valve could set up Wine bottles for each game as it installs, opening the door for a lot of titles but it would give no incentive for Devs to change practices, continually handing all responsibility to Valve to make a product work for SteamOS.

All we can do is try to convince all our friends to become jedi, join linux, and eventually make Linux a more viable gaming platform. Convincing windows users isn't too hard, as they are basically held at gunpoint to keep using the OS. All you have to do is say the word "free" a few times. But with Mac user, there's like no hope. Maybe I should start going door to door as a Jehovah's Linux User.

[aaronfranke]

Originally posted by ProfessorKaos64:

I should make a SteamBuntu lol. You could take Ubuntu server. Add in the minimum bits, the SteamOS session packages, and raft a similar unattended-upgrades conf file. Not that simple, but it'd be interesting to see how it fares.

That sounds kind of interesting. I have a few ideas for such a thing. I would give it a minimal DE, but not bother loading anything more than the basics; the panel and such wouldn't be loaded until the user enters the desktop mode. I don't really know where to start when it comes to making a custom Linux distro, but I'd be willing to try to create it with you if you want.

[NeptNutz]

Originally posted by aaronfranke:

Originally posted by ProfessorKaos64:

I should make a SteamBuntu lol. You could take Ubuntu server. Add in the minimum bits, the SteamOS session packages, and raft a similar unattended-upgrades conf file. Not that simple, but it'd be interesting to see how it fares.

That sounds kind of interesting. I have a few ideas for such a thing. I would give it a minimal DE, but not bother loading anything more than the basics; the panel and such wouldn't be loaded until the user enters the desktop mode. I don't really know where to start when it comes to making a custom Linux distro, but I'd be willing to try to create it with you if you want.

^ This.

The idea of a Linux gaming OS with a home screen (like Alienware HiveMind) that allows for multiple drivers (including open source), Wine, multiple storefronts (GoG, itch.io, Steam), The Internet Archive[archive.org]), FOSS Debian/Linux games[blends.debian.org], etc, etc. is very appealing!

Of course, the back end would probably look like thermonuclear electric spaghetti, patched with duct tape and unglued from its PCB, but the front end could be ... something wonderful!