Steam box

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

A potential bombshell could be coming from the direction of Valve HQ, following reports last month that the company would consider its own hardware.



The PC developer and digital distribution giant is actually well beyond that point The Verge wagers. According to their sources, the company has been working on a hardware spec and applicable software which would make up the major components of the 'Steam Box.'


The console would be a set-top box that can run PC games and use Steam or even competing services. It would also take advantage of Steam's thus far unreleased 'Big Picture' mode, which allows PCs and Macs to be displayed on any TV or computer monitor in your home.


Game developers wouldn't have to pay for a licensing fee to Valve for the privilege to make games for the console — unlike Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft's stance of charging game creators to make games on their platforms.


Additionally it's rumored the console would support configurable game controllers as well as a bracelet or some other sensor that would incorporate a player's biometric data to affect games in a major way.
Supposedly meetings were held during CES to demo a hand-built version of the device to potential partners, with basic specs reportedly including a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU.


Valve has yet to confirm any of the report, so for now we have to accept it as rumor until Valve chooses to provide comment.


http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/rumor-valve-developing-steam-box-console/092215

[YT]_qAzOxMuigc&feature=channel_video_title[/YT]

 

[Soapy]

That seems crazy, but if true I would buy one in a heartbeat, assuming it's affordable.

 

[The Squirrel]

I'd be down for one.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

If it features better visuals than the 360/PS3, go ahead and sign me up.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

How will this be different from a gaming PC? Because I already have that.

 

[The Squirrel]

It would take the place of one. Which could work for me since all I have is my crappy laptop.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

It would take the place of one. Which could work for me since all I have is my crappy laptop.

Building a gaming pc will probably be cheaper than buying this thing.
Laptops = crap for gaming. I really don't understand why so many people use them today. Most of the time (from personal experience) they aren't out and about skipping with it or sitting on the bus with it. They are just sitting in the house with it as you would a desktop pc. So, most of the time, they are paying much more (much, much more) than you would for a desktop pc of similar spec. So, whats the point? Save 3-4 feet of space = paying +£200-£400 Really?

How will this be different from a gaming PC? Because I already have that.

I was thinking the same thing. It could actually present problems.
Developers using steam may feel obligated to widen audience by incorporating the ability to play on the couch with a control pad. This would mean streamlined press X to win games. Huge blocky UI like the terrible one seen in Oblivion. And UI that outright doesn't work with the mouse and keyboard. Alot of pc developers have far less resources than console developers. If you look at Skyrim, Bethesda has huge resources, it's a million dollar game. Yet the UI outright doesn't work with a mouse and keyboard. It could and does... (thanks to modders) but when the talent is lacking or the effort, or like Bethesda they are outright incompetent, with this box thing you could see alot more of that. It could also fundamentally change game design from the get go like console development has had with people going for a cash grab. It would also encurage (like console development has) more of a monopoly with DLC and even more of a closed system, probably give them an excause to bump up prices for the ignorant who know not the way of pc gaming.

I don't doubt Valve has good intentions or that the games they make wouldn't present a problem (because they are Valve) but alot of developers are not as good as Valve (Bethesda). It currupt pc gamiing even more than it already has been in the long run. With console focus, currupt gaming (with good looking girls who know nothing about games and boys who look like they have just left school) media punting whatever has the most money, piddling over classic pc games and what not, the entire universe as we know it, with everything in it, is currently against pc gaming. Valve unintentionally could end up doing the same thing. I hope it fails to be honest or they don't go through with it;. Saying that though, it's Valve and we still more or less know nothing about it. At this point it's just hypothetical skepticism.

 

[Alchemyst]

If it features better visuals than the 360/PS3, go ahead and sign me up.

Same here

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Building a gaming pc will probably be cheaper than buying this thing.
Laptops = crap for gaming. I really don't understand why so many people use them today. Most of the time (from personal experience) they aren't out and about skipping with it or sitting on the bus with it. They are just sitting in the house with it as you would a desktop pc. So, most of the time, they are paying much more (much, much more) than you would for a desktop pc of similar spec. So, whats the point? Save 3-4 feet of space = paying +£200-£400 Really?



I was thinking the same thing. It could actually present problems.
Developers using steam may feel obligated to widen audience by incorporating the ability to play on the couch with a control pad. This would mean streamlined press X to win games. Huge blocky UI like the terrible one seen in Oblivion. And UI that outright doesn't work with the mouse and keyboard. Alot of pc developers have far less resources than console developers. If you look at Skyrim, Bethesda has huge resources, it's a million dollar game. Yet the UI outright doesn't work with a mouse and keyboard. It could and does... (thanks to modders) but when the talent is lacking or the effort, or like Bethesda they are outright incompetent, with this box thing you could see alot more of that. It could also fundamentally change game design from the get go like console development has had with people going for a cash grab. It would also encurage (like console development has) more of a monopoly with DLC and even more of a closed system, probably give them an excause to bump up prices for the ignorant who know not the way of pc gaming.

I hope that happens. All of it.

 

[The Squirrel]

That controller looks awful.

 

[KALEL114]

Still don't know about this. I mean, who are they targeting here? PC gamers won't get it, because they most likely have a more powerful rig. I could see some console gamers get it, but only as a complimentary system to go with their Sony/MS/Nin. console. Not sure how many will buy it as a stand alone. I would wager the numbers would be small.

Not to mention it costs a lot to launch a system and a lot of man power too. Valve only has around 260 employees compared to a company like MS who has tons of cash and 90,000+ employees. I just don't know if they have the resources.

I don't know. I guess we will see soon. It will be very intriguing if it's true.

 

[Donut]

So this will have nothing but Valve games & maybe everything on Steam ?

 

[StrainedEyes]

So this will have nothing but Valve games & maybe everything on Steam ?

Well, that's essentially every game that is released, aside from 360 and PS3 exclusives.

Why the negative connotation?

 

[The Squirrel]

It could also bring in its own exclusives too.

 

[zenith16]

There's this interview which I think helps explain valve's point of view at the moment:

Valve’s Gabe Newell talks wearable computers, why consoles should open up, and game ownership


more>>>>
http://penny-arcade.com/report/edit...e-computers-rewarding-players-and-whether-w/1

 

[Soapy]

Christ, Gaben. He needs to shave that beard or dye it or something.

 

[zenith16]

I'm pretty sure it's an old picture.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Im kinda liking the beard on Mr. Newell.

 

[zenith16]

Valve: Console Not Coming Anytime Soon

News
on Mar 08, 2012 at 03:22 PM
813 Views

12
Valve's Doug Lombardi pours cold water on the recent rumors of an upcoming Valve console.
... More

source:GI


I don't know if your still here reading this spock after all you have been banned.
But you can breath a sigh of relief now.

 

[Soapy]

I think this is the takeaway from the piece:

When questioned further as to whether he thought that the company could one day do a console even if it's not on the near horizon, he replied, "I think that's accurate."

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Dang, i was hoping they were gonna do a console in the near future.

 

[Soapy]

It would be exciting to get a new player in the console space.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

It would be exciting to get a new player in the console space.

I agree. Competition would only help the users and id love to see what Valve could come up with.

 

[zenith16]

Valve Hiring Hardware Engineers For 'Whole New Gaming Experiences'

News

on Apr 13, 2012 at 08:46 AM
6,708 Views

61
The studio seems to making good on threats and rumors about getting into the game-hardware business.
... More


source:GI

 

[Soapy]

An unconfirmed report surfaced yesterday saying that Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at Valve’s headquarters in*Bellevue, Washington. Whenever Cook is spotted out and about, people take notice. The CEO of the world’s most valuable company doesn’t personally visit other tech companies to simply have a chat.

Many speculated as to why Cook would be visiting Valve, maker of popular game series like Half-Life, Team Fortress and*Portal. Valve also boasts an incredibly robust online PC gaming platform called Steam that operates similarly to Apple’s App Store.

We’ve gotten word that Cook was indeed at Valve yesterday, and what’s more, Apple is planning a full-on assault to take over the living room. This assault won’t just be limited to the long-rumored Apple HDTV set, but will also include a revolutionary home console as well.

According to sources to Cult of Mac, Apple is working on a television set with an iTunes-integrated touch screen remote and Siri-like voice command technology. The TV set will be coming before the end of 2012.*Rumors and patents have said as much for the past year, so that’s nothing new.*But that’s not all we’ve heard.

Our sources also say that Apple’s television set will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like*video game console. The interface will rely heavily on motion and touch controls.

If true, this wouldn’t be Cupertino’s first foray into the console market.

Back in 1995, Apple collaborated with Bandai to product a Mac OS running home console called the Bandai Pippin back in 1995. Things were pretty disjointed at Apple back then, and the company was trying to regain its image under the leadership of*Michael Spindler. Apple licensed the Pippin platform to Bandai for a console, but the market was already dominated by the PlayStation and Sega. The Pippin was priced too high to compete and Bandai ended up selling less than 50,000 units before shelving the project.

Back to Valve. The gaming company makes Steam, a PC game distribution network with 30 million active users on both the PC and Mac. Steam is to gaming as iTunes is to music. Recent rumors have suggested that Valve is working on its own console dubbed the “Steam Box.” Instead of another Xbox or PlayStation, the hardware would serve as more of a standard that Valve would license to partners, much like the way Google handles Android in the smartphone space.

Recent Valve job listings also indicate that the company is working on a*mysterious hardware project.*The Steam Box is rumored to feature*biometrics technology in the form of a bracelet or wearable device for recognizing players.

Last year Valve CEO Gabe Newell seemed concerned with Apple’s ‘walled garden’ approach and the possibility of its entrance into the TV market.*”On the platform side, it’s sort of ominous that the world seems to be moving away from open platforms,” Newell told The Seattle Times.*”They build a shiny sparkling thing that attracts users and then they control people’s access to those things.”

Newell talked about “shiny sparkling things” again*in a more recent interview a couple months ago:

Well, if we have to sell hardware we will. We have no reason to believe we’re any good at it, it’s more we think that we need to continue to have innovation and if the only way to get these kind of projects started is by us going and developing and selling the hardware directly then that’s what we’ll do. It’s definitely not the first thought that crosses our mind; we’d rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do that. We think it’s important enough that if that’s what we end up having to do then that’s what we end up having to do.

If there’s anyone that’s good at manufacturing and distributing hardware, it’s Apple. We don’t know the exact details of why Tim Cook met with Valve recently, but the two companies are obviously talking to one another. Based on what we’ve heard, it’s possible that Apple could be considering Valve as a partner for its entrance into living room gaming.

We’ve reached out to both Valve and Apple for comment and will update this story if we receive a reply.

Source