More talk of Steam "box" Dec. 8

[gladiatorua]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming
Interview with Gaben.
Short summary:
"SteamBox" is not actually the one and only Box. It's more like an addition to Steam system to deliver Steam to the living room.
Gabe outlined 3 tiers.
Good = streaming content from your PC to your TV via wireless connection like Miracast or Nvidia Grid. Cheap solution for people with existing PCs.
Better = Valve's spec of compact PC with CPU and GPU for the living room. Like a console.
Best = hardware manufacturers can go nuts and create their own devices.

Valve is making their own Linux-based SteamBox. User are not restricted to Linux and can install whatever they want.

No motion controls. They are limited to dancing and "sports". Valve is researching biometric control, including eyetracking.

The controller might include a touchscreen if Valve figures out how to properly integrate it and if it's really needed.


Nvidia Shield and Razer Edge were also named as parts of the whole "SteamBox" thing, from what I heard.
Edge is a thing that is a tablet, a portable console and a laptop with different docks that good enough laptop specs and is running Windows8.
Nvidia Shield is more interesting. It's portable Android Tegra 4-based gaming system with full controller. But that's not the interesting part. It can be connected to the TV, supports 4k and has a thing called Grid which allows to stream PC games from a Nvidia 6xx card wirelessly. Grid is very interesting and addition of another device to Android platform with dedicated controller makes the Ouya and other similar Android devices MUCH more promising. I expect controller manufacturers to release controller-"dock" with additional battery for Android phones and expansion of mobile Android gaming.

 

[Childs]

Xi3 opens Piston Steam Box-alike pre-orders $899 now, $999 later

Seems a bit much for an AMD APU based system. They are using a R464, which is a 4 core CPU running at 2.3Ghz, turbo'd to 3.2Ghz, and a 7660G GPU. I would think something like this would cost much less.

 

[Elixer]

Xi3 opens Piston Steam Box-alike pre-orders $899 now, $999 later

Seems a bit much for an AMD APU based system. They are using a R464, which is a 4 core CPU running at 2.3Ghz, turbo'd to 3.2Ghz, and a 7660G GPU. I would think something like this would cost much less.

It has custom everything in it, so the costs will stay up until they can mass produce it. I guess it also comes with a SSD, but that shouldn't add that much to the cost of the thing.
That is still way underpowered for anything action heavy @ 1080p.

Streaming games is horrible, if you haven't tried onlive, then.. well.. ugh. No. Make it stop.

 

[zinfamous]

I would like to see this do well, if it ever exists, but I anticipate a major flop.

--the console industry is rather crowded. many have tried, most have failed--especially companies that are console/game-only businesses.

--would any of you buy a steam box to hook up to your TV if you already have an established desktop/htpc with all you want from steam, already loaded, and ready to go? It will always be cheaper for current steam users to upgrade specific parts of their system and they will always be ahead of a steam box.

basically....this offers something that just about everyone who wants it already has--access to steam, but in a different box.

 

[Childs]

Valve distance's itself from Xi3 Piston...

"Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year, but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs," he said.

I guess that is that.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Considering that you can roll your own HTPC for $1000 and get a 7970, I'd say the Piston will flop. I mean, many PC gamers must be pretty knowledgeable about their hardware and be pretty power-hungry if they are going PC over console.

The box will either have to legitimately tie or beat (probably beat, since the consoles usually have well-optimized games) for only slightly more, touting Steam's excellent sales and the PC's upgradeability as a way to have an overall lower cost, or they'll have to be legitimately powerful for the price. Another selling point that needs to be hit hard is the PC's inherent backwards compatibility (never lose a game during a generation shift!)

On the other hand, now is the time to make a breakthrough, since it seems that the last generation of consoles will be incompatible with the new one. Every aspiring console will start on a roughly even footing, as far as game selection goes.

 

[Jodell88]

Considering that you can roll your own HTPC for $1000 and get a 7970, I'd say the Piston will flop. I mean, many PC gamers must be pretty knowledgeable about their hardware and be pretty power-hungry if they are going PC over console.

The box will either have to legitimately tie or beat (probably beat, since the consoles usually have well-optimized games) for only slightly more, touting Steam's excellent sales and the PC's upgradeability as a way to have an overall lower cost, or they'll have to be legitimately powerful for the price. Another selling point that needs to be hit hard is the PC's inherent backwards compatibility (never lose a game during a generation shift!)

On the other hand, now is the time to make a breakthrough, since it seems that the last generation of consoles will be incompatible with the new one. Every aspiring console will start on a roughly even footing, as far as game selection goes.

People keep forgetting the size of this thing. A dedicated graphics cards can't fit in it.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I didn't forget about the size, it's more like size is a non-factor. It's going into living rooms. That means it should look like a living room device. Yes, I could hide the thing, but as shown by the Piston, there is a significance premium on size. I don't want to spend $1000 on a device without a dedicated graphics card.

Seriously, if you would get the Piston, you're better off buying a gaming laptop and simply hiding it away. I mean, look at this (a part of a post I made at Ars Technica on the same issue):

A box with that case and high-end parts:

• i5-3570 = $200
• Gigabyte H77-N Wifi mITX motherboard = $105
• 4x2GB DDR3-1600 RAM = $50
• Sapphire Radeon 7950 = $310
• 256GB Crucial M4 SSD = $170
• Modular 500W Corsair CX500-M PSU = $67
• Silverstone Grandia 06B Case = $105
• Total = $1007 (plus tax, if applicable) If you want a 7970, switch the SSD for an HDD.

Plus, if you really were a newbie PC gamer, you'd want the free games that come with the 7950 to start off your inevitable Steam backlog.

 

[mizzou]

This sounds a whole lot like microsoft's "games for windows".

I thought if valve could release a "pc console" type of a device, maybe it could bring some performance normalcy to the arena, but I doubt that will ever happen. Too much money is being made on the constant upgrade cycle, that is part of what a PC is I guess.

If Valve has a "spec" PC, maybe they just mean it will be "Valve Approved", so that way they can just sell their badge to Dell/Alienware and turn a profit without having to do shit.

 

[Nintendesert]

So is this Valve taking a big squat over all it's zealots that were preaching the glory of the SteamBox or is there supposed to be something else coming down the pipe?