Gabe Newell says Linux is the future of gaming, new hardware to come out

If they go windows they can make a name for themselves

Valve already Owns the Windows gaming market. They can't expand if it means paying $100 to MS for each device they want to put out, or perhaps even more simply; build something and hand over a kill-switch to Microsoft ("Yeah, those licenses.. new terms").

Sounds like a great fucking idea, doesn't it?
 
1. Where are you getting that SteamOS is going to be locked and proprietary?

2. "Windows is open enough at this time" <- key words right there.

Calm down, I didn't say it was. Just throwing it out there...SteamOS looks good " at this time" <- key words right there.
 
I'm curious if the predictions that Wednesday will bring hardware announcements. But i'd imagine this running on almost anything. It would be neat if Valve will allow third party developers who don't yet release on Steam, like Blizzard, to run on SteamOS. It would be a free alt to "Windows only Games" or some bullshit.
 
Oh guys, with regards to streaming... There have been some pretty good advances recently in streaming "live" game content with minimal lag, good quality etc.. consider even something like Splashtop which will let you basically stream from your PC to a mobile device, including games and movies. Of course, stuff like the Nvidia Shield, the multitude of other streaming options for mobile (and servers for desktop etc..) all are predicated on this tech maturing... and often, even is reported to be usable over 3G/4G wireless internet services!

Valve offering a default (hopefully, open source) streamer kit embedded in the Steam Client should allow most people to be able to stream their games/media (oh PLEASE let it be XMBC they work with.... I'm having a great time with XBMC on my Ouya!) to another PC in their house. If they have wired gigabit connections, more power to them! If they're using 802.11ac, 802.11N etc...it should still be viable if the streaming server is optimized similar to those that can even work over cellular wireless!
 
It's still a pretty hard sell. Potentially great for people who are into the whole "living room TV" thing. My living room is built around my PC and I don't own a TV.

I'd love to play more games on linux, but I want to play on debian specifically, and I don't only want to play controller-based games.

I wonder if they're developing their own controller/remote thing. Doesn't seem like it'd be good for anyone. To make it good it'd have to be expensive.

O+O
 
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It would be neat if Valve will allow third party developers who don't yet release on Steam, like Blizzard, to run on SteamOS. It would be a free alt to "Windows only Games" or some bullshit.

Certainly a possibility, especially since Blizzard's Exec VP of game design indicated a long time ago the company wasn't happy with the direction MS was taking Windows in 8.

nice interview with Gabe Newell - "I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" - not awesome for Blizzard either&#8212; Rob Pardo (@Rob_Pardo)
 
I'd like to see CoD CLan edition. You basically buy a 4 pack of CoD special edition and you can set up tournaments for your Clan on a virtual Lan. Even if they have crappy computers, they can stream the game from your PC running SteamOS. All they would would need is a SteamOS enabled PC and an input device. Of course the host PC would need a decently fast connection.
 
I wonder if you'll be able to install other game son SteamOS and not just steam-games. Like for example, games that aren't on steam.
I suspect so, assuming they keep the existing facilities for adding non-Steam games.
 
Certainly a possibility, especially since Blizzard's Exec VP of game design indicated a long time ago the company wasn't happy with the direction MS was taking Windows in 8.

Poor Blizzard only sold ~18 million copies of their Diablo game since Windows 8 is definitely (FACTS!) a closed system.
 
Certainly a possibility, especially since Blizzard's Exec VP of game design indicated a long time ago the company wasn't happy with the direction MS was taking Windows in 8.

Soooo... like... i'm just gonna say that a collaboration between Valve and Blizzard would be neat. I didn't know about the things the Blizzard VP said about MS/Win 8. But I knew Gaben was upset about all of it.

I mean, it's somewhat unlikely that Valve would release a completely free (however downsized/stripped down it may actually be) OS devoted to playing Steam Games, and not have some sort of DRM/Content Management thing going on.

As for the whole making monies thing... having an exclusive title makes sense. How else are you going to entice the PC-gamers to dual-boot or single-boot SteamOS? Sell them H/W they either already have or have a more powerful system? Who in their right mind would build a gaming rig, THEN a $xx/$xxx Steam H/W set unless it offered them something they didn't already have. How're they gonna make them bennies, ya know?
 
No softwares outside of DRM SteamOS. Which is why this is a one-function OS: to play Steam games.

Where are you getting this? SteamOS needs to be a regular Linux distro if the user can install it on their own system and an OEM can integrate it and both are supposed to have an equal experience. You'll be able to have root access to your own system and you should be able to install anything you want on it. It may require you to install some additional packages for GUI apps, but at the very least it will have a standard X server since that's what Steam needs.
 
An operating system? Yawn. I can't think anything less relevant or practicable for me. How about Source Engine? How about Half-Life? How about something I GOD DAMN CARE ABOUT?
 
Poor Blizzard only sold ~18 million copies of their Diablo game since Windows 8 is definitely (FACTS!) a closed system.

Nice straw man argument, kudos, but put yourself in Valve's shoes -- if you see MS is spending billions on heading in the *direction* of closed, does a CEO that by definition needs to plan for the future and think in 5 and 10 year plans simply put his head in the sand and hope it never happens? Just "hope for the best" and if/when it does happen then finally react? That's not a gamble any CEO with an IQ above room temperature takes.
 
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Soooo... like... i'm just gonna say that a collaboration between Valve and Blizzard would be neat. I didn't know about the things the Blizzard VP said about MS/Win 8. But I knew Gaben was upset about all of it.

I mean, it's somewhat unlikely that Valve would release a completely free (however downsized/stripped down it may actually be) OS devoted to playing Steam Games, and not have some sort of DRM/Content Management thing going on.

As for the whole making monies thing... having an exclusive title makes sense. How else are you going to entice the PC-gamers to dual-boot or single-boot SteamOS? Sell them H/W they either already have or have a more powerful system? Who in their right mind would build a gaming rig, THEN a $xx/$xxx Steam H/W set unless it offered them something they didn't already have. How're they gonna make them bennies, ya know?

Potentially more people to sell software to via Steam.
 
You know this could be bigger than Facebook. I can imagine SteamOS on your job's work PC and playing Skyrim in a window. :) Or the secretary playing her favorite adventure game by booting SteamOS off a thumb drive in a window.
 
Then you are not [H] :D

HAH!
I disagree! I'd say the essence of [H] is identifying a problem and creating an overkill solution. That's liquid cooled with the blood of slain unicorns.

But this... what problem is being solved by this? Compared to the inherent problems that linux brings to the table...
 
Nice straw man argument, but imma overlook the absurdity of it for a moment. Put yourself in Valve's shoes -- if MS is heading in the *direction* of closed - then while no they are not yet fully closed today, does a CEO that needs to plan for the future and think in 5 and 10 year plans simply put his head in the sand and "hope for the best"? Is that what you would do?

There's nothing closed about it.

Planning for hypotheticals can be a good thing, but Blizzard doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to commenting about closed platforms (which actually exist right now, not some hypothetical Windows 11 vertical integrated conspiracy theory). Nor does Valve.

These guys don't want Microsoft to have an integrated app platform, that's it. I can understand why they don't want it, but pretending it's a "closed" system issue is far from true.
 
This.
Seems like a fix for a problem I don't have.

Nobody knew they needed to ride a horse until someone rode past them on one. Nobody needed a train until it delivered food from hundreds of miles away in less than a day. Car? What imbecile thought of that I bet someone in the 1800's said when the idea was proposed. I bet the Wright brothers had a whole sea of people at their plane launches to see the idiots crash and burn.

Don't knock new ideas as unwanted as you may find a use for them in the future. ;)
 
Nobody knew they needed to ride a horse until someone rode past them on one. Nobody needed a train until it delivered food from hundreds of miles away in less than a day. Car? What imbecile thought of that I bet someone in the 1800's said when the idea was proposed. I bet the Wright brothers had a whole sea of people at their plane launches to see the idiots crash and burn.

Don't knock new ideas as unwanted as you may find a use for them in the future. ;)

Uh... did you forget a /s?
Because I'm pretty sure all of those things solved a problem (efficient/fast/safe transportation, not necessarily in that order).
 
There's nothing closed about it.

Planning for hypotheticals can be a good thing, but Blizzard doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to commenting about closed platforms (which actually exist right now, not some hypothetical Windows 11 vertical integrated conspiracy theory). Nor does Valve.

These guys don't want Microsoft to have an integrated app platform, that's it. I can understand why they don't want it, but pretending it's a "closed" system issue is far from true.

No offense but you're all over the place. Neither of them made any specific statement about Windows8 being a "closed" system. You brought that word up. And who decided what Valve or Blizzard should or shouldn't be commenting on? Newell simply said "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" and Pardo said "not awesome for Blizzard either". Make of that what you will.
 
There's nothing closed about it.

Planning for hypotheticals can be a good thing, but Blizzard doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to commenting about closed platforms (which actually exist right now, not some hypothetical Windows 11 vertical integrated conspiracy theory). Nor does Valve.

These guys don't want Microsoft to have an integrated app platform, that's it. I can understand why they don't want it, but pretending it's a "closed" system issue is far from true.

Well in defense of MS, they did allow everyone to open an app store before they integrated one directly into Windows. You have to admit their version of one up everyone else was pretty epic. I wonder did they hold off making it mandatory for Windows to appease the EU? Wonder how long until the fine comes along. :)
 
But this... what problem is being solved by this? Compared to the inherent problems that linux brings to the table...
This wasn't designed to solve our problems. We're mostly competent people: we can get a Windows-based gaming PC working well enough in the living room. Some of us have had to edit autoexec.bat to get games running, so by comparison, that's nothing.

For the majority of the population, however, that is much less feasible. Big Picture is a start, but Windows itself has no ten-foot UI. It isn't in any way designed for being used in a manner that Valve wants PCs to be used in the living room. If they want an easy way to get more gaming PCs into the living room, this is pretty much the route they have to take to do that. Hopefully OEMs are excited enough by the idea to come out with some reasonable systems, but I hold little hope for that.
 
Lost me. Explain.

My point is; In your examples of cars, trains etc, there was a problem to solve: transportation.
But with this new Valve OS, what's the problem it's solving? What about PC gaming on Windows does this improve on? What inefficiencies does it iron out? What will be BETTER, not just different?
 
My point is; In your examples of cars, trains etc, there was a problem to solve: transportation.
But with this new Valve OS, what's the problem it's solving? What about PC gaming on Windows does this improve on? What inefficiencies does it iron out? What will be BETTER, not just different?

It would solve the worlds biggest problem for gamers of not being locked into Windows.
 
My point is; In your examples of cars, trains etc, there was a problem to solve: transportation.
But with this new Valve OS, what's the problem it's solving? What about PC gaming on Windows does this improve on? What inefficiencies does it iron out? What will be BETTER, not just different?

You're generalizing waaaayyy too much; basing fact on some universal constant that all people think alike.

It's not so much as it's *fixing* *something* but rather adding an option for people who have different perspectives/wants/needs/stuff.
 
My point is; In your examples of cars, trains etc, there was a problem to solve: transportation.
But with this new Valve OS, what's the problem it's solving? What about PC gaming on Windows does this improve on? What inefficiencies does it iron out? What will be BETTER, not just different?


It gets Valve the money of console gamers/people who would never game in front of a PC.

Console gaming is deemed far more socially acceptable than PC gaming is - no matter how much PC gaming has grown in years past.
 
No offense but you're all over the place. Neither of them made any specific statement about Windows8 being a "closed" system. You brought that word up. And who decided what Valve or Blizzard should or shouldn't be commenting on? Newell simply said "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" and Pardo said "not awesome for Blizzard either". Make of that what you will.

Gabe made several comments about his perception of the Windows App store being integrated into Windows 8, one reason for disliking it was due to it having a "closed nature".
 
My point is; In your examples of cars, trains etc, there was a problem to solve: transportation.
But with this new Valve OS, what's the problem it's solving? What about PC gaming on Windows does this improve on? What inefficiencies does it iron out? What will be BETTER, not just different?
I don't know if I'm rehashing what has already been said earlier, so I apologize if I do.

The immediate benefit is not for the customer, but for Valve. They don't own the infrastructure that they are dependant on, and it's not as if they can roll their own distro of windows. With MS's recent behavior, I would certainly feel more comfortable ( as a company ) if I owned the entire stack I used to make money.

Longer term, valve controlling the full stack allows them to provide the consumer with a stable environment, tailored to the specific needs of the platform.

This isn't a bid to replace windows, at least not yet. And I doubt that's the plan anyway; it's just a push to give them options should MS put them to the screw. Given that, last I heard, they were seriously considering putting Elop in charge...well, ya. I'd want as many lifeboat options as I could get, too.
 
Valve isn't attempting to solve a problem, they are trying to grow a market. In their vision, companies would sell SteamOS boxes that would stream games from both Windows and OSX in addition to games that natively run on Linux. The HTPC options are a part of that effort, but with companies talking about streaming games lately, Valve has evidently been working on the same concept, but from the PC game angle.

I'm not sure how successful it will be, but I think it's an interesting concept. If the games stream from your main computer, I'm curious how powerful the SteamOS box will actually have to be. Also, will other companies be able to make use of the same platform for their own games without going through Valve (like Android's various custom stores)?
 
Will SteamOS be available for public download or is this an OEM only release?
 
My point is; In your examples of cars, trains etc, there was a problem to solve: transportation.
But with this new Valve OS, what's the problem it's solving? What about PC gaming on Windows does this improve on? What inefficiencies does it iron out? What will be BETTER, not just different?

Ok think ahead and not just now for a moment. Here are some brainstorms.

Android / IOS/ whatever else SteamOS app so that you can watch your buddy play BF4 in real time on your smartphone or tablet. Instead of just streaming video you're sent actual coordinates in real time so you're actually there with him as he fights. Insert CoD, Awesomenauts, Rayman, or any other franchise.

Do you own a PC in your living room? If not this might be a good opportunity to get one as you would be able to bring the Steam experience there. Right now the average Joe doesn't have access to a living room PC. Might be technical or lack of knowledge, but it just isn't there. Give them a ready made SteamOS enabled PC and then suddenly it makes sense for them. It's something that they can understand as it looks and navigates just like their regular PC!

Ability to play games such as Skyrim on PC specs as low as a Chromebook. So you buy a Chromebook for class at your University. You fire up SteamOS and you can play Crysis 3 at Ultra settings. With a controller if you feel like plugging it in. Sounds cool? Does to me at least!

One set of XBOX controllers; 2 PC's. Set up wireless controllers to your living room SteamOS box and use them on your regular PC also without unplugging the transmitter. I think this could be a possibility! Well should be suggested to Gabe at least. :)

I suggested that they sell CLan versions of games in the thread earlier. Say you buy a special edition of CoD for the price of a 4 pack. That way your Clan can play on your virtual Lan. Hold tournaments with guys who have nothing more than a Chromebook.

I'm sure you can think of more possibilities for this product. :)
 
Will SteamOS be available for public download or is this an OEM only release?

From the Steam OS Website

Steam is coming to a new operating system
As we&#8217;ve been working on bringing Steam to the living room, we&#8217;ve come to the conclusion that the
environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself.
SteamOS combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen.
It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines.

Edit: A better quote was farther down the page.

Downloadable soon. Free forever!
SteamOS will be available soon as a free download for users and as a freely licensable operating system for manufacturers. Stay tuned in the coming days for more information.
 
Thanks for the info (unable to view it at work). I'll definitely test it out when it's available.
 
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