Think about it for a second. What is SteamOS and SteamBox hyped as? As living room device. It's supposed to be paired with TV, used with controller, hell, Big Picture was designed with controllers, not keyboard/mouse in mind. Did you ever try using mouse playing on couch? Yup. So, what happens if it gets big market share?

A) Games become more expensive. It's inevitable, need to code not only Windows version, but also SteamOS one will drive up the costs and it might mean more games being poor ports. Plus, while SteamOS is "free" certification for it won't be.

B) Games become even more casual, just as first consoles and then tablets did to gaming. Self explanatory - games are being designed with gamepad, not keyboard in mind. Strategies? Sorry. Multiplayer shooters like TF2? Nope, I hope you like more CoD clones designed for pads. Simulators? You wish.

C) Steam becomes even more of a locked platform, à la iStuff. Now you will not only be pushed to be locked into one digital sales service, but also push to adapt and be locked into new OS. Hope you didn't liked free HDD space, seeing you will now need 2x OS, and Valve will probably try to start pushing exclusives to make it one OS, one they control.

Of course, that's not likely to happen seeing Valve is too poor to even produce a reference version of SteamBox for sale (like Google does with Nexus) or even their unveiling and only vaguely promises to send some test version to 300 people in the future, but once you get past the hype, it starts to look eventual Valve success will be cancer further weakening PC gaming :|

11 years ago*

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Its so funny that all your points are so wrong. I did explain it to you in the other thread but you couldnt grasp it.

Games have always been cheaper for PC. Nothing has changed that and neither will this. More people buying from Steam will mean better sales can be offered. This could even drive down console gaming prices.

More casual games will be made, maybe. That doesnt mean the games like strategies or simulations will stop. You can still game on your PC too. Kickstarters and massive sales for those kinds of games have shown people still want to play them and there is plenty of money to be made. This way console gamers may be introduced to that style of keyboard and mouse gaming and make sales even more of those kinds of games.

Steam made its OS because Windows was becoming a more and more locked down software with Windows 8. A move they despised. They are not doing the same thing and locking you down.

You seem to have some sort of weird pessimistic view of this that you cant think logically about it and just go off on some wild tangents about it ruining PC gaming. Read into it and about it with a sane mind and you will realise nothing you said is going to be the case.

Did you read the FAQ ?

"Am I going to be using a mouse and a keyboard in the living-room?
If you want. But Steam and SteamOS work well with gamepads, too. Stay tuned, though - we have some more to say very soon on the topic of input."

"What games will be available during the beta?
The nearly 3,000 games on Steam. Hundreds already running natively on the SteamOS, with more to come. The rest will work seamlessly via in-home streaming."

"Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot?
Sure."

Sony revealed the Vita TV have just stated they want to be on PC's, TV's, Blu Ray etc (not necessarily their own branded versions) and that would be using the gakai technology. Steam are just keeping up with the competition.

11 years ago
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A. False. Steam OS is based on Linux and ports to Linux are not hard to make at all, much closer to PC than a console port. You do not know about certification for it, since it is based on Linux which is open source I doubt it will be the same like certification for consoles.

B. False. Games are pretty casual nowadays to be sure, but SteamBox will hit much harder the console market than the PC one. Consider old Wii phasing out and you'll see things will break pretty even. Anyway games are casual because of demand not because of the hardware. Also newsflash most games are alaready designed for pads or have pad support. With Oculus and the like hitting the market soon, I doubt we'll be using kb&m for more than a couple of years more.

C. With a free OS to developers and users, the word to use is open not closed? Also why 2 OS? It's a real OS so you will be able to browse and do whatever you want, why would you need a second one?

Valve is actually moving past the XBOX1 PS4 generation to create something new, I celebrate an open console that will let me get rid of Windows but still let me use my KB and mouse if I want, also by giving the source code of the OS i am sure I will be able to do whatever I want with my hardware.

11 years ago
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Thinking about it for a second? Seems like you didn't do that in the first place.

11 years ago
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Most retarded SG thread 2013 award goes to "(you know who)".

Seriously, stupid conclusions. The worst that could happen is steam making exclusives for the box, it might happen, they got to give people a reason to buy it, if it's going to be a pc that acts like a console with nothing exclusive, it's more than likely that building your own pc comes with a better profit in the long run.

And the second thing that could happen is competition on prices for multi-platform games, imagine steambox having the same prices as steam-pc, what will the competition do to acts of this kind? They will be forced to drop their prices in order to keep some money income and to maintain their presence in the market.

Imagine Half life 3 releasing on steambox/pc for 40€, 360/one/ps3/ps4 for 50€ - 70€, now imagine all multi-platform games going the same path, see what happens? Increasing the prices won't make things better for anyone, starting off with the lowest price tags and dropping them every few months works the best for profit. In the end it will be all about price tags in games and exclusives for each console system. And i do believe steambox might be more expensive of a system compared to others but it will pay off in the price tag for games compared to other systems.

11 years ago
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You are trying to reason with a guy who said Steam sales have got worse because they made Steam OS. Also saying Steam shouldnt have been spending all the users money on this as it doesnt benefit everyone with a PC like sales do. I think you may lose this battle :D

11 years ago
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Games are casualized just because you use controller with them? I could probably play CS with controller, does that make me casual? Nope, but I'm still fucking terrible at it.

Games are made for money (big surprise there, bet ya didn't see it coming) and the big money is in the casual market, because most people don't want to play "hard" game after a "tough day at work" since they're such a fat slobs that they get exhausted by sitting for 9 hours and pushing pencils around.

11 years ago
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These people with scuh a limited brain capacity just amaze me every day!sorry if I offended you...but really?is that really how deep you can look into things?only the cons of everything new?if people judged by that hilariously idiotic logic we would have been still in the stoneage... like "what?making new things? PF DO YOU KNOW WHAT MAY HAPPEN!?!??!"

11 years ago
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It seems the overlying logic that makes up the majority of opinions opposed to this guy's points is "Steambox is inevitably going to be successful because Valve can do no wrong". I'm not saying GPTrixie is right, but let's not try predicting the future here folks. Both Steambox and SteamOS could be massivley mishandled, and that could have very negative long-term effects on PC gaming.

Everyone here thinks they're a frigging expert.

11 years ago
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How would it have a very negative effect on PC gaming ? You mention logic but dont use any to put across your point ? While i accept Steam Machines and Steam OS could fail i see no reason that failure would affect my PC or the money made for developers from it. I dont see anyone saying they are leaving their PC and moving over to Steam Machine. The PC market will be staying where it is. A mishandled Vita would not affect PS4 gamers for example. It would affect any future handheld or users of the current one.

11 years ago
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I'm no expert, so I won't speculate on details. I leave that to people who know better.

Like I said, it COULD have negative effects.

11 years ago
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If you think it could have negative effects there must be a reason to make you come to that conclusion. Otherwise you are just randomly spouting words. What is your logic behind it ? If you dont have any then you might aswell not have typed anything. I just gave you the logic of why it COULD NOT have negative effects on PC gaming.

Developers seem to like it too

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/09/25/valves-steamos-and-steam-machines-announcements-developers-react/

and Ken Levine

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.829402-Ken-Levine-SteamOS-Is-Going-To-Be-Awesome

11 years ago
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Really? Use your imagination man. SteamOS and Steambox could go bust, costing Valve millions of dollars -- how could that not affect their bottom line? Valve could decide later on to segregate the SteamOS client, forcing us to re-purchase games we already own. Valve could strike exclusivity deals with the publishers, setting off a trend that would make console exclusivity pale by comparison. Valve could decide go back on their word and make SteamOS a walled garden, costing them money and customers. The boutique builders could massively overprice their units, turning away large numbers of customers. There are a dozen things that could wrong with this whole scheme.

I really don't give a toss what developers think. I'm withholding final judgement until we all get to see what Valve does with this new tech, and I'm not going to let a bunch of internet commentators decide what I think about it all.

Anyway, using the example of the Vita is not a good counterargument. If Sony loses money on the Vita, it affects their bottom line. The bottom line affects their entire company, from design to development to production to marketing to final sale. That's basic business economics. You might as well try arguing that rotten vegetables in the Fresh Foods corner of your local grocery aren't going to affect that store's total profits.

11 years ago
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We are talking about PC gaming and Steam OS and Steam Machine. All your arguements you just stated even though half were wildly too conspiracy theorist were hurting Valves bottom line. Not PC gaming in general. Steam OS is like Android. People can build all they want. If they succeed or fail that company takes the fall. If a bad phone is brought out with android on does it affect android negatively or google, no it doesnt. People would still flock to buy a nexus that gives you the great experience of android. If someone brings out a phone that fails does that affect the mobile phone industry or google negatively, no it doesnt. Did samsung bringing out the phablet Note affect it, no. Steam OS & Steam Box cannot negatively affect PC gaming in the long run.

I will use the words of Ken Levine.

"Nobody ever lost money betting on Valve"

But i suppose we can agree to disagree :)

11 years ago
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"Steam OS & Steam Box cannot negatively affect PC gaming in the long run." So they can only affect PC gaming positively? That's the crux of your argument, right?

Yeah, there's no point in continuing this discussion.

11 years ago
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No there isnt only one option. It either does nothing at all and then fails leaving PC gaming exactly where it is at the moment or positively affects. Two different outcomes. It stays the same or improves. Remember you havent come up with any plausable reasons for it to even affect PC gaming negatively in the long run. Like i said though. We can agree to disagree because i dont see any valid arguements forthcoming. If you read my comments the crux of my arguement is a lot more than you have just selectively chosen in your own head. Lets meet same time next year here and talk about the ruin that Steam OS has left the PC gaming industry........... or not ;)

11 years ago
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Most of the points you've made make little to no sense...

A. What do you mean by "certification for it won't be"? What certification? It's based on Linux, if I'm not mistaking it's a remastered Linux Ubuntu that utilizes Steam's Big Picture mode, therefore it will remain free. It will not affect game costs or lead to poor ports either... You don't see PS3 / Xbox 360 exclusives being cheaper than multiplatform games, do you?

B. I'm pretty sure consoles currently hold a significantly larger market share than PC gaming / Steam in specific, however there are still plenty of quality games that are designed with PC gamers in mind, if not entirely for the PC... Also, as far as I know, you will be able to use mouse and keyboard on Steambox. You know you aren't going to forced to put it in your living room, right? Although it would be dumb to buy a Steambox when you can build a PC for less and install the free SteamOS on it, or just use the Steam app, as usual.

C. Why the hell would you need more HDD space, for 2 operating systems? Why would you install SteamOS on your PC, when you can just use the client in big picture mode, for the same effect? If you aren't using it in the living room, just use your primary OS along with the Steam client... No one is forcing you to install and use SteamOS. Nothing changes for you if you don't want it to.

11 years ago
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Seems like you're thinking of the worst case scenario.

11 years ago
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Heathen! Bow down to our mighty overlord Gabe!

11 years ago
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A) Games become more expensive. It's inevitable, need to code not only Windows version, but also SteamOS one will drive up the costs and it might mean more games being poor ports. Plus, while SteamOS is "free" certification for it won't be.

Plausible... But not that bad, there will probably still be Steam Sales (I don't dare think of the shit storm it would cause if Valve didn't have the Sales for a change.)

B) Games become even more casual, just as first consoles and then tablets did to gaming. Self explanatory - games are being designed with gamepad, not keyboard in mind. Strategies? Sorry. Multiplayer shooters like TF2? Nope, I hope you like more CoD clones designed for pads. Simulators? You wish.

Maaayyybeee, but I doubt it. Seriously doubt it. Strategy games sell well enough now even just on pc, and it's not like having another 'console' will reduce the number of people who want to play strategy games.

C) Steam becomes even more of a locked platform, à la iStuff. Now you will not only be pushed to be locked into one digital sales service, but also push to adapt and be locked into new OS. Hope you didn't liked free HDD space, seeing you will now need 2x OS, and Valve will probably try to start pushing exclusives to make it one OS, one they control.

Nah. Not going to happen. Think of the shit storm that would stir up. Valve can't risk the loss of revenue from the Store that they would suffer if they were to start tying people down to their own OS. They could get away with a SteamOS exclusive I guess, but not with forcing people to use only SteamOS.

TL;DR: Stop being so cynical. Those are the worst case scenarios.

11 years ago
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Like everybody said, don't be so pessimistic. SteamBox is aimed at bringing console gamers to a more PC-like environment. I can only see good things coming from this. Whether they succeed or not isn't going to affect the entire industry.

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by GPTrixie.