dynamiteReady wrote:

Mod74 wrote:

Unity supports Mac, an OS with a market share 400% bigger than Linux. Have you looked at what games get released for Mac on Steam (launched 2 and a half years ago)? Remember when Steam supporting Mac meant it was going to be a proper gaming platform?

OSX is Linux. With restrictions, and a handful of extensions.

This, its also heavily controlled, Valve cant use that as a platform. If they have a platform they can control every aspect of, they have free reign to do what they want - there would be no way they'd stick their neck out so far using an OS they cant control, but because they now can (and the timing's right, more or less) they can make a show of it. Steam own by far the biggest slice of of the digital distribution pie and i dont have statistics but i'd imagine pc sales as a whole.

With linux now getting extremely advanced and now having some solid support from hardware and software manufacturers (Its a much different story from 10 years ago), its not a stretch to say developers wont really mind their hand being forced for linux ports when it's instant entry to a new console market at, relatively, low effort compared to wrestling with confounding traditional console configurations (Although im admittedly making assumptions as to the hardware there). And the whole 'free stuff!' which comes with steam, and their regular sometimes inspired sales and so on does help. Theres also probably the driving force behind this which is microsoft wanting valves market (Obviously hence gabes wrath), valve goes to linux and makes a hardware split from desktop pcs, obviously developers would still support windows but you cant help but think that at a low barrier/cost of entry their games get played on the  big tv delivered by a tried, tested and respected system, these developers and publishers will be very interested in what valve are offering.

Mod74 wrote:

You can cite 'push button to get Ubuntu [not Linux]' in stuff like Unity but that only applies to the small scale indies working in it.

Where did you read that, on both counts!

The point was valve couldnt make a standalone platform from osx, they can with linux, the reason linux has a tiny share is theres no motivation to use linux over windows on traditionally distributed pc hardware especially as installing it and maintaining it is seen as a bit of a domain for nerds. Steam box would run linux transparently, theres no expectation of having to know how to use a computer, its open, so its very malleable, and its completely free, all the good bits behind pc gaming and no windows license/stipulations, a strong brand (Especially as in gaming circles Valve remain a very beloved company and maybe 'one of the good guys') and very low barrier of entry. It's a bit of a winner.

Unity 4 will also include a preview of a new deployment option to publish games to Desktop Linux.^[6][7][8] While the deployment add-on can potentially work with various forms of Linux, development is primarily focused on Ubuntu for its primary release.^[9]

If it's going to be a consolefied box you're relying on Valve to develop the interface then develop, test, and push out updates to the end users. Which is fine, but that's a whole different ball game to running a simple content delivery platform.

I think it's a bit early to talk about barriers to entry. We've no idea of the spec of the device, how much it will cost, or what OS it runs (and as a consequence what type of game catalogue you'll get)

Netbook and Nettop machines were cheaper because they ran Linux. How many of them do you see nowadays?

We'll see. I'll be gobsmacked if Linux is the only version you can buy. And will say now it'll be a complete failure and won't alter developer intentions toward the platform.

Note, I'm talking about the ultra shiny high profile stuff that people want/expect from PC/TV gaming, not the kind of stuff hoping to get picked up via GreenLight (which would have to be playable with and support a controller).

Arkham Asylum (and City) is a Games for Windows Live game so I wouldn't hold your breath on that appearing on Linux.

I know that's one example, but it does point to the problems of contracts for republishing existing games.

Mod74 wrote:

Arkham Asylum (and City) is a Games for Windows Live game so I wouldn't hold your breath on that appearing on Linux. I know that's one example, but it does point to the problems of contracts for republishing existing games.

That's exactly right.

That's a bigger deal than the whole Linux thing. The only way to change that, is by designing a console that people will want. Do that, and the developers will come.

I'm really keen to see what Valve have worked out that others haven't...

Perhaps they're bluffing...

I still think there's a hardware innovation somewhere in this story...

One thing you could get if Valve make a box is better grafix out of it compared to a similarly specced PC. The fact you would have a box which has X processor + Y graphics means that devs could optimise for that set up, in the same way, that the next gen system will look better than any similarly specced PC.

Gonzo wrote:

How's that project working out, cuckoo? Still working with wimborne and shit?

No idea what toms up to to be honest! I think him and his dudes ended up with different interests. I'm working on a super awesome mobile game and putting the initial stuff together that i hope to put on greenlight whenever its done, it'll be a super pretty 'experience' in the dear esther/journey mould is the plan although obviously i shant quite reach those heights, i just wanted to do an all singing all dancing dx11 powered graphics thing to stop some kids bitching on the unity forums about how unity cant do graffix (which is complete nonsense), but i dont see either project being completed until the second half of 2013 at the soonest, and im putting 10-12 hours a day into it. This stuff's time consuming!

Everyone's read the rumours about the biometric pad though, right?
That all seems quite new...

http://mobile.theverge.com/2012/3/2/2840932/exclusive-valve-steam-box-gaming-console

So the idea of games that 'attempt' to sense your mood doesn't strike anyone as particularly revolutionary?
It could turn out to be a "mahoosive" innovation.

I expect that's going to be a big USP for this thing if it's true... They've quite likely had an epiphany in a QA session using biometrics, as I expect all the large game companies do (remember that Edge feature? I should start buying that mag again), and the testers probably made a game out of it, like "Haha! Look at how James'/Jenny's heart rate goes up when approaching turn 5 of this track!", and the rest of the QA team are like "Ha! I barely break a sweat on this bit, but on that bit..."... And with that, the bods started dicking about.

Then they made some hardware.

And now we could possibly be talking about a box based on that very tech... It's quite a strong one, and much like improved graphics, it's something that can enhance almost any game. You can also spin new genres off it. Like a home conversion of brainball, or something...



That kind of tech is long overdue...

acemuzzy wrote:

But I'd just take the 'bracelet' off cos I'd want to win.

I was also thinking about the form of such a thing... A "bracelet" sounds like a tasteful applicator... Better than jump-leads and crocodile clips, or an array of needles, anyway. : P  

Didn't Ninty also have an Wii based oximeter in development? Or has that gone all N64 DD on us?

As for the games themselves, you wouldn't want your "readings" (or what have you) to effect your accuracy in a sports game, but you have the whole player stamina thing in modern footy games, right?

Say if you had a 2 - 0 edge on your opponent (or you've conceded a brace), I reckon you could probably measure a physiological change of some sort... You could translate that bio reading into the rate by which your team's stamina depletes, so even if you're losing, but are actively chasing the game, your players stay responsive. But if the readings suggest that you've given up on the match, then your players will burn and flag like a political extremist...

And you could work with that...

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of such a scheme, and you can see where it leads...

The Verge article kills the idea of a subsidy, so it doesn't look like much more than a gaming PC with a specification that'll be well supported (by Valve anyway) and a game pad. The openness is interesting, the publishers moving towards their own on-line stores might find it attractive enough to produce Linux games.

Seems unlikely.

MS are working on some interesting game related stuff

http://www.patentbolt.com/2012/03/microsoft-invents-projector-eyewear-for-xbox-beyond.html

Funny thing is, I've always questioned the idea using of biometrics in HCI... 
But don't feel so bad about a games system based on it. Which is strange, because games could make for the most exacting data rule imaginable.

Pushing this line of thought, what if I was playing a game online, and that game measured an excessive heart rate after I'd bosched some skag for a gaming session (as you do)...

That information's now sitting on a remote server, tied to my user account...

Who'd want that?

S'funny as I was told to drink a pint of sick as part of a dare and I said, and I shit you not, "This sounds about as appealing as wishy washy control methods involving brain waves and the like" and we all agreed so poured the sick on a vagrant who had a tin whistle.