Half Life 3 at launch?
Make it so Gabe, make it so....

Hunk's hit it on the head. If there's fuck all to differentiate the hardware (IF... Prove me wrong Kinect 2.0...) it comes down to the services. Valve already do a cleverly serviceable cross game chat and console overlay (hell I used it for Diablo 3!) and cheaper prices. What'll the others do?

But wasn't the thing we just discussed in the other thread the LACK of exclusives nowadays? Nothing is exclusive anymore. 

Integrated media - yes. That's a thing. But if the WiiU could sort out a Lovefilm deal, I'm sure a Steambox could.

Marketing budgets - do we even know what Valve's 'warchest' is? They don't tend to 'do' marketing, so I don't think we can really judge that. Even things like Portal 2 were published by EA. 

Delayed PC ports - certainly something that has got better in the past year, and we're at a stage now where the quality of the PC ports are superior (TO CURRENT SYSTEMS)...

Woeful controller support - WHY THE FUCK WON'T BLOOD MONEY PLAY WITH CONTROLLER ON PC. Ahem. Big Picture obviously first steps on that road.

I'm having flashbacks of people laughing at the xbox (fugly!) and it's controller when it first launched. 
Anyone remember the whopper pad?

hunk wrote:

I'm having flashbacks of people laughing at the xbox (fugly!) and it's controller when it first launched. 
Anyone remember the whopper pad?

Damn straight I do, it was the most comfortable pad I've ever used. I'm gutted that they moved to smaller ones.

It weirds me out a little, tbh. But hey, I'll try it. It can't be worse than my Kinect.

Also, a living room friendly PC with a wacky OS?  

It's an Amiga 500. ~_~

Mod74 wrote:

But wasn't the thing we just discussed in the other thread the LACK of exclusives nowadays? Nothing is exclusive anymore.  Integrated media - yes. That's a thing. But if the WiiU could sort out a Lovefilm deal, I'm sure a Steambox could. Marketing budgets - do we even know what Valve's 'warchest' is? They don't tend to 'do' marketing, so I don't think we can really judge that. Even things like Portal 2 were published by EA.  Delayed PC ports - certainly something that has got better in the past year, and we're at a stage now where the quality of the PC ports are superior (TO CURRENT SYSTEMS)... Woeful controller support - WHY THE FUCK WON'T BLOOD MONEY PLAY WITH CONTROLLER ON PC. Ahem. Big Picture obviously first steps on that road.

I wasn't being entirely serious, but if this comes out anywhere near GTAIV it's going to look a bit awkward. Has there ever been a PC port of Madden?

If it comes out near GTAIV it'll be a fucking MIRACLE. TIME TRAVEL

EA won't support it unless they can have a cut imo.

Wasn't half the Gamecube's problem that EA stopped supporting it after a while?

I_R wrote:

The Verge article on page 3 is giving me a malware warning, so I can't quote, but they were talking about it being open. You'd be able to install Origin and get EA games that way. I'm assuming that works if it is a PC running Linux they sell and you're willing to pay for and install Windows on it.

You know, despite all the extra cool futuristic shit that Valve could potentially do, the mere prospect of a well priced, hackable gaming machine, with concessions to the open source community I think, is more than cool enough.

Fuck it. Like you've just said, if worse comes to worse, and it folds, just load Windows or OSX on it.
And if they've got their minds right on this, then it should be something that you can cart about in a rucksack, without having to fear for it's fragility.

Foolproof WLAN is also a must.

Believe me. This thing can rule...

But yes, it can also fold like a crap deckchair...

Mod74 wrote:

I wonder what would happen to a console EA refused to support.

Lack of EA support was one of the reasons given for the failure of the Dreamcast. Although, EA aren't the dominant publisher any more except for sports titles, so it may be a bit less of an issue. Did the Wii get the Maddens et al?

I_R wrote:

The Verge article on page 3 is giving me a malware warning, so I can't quote, but they were talking about it being open. You'd be able to install Origin and get EA games that way. I'm assuming that works if it is a PC running Linux they sell and you're willing to pay for and install Windows on it.

Now this makes a bit more sense. Base console with Linux and Steam pre-installed. Dual-boot with Windows (tri-boot with Android?). Hope that the Linux offering gets enough traction from devs and consumers in the few years until Windows 9 (where Gabe fears a locked down desktop and everything funnelled through the Windows Store). 
Then they've got a base to build on.

That gives Valve a bit of time to build up the Linux catalogue. It also convinces devs that its worth their time targeting games for that environment, since the install base will be there, even if nots being used that much. 

I'm a bit more optimistic that could work based on the assumption that iOS and Android will produce some kind of living room models in the coming year or two, stepped up in specs from the mobile devices they're on at the moment. Then you've got a case of open tools like Open GL being a better bet for building a game than Direct X. Since those three + Win 8 all support it. 

I doubt Valve would release, say, a Half Life 3 on Linux only but I'm sure they'd give it a few months exclusivity to encourage people on.  

It doesn't change the fact though that the day 1 purchase of the console without Windows on would be a poor proposition. They're just going to hope that whatever they can get going in the meantime is sufficiently compelling that consumers don't feel the need to install Windows 9. Or they could lock down future console iterations. 

So they've given themselves about 3-4 years to overturn nearly two decades of Microsoft dominance in PC gaming. Could happen. The problem is that a lot of games are sold to people with computers anyway. PC gaming is Windows based because most people have Windows. So the more the market diversifies away from Windows, the more Valve have an opportunity.

edit: Yikes that was longer than intended.
tldr - an open console buys Valve some time to build up the amount of Linux games.

acemuzzy wrote:

dynamiteReady wrote:

You know, despite all the extra cool futuristic shit that Valve could potentially do, the mere prospect of a well priced, hackable gaming machine, with concessions to the open source community I think, is more than cool enough. Fuck it. Like you've just said, if worse comes to worse, and it folds, just load Windows or OSX on it. And if they've got their minds right on this, then it should be something that you can cart about in a rucksack, without having to fear for it's fragility. Foolproof WLAN is also a must. Believe me. This thing can rule... But yes, it can also fold like a crap deckchair...

Out of interest, how do people expect this to compare to OUYA? More competent developers, sounder business model, more business might, probable extra gizmos... But there's definitely a bit of an overlap. But if it is an 'hackable gaming machine' that's 'portable' you're after - how does this compare - and what's wrong with a laptop (or PSP for that matter!)? I'm dubious about this and OUYA to be honest: think they'll be fun but not obviously competitive with PC or Console. So worth a few bucks but probably not half a grand. Too early to say for sure though, given its all speculation!

i was just thinking the same think about the possible overlap between OUYA and a possible steambox...to the point i got a little crazy and thought "what if the linux stuff is gone and instead they built it on an Android platform?"...literally take the idea of OUYA and then valve-it!  it might mean valve have to get in bed with google, but maybe they see that as better than microsoft?  so you'd get a massively powerful android box, customised UI with Steam integrated, fixed hardware for optimizing drivers/game performance etc, and access to the play store so you instantly have access to a large catalogue of (admittedly mostly twee/tosh/unsuitable) stuff.
that would also give them a bigger existing market to tap into in the form of all the android phone users..."when you next upgrade your PC, buy a steambox instead and it will magically tie up to your android phone and give you access to the steam gaming platform, home media player, yadda yadda"

Has anyone brought up retail and generally how this thing would be sold yet?

They will have an uphill struggle getting retailers to stock or support it as they won't be making money on the games, other than pre-paid cards of course.

No Halo or Gears though