Who's up for a Steam Box console?

[Furunculus]

What say you; a console rocking the beautiful combination of steam, pc games, and linux:

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming...killer-1124160

Imagine a console with Adblock. Imagine a console that isn't hamstrung by its components half a decade down the line, a console that doesn't force its creator to make a loss on each sale or to devote a gigantic chunk of budget half way through its life cycle to make its successor.

The Steam Box should scare console makers. 2012 was a monster year for PC gaming, the portents of doom that dogged the platform for years finally shaken off as the once dominant consoles felt their teeth grow too long.

Valve thinks the time is right for Steam Box, and I think it's dead-on.

Would you buy one?

I am a pc gamer, but i am tempted by a console for the living-room style multiplayer games that are mostly found on consoles.

I crave tekken!

That said, I don't like how limited consoles are, I don't like the business model, and it would never replace my PC for gaming.

But if Valve are going to release a steam based linux console I WILL buy it.

How about you?

[Lemur]

I'd be all over a Steam box. Consolidate my Steam games with console games? Yes please.

A lot would depend on the model, the fees, the upgrade path, you know, the nitty-gritty. But off the top of my head, I'd say hells to the yes.

[drone]

The best part of this is the push towards Linux gaming. Even without the Steam Box form factor, this is a great move away from Redmond for PC gaming. If they do it right, games can be sold that work on the SteamBox and desktop PC, with a separate compiled executable for ARM devices (Android phones/tablets).

[Beskar]

The Future is Bright, the Future is.. Steam powered.

[Xiahou]

So.... it's a PC... hooked to your TV? I already have one of those.

[Tellos Athenaios]

So.... it's a PC... hooked to your TV? I already have one of those.

Which can be said of any old console.

Now depending on the Linux & firmware that come with it, you might be looking at "desktop with Steam + libs preloaded" or at "Steam appliance".

[Fragony]

It's a beauty, but worried it may be a tad too expensive, 500 euro for the most modest one probably. I am sure it worth it's worth the money though, Valve are known to be rabid perfectionists. PC's are ugly so I don't have one, this box I can hide behind my tv.

[Lemur]

A slightly more recent, and contrarian take.

How is Valve going to sell the Steam Box? If it’s sold solely through online channels, that’s a tall order for most consumers. Purchasing a new computer online is harrowing enough, even having a rough idea what to expect. However, trying to convince customers to spend $1,000-$1,500 dollars on device without really getting a chance to use it (or even see it in person) seems a bridge too far for mass market consumption. The Steam Box as currently thought is going to be so unlike anything on the market it doesn’t seem likely that the mass appreciation for it will come without it being available in stores like GameStop, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. Those retailers might not have a reason to carry the hardware if accessories (typically the highest-margin items available for a console) are nonexistent. It’s even less likely to happen if it winds up being a digital-distribution-only device (the odds of which are 99.9%), as retailers would basically be cutting themselves out of the market by selling the Steam Box.

I wouldn’t normally bet against Gabe and Valve, but expecting the Steam Box to essentially replace home consoles is not realistic, at least not while considering the information that is currently available.

That is, unless Half-Life 3 is a Steam Box exclusive.

Gulp.

[Fragony]

Price is absolutely a problem but the most modest model can be fully upgraded, for me it's interesting, more interesting than the new xbox and playstation. They will have to put in some really good hardware to make it last a generation but I love the idea. Hardware industry is getting kinda crowded with the Android-based devices and the new consoles though, I will absolutely not buy this day one

[Beskar]

Another article and with better details here.

[drone]

Steam is now promoting Linux to users.

Start getting games ported Gabe.

[Furunculus]

CK2 is now on steam linux.

[Xiahou]

Steam is now promoting Linux to users.

Start getting games ported Gabe.

That's great to see. Mainstream gaming has been one of the big things holding back Linux adoption. The latest releases of Linux Mint have been looking really good and are brain dead simple to install. (far superior to Ubuntu and their hideous Unity desktop )

[Beskar]

Tempted to download it and try it out. The main issue I am having with being able to do that is having a dedicated machine where I can actively try it out. (As in, I only have one machine capable of PC gaming really, and I don't want to mess that one up!)

But the thing with consoles anyway is that they are effectively stripped down computers which are dedicated to gaming in a uniform manner and you are able to play from a disk. The advantages of this makes a hassle free experience for the vast majority of consumers. These systems are also subsidised so they are far cheaper than a gaming machine (£200 versus £1000. No contest). The conformity prevents all those hassles like "Why is game not working on my machine?!" with its 101 steps of possible reasons opposed to "it is broke, get it replaced" which occurs with consoles and playing from the disk enables games just to "get on with it" without going through lots of install screens, waiting for it to install, filling your harddrive with nonsense, etc, where as Lemur could simply bring his left4dead2 game around and put it in, and we would be blowing away zombies with shotguns in mere seconds.

All of these points are easy to manage, there just needs to be a lot of will in the pc-game industry to enable it, opposed to 'closed-shop' systems like your typical console.

[TinCow]

Would you buy one?

Possibly. I've got a big-ass tv and a comfy couch. If I could play some of my Steam games up there instead of at my desk, I might. I would only do so though if it ran the games well and shared data in the cloud, such that I could switch back and forth between PC and console with the same games and retain the same data.

[Furunculus]

given that i like building pc's, and i'll have access to steam on linux anyway it comes down to price for me.

[edyzmedieval]

Possibly. It might work out as an alternative to already established gaming consoles.

[Fragony]

I am absolutely interested in this thing as a console gamer at least, more than I am in the ps4 and new xbox. Wait and see thingie, that beauty looks packed with functionality but will developers care about console-gamers and make it a alternative for consoles, nice thing about consoles is that games are designed to be played on one. I don't want to be messing around with a keyboard and mouse to play games, I like controllers better. Who are they building it for, we'll see

[Furunculus]

interesting to think that amd might have nailed all four consoles with their tech.

[Beskar]

Who are they building it for, we'll see

It is a Console/PC hybrid. They are developing a platform (Steam) which will run on Windows/Mac/Linux and they are dealing in dedicated budget-end gaming platforms. The thing with the Steam 'consoles' is that they can reveal new ones with improved technology whilst retaining their collection/client-base. Also if some one decided to move onto a PC or off one, they can take their collections in them.

I also know that Playstation 4 will most likely share into this as well, considering that the PS3 has Steam on it already.

[Beskar]

Who are they building it for, we'll see

It is a Console/PC hybrid. They are developing a platform (Steam) which will run on Windows/Mac/Linux and they are dealing in dedicated budget-end gaming platforms. The thing with the Steam 'consoles' is that they can reveal new ones with improved technology whilst retaining their collection/client-base. Also if some one decided to move onto a PC or off one, they can take their collections in them.

I also know that Playstation 4 will most likely share into this as well, considering that the PS3 has Steam on it already.

[edyzmedieval]

To be honest, I'm quite excited about the next-gen consoles because it will be pretty much the standard for the next 7-8 years on how games will go.

I never owned a console so perhaps if things are looking good I will join the ranks.