The Valve Steam Box console?

[Brad]

I was chatting to the guys at work about this before christmas. I wondered why Valve hadn't already made a PC based console. Anyway, rumors flying around now:

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

What do we think here? I think it's a great idea.

[EvilBoris]

Quite possibly, people are saying that those X51 boxes could be a bit of a game change and that a console sized PC combined with Steam's Big Picture mode could be the halfway house between enthusiast PC and Console

[bash]

It would have to be bloody powerful (to get gamers to choose this over a PS4/Xbox 720) and if so would be sold at a considerable loss. Like ultra top end Alienware specs at console prices. If they get the media playing side of it working well (Big picture mode sounds interesting as well as the biometric patents) then it could be unique enough to find a place in the market. The other thing is, if it uses normal pc parts then it'd probably get hacked to death like the first Xbox.

But how would they get around the mouse/keyboard thing? A joypad is all good for console games but certain PC games still demand a mouse.

[capcom_suicide]

My HTPC is getting long in the tooth now (ASrock ION Atom 2.1Ghz /4GB memory/SSD/BluRay) so I was looking at an X51, swapping the GPU for a 560Ti, as this would probably manage games on medium at 1080p, where my current machine can only just manage Flash video without stutter... X51 plus second hand 560Ti is about ?750, and I will move the SSD and Bluray drive over from the Asrock.

A valve box would be worth me waiting!

Either way, I am sure that a "Consolized" PC is a great idea, it's something I was hopeing for 2 years ago.

[Brad]

Yeah. Firstly you can have next gen graphics right now. The console would launch with a massive library already. If Valve coupled the launch with Half Life 3 (I predict they will) then there's its killer app. Not every PC game needs to be supported, only those that make sense for armchair play. Some say that there will be PC games coming out that require more horsepower than a SteamBox would have. Well, maybe, but if Steambox sells well then game devs will make sure that their games run well on it surely?

Will XBox 720 or PS4 be backwardly compatible? You can bet that SteamBox 2 will be. Think about the development times required for a next gen steambox compared to an xbox 720 or ps4. Nothing. Valve just pick a CPU/GPU/RAM combo and job done. This is the one-console future that we've wanted. If this comes out I'll be fascinated to see MS and Sony's response.

How much will it cost? That's a tricky one. Presumably Valve will be able to negotiate such that the box as a whole costs much less than the sum of its parts.

EDIT: Just imagining Gabe and Co reading this thread and going "WTF are they on about? We're not making any such thing!"

[Neon Ignition]

Complete waste of time. Between PC's, mobiles, handhelds and consoles every angle is already covered and a mish mash attempt wouldn't have any appeal unless you're a Valve obsessee or hobbyist who collects everything going. It would never sell in large enough numbers and would likely lead to Valve being shunted by the console makers. Given the success of Steam and Valves gaming legacy it would simply smack of an unnecessary attempt to milk money and would be a completely unnecessary black hole on their cash. The thing would have to cost pittance to make to be worthwhile. Steam doesn't warrant a dedicated system. Want a PC based console? Buy a 360. Sure, you could say modern PC's are more powerful but then anyone who cares will already have a PC with the right set up and those without will soon have three new systems coming out. Hell, Valve haven't even released a tech heavy game in ages.

They're stupid if they go through with it.

[EvilBoris]

Yeah. Firstly you can have next gen graphics right now. The console would launch with a massive library already. If Valve coupled the launch with Half Life 3 (I predict they will) then there's its killer app. Not every PC game needs to be supported, only those that make sense for armchair play. Some say that there will be PC games coming out that require more horsepower than a SteamBox would have. Well, maybe, but if Steambox sells well then game devs will make sure that their games run well on it surely?

Will XBox 720 or PS4 be backwardly compatible? You can bet that SteamBox 2 will be. Think about the development times required for a next gen steambox compared to an xbox 720 or ps4. Nothing. Valve just pick a CPU/GPU/RAM combo and job done. This is the one-console future that we've wanted. If this comes out I'll be fascinated to see MS and Sony's response.

How much will it cost? That's a tricky one. Presumably Valve will be able to negotiate such that the box as a whole costs much less than the sum of its parts.

EDIT: Just imagining Gabe and Co reading this thread and going "WTF are they on about? We're not making any such thing!"

There aren't any games on PC that truly look Next gen though are there?

If they do release a box, everyone will be outraged at the price and the specs no doubt just as people are with the consoles.

But if it moves us closer to a standardised PC format, that's a good thing. It would be nice to post on a forum asking a question like

"How does Battlefield 4 run on a Steambox 2?"
and get a straightforward answer like

"it runs at 30FPS @ 1080p with a vantage score of 6000."

I was looking at buying an X51 last night, there are a few pros and cons and I couldn't decide what to do.

[PaTaito]

I'd buy one in a snap.

If they can nail the pricepoint, which i'm sure they will, this could be a success imo.

I have a vast steam library and havent had a proper gaming pc for over a year now. This tie to your steam account is enough of a seller on its own for me personally.

[Brad]

There aren't any games on PC that truly look Next gen though are there?

Lol. Yes. Arkham City, Skyrim are two examples. Both look a world apart from their console versions. 1080p @60fps vs 720p@30fps and that's before we talk lighting, shading etc.

[Baseley09]

I like this idea, I like PC gaming and the hardware side of things, but standardised drivers, frames per second and removal of the windows layer would be pleasing, I hope this is true.

[EvilBoris]

Lol. Yes. Arkham City, Skyrim are two examples. Both look a world apart from their console versions. 1080p @60fps vs 720p@30fps and that's before we talk lighting, shading etc.

A moon apart maybe, if games only look as good as Skyrim and Arkham Asylum next gen, I'll Cry.

Skyrim is a DX9 Title and doesn't really look close to what I'd call Next Gen even when I max out the settings. I'd even go as far as saying there are other games on PS3 and Xbox that look closer to Next gen than the PC version of Skyrim. Still has the crappy Geometry and same shader effects as the console versions.

Arkham Asylum is certainly quite a few steps above the console one but at the end of the day is still based on the console versions and a long way from the Samaritan Demo or ATI's Leo tech demo.

[randombs]

I think it's a good idea. Looking at the ports in the pic of the prototype, I wonder if/how they'll let you upgrade the graphics card(which I'm sure you'll want you to do at some point). I'm sure it will be possible, and maybe the video ports are just extensions.

Alternatively they might just release newer Steam Boxes with better specs every year or so, the point being that all boxes of a particular revision will be identical and so games can be optimised for each.

Games could have a 'Steam Box' mode(or modes, if they upgrade the boxes) which automatically sets the graphics settings, although maybe they won't go for that and just let people set things themselves like they already do.

The issue I see is that, given the size(assuming that's roughly the size they'd want to go for if they do produce it), graphical oomph may not be super-duper and I'd expect Valve's own box to make their games look the best. Having said that, Valve's own games aren't necessarily pushing the graphical boundaries right now so they could spec it to play their games well enough.

Echoing what some of you have said on here already, any kind of decent standardisation can only be a good thing.

[Family Fry]

http://www.develop-online.net/news/40019/Valve-product-designer-leaks-Steam-console-photo?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+developmag%2Fifbh+%28Develop%29

Prototype?

[mekanor]

There aren't any games on PC that truly look Next gen though are there?

Complete waste of time. Between PC's, mobiles, handhelds and consoles every angle is already covered and a mish mash attempt wouldn't have any appeal unless you're a Valve obsessee or hobbyist who collects everything going. It would never sell in large enough numbers and would likely lead to Valve being shunted by the console makers. Given the success of Steam and Valves gaming legacy it would simply smack of an unnecessary attempt to milk money and would be a completely unnecessary black hole on their cash. The thing would have to cost pittance to make to be worthwhile. Steam doesn't warrant a dedicated system. Want a PC based console? Buy a 360. Sure, you could say modern PC's are more powerful but then anyone who cares will already have a PC with the right set up and those without will soon have three new systems coming out. Hell, Valve haven't even released a tech heavy game in ages.

They're stupid if they go through with it.

I could be wrong but this sounds like a post written from the perspective who doesn't or hasn't used a PC for games in a long time. Steam would absolutely be worth having a dedicated box for. I have about 120 games on my steam account. If a console launched with even a few of those games ready to play through a 10 foot interface with pad support, cloud saves and optimised visuals I'd be all over it. Just because you're not in the target market doesn't mean it's a stupid idea.

Also in what way does a 360 resemble a PC aside from the fact it's made by microsoft?

[Brad]

Agree with Billy re: standardised settings etc.

@ Boris, I see what you're saying but of course all this is my own interpretation of 'next-gen'. There isn't a next gen console so no one knows what it'll be able to do. I'm saying you can have resolutions that match your 1080p tv @ 60fps right now with a PC.

Played Uncharted 3 last night and that game looks absolutely amazing. What an incredible engine.

I wonder if PC games would look better if PC was the dominant platform, rather than (as you pointed out with Batman) a home to console ports with a res and framerate increase.