SteamOS, Steam Machines, and Steam Controller

[Luap]

I have no idea how there isn't already a thread for this. I mean, kinda the biggest gaming related announcement of the week. Valve went and put up this page last week. Over this week they made three annoncements.

O - On Monday they showed off SteamOS.

SteamOS is an Linux-based operating system. It will be free for you to install on your PC. Some games will run natively on SteamOS, but for games that won't you can stream games over your home network from a regular PC, allowing you to play any games on a system that uses SteamOS. SteamOS is also open source.


[O ] - Then on Wednesday we got the inevitable announcement of the Steam Machines.

Steam Machines will be a gaming consoles made for your living room or TV or wherever you already have your PlayStation, Xbox or Wii that runs on SteamOS. There is little word on what hardware will be in Steam Machines, but we know that Valve will be making their own, along with all the Steam Machines that are made by other manufactures. You can also build your own.


O+O - Today was the announcement of the Steam Controller.

This is probably the most controversial announcement because look at it. It's definitely much different than any controller out there because of the lack of d-pad and analog sticks. Instead it has touch pads that supposedly have the same resolution as most computer mouses, giving it the superior precision that a mouse has over analog sticks. There's also some buttons and triggers and bumpers and a touch screen. Here is a diagram of an imagined Portal 2 control scheme for the thing so you can have a better idea of how it works.




in conclusion, steam wins

 

[Taylor]

"steam wins"


not sure how anything this week was a win. it's all pretty underwhelming.

 

[Reagan Rayden]

I like how this is announced and people still don't know what the hell it is. The controller looks.....I have no idea.

 

[KeyofEvil'sBane]

I thought the controller was some kind of stereo. Those track pads look like speakers

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

I might download the SteamOS depending on what gets released on it.

 

[XIII Heartless]

Am I the only person who prefers a controller to a mouse? Seriously?

 

[Deleted member 36435]

Am I the only person who prefers a controller to a mouse? Seriously?

Probably has something to do with you being a FILTHY CASUAL.


none of this stuff looks particularly exciting. oh wow a custom os and some shitty hardware. neat no real reason to use this.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Am I the only person who prefers a controller to a mouse? Seriously?

No, I prefer a controller and looking at a tv screen, but most games look a lot better on PC, and have mods.

 

[Wehrmacht]

Am I the only person who prefers a controller to a mouse? Seriously?

i think most pc gamers own a controller of some sort for the kinds of games that are optimized towards controller input

there are some games you dont really want to play with a controller

 

[Gram]

..What..am I looking at? o_0 *stares at "controller"*

 

[quiteMAD]

I hate gaming culture. Valve is going out of their way to make a free OS designed specifically for the best possible gaming experience, completely customizable hardware, and a controller designed for persision and eliminating input lag, yet you call it underwhelming and shitty? Fuck off. If they made a big showy announcement at some gaming convention, I bet you'd all be hype as hell.

 

[Piercing Light]

I wonder if I'd be able to play League of Legends with that controller...

Edit: oh, you guys should head to gameinformer.com to get some more info about this...

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

I sort of take back my previous comment, I honestly think Bioshock is a lot better on PC than it would be on a controller.

 

[Deleted member 36435]

I hate gaming culture. Valve is going out of their way to make a free OS designed specifically for the best possible gaming experience, completely customizable hardware, and a controller designed for persision and eliminating input lag, yet you call it underwhelming and shitty? diddly off. If they made a big showy announcement at some gaming convention, I bet you'd all be hype as hell.

Yeah, it is underwhelming. They aren't "going out of their way" to do it either. They are doing it to make money. They aren't doing charity so don't treat it like it is.

I've been able to customize my hardware for decades and Linux (which Steam OS is based off of) has been free for ages. A controller is something I barely touch so I don't give two shits about it. It still has the limits that a controller brings no matter how precise it is in a lot of games. I have around 7000dpi on my mouse right now, I seriously doubt is going to make a thumb touch pad that will come close to that.

So, hop off GabeN's dick for two seconds and be objective.

 

[Reagan Rayden]

I prefer playing third person adventure games (fable, assassins creed, beat em' ups) with a controller, but that's just my preference.

 

[Taylor]

I hate gaming culture. Valve is going out of their way to make a free OS designed specifically for the best possible gaming experience, completely customizable hardware, and a controller designed for persision and eliminating input lag, yet you call it underwhelming and shitty? Fuck off. If they made a big showy announcement at some gaming convention, I bet you'd all be hype as hell.

Oh, come on, be realistic about this. I'm not going to go over exactly why these announcements are largely underwhelming because Victor already did, but when your biggest shocker is basically a new design concept for a controller, I don't think you've got much going for you there.

I prefer playing third person adventure games (fable, assassins creed, beat em' ups) with a controller, but that's just my preference.

seconded

 

[quiteMAD]

Yeah, it is underwhelming. They aren't "going out of their way" to do it either. They are doing it to make money. They aren't doing charity so don't treat it like it is.

I've been able to customize my hardware for decades and Linux (which Steam OS is based off of) has been free for ages. A controller is something I barely touch so I don't give two shits about it. It still has the limits that a controller brings no matter how precise it is in a lot of games. I have around 7000dpi on my mouse right now, I seriously doubt is going to make a thumb touch pad that will come close to that.

So, hop off GabeN's dick for two seconds and be objective.

Then none of this is for you, just as I'm sure none of the major consoles are for you. But for me, someone who can't afford a gaming rig, and several hundreds like me, this is a good thing. There's an amry of console players that are migrating to pc, myself included, and this is going to help that.

Oh, come on, be realistic about this. I'm not going to go over exactly why these announcements are largely underwhelming because Victor already did, but when your biggest shocker is basically a new design concept for a controller, I don't think you've got much going for you there.

What do you usually expect from first reveals for beta hardware?

I'm just saying there's no real reason to be cynical here, when the whole point of this is to give gamers what they want. If you've already got those things, then good on you, but there's no reason to call the hardware shit when you've yet to even see it in action, Victor. =l

 

[Reagan Rayden]

I mean my laptop is pretty ass. If I had a way to play my PC games on a more stable piece of machinery then that'd be cool.

 

[Deleted member 36435]

Then none of this is for you, just as I'm sure none of the major consoles are for you. But for me, someone who can't afford a gaming rig, and several hundreds like me, this is a good thing. There's an amry of console players that are migrating to pc, myself included, and this is going to help that.



What do you usually expect from first reveals for beta hardware?

I'm just saying there's no real reason to be cynical here, when the whole point of this is to give gamers what they want. If you've already got those things, then good on you, but there's no reason to call the hardware shit when you've yet to even see it in action, Victor. =l

I don't think you understand what underwhelming means.


Valve is definitely not going to produce revolutionary hardware. They aren't going to just break barriers of modern consumer hardware because they're Valve.

 

[quiteMAD]

So if it's not revolutionary then it's "underwhelming"? That's some pretty unrealistic standards.

And I think you're mistaking me for some sort of Valve/Gabe fanboy. I only play two games by them, and that's portal and tf2. I don't think this is a good idea because it's coming from Valve, I think it's a good idea because it's turning something complicated and expensive into something that's cheap and easy (so they claim so far). And I'm willing to take them at their word, because they have a pretty stellar reputation as long as the number 3 isn't involved.