Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 10th Dec 2012 23:24 UTC
Confirming the industry's worst-kept secret, Valve CEO Gabe Newell has confirmed Valve is working on its 'Steam Box', a Steam-powered HTPC geared towards console-like gaming. It'll most likely run Linux. "Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment," he told Kotaku. "If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that's what some people are really gonna want for their living room." Steam has 50 million subscribers, so there's a market here. As a comparison: Xbox Live has 40 million subscribers.
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Member since:2005-11-10
Is that realistic though? The Steam hardware would have to compete with the consoles, which are already sold at loss. Valve would have to at least part subsidise the total cost, so it would be in their interest to ensure that you can only / would only want to buy games through their interface -- if any other interface is present at all!
Let's call it what it is: a gaming console made by Valve.
I can remember the gaming community thinking it was odd (and doomed to failure) when Sony wanted to enter the firmly established gaming market (with unbeatable titans like Sega and Nintendo) with a console with a silly name "Play Station".
RE[3]: Comment by Kroc
by Soulbender on Tue 11th Dec 2012 06:23
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by Kroc"
Member since:2005-08-18
The Steam hardware would have to compete with the consoles, which are already sold at loss
Sure, but they all use custom hardware that they either build and designed themselves or purchased from someone. Valve will have the benefit of being able to use mostly off-the-shelf stuff. That alone is a big cost difference.
Let's call it what it is: a gaming console made by Valve.
Uh yes, of course it is. Did anyone say otherwise?
Member since:2005-07-06
Let's call it what it is: a gaming console made by Valve.
I can remember the gaming community thinking it was odd (and doomed to failure) when Sony wanted to enter the firmly established gaming market (with unbeatable titans like Sega and Nintendo) with a console with a silly name "Play Station".
I can remember the gaming community thinking it was odd (and doomed to failure) when Sony wanted to enter the firmly established gaming market (with unbeatable titans like Sega and Nintendo) with a console with a silly name "Play Station".
Or, remember how many people (particularly the "l33t" subset of PC gamers) cherished the arrival of "PC console" with the first Xbox? Now they whine about hybrid games (they call them "console ports" ...but since when first-person-shooters, with the simplistic core game mechanic of pointing at things, are a console genre?)
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.More Features »
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Member since:
2005-06-29
Well to be fair, they never said they were the new champions of the Free computing movement. They are a business and they are looking for a new, unique way to get their product out to as many people as possible. Windows 8 was going to be a problem for them, so this is their end run.
I try to see the positive from it: This will surely put GNU/Linux in the big picture, and people will start wondering about it and wanting to try it out. "Why buy a Steam box when I can build my own?" said the intrepid gamer teen, etc.