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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RE[2]: Comment by shmerl
by Neolander on Tue 11th Dec 2012 06:56
in reply to "RE: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2010-03-08
I think Steam's push into the living room is stupid, but I think that a standardized "SteamBox" for Linux is a good idea. An on-the-shelf Linux PC you can sell to users and say "This is Linux".
Most likely, this will be more of an Android scenario. They will base their work on Linux, but brand it as "SteamBox" everywhere, so it's not as if normal people will be able to tell.
Member since:2010-06-08
Unfortunately the negative effect outweighs the streamlined ease of use. Some genres (like real time strategies) were even damaged by developers paying less attention to PC gaming. Complexity of setting up a good gaming machine up is paid off with complex and deeper games with rich interfaces, instead of dumbed down consolized stuff.
That's even besides the bad idea of turning general purpose computer into an appliance which usually comes with all kind of nasty DRM.
Edited 2012-12-11 07:55 UTC
RE[3]: Comment by shmerl
by moondevil on Tue 11th Dec 2012 09:10
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2005-07-08
RE[3]: Comment by shmerl
by Nelson on Tue 11th Dec 2012 09:11
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2005-11-29
Its definitely a trade off, and its been executed poorly at times..but I believe in the general idea of it.
With regards to the DRM situation, some of the nastiest most insidious DRM I've ever seen has probably been on the PC.
At least on Xbox it's standardized and managed by Microsoft, not some Gaming company which licenses a shitty DRM scheme from two bit developers. My experience has been downright infuriating.
RE[3]: Comment by shmerl
by lucas_maximus on Tue 11th Dec 2012 12:37
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2009-08-18
Unfortunately the negative effect outweighs the streamlined ease of use. Some genres (like real time strategies) were even damaged by developers paying less attention to PC gaming. Complexity of setting up a good gaming machine up is paid off with complex and deeper games with rich interfaces, instead of dumbed down consolized stuff.
I always find this argument hilarious and is usually part of the PC Gamer Snobbery.
There is nothing stopping things like Age of Empires, Rome Total War or Starcraft from being on a console with a decent interface.
RE[3]: Comment by shmerl
by WorknMan on Tue 11th Dec 2012 13:14
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2005-11-13
Complexity of setting up a good gaming machine up is paid off with complex and deeper games with rich interfaces, instead of dumbed down consolized stuff.
Question is, do you really need a 'complex and deep' game, along with a $25 million budget, to make it fun?
IMO, games on the downloadable services like Braid, Super Meat Boy, Geometry Wars 2, Pacman CE, Bit Trip Runner, etc are 10x better than 98% of the shit being pumped out at retail these days.
Another poster said that the story and atmosphere that the retail games provide can never be matched by indie titles. But honestly, if I want story and atmosphere, I'll watch a fucking movie. (Or better yet, read a book.)
RE[3]: Comment by shmerl
by JAlexoid on Wed 12th Dec 2012 11:04
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2009-05-19
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
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!More Features »
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Member since:
2005-11-29
Consoles make gaming simple. PC gaming is "My PC can run this game, if I have Graphics card Y, Motherboard Y, that supports Processor and Chipset Z with 20GB of RAM and a custom cooling rig"
Even then its a mess of Catalyst drivers, 200 different DRM schemes, a comparatively weak online experience, etc.
Consoles are streamlined. You go to the store, you buy a box. You turn the box on and pop a disk in. Bam, you're gaming.
It's an implicit guarantee. If I buy this Console, I will run this selection of games relatively well.
I think Steam's push into the living room is stupid, but I think that a standardized "SteamBox" for Linux is a good idea. An on-the-shelf Linux PC you can sell to users and say "This is Linux".