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eXtas1s: Valve is working on a new Steam console to compete with Playstation and Xbox in the future
- Thread starter Lunatic_Gamer
- Start date
- News Rumor Hardware
ozz ex machina
Member
What's the difference at this point? If it's fixed and standard spec, so will be even easier for games to be "Steam box" optimised. Which as I understand it is the barrier for some of the luddites who think console games "just wErK 0uT thE b0X" but you need a programming degree to get them running on PC.
Parazels
Member
Why are you obsessed with turning everything into pc?
Do you not have at least a cheap laptop for Word and Excel?
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Kacho
Gold Member
Yeah, I'm filthy casual at the end of the day so I'm not plugging my PC into my living room TV, or building a small PC box for that. Give me a decently powered box that’s functionally identical to Steam Deck and I’m there. It’d get a ton of use.
Sentenza
Member
Did you forget to take your medications for the day?
I have a desktop PC (a fairly good one too, which is my primary gaming platform) and a Steam Deck is something I bought as an extra to complement it.
namenotfound
Member
Price and volume will be what it's all about. The Steam Deck on release was better priced than any similarly specced mini-PC. At least laptops have bigger displays. If they price a razor thin margin $500-$800 PC, it'll draw a lot of non-gaming attention. I would consider buying one to wipe the drive and run a regular Ubuntu or Fedora installation. Still game on it but additional workloads too. If they can produce and sell at a higher volume in like a Best Buy/Wal Mart, would be nice for more software. Was cool when Topaz started releasing Video AI for Linux and getting Davinci Resolve over a decade ago
The Mad Draklor
Member
The overall goal isn't to compete with Playstation and Xbox, but to increase the popularity of SteamOS and by extension, Linux. The original point of the Steam Machine 1.0 was to avoid a Windows closed garden situation.
HogIsland
Member
It's not fatal for Playstation that it doesn't play Zelda or Animal Crossing. You're already applying the standard that a PC/Steam console plays virtually every game. That's the future I want definitely, but the present is still really good. Valve coming out with the actual thing, and other OEMs like Lenovo following up with more options will press EA to finally release UFC on PC for example.
MS buying Activision bodes well for CoD/Warzone doing Steam OS support. Post-acquisition, Blizzard is releasing on Steam. Bethesda shut down their launcher. MCC was patched to fix anticheat, etc. There's obviously a concern that Xbox/MS will get prickly about SteamOS, but so far MS has only been good to Steam users. The opportunity to sell games (and maybe Game Pass) on Steam is greater than the insignificant risk of SteamOS contesting with Windows' monopoly.
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GermanZepp
Member
even if is PS5 pro level of performance in 2 years sounds good to me. I'm was thinking in droping PS for PC anyways.
Ev1L AuRoN
Member
Just release steamOS for desktop and let me do my own steam console, and we are good. I just need an excuse to kick windows to the curb, the only thing holding me back is the lack of support for Nvidia.
mayham2199
Member
Yes it's not fatal for PS because like I said they can sell all the top MP games on their system. Nintendo survives off their own exclusives. I think this thing will sell about as well as the Steamdeck which hasn't even reached 10 million.
Now if like you said they are working on getting the anti-cheat fixed then yea this thing really could do well. Then again I'm not sure Valve wants to really compete and is more just wanting to get there stuff out there.
f~N_CH_1:3:3:3_SushiBoat
Member
I like the idea of a set top Steam box, but see no advantage over a miniITX, HTPC or sbc build - and i feel the interested demo would be largely ok just throwing the set up together themself.
Id love to see SteamOS gain more traction and continue to develop, even as a dev kit of sorts to challenge epic, unity and erase godot. Introducing a new engine and dev tools - or integrate existing tools - as an extension of the play space.
Id love to see SteamOS gain more traction and continue to develop, even as a dev kit of sorts to challenge epic, unity and erase godot. Introducing a new engine and dev tools - or integrate existing tools - as an extension of the play space.
Walter Matthau
Member
I think the problem is the tweet and thread title uses the word "compete" so everyone is interpreting this rumored action to be Steam gunning to take over the console market even though we already have a clear example of how they approach things with the Steam Deck.
rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Steam and console on the same sentence. Cringe.
TheUndeadGamer
Member
Please show me evidence he has no credibility?
Ivan
Member
It will be a steam machine, you don't have to call it a console. It is a steam powered pc for living room.
They just have to make turning on by a controller possible and make some tweaks in big picture mode. Optimizing for small steam deck screen just isn't the same, although it works. It can be improved.
And any other pc can become the same thing just by installing steam os.
OS is the important part, many people that say "Just connect your pc to TV via hdmi cable" don't get that. PC as it is today sucks in the living room, something like steam os is really needed.
Valve has nothing to loose here, they can just gain a new standard for easy gaming on steam in the living room.
They can have their machine(s), but it doesn't erase one of the biggest pc strenghts, you can still build your own for your needs.
They just have to make turning on by a controller possible and make some tweaks in big picture mode. Optimizing for small steam deck screen just isn't the same, although it works. It can be improved.
And any other pc can become the same thing just by installing steam os.
OS is the important part, many people that say "Just connect your pc to TV via hdmi cable" don't get that. PC as it is today sucks in the living room, something like steam os is really needed.
Valve has nothing to loose here, they can just gain a new standard for easy gaming on steam in the living room.
They can have their machine(s), but it doesn't erase one of the biggest pc strenghts, you can still build your own for your needs.
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HogIsland
Member
I'm hoping SteamOS gets the GPU manufacturers to start putting HDMI-CEC on PC cards. This is what lets a PS4 or Chromecast turn on the TV and switch it to the right input when it powers on. It's crazy PCs don't have that. Work related to HDMI-CEC outed "Fremont" as a codename for a possible Valve "console".
Valve preps mysterious 'Fremont' SteamOS device powered by AMD Ryzen processor — potential Steam Box may sport a Hawk Point CPU with Zen 4 and RDNA 3 graphics
Google might be involved in development.
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Last Hearth
Member
They're not building some new console, they are building a standard PC.
Aguero9320
Member
The word console needs to be retired soon. They are all slightly different PCs with different operating systems designed with varying degrees of locking certain things up. Needs to end. Let us play everything we want, wherever we want. Like we can with every other form of entertainment.
Last Hearth
Member
Not a first, yes it will be an early adopter kind of situation, but as times passes, and gamers who have it show to their friends, it will have the same functionality as a console in terms of plug in and it runs, free online, forever backward compatibility, etc. huge game library. etc. Eventually people will gravitate toward it.
By year 3 or year 4, it will start to take a bite into the console market share.
rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
That is the SteamDeck OS image only, right? Despite what the page/tutorial tells us.
Ivan
Member
This is what a start of the experience looks like if you want to game on your pc connected to a TV in another room in my case (many people call all this "easy as connecting an hdmi cable" ):
- You turn on the pc in one room (or it is turned on already)
- You have to switch to other display (tv) by presing Windows+P since resolutions and refresh rates of the TV and monitor can be and are different very often, so mirroring isn't cool (is the tv on in the other room or you have to walk and turn in on first?)
- if you limit frame rate (I do) , you have to change the value since the value you want to use isn't the same you used for your monitor
- you go to the other room with your TV and turn it on, then switch input. Then you have to use some sort of mouse and keyboard I guess (or something integrated like Logitech kt400 plus). Maybe the TouchPad on dualsense can work too, but for me it sucks, it's too imprecise . Do you start steam in big picture or is it something else?
Compare that to just pressing a button on the controller, console(pc) turns on, TV turns on automatically and you're ready to go in an UI that can 100% be used with controller only.
And they need to implement rest mode too.
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HogIsland
Member
who says its pcmr buying them? it's nintendo fans buying them instead of switch 2.
demigod
Member
Do you have a list what he’s gotten right?
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
I dont have a list of his hits or misses but I put him as a very reliable leaker
Hohenheim
Member
I'd much prefer that device to be a Steam Deck 2. I can dock it and use it as a console anyways, so this machine would just be a "Steam Deck 2" that lose the handheld ability.
Parazels
Member
I think, they should make Steam Deck 2 better prepared for docked mode out of the box. At least an optional premium kit with branded dock station and gamepad.
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Hohenheim
Member
Yeah, that would be nice.
I'm very happy with the DIY docking setup I have for mine, but it was a expensive way to get it "docking ready".
At least it works perfect with all the PC handhelds.
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Kacho
Gold Member
Here's a list of threads with his name in it. Most of it is in the 'wait and see' category.
Bonfires Down
Member
Yeeees especially if it’s relatively cheap and small.
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
I don’t believe this is a true console competitor as Valve does not have the structural advantages to create a mainstream, low cost console.
Sony is an electronics company that creates custom hardware, has massive volumes with external suppliers, and also has its own internal supply chain and assembly operations.
This is a massive economic advantage in terms of creating a mainstream price that’s also very competitive on power.
So I don’t think SteamBox is going to compete with that. But it can still have value as a companion device, similar to SteamDeck, for those that want a couch experience and are already invested in the Steam ecosystem that don’t want to chase the high end PC configurations.
SteamDeck is successful, but not mainstream, similar to the PS Portal. It adds value to the existing ecosystem rather than materially expending it to new audiences. This is much the same.
Sony is an electronics company that creates custom hardware, has massive volumes with external suppliers, and also has its own internal supply chain and assembly operations.
This is a massive economic advantage in terms of creating a mainstream price that’s also very competitive on power.
So I don’t think SteamBox is going to compete with that. But it can still have value as a companion device, similar to SteamDeck, for those that want a couch experience and are already invested in the Steam ecosystem that don’t want to chase the high end PC configurations.
SteamDeck is successful, but not mainstream, similar to the PS Portal. It adds value to the existing ecosystem rather than materially expending it to new audiences. This is much the same.
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Crayon
Member
Actually that's weird. They left up the page with the brewmaster info right down to a warning that it's not for steam deck, which would mean they updated the page after brewmaster was obsolete. Huh. Well, either way, the recommendation for nvidia at the top is totally wrong now!
Bumblebeetuna
Member
What the fuck. This is the second popular gif I have seen him recreating. What are these from.
March Climber
Member
The word console does not only mean the software side of things. It also heavily implies set hardware, due to how much more compact they are with custom chipsets and set specs.
You can’t simply open an Xbox Series X and throw a new GPU in it. That’s mostly a big part of what makes it a console.
Rocco Schiavone
Member
Last time you saw how hot people were after a steambox. The second attempt won't go any better.
A Steambox is nothing more than a mini PC with Steam OS installed. Nobody needs that anymore.
A Steambox is nothing more than a mini PC with Steam OS installed. Nobody needs that anymore.
Guilty_AI
Gold Member
Different times, back then linux support was a lot more limited. Still, for this to work, things like price and power are still major factors
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
oddly enough, I think the new SteamBox will compete more with Xbox Prime than PS or Nintendo
Xbox Prime is rumored to do the same thing - higher priced PC meant for the living room with a console lite UI
Curious who wins this niche war?
Xbox Prime is rumored to do the same thing - higher priced PC meant for the living room with a console lite UI
Curious who wins this niche war?
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
The new call of duty brought him back and he recreated a lot of popular GIFs
Fess
Member
And I would also know, since I have 2. It’s not a Windows handheld. It’s a SteamOS handheld with an OS and UI tailored specifically for the console experience. If you don’t go into Linux desktop mode, how is it different from any other console?
Desktop mode, Linux, is also a bonus, you don’t need to use it.
HogIsland
Member
Since the last wave of Steam Boxes, Steamos has gone from playing about 20 games to playing over 20000 games.
playbignbox
Member
It's hilarious how some Sony fanboys are reacting in this thread
Guilty_AI
Gold Member
The fact that you can do it without any major hassles or drawbacks is what makes it vastly different from a normal console though
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Fess
Member
I see that as bonus features. If you want you can just sit in regular Steam Deck mode and forget all about drivers and files and programs etc, it works pretty much identically like a console then.
Bonfires Down
Member
Seriously, people who claim this will go like the last time simply have no clue what they are talking about.
