Valve Announces SteamOS

[dlevere]

Thousands of games, millions of users. Everything you love about Steam.

Available soon as a free operating system designed for the TV and the living room.

[bullis1]

I knew something like this would happen eventually but this announcement came much sooner than expected. I am somewhat concerned about the whole livingroom-centric aspect.

[dlevere]

Can SteamOS drag PC games over to Linux?

Why Valve should make Half-Life 3 a SteamOS exclusive.

By Kyle Orland

Right after I wrote up today's news regarding Valve's announcement of a Linux-based SteamOS as central to its living room PC gaming efforts, I tweeted the following instant analysis: "If anyone has the clout to drag the gaming industry towards Linux, it's Valve." After thinking about it for a bit, I think Valve has a better than decent shot of actually pulling the transition off, especially if it wisely utilizes its position as what amounts to the biggest first-party developer in PC gaming.

The history of Windows' current near-hegemony in the PC gaming space is well known. Windows (and MS-DOS before it) had the most users, so developers coded their games primarily (or exclusively) for Windows. This attracted more gaming-focused users to Windows, which gave developers even more reasons to focus on Windows. It's a cycle that led to a widespread lock-in effect for both PC gamers and game developers, and it's been incredibly hard for other operating systems to break over the years.

Valve has already begun working to break PC gamers out of this cycle (and away from the "catastrophe" that co-founder Gabe Newell considers Windows 8) by extending its popular Steam distribution platform to Linux, a move that was announced last year. Steam for Linux launched in February with over 50 games sporting native compatibility, and its library has grown to nearly 200 titles since. This effort has been helped along by Valve's porting of its Source engine (and its attendant classic games) to Linux and by efforts like the Humble Indie Bundle, which has long encouraged its developers to offer their games for Windows, Mac, and Linux at the same time. (Linux gamers, in turn, have been some of the most generous backers of the Humble Bundles pay-what-you-want efforts.)

This has all been helpful to proving there is a viable market for games on Linux, but it hasn't really been enough to elevate the platform outside of its niche status for gamers. Aside from Valve's own output, the vast majority of Steam's Linux titles are the kind of indie games that are darlings with critics and in-the-know gamers, but these aren't destined to sell millions of copies. Even Valve's own Linux releases have been ports of games that came out on Windows years ago. That's nice for Linux-only die-hards, but it's not the kind of thing that's going to convince many people to switch in and of itself.

Valve's ace in the hole

Today, Valve said we should watch for "announcements in the coming weeks about all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014." There is one AAA announcement in particular, though, that would be bigger than all the others combined. It could instantly get millions of gamers to seriously consider making the jump (or at least adding on) a Linux-based OS for their gaming needs. That announcement would be a SteamOS-exclusive version of Half-Life 3 (or, somehow, if another Valve sequel or franchise with HL3-levels of buzz).

It might sound crazy to release such a big, highly anticipated game on an entirely new OS rather than on the established OS already in use by 95 percent of gamers. It's important to note, though, that requiring SteamOS wouldn't technically cut off any of the millions of gamers currently locked in to their Windows or Mac boxes. Those users could still install the free, Linux-based SteamOS on their systems to play the game after all.

They could even set it up as a secondary, dual-boot OS without affecting their current set up much. Installing a second operating system is a technical and onerous process that's not really of much interest to a mainstream audience. But if there's anyone that can make the process simple and streamlined, it's Valve. The company set the standard for streamlined game and update downloading through Steam.

Valve could also try to sell the SteamOS requirement as a way to squeeze every bit of power out of your PC gaming hardware by eliminating the overhead required for Windows or Mac OS. They already made a similar argument when noting that the Linux port of Left 4 Dead 2 was the best performing version of the game.

Many users would no doubt grumble and complain about needing to install a new OS to play the game, and many of them would no doubt complain quite loudly to anyone who would listen (meaning: on Internet message boards and petition sites). Still, the draw of a title as heavily anticipated as Half-Life 3 would convince most (if not all) of the complainers to suck it up and just go through the installation so they could play the game. In the process, Valve would gain a huge installed base for its nascent platform, making it an instantly viable option for developers to consider developing for. Even releasing Half-Life 3 as a timed exclusive on SteamOS (say, six months before a Windows/MacOS release) would achieve many of the same goals.

If this still seems like a crazy idea, remember that nine years ago it seemed just as crazy for Valve to require users to install a little program called Steam and perform an online check-in in order to play Half-Life 2, even if they bought the game on a retail disc. Players complained back then too, and the launch wasn't without its share of technical hiccups. But users still bought the game by the millions and gave Steam its first tiny foothold into the new digital delivery landscape. Nine years from now, we could look at the dual launch of Half-Life 3 and SteamOS in the same exact way.

[dlevere]

What the SteamOS announcement means for living room PC gaming

Controller, streaming support are key to making the living room transition.

By Kyle Orland

SteamOS isn't just an effort to move gamers and game-makers over to a Linux-based system, it also wants to move them from an office desk or laptop to the living room TV. Valve has already tested the waters for this by rolling out the Big Picture interface for Steam last September, making the service much easier to navigate with a controller in hand and a big-screen TV a few feet away.

This initiative seems to be paying dividends in getting PC game developers to support handheld controllers in addition to the PC's traditional mouse and keyboard. When Big Picture mode was launched last September, 23.7 percent of the games available on Steam were listed with full or partial controller support (382 games total). Of the games that have launched on Steam since then, about 48.4 percent have featured full or partial controller support (raising the total proportion of games in this category on Steam to 29.4 percent or 617 games total).

This could be a case of Valve simply favoring games that support controllers for Steam inclusion, of course, but it could also be indicative of a general trend toward less keyboard/mouse-heavy games that has nothing to do with Big Picture mode. On the flip side, developers might be reacting to Steam's long-running chatter about bringing PC gaming to the living room by adding more consistent controller support to their PC titles. In any case, the idea that you need a keyboard and mouse to play a large majority of PC games, or that the platform is unfriendly to games that need handheld controllers, is looking a lot less relevant than it did just a year or so ago.

That's good news for a company that wants to get PCs out of the office. Back in February, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell cited controls as the single biggest issue stopping PC gaming from succeeding in the living room. He said it's a problem that the company is working hard to solve. "We don't want to sell a bunch of [controller] hardware," Newell said at the time. "We want to move things forward. We'll sell hardware if we have to, but the big thing is to think through these issues."

Streaming as a trojan horse stopgap

Things look a little worse when considering the controller situation for Linux games. While 40 percent of all Linux games on Steam feature some form of controller support, that only amounts to 72 games total that are currently set up to work on a living room box running SteamOS (unless you want to manage a keyboard/mouse on the couch). That number could increase by the time SteamOS is actually launched, but it adds up to a big chunk of the Steam library that won't be natively playable on living room Steam boxes either due to operating system or controller constraints.

For Steam's 545 controller-supporting titles that don't run on Linux, you'll have to rely on SteamOS' support for "in-home streaming." This supports the full library of Steam games streaming from a second computer running a different OS. While Valve didn't provide any hardware details for the kinds of TV set-top boxes that would be required for this feature, Newell hinted back in February that he saw local-streaming-only boxes as the "good" end of a "good/better/best" spectrum of Steam Box configurations.

The technology is there for this kind of thing to work pretty cheaply. Projects like the Nvidia Shield and the PlayStation Vita's Remote Play capabilities on the PS3 (not to mention the recently announced PlayStation Vita TV's PS4 link) have shown that the average home broadband network can readily stream game audio and video from a computer in another room while also accepting and transmitting remote controller input, all without significant latency (Digital Foundry pegged the round-trip speed at a playable 100 ms for the Shield in testing). As Newell said in February, the key to making in-home streaming mainstream is to make it work seamlessly, without any worries about pairing devices, configuration, audio syncing, and input latency issues.

Still, in-home, second-screen streaming is likely just a stopgap solution for SteamOS. Valve's hope is that this kind of low-cost, seamless streaming to a second screen will act as a Trojan horse to help get millions of SteamOS-configured devices into living rooms around the world (though system-selling software would work just as well). At that point, PC game developers should have fewer qualms about developing or porting their games to work natively on the SteamOS platform already hooked up to so many TV's.

[dlevere]

Valve Announces Hardware Beta Test For 'Steam Machine'

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/

[dlevere]

Valve's Steambox prototype can be hacked

By italkgame

Two days ago we reported on how, the number one PC gaming platform, Steam aims to conquer the living room. Today Valve unveiled the second pillar in this process; titled Steam Machines Valve announced a beta program for their hardware.

It is well know that Valve will produce their own hardware, which in some capacity will work with their service Steam. We also know that other companies are working (with) Valve on similar hardware. So where is the actual news part? Well, Valve’s own open and upgradable Steambox prototype will have a beta test among eligible Steam users. This prototype hopes to set itself apart from the other devices by catering to “users who want to most possible control over their hardware.”

Similar to micro-console Ouya, Vale states that they will allow their box to be hacked. – But careful readers might notice that doesn’t imply that the company will allow SteamOS itself to be hacked.

Hardware beta

Valve made 300 units of their own hardware prototype available for a beta test, claiming that implementing user feedback in design choices ensures that the right product will be made. Out of these 300, thirty “boxes” will go to preferred participants of the beta test. The other 270 “machines’ will be randomly granted among those who completed the Eligibility Quest before October 25th.

Prototypes for the beta will ship this year and a variety of SteamOS capable machines will hit the consumer market somewhere in 2014.

[47iscool]

A free OS huh? Not bad at all.

[dlevere]

Valve Announces Steam Controller

A new way to play your entire Steam library from the sofa.

Join the Steam hardware beta and help us shape a new generation of gaming.

A different kind of gamepad

We set out with a singular goal: bring the Steam experience, in its entirety, into the living-room. We knew how to build the user interface, we knew how to build a machine, and even an operating system. But that still left input — our biggest missing link. We realized early on that our goals required a new kind of input technology — one that could bridge the gap from the desk to the living room without compromises. So we spent a year experimenting with new approaches to input and we now believe we’ve arrived at something worth sharing and testing with you.

Complete catalog

The Steam Controller is designed to work with all the games on Steam: past, present, and future. Even the older titles in the catalog and the ones which were not built with controller support. (We’ve fooled those older games into thinking they’re being played with a keyboard and mouse, but we’ve designed a gamepad that’s nothing like either one of those devices.) We think you’ll agree that we’re onto something with the Steam Controller, and now we want your help with the design process.

Superior performance

Traditional game pads force us to accept compromises. We’ve made it a goal to improve upon the resolution and fidelity of input that’s possible with those devices. The Steam controller offers a new and, we believe, vastly superior control scheme, all while enabling you to play from the comfort of your sofa. Built with high-precision input technologies and focused on low-latency performance, the Steam controller is just what the living-room ordered.

http://cdn3.store.steampowered.com/p...controller.jpg

Valve Announces Steam Controller

[dlevere]

John Carmack Expresses Doubts About Valve's SteamOS, Steam Machines

By james_fudge

Id Software co-founder and Oculus Rift guy John Carmack says that he is not convinced that Valve Software can pull off the lofty goals of SteamOS and Steam Machines - while at the same time admitting that he has been very wrong in the past about what Valve is capable of.

"There's an interesting kind of retrospective on it," Carmack said during Nvidia’s Montreal conference.

He also pointed out the time when Valve approached Id Software about adding Doom 3 to Steam's launch lineup.

"We basically said, 'Are you crazy? This would be nuts to try to kind of tie yourselves to this little, notional digital distribution platform.' But clearly, Valve has played a good, strong, long game," Carmack said.

Nevertheless, Carmack said that he wasn't convince that Valve can push a Linux-based operating system for games into the main stream.

"I'm afraid that I may be at that same point right now where I'm like, 'Making your own sort of little console OS? Are you crazy?' And, you know, maybe 10 years from now, they're going to look like brilliant prophets again with it." But Carmack said, "it still seems a little bit dicey to me, getting everything moved over to Linux, pushing from that side of things. Still, Valve's track record is evidence that the company may just be able to pull it off. If it was some other random company, I would be pseudo-scornful, but it's Valve, so I'm not."

The discussion can be watched in the video at the 29:49 mark.

Source: Verge

[dlevere]

Linus Torvalds: SteamOS Will 'Really Help' Linux On the Desktop

By Shona Ghosh

Linus Torvalds has welcomed the arrival of Valve’s Linux-based platform, SteamOS, and said it could boost Linux on desktops.

The Linux creator praised Valve's "vision" and suggested its momentum would force other manufacturers to take Linux seriously - especially if game developers start to ditch Windows.

"I love the Steam announcements – I think that's an opportunity to really help the desktop," he said, speaking at LinuxCon in Edinburgh.

Valve announced SteamOS last month as a way to bring PC gaming to the living room. Users will be able to install the system on PC's they build themselves, and Valve will make the system available to manufacturers to use on their own hardware.

Should SteamOS gain traction among gamers and developers, that could force more hardware manufacturers to extend driver support beyond Windows.

That's a sore point for Torvalds, who slammed Nvidia last year for failing to support open-source driver development for its graphics chips. Now that SteamOS is on the way, Nvidia has opened up to the Linux community, something Torvalds predicts is a sign of things to come.

"I’m not just saying it’ll help us get traction with the graphics guys," he said. "It’ll also force different distributors to realise if this is how Steam is going, they need to do the same thing because they can’t afford to be different in this respect. They want people to play games on their platform too."

"It’s the best model for standardization," he added. "I think good standards are people doing things, saying 'this is how we do it' and being successful enough to drive the market."

Pretty log-in screens

Another reason Linux hasn't done well on desktop, according to Torvalds, is because developers focus on useless UX features.

"Linux is doing wonderfully well in so many different areas, but I still am somewhat disappointed about the fact that Linux desktop is this morass of in-fighting and people who do bad things," he said.

"I do hope the desktop people will try to work together, and work more on the technology than trying to make the log-in screen look really nice," he added.

Torvalds wouldn't mention specific companies, but has previously championed Google’s Chromebook Pixel, which runs on the Linux-based Chrome OS - describing other PC's as "crap" by comparison.