News - Valve announces 'Steam Machines' hardware prototype

[HEXUS]

Multiple Steam Machines will be on sale in 2014 following the prototype tests this year.

Read more.

[Noxvayl]

Yes I do, and I look forward to it. I would like to get a quality controller for my gaming machine so a Valve controller would be high on my list of options.

[Lucio]

I fully expect a customised controller, and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one manufacturer offered something akin to the nVidia Shield. My biggest concern with this entire concept though is that Steam is trying to become the third console on the market, which leads to even less "PC" games being released as developers struggle to support anything other than a control pad as the interface.

I like my mouse and keyboard combo, and want to keep them and the limitations and advantages that they represent, but with this on the horizon, it's looking less and less likely that I'll succeed.

[directhex]

I fully expect a customised controller, and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one manufacturer offered something akin to the nVidia Shield. My biggest concern with this entire concept though is that Steam is trying to become the third console on the market, which leads to even less "PC" games being released as developers struggle to support anything other than a control pad as the interface.

I like my mouse and keyboard combo, and want to keep them and the limitations and advantages that they represent, but with this on the horizon, it's looking less and less likely that I'll succeed.

Chin up. Gaming PC sales are rising in the face of marketwide PC sales dropping

[Nikumba]

Will be interesting to see the controller, though I think if it is a controller they will have to go some way to beat the 360 pad though

[AnyOldName3]

Will be interesting to see the controller, though I think if it is a controller they will have to go some way to beat the 360 pad though

A lot of people who use the DPad (so not me) hate the DPad on the XBox controller. Some people hate it because it's heavy (but I like something that feels solid). Others (who I'm assuming have malformed limbs) say it's a stupid and uncomfortable shape.

The only issues I've actually encountered is that if you buy an expensive genuine wireless controller -> USB adapter, you end up with a poorly made fake that doesn't work very well most of the time (and then breaks permanantly). If you try and buy the cheap one directly, then after 40 days the manufacturer apologises because his postal service stole 50 of these adapters. You get your 99p back, but no adapter. If you do eventually find one made by MS, then after a short while a fuse blows up and you can't use it until you drop a blob of solder over the top. I've sunk £20 into fake adapters and only actually had one arrive, which broke. I've tried to go to a reputable source for a genuine one, but they all seem to be permanently out of stock.

All in all, the XBox 360 gamepad is not unbeatable, but is pretty damn good when it does work.

[scaryjim]

When the Archos GamePad 2 was announced this week I did think "hmmm, with Steam OS coming out a Steam OS tablet thsat could also stream games from your PC would be pretty cool" - so, SteamOS tablet/mobile device that doubles as a controller, possibly with both touchscreen and physical buttons/pads? That'd be impressive...

[Defiant]

Chin up. Gaming PC sales are rising in the face of marketwide PC sales dropping

PC sales that are dropping though are the prebuilt systems that the big 5 sell, this doesnt account for the market where PC's are build from components. PC sales figures are not generalistic in their figures, It would be interesting to see what the total motherboard and CPU production is for non business selling PCs and part sales. That i feel is where you find out the true health of the PC market cause as far as I know we haven't seen a skyrocket in component prices or a decline in gaming interest, most companies making hardware use economy of scale to sell and I don't see that slide happening so far out side of the business sector.

[wyte_w0lf]

If you go on the sign up page for the beta it actually states a controller will be provided to beta testers. Most likely it will be their design. Ive signed up. Doubt ill be one of the lucky 300 but hey, you never know

[DeAnt28790]

Yeah... I think its safe to say Valve has been trolling us. They showed they could in fact count to 3 but I am fairly sure that Half Life 3 or episode 3 will not be the next announcement. My guess is that the next one will be the steam controller.

[DanceswithUnix]

My biggest concern with this entire concept though is that Steam is trying to become the third console on the market

I think they have been pretty up front with what they are doing. They see Windows 8 as the start of Windows becoming a completely DRM infested closed platform, which would kill off Steam. So this is a way of them continuing to do what they have always done.

I guess they have to make it seem more console like, I think most people would struggle to find space for another desktop PC in their house but could squeeze something under the TV. Whether that pushes us towards console controllers or wireless keyboards only time will tell though.

[Badbonji]

In for the hardware beta, would love to test this out before it is released!

[wasabi]

Yuk. My dislike of gamepads is why I stick with PC gaming. Plus I mostly play first person shooters / sneakers. I don't see the advantage of these Steam machines over a regular console.

[JimmyBoy]

I too use a 360 pad on my pc and I'm pretty pleased it pretty much just works although yes that d pad is just terrible. I read that the xbox one controller will get pc drivers in 2014, I just hope the d pad is better on that one (looks like it will be)

[crossy]

Yuk. My dislike of gamepads is why I stick with PC gaming. Plus I mostly play first person shooters / sneakers. I don't see the advantage of these Steam machines over a regular console.

You don't like gamepads - fine, as the article says - Valve aren't closing the door on you using a keyboard/mouse if you wish. I'm also a big FPS fan and while I like the precision a mouse gives, using a keyboard as a movement controller fills me with dread.

Like others above I'm a big fan of the XBox Controller for PC. Okay it's wired, but that cable's long enough for that not to really be an issue for me.

You've really not thought through that last part though have you, just off the top of my head:

• Since the Steam Machine is just a PC running SteamOS, you don't HAVE to buy new hardware to get your own SM. If you've got the disk space then just dual boot;
• Since the Steam Machine is "just a PC" then you'll have choice in whose box you get (assuming that hardware manufacturers come forward, which seems likely). Or, as I guess most Hexiens will do, build your own. To date I don't remember seeing any ability to build your own PS3/PS4/XBox/XBone, or buy from someone other than Sony/Microsoft;
• Since the SteamOS is Linux it's likely to be eminently "hackable", or "extendable" if you'd prefer;
• Again since there's no console costs to support, it's likely that games for a SteamMachine will be cheaper than their console equivalents;
• Due to the "open" nature of what Valve are currently selling then it's likely that you won't have the same level of DRM as is the case with PS3/Xbox.

My big worry though is that this looks almost too good to be true, and if I was Sony/Microsoft then I'd be leaning on EA, Activision, Ubisoft et al pretty hard to NOT develop for this. Conversely if I was EA, Activision, Ubisoft then I'd want to look at this - if for no other reason than as a bargaining chip with Sony and Microsoft.

[Saracen]

I haven't paid much attention to either this, or SteamOS, because I find the entire Steam model, where I buy a game then need permission from Steam to play it, utterly unacceptable. Unless that's changed, and while I haven't checked I rather doubt it has, then I have no more interest in either of these than I do in having a Steam account, which is zero.