
Why Valve's SteamOS Could Be Revolutionary - Dotnaught
http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-applications/why-valves-steamos-could-be-revolutionary/d/d-id/899846
======
beloch
PC gaming has been getting sloppy seconds from the console market for a while
now. Graphics have been held back by cross-platform development with consoles,
which additionally has slowed the PC obsolescence rate to a snail's pace and
killed PC sales. There have been many poor console ports with sloppy
interfaces and poor utilization of PC hardware. However, there are a few
titles (e.g. Skyrim) that are best played on a PC, and the vast difference in
image quality, interface, and community mods is astounding. When developers
trouble themselves to put some effort into the PC version, it shines.

In most previous console generations consoles began with clearly superior
graphics quality to PC's of the time. The Xbox360 and PS3 changed this trend
by being barely ahead at all, and the latest generation of consoles is
apparently behind right out of the gate [1]! Consoles offer inferior graphics
performance and inferior input (you can always hook a gamepad up to a PC!),
but they're relatively cheap and have pretty effective DRM.

This situation presents a big opportunity for Steam. Make steamboxes as cheap
and simple to use as a console and you effectively have a console! If you do
this while providing superior image quality and supporting better forms of
user input, you have a contender. Unfortunately, Valve isn't going to get much
help from game producers right away. They'll prioritize whatever market
generates the most profit. Steam is going to have to make steamboxes popular
before game studios will prioritize the Steam experience vs. that on other
consoles.

[1] [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-
battlefield...](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-
battlefield-4-next-gen-vs-pc-face-off-preview)

~~~
jiggy2011
To make steamboxes cheap and with good enough quality graphics to compete with
the PS4 or a high end PC they're going to need to sell the boxes at cost (or
maybe subsidize) and cut great deals with hardware manufacturers.

I don't know if this can square with their plan of having third parties sell
Steam boxes unless they are going to give these companies a cut of game sales
or something like that.

~~~
YokoZar
If you're wondering when PC hardware can "catch up" to console hardware,
history shows it's simply a matter of waiting a year or two. Rather than the
traditional new console generation land grab, Valve is playing a long game;
they can afford to let Moore's law catch up a bit.

~~~
jiggy2011
That doesn't necessarily change the economics so much. As time goes on a
console manufacturer can drop the price of it's console and make up the
difference using it's massive economies of scale and by selling more games
(since it gets a cut of every title sold).

OTOH a hypothetical steambox manufacturer must still make a profit on every
box sold. Since roughly the same pile of hardware can be sold as either a
"steambox" or a "PC" (which can have steam installed) the margins on the two
will have to be roughly the same.

Bare in mind that margins on most PCs are already pretty slim.

~~~
dageshi
Bear in mind this is additional demand. People were never going to buy the
equivalent "cheap pc gaming rig" because it didn't look and act like a
console. Whereas steambox will, so effectively existing PC manufacturers will
suddenly get access to a potentially huge new market which was off limits to
them previously.

Given that the new console generation lifecycle will be about a decade, in 3-5
years SteamBox will be a no brainer in terms of price/performance.

I actually think what comes next is a "battle of the stores", where Steam will
come installed on every Steambox but manufacturers will probably get paid to
install other stores as well.

------
ChrisNorstrom
FYI: "Left 4 dead 2" running on Linux has 315 fps vs 270 fps on a windows PC.
Other bloggers have put the game on max settings and tested on the same
hardware and gotten almost double the frames per second out of Ubuntu linux vs
Windows 8.

It's obvious Valve is in this for the long run. They've talked about it for
years: "Big things have small beginnings", "We hate windows", "Windows 8
sucks". And they're right. Windows is holding gamers hostage. And the gaming
community's backwards compatibility is unstable because of it. (some titles
made just a few years ago don't work on Windows 7 and can't run under
compatability mode) The PC gaming community has had no choice but to stick
with Windows.

This move is Valve's way of detaching the gaming community from the endlessly,
re-re-redesigned, bloated, sluggish, "that'll be $200 for the new version"
operating system and onto one that's free, specifically designed to cater to
gamers, and maintained by a company that isn't so hostile towards it's users.

I can't wait. It'll take a good 10 years but a Windows free gaming future is
on it's way.

------
eks
I'm saving up to upgrade my PC (AMD HSA on Kaveri + DDR4) because of SteamOS
(amongst other things) instead of getting a next-gen console. And I know a few
other people doing that as well.

~~~
dicroce
This is what I'm doing. I'm actually looking forward to having a real machine
connected to my TV (for lots of reasons besides Steam)...

~~~
brownbat
I have a PC in my living room, a wireless keyboard+mouse, high DPI, and no
regrets.

------
alexeisadeski3
With the mediocrity of "next-gen" consoles from Sony & MS, I pray to the gods
that Valve is successful in this endeavor.

Console stagnation harms all gaming.

~~~
cushychicken
I'm extremely interested in how Valve will grow into a hardware company,
especially given it's frequently-vaunted history of utterly flat management
structure. Personally, I have a hard time seeing it work well; hardware is a
whole different ballgame from software, and I can envision their internal
organization (from what little I know of it) not being very conducive to HW
development.

That being said, I DEARLY HOPE I'm wrong.

~~~
jcastro
Other than the controller it sounds like they're not getting into the hardware
business:

\- [http://games.on.net/2013/11/steam-controllers-will-only-
be-m...](http://games.on.net/2013/11/steam-controllers-will-only-be-made-by-
valve-no-partnerships-or-licenses/)

This seems smart to me, control the quality of the controller (as that seems
to be the central point of the experience anyway), and since the box itself is
just a PC let the existing boutique builders build the boxes.

~~~
cushychicken
I didn't realize the controller was the only component they'd be making. I
agree, that seems smart - especially with how slick they look. I got the
impression their foray into hardware was into a more console-like machine.

------
ispivey
In the most meaningful way, it could be Android for consoles. It's "freely
licensable" for hardware manufacturers, so companies will be able to build new
consoles without building their own OS -- the same innovation that led HTC and
Samsung to become two of the world's leading phone manufacturers.

------
BashiBazouk
Show me the game list. IMO the make or break for SteamOS.

I have a steam account on a mac which has a pretty close parity with linux as
to the game list. If that is all, not that interested. New games only for the
steamOS will take some time to build a catalog. Similar to the new generation
of consoles, from what I have seen it's going to be next fall before there are
enough interesting titles to tempt me to get one. If Valve can bring a decent
chunk of the last few years of windows games to SteamOS, I would be quite
interested in a unit.

The other thing not talked about with SteamOS, PS4 or Xbone is cheat
protection on multiplayer games. Huge problem with PC gaming. Small problem
with Xbox 360 and a minor problem with PS3. What does SteamOS bring to the
table to help prevent this? Or is it purely on the game studio to combat
cheating?

~~~
agildehaus
Valve has been focusing an extreme amount on becoming _the_ place indie
studios release on. They're intent is clear: focus more on finding the next
top-tier studios instead of a pointless pursuit of the current ones. There's
also nothing preventing you from using Windows on one of these boxes, or
streaming Windows games from another PC.

Valve has an anti-cheat system, but I don't think they license it (someone
correct me if they do).

~~~
firloop
Steam does offer [1] their anti-cheat system to developers, along with
features such as matchmaking, leaderboards and achievements. It's all on a
platform called Steamworks, which offers devs very similar features to Sony
and Microsoft's online services.

[1]: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Anti-
Cheat#Games_that_sup...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Anti-
Cheat#Games_that_support_VAC)

------
Avitas
It is 1983. The Atari 800 (XBox One) and Commodore 64 (PS4) are the hottest
items in home computing. The PC (Steam) that has been around for a couple of
years is a growing infant that doesn't quite approach the industry leaders.
The brewing revolution that is attributable to the ubiqitous penetration of
the PC along with *nix, cheap networking, the internet, billion dollar apps
like DBase, Lotus and WordPerfect is a decade away, but it has started. The
snowball has started rolling.

SteamOS has the potential to be a juggernaut of gaming that eclipses consoles.
Will Valve prove to use their talent and determination to make this THE
eventual go-to gaming platform? (Note: Rhetorical headlines can usually be
answered with a "no.")

Maybe. They certainly have the opportunity.

~~~
igravious
I, too, am deeply excited by the potential. I wish Valve and Canonical (if
they are partnering) well. I certianly would purchase a SteamOS machine. I
have a HTC One X w/ Android. I have a Dell XPS w/ Ubuntu preloaded.

I predict, however, that if successful Microsoft will be sure to try to
monetize the new revenue stream via patent licensing agreements.

I feel what Valve is doing (if all that was discussed here is legit) is truly
important because gaming has always been the next to last selling point for
the Wintel ecosystem.

My conjecture: you have to decide if you want mass market (open app OS inc. no
app store and no competing h/w division - i.e. pre-win8 desktop Microsoft
Windows, pre-Nokia Microsoft WinMobile, pre-Moto Google Android) or niche
market (vertically integrated OS, app store and h/w - i.e. Apple, PS4, Xbox)

Windows is the Mom&Pop desktop OS. There is plenty of room for an open gaming-
oriented OS.

Linux has been such a net positive for the software industry it is not even
funny at this stage. Viva la revolucion libre! :)

------
tedajax
For me the best thing to come out of SteamOS is the potential for some really
powerful game development tools on Linux.

------
darkchasma
Until we get out hands on the OS, so outside of idle speculation, we really
don't have much to go on. Steams "Big Screen" is far from mainstream ready, so
I doubt that we'll see a usable OS for some time.

~~~
simcop2387
You can start to watch what the interface at least will be by running the
linux client with -steamos, it'll autostart in big picture mode with a few
cosmetic differences right now (Mostly with settings).

------
pm90
_> It's worth noting that current iPhone and Android phones now equal, if not
exceed, the current generation of consoles in terms of power._

Is this true?

~~~
racoder
No. xbox 360 gpu has ~ 240 GFLOPS
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenos_(graphics_chip)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenos_\(graphics_chip\))

phones have ~ 25 Gflops - 50 Gflops [http://www.anandtech.com/show/6330/the-
iphone-5-review/11](http://www.anandtech.com/show/6330/the-iphone-5-review/11)

~~~
melling
That's last year's iPhone. Didn't the performance double this year?

[http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/large/publ...](http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2013/09/iphone_5s_a7_cpu_40x_slide.jpg)

[http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-
iphone-5s-review/5](http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review/5)

It looks like we might get a doubling of performance every year. With Android
vs iOS vs Microsoft, consumers should be in for quite a treat.

~~~
damon_c
Looks like the A7 gpu is coming in at 115.2 glops... so yeah... getting close.
That's pretty awesome.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_(system_on_chip)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_\(system_on_chip\))

~~~
mseidl
That's not that awesome, that's a brand new chip vs a 7 year old console chip.
And not even the whole chip, just the performance of the GPU.

~~~
LordIllidan
Which is running on in the palm of your hand, on battery power.. How is that
not awesome?

------
hyperion2010
For some reason I think that Gabe et. al. are smart enough to know that
partnering with ubuntu right now would not be met with enthusiasm by the
community, on the other hand maybe pressure from Valve could get Mark to pull
his head out of his ass and work with the community instead of continually
disrupting it.

~~~
igravious
The Shuttleworth/Canonical bashing is beyond tiresome at this stage.

Given like Canonical have actual experience getting their OS onto h/w vendors
machines Gabe et. al. would be stupid not to at least contemplate partnering.

Also, Ubuntu is Debian. You've no problem with Debian succeeding, right?

Canonical can do what they like within the boundary of the GPL and other
licences. Free software guarantees this freedom. I figure it's his money, he
gets to decide. People hate on Canonical for not contributing to the Linux
kernel. Then when they innovate build their own identity (you may gather I
_like_ Unity btw) they get criticized. For what?

Give it a rest already. the article was mainly about Valve and their Linux
play anyway.

edit: without -> within >.<

~~~
hyperion2010
My main issue, one that is especially relevant to gaming, is with the
shitstorm around Mir. I would be thrilled if Valve built off Debian, however I
would be disappointed if their interpretation of 'open' was strictly literal
(GPL etc) and did not take in to account the fact that cooperative and
collaborative interactions with the larger linux community are equally (if not
more) important. SteamOS is also not the only distro that valve is targeting,
so going down a road that reduces support for other distros seems like a
rather stupid idea to me (and yes, I am saying that Canonoical's current
behavior is isolating their platform from other distros).

------
minor_nitwit
It's times like these that I wish Valve wasn't private.

------
acd
I hope Valve SteamOS makes it, Linux gives you freedom from unknown
surveillance. If gamers start using Linux there will be a mass market and
easier to find good Linux hardware for desktop setups.

Lets also face it consoles are a kind of credit purchase where the
manufacturer of the console gives you hardware rebate which you pay with
increased game prices. You also pay with your freedom as the console maker
controls which software are allowed to run on the console.

------
venomsnake
Lets see it released and what it has and how hackable it is - if we could
reasonably run all the stuff on current linux distros if packaged correctly it
could be my main OS.

But vaporware is always revolutionary (I treat every unreleased software as
vaporware). My predictions for steam OS - really rocky start that will settle
few months in when the enthusiast community would have ironed most of the
kinks and then the heavy gaming hitters will appear.

------
hershel
He hadn't mentioned Microsoft project spark, a game creation platform , which
at least according to the demo , lets people build amazing stuff with little
effort or experience.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37sVEgJrOA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37sVEgJrOA)

If it's promise is true, maybe this is where we should look for the future of
gaming, and the future of platforms.

------
azatris
Will it be suitable to use SteamOS not only as a gaming platform, but also as
a general-purpose operating system - i.e. the new Windows for gamers? There
might have been a hint in the article, but I didn't quite catch it.

~~~
TsiCClawOfLight
they will have a "desktop-mode", and seeing it will probably be based on
Ubuntu, it should be usable for at least basic tasks.

------
kken
Only revolutionary or disruptive?

------
JDDunn9
I'd be more hopeful if it was open sourced, and not built by a company that
has pioneered DRM...

~~~
tracker1
Steam is probably the least in your face, get in your way DRM there has been..
Compared to what other have done, and will do, I'll take Steam.

~~~
serge2k
Steam is very in your face.

But it provides huge amounts of value and minimal pain. The biggest problem I
have with steam now is that the app can be pretty laggy and I can't move it to
my second screen for some reason. Neither of those things hurts my gaming
experience. I get a friend system, integrated store, automatic updates, game
distribution, achievements, in game browser overlay, steam cloud, etc...

But I still can't play my games without steam. I still can't sell them. I
still can't loan them to a friend. It's just that I don't really care.

