- Liittynyt
- 24.10.2012
- Viestejä
- 957
Steam Box
En löytänyt tälle vielä omaa threadia paitsi tuon steamin oman threadin, mutta uskon kyllä että tää tulee vielä ennemmin tai myöhemmin tarvitsemaan ihan omansa, joten pistinpä sen nyt pystyyn! Elikkäs kyseessä ois Steam Box, steamin oma pelimasiina, joka tulee olemaan kustomisoitu yllätys yllätys, steamin peleille. Valve on ilmoittanut että Steam Boxin ensimmäiset beta testaukset pitäisivät olla heinäkuussa 2013. Mitä mieltä pakkislaiset olette ? Näyttää ihan kelpo laitokselta omalta mielestä. Kertokaapas teidän kantojanne, meinaatteko tälläsen hommata vai jätättekö kaupanhyllyille pölyttymään ?
Techradar.com esittelee
Think of Valve's Steam Box as a PC. Its early prototypes might be squished into a small cuboid at the moment, they might be more at home under your television than your monitor, and - most shockingly - it might not be running Windows: but it is a PC. The Steam Box is designed to play PC games. Specifically, it's designed to play Steam games: Steam being the developer behind Valve's proprietary game download service, blessed with a good chunk of the platform's best ever titles. It's Valve spearheading the Steam Box concept, and Valve that showed the first mock-ups of what an eventual Steam Box would look like at CES 2013.
Steam Box: who's it for?
Valve's Steam Box will be a gaming machine first, optimised for Steam - and the service's recently introduced Big Picture mode that pretties up its UI for TVs - but unlike other consoles, it won't be a closed system. Valve head Gabe Newell has confirmed that the company is indeed working on its own Steam Box - the Team Fortress 2 developer's first bit of hardware - but also that other companies will be free and welcome to produce their own offerings. Newell saw these machines coming in tiers, referred to as "good, better, and best". The first of these from Valve has already been spotted: high-end PC maker Xi3 has a Steam Box codenamed Piston ready to go in a brushed chrome case. Piston price points range from $499 for the base unit to $999 for the top end, presumably comparable with a similarly priced PC in terms of graphical grunt.
Think of Valve's Steam Box as a PC. Its early prototypes might be squished into a small cuboid at the moment, they might be more at home under your television than your monitor, and - most shockingly - it might not be running Windows: but it is a PC. The Steam Box is designed to play PC games. Specifically, it's designed to play Steam games: Steam being the developer behind Valve's proprietary game download service, blessed with a good chunk of the platform's best ever titles. It's Valve spearheading the Steam Box concept, and Valve that showed the first mock-ups of what an eventual Steam Box would look like at CES 2013. Steam BoxThe Steam Box is an Xi3 mini PC
Other PC manufacturers will surely follow suit, after taking the time to scrunch their components up small to fit them in an aesthetically pleasing, lounge-suiting chassis. How the Steam Box will affect the manufacturers of those components themselves is yet to be seen, but we can extrapolate. The success of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have resulted in six years of effective gaming hardware standstill. A modest PC bought in recent years can play most modern games on extra-high settings, and top-end, foot-long graphics cards are largely superfluous. We could see graphics card manufacturers such as AMD and Nvidia focusing on efficient, small form-factor cards to fit in a new generation of snazzier, quieter cases. We could even lose discrete graphics altogether, if Intel's processor plans come to fruition, making the Steam Box smaller again. The Steam Box's openness means that, as with a PC, hardware can be switched out for newer bits. It also means that users won't have to contend with a locked-down front-end or network such as Xbox Live. Newell and Valve have spent the last year decrying the oncoming Windows 8, while singing the virtues of free, open-source Linux operating systems. Such is their approval that they've hired Linux developers to convert Steam games over to the OS, and have confirmed that their own take on the Steam Box will use the system in place of Windows. Not that you'll be forced to use it, though: again, Newell's watchword is openness, and he stated specifically that users can "install Windows if they want." It's hard to see a world where Linux entirely displaces Windows as the western OS of choice, but Valve's tacit support - and vocal dislike for the places Microsoft is taking its stalwart system - will make a dent in market share. Fundamentally, it could change PC gaming from a Windows-centric model to something even more open and disparate.
Lähde: http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/valve-steam-box-release-date-news-and-features-1127072
IGN.com kommentoi
Out of all of the buzzy features Newell and company teased throughout CES, perhaps the one that is most intriguing is that the Steam Box isn't just a single device. Rather, it's a Linux-based OS all its own, powering a range of tiered gaming computers, from low-cost streaming devices to high-end rigs. While Valve hasn't explicitly said, it seems likely that each will be required to meet a minimum level performance and boot directly into the Steam Box OS right out of the box — a feat currently impossible with Windows and Microsoft's licensing requirements.
Other companies are also getting in on the action already, most notably Xi3's Piston console, a CES darling that promoted its function on the Steam platform with backing from Valve. While Xi3 reps were cautious about promoting the Piston as an out and out Steam Box, there's a possibility that the Piston is a landmark of the first wave of Steam Boxes. But there are also other devices seemingly waiting in the wings, some of which that may already be on the market. Take the Alienware X51, for example. Last year, we reported that the Dell-owned company's compact PC was originally intended to be a Steam Box device, and when Valve formally launches Steam Box, is likely to be offered in Linux configurations to be compatible.
Steam Games on Any Screen
Another thrill-inducing feature that has many excited about the Steam Box platform is its purported versatility. Newell promised that the Steam Box wouldn't behave as just a console version of Steam with the added benefit of a shop. Instead, it's touted as an all-in-one streaming, gaming, and browsing server that travels to multiple gaming displays. Eventually, Newell hints that the Steam Box will be able to juggle up to eight different games simultaneously. As Nvidia demonstrated with Project Shield, Valve is experimenting with remote access to Steam through Android clients custom-tailored for mobile devices, suggesting that the Steam Box platform could bring full-fledged PC titles to tablets and smartphones as well.
If true, you have to give Valve points just for effort — a totally open and flexible hardware option is a true step towards gaming of the future, and it shows that Valve is conscientiously steering the Steam Box towards an inclusive gaming experience that isn't tied to one method or hardware.
Making PC Gaming Mainstream
Cost and technical savvy, whether real or perceived, have always been a barrier between PC gaming and mainstream audiences. With a unified platform and cheap, easy to use hardware, Steam Box could be the key to bringing PC gaming to the masses. Of course, it'll be an uphill battle dependent on influencer adoption and an aggressive marketing effort, but it could move the needle. And while it may not be able to replicate the commercial success of PlayStation or Xbox products, Steam Box should make Microsoft and Sony sweat a little.
Lähde: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/18/the-promise-and-potential-pitfalls-of-valves-steam-box
En löytänyt tälle vielä omaa threadia paitsi tuon steamin oman threadin, mutta uskon kyllä että tää tulee vielä ennemmin tai myöhemmin tarvitsemaan ihan omansa, joten pistinpä sen nyt pystyyn! Elikkäs kyseessä ois Steam Box, steamin oma pelimasiina, joka tulee olemaan kustomisoitu yllätys yllätys, steamin peleille. Valve on ilmoittanut että Steam Boxin ensimmäiset beta testaukset pitäisivät olla heinäkuussa 2013. Mitä mieltä pakkislaiset olette ? Näyttää ihan kelpo laitokselta omalta mielestä. Kertokaapas teidän kantojanne, meinaatteko tälläsen hommata vai jätättekö kaupanhyllyille pölyttymään ?
Techradar.com esittelee
Think of Valve's Steam Box as a PC. Its early prototypes might be squished into a small cuboid at the moment, they might be more at home under your television than your monitor, and - most shockingly - it might not be running Windows: but it is a PC. The Steam Box is designed to play PC games. Specifically, it's designed to play Steam games: Steam being the developer behind Valve's proprietary game download service, blessed with a good chunk of the platform's best ever titles. It's Valve spearheading the Steam Box concept, and Valve that showed the first mock-ups of what an eventual Steam Box would look like at CES 2013.
Steam Box: who's it for?
Valve's Steam Box will be a gaming machine first, optimised for Steam - and the service's recently introduced Big Picture mode that pretties up its UI for TVs - but unlike other consoles, it won't be a closed system. Valve head Gabe Newell has confirmed that the company is indeed working on its own Steam Box - the Team Fortress 2 developer's first bit of hardware - but also that other companies will be free and welcome to produce their own offerings. Newell saw these machines coming in tiers, referred to as "good, better, and best". The first of these from Valve has already been spotted: high-end PC maker Xi3 has a Steam Box codenamed Piston ready to go in a brushed chrome case. Piston price points range from $499 for the base unit to $999 for the top end, presumably comparable with a similarly priced PC in terms of graphical grunt.
Think of Valve's Steam Box as a PC. Its early prototypes might be squished into a small cuboid at the moment, they might be more at home under your television than your monitor, and - most shockingly - it might not be running Windows: but it is a PC. The Steam Box is designed to play PC games. Specifically, it's designed to play Steam games: Steam being the developer behind Valve's proprietary game download service, blessed with a good chunk of the platform's best ever titles. It's Valve spearheading the Steam Box concept, and Valve that showed the first mock-ups of what an eventual Steam Box would look like at CES 2013. Steam BoxThe Steam Box is an Xi3 mini PC
Other PC manufacturers will surely follow suit, after taking the time to scrunch their components up small to fit them in an aesthetically pleasing, lounge-suiting chassis. How the Steam Box will affect the manufacturers of those components themselves is yet to be seen, but we can extrapolate. The success of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have resulted in six years of effective gaming hardware standstill. A modest PC bought in recent years can play most modern games on extra-high settings, and top-end, foot-long graphics cards are largely superfluous. We could see graphics card manufacturers such as AMD and Nvidia focusing on efficient, small form-factor cards to fit in a new generation of snazzier, quieter cases. We could even lose discrete graphics altogether, if Intel's processor plans come to fruition, making the Steam Box smaller again. The Steam Box's openness means that, as with a PC, hardware can be switched out for newer bits. It also means that users won't have to contend with a locked-down front-end or network such as Xbox Live. Newell and Valve have spent the last year decrying the oncoming Windows 8, while singing the virtues of free, open-source Linux operating systems. Such is their approval that they've hired Linux developers to convert Steam games over to the OS, and have confirmed that their own take on the Steam Box will use the system in place of Windows. Not that you'll be forced to use it, though: again, Newell's watchword is openness, and he stated specifically that users can "install Windows if they want." It's hard to see a world where Linux entirely displaces Windows as the western OS of choice, but Valve's tacit support - and vocal dislike for the places Microsoft is taking its stalwart system - will make a dent in market share. Fundamentally, it could change PC gaming from a Windows-centric model to something even more open and disparate.
Lähde: http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/valve-steam-box-release-date-news-and-features-1127072
IGN.com kommentoi
Out of all of the buzzy features Newell and company teased throughout CES, perhaps the one that is most intriguing is that the Steam Box isn't just a single device. Rather, it's a Linux-based OS all its own, powering a range of tiered gaming computers, from low-cost streaming devices to high-end rigs. While Valve hasn't explicitly said, it seems likely that each will be required to meet a minimum level performance and boot directly into the Steam Box OS right out of the box — a feat currently impossible with Windows and Microsoft's licensing requirements.
Other companies are also getting in on the action already, most notably Xi3's Piston console, a CES darling that promoted its function on the Steam platform with backing from Valve. While Xi3 reps were cautious about promoting the Piston as an out and out Steam Box, there's a possibility that the Piston is a landmark of the first wave of Steam Boxes. But there are also other devices seemingly waiting in the wings, some of which that may already be on the market. Take the Alienware X51, for example. Last year, we reported that the Dell-owned company's compact PC was originally intended to be a Steam Box device, and when Valve formally launches Steam Box, is likely to be offered in Linux configurations to be compatible.
Steam Games on Any Screen
Another thrill-inducing feature that has many excited about the Steam Box platform is its purported versatility. Newell promised that the Steam Box wouldn't behave as just a console version of Steam with the added benefit of a shop. Instead, it's touted as an all-in-one streaming, gaming, and browsing server that travels to multiple gaming displays. Eventually, Newell hints that the Steam Box will be able to juggle up to eight different games simultaneously. As Nvidia demonstrated with Project Shield, Valve is experimenting with remote access to Steam through Android clients custom-tailored for mobile devices, suggesting that the Steam Box platform could bring full-fledged PC titles to tablets and smartphones as well.
If true, you have to give Valve points just for effort — a totally open and flexible hardware option is a true step towards gaming of the future, and it shows that Valve is conscientiously steering the Steam Box towards an inclusive gaming experience that isn't tied to one method or hardware.
Making PC Gaming Mainstream
Cost and technical savvy, whether real or perceived, have always been a barrier between PC gaming and mainstream audiences. With a unified platform and cheap, easy to use hardware, Steam Box could be the key to bringing PC gaming to the masses. Of course, it'll be an uphill battle dependent on influencer adoption and an aggressive marketing effort, but it could move the needle. And while it may not be able to replicate the commercial success of PlayStation or Xbox products, Steam Box should make Microsoft and Sony sweat a little.
Lähde: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/18/the-promise-and-potential-pitfalls-of-valves-steam-box
