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If Valve creates an "entry point" for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director (www.rockpapershotgun.com)

submitted 4 days ago by ZippyBot@lemmy.zip to c/gaming@lemmy.zip

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[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 65 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Relevant part of the article.

Larian Studio's Publishing Director Michael Douse took to Twitter to argue Valve aren't looking to make a device that exceeds the power of the consoles, they're making a baseline. "They're probably betting on the fact that anyone who wants more demanding PC hardware on their TV is part of the audience who know how to turn any PC into a Steam Machine," Douse argues.

[…] Douse says, Valve are setting a baseline. "If Valve can once again normalise and thus create that entry point there is potential for big growth in that new market". Once Gabe and his kin establish a baseline, other companies, such as ASUS and Lenovo, can roll in with their more powerful machines.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 30 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I think he's absolutely right, and I hope Valve has considered this (and they probably have). This needs to be a door-opener, not a powerhouse.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 17 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Most definitely.

Valve's main success here will be establishing SteamOS as a de facto replacement for some 60-70% of PCs. Hell, I've built a gaming PC a little over a year ago, and am still running Windows on it, but only for one reason: no first party support from SteamOS.

Once that's sorted... My need for Windows will disappear basically, aside from the very occasional ancient Windows utility I might need to use (old Rockchip flashing tools come to mind), but those usually run quite well enough in a VM.

Make a baseline Steam Machine, let people adapt their PCs to it easily, and you won over the gaming market. Expand that with support for third party launcher integration and you've literally got every single fanboy, gamer, etc., on your platform.

[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

am still running Windows on it, but only for one reason: no first party support from SteamOS.

For the most part, it SteamOS isn't really necessary to get a serviceable desktop gaming experience. Pick a well-supported rolling release distro or a derivative, install Steam and Proton, and games mostly just work.

It's not perfect, but it's usable. The only real pain point around gaming is getting HDR working properly.

Closed-source software is a different story, however. Discord's Wayland support is basically nonexistent and the AFK detection thinks you're always in front of the computer, suppressing mobile notifications.

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[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Of course they have considered it. It is literally their model for handheld form factor gaming laptops (aka "Steam Deck"). And it is what they tried with round 1 of Steam Machines.

The real problem is going to be... all the problems that those of us with a Linux HTPC have. Streaming of media won't be a thing since most services have DRM that relies on HDCP handshakes these days. Also people are going to learn the fun way why that AMD setup only supports "HDMI 2.0" (although there are workarounds to get most 2.1 functionality out of a display port adapter). Let alone just general weirdness that tends to not come up when everything is one integrated device.

Consoles have gone a LONG way towards ruining "it just works". But I spent an hour or so yesterday finally flashing my display port dongle and it involved a second device to SSH into my HTPC and, in the process, I ended up needing to re-pair my xbox controller afterwards. I am used to that kind of bullshit and think it is fun. The first time that happens to someone you can expect all of social media to start caring that GabeN is a weird rich lunatic and insisting that Kojima-san and Sony will fix everything with the PS6 or whatever bullshit.

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[–] neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

Larian proving again and again, that they get it.

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[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 25 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think the goal is providing an alternate path for people migrating from windows 10 as much as it is a living room pc.

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Ehh

I feel like most people that really care about their operating system are more than likely going to build a PC

Most people buying a pre-built device are like Apple users "It just works"

I have an expensive PC I built but I'm a console gamer

I enjoy a comfy couch, big TV, and controller.

It's the ease of just hitting a couple buttons and getting to play a game.

Could I hook my PC to my TV? Yes, but that would require me to move my PC from my desk.

Also things like controllers. If I hooked my PC to my TV to play something like Overwatch I'd have to play with m/kb people which I would be at a severe disadvantage if I played with a controller.

Like if Xbox overwatch allowed m/kb (yeah I know people cheat) I'd probably stop playing it.

It's the PC gamers that always want consoles to support m/kb. Console gamers do not want to play on m/kb.

In my mind lack of m/kb is why consoles exist

People aren't buying PS/Xbox for a living room PC. They want a console gaming experience

[–] offspec@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Most people locked out of upgrading from W10 to W11 have never built a computer and will never build a computer. They are liable to throw away their existing computer and purchase a new one. W10 is EOL and W11 has a restrictive list of prerequisites.

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I agree with you.

But my point is someone that bought a W10 pre-built computer is not the person looking at the steam machine saying "Maybe a different operating system would improve my experience"

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They may very well be thinking "steam says this works for everything I own" though, the OS likely isn't relevant if it still has a browser.

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

But what you're saying is that it is to provide people with an alternative path from windows.

Even if the steam machine had windows on it, the majority of the same people would buy it.

My point is very few people are going to buy the steam machine to get away from windows

"Steam says this works for everything I own" Purchased no matter what.

Not "I want a new PC without windows, let me try out the new steam machine"

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[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

With SSD, memory prices, and GPU prices still going up, releasing console-beating Steam Machines still seems way over the horizon to plan for. Once the AI bubble "pops", maybe .. but with so much going on in the world in terms of geopolitics also threatening to affect markets, I wouldn't dare to look into the future.

[–] bollybing@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They're coming, they'll just be third party and expensive.

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Might as well just build your own mini-ITX PC and install SteamOS if it gets to that point

[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

The GabeCube is a lot smaller than mini-ITX, though. Might even be smaller than the mainboard alone.

[–] LifeOfChance@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Ive wanted to get into PC gaming for awhile but I just don't have the room or the care to set something up its why I use consoles. Every time I mention this ill get a billion messages about ways to make it work. I'm a simple person I want to plug it in and turn it on which is why I use consoles. I dont play enough games to justify a full set up. I plan to plug my PS5 controller into this (I think its able?) And enjoy.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

I plan to plug my PS5 controller into this (I think its able?)

Yes, because everything runs through Steam, which support the DS5.

[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago

Unless you are going for console exclusives, a PC is upgradable and can be just about as plug and play, specially now with SteamOS. The SteamDeck has really helped normalized control schemes into their gamepad.

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[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Valve has amazing hardware engineering skills and I have no idea, why companies like ASUS struggle to compete. They struggled with the Steam Deck, they will struggle with the Steam Machine.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Because valve does not need to profit,since they get money from people buying games.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They don't need to worry about shareholders demanding maximum profit. They are still going to be looking to profit but they can do things for purposes beyond just extracting as much as possible in the short term.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sony is a shareholder corp and still does that.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago

With PC sales?

[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If other hardware vendors are going to follow, they have to be using SteamOS or something similar out of the box. Handhelds can somewhat get away with using Windows because of the touch screen, but a "console" experience that occasionally requires plugging in a keyboard and mouse to get past some controller-unfriendly menu or pop-up is just going to annoy users.

[–] elvith@feddit.org 3 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Any other Distribution and even Windows would work fine, as long as you set up passwordless autologon as a default user and then put Steam in Big Picture Mode as autostart.

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