First sightings of a "Steam Box"!

[BiG D]

I am too busy to be dealing with driver updates and hardware conflicts and the like. If valve makes a box that actually behaves like a console and runs steam, I'll buy it in a heartbeat. Saving time on the maintenance of a gaming PC means more time to be playing games.

 

[Nanor]

Saving time on the maintenance of a gaming PC means more time to be playing games.

How much maintenance do you actually have to perform?

 

[BiG D]

Enough that I tend to buy multiplatform games for the xbox because I know they'll work there...

 

[Nanor]

I could buy any multi-platform title that's currently on Steam right now, install it and it'd work.

Assuming I haven't touched my gaming PC in say 6 months I suppose I'd have to update Steam, download drivers from ATI, install them (which doesn't even require a restart) and I'd be playing just as well as you are on the xbox.

 

[BiG D]

Nanor, how many serious software issues/hardware failures have you had in the last three years? BE HONEST NOW, you make threads about them every time...

 

[Nanor]

BiG D, how many serious software issues/hardware failures does a competent person have. You can't use me as a competent user. I'm the guy that overclocked his CPU for the fun of it and fried his hard drive.

Since I beefed up my computer and stopped fucking about with the BIOS my computer problems have been nothing that I can't fix by myself. Bearing in mind this is a PC I assembled myself, with parts poorly researched and combined into one box that's poorly ventilated sitting beside a radiator. The fact I can run any game without error is remarkable.

 

[BiG D]

Since I beefed up my computer and stopped fucking about with the BIOS my computer problems have been nothing that I can't fix by myself.

That is exactly it! Just because I'm capable of fixing problems doesn't mean I want to spend my free time doing so.

 

[Nanor]

Saying I have had computer problems doesn't mean I have them regularly. A well maintained and well built gaming computer is just as reliable as a console.

 

[BiG D]

Really? Consoles don't have OS updates monthly.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

I suppose its possible that there are steam users, and "would be" steam users who are restricted to console gaming due to the "sometimes" prohibitive costs involved in PC gaming who would prefer to play PC games with PC gaming power. Wheres the keyboard!

I worry a little about the precedent a valve box might set, and i hope that pc game makers don't optimise their game's performance against it's hardware as a short cut to avoid proper optimisation for the widely ranged PC market.

Effectively saying "we can save money here boys, the valve box is an above average power level pc, if our game works on it, that is good enough" - pretty much screwing everyone whose pc wasn't worth £600-£900 new.

Really? Consoles don't have OS updates monthly.

Optional*

Without being critical here, the console OS is perhaps more akin to the BIOS than the Installed OS, I've never had to update a BIOS.

 

[Nanor]

Really? Consoles don't have OS updates monthly.

How does having to update your PC equate to unreliability? Besides that it's not as if OS updates are a painfully laborious task. They may be if you have loads to install but I'd pin that down to poor maintenance.

When I wake up and turn on my computer it'll take a minute to boot, from there I could choose a game from Steam and have it loaded and on the main menu in 20-30 seconds regardless of whichever game I choose. It all works and it all works swell.

 

[Wol]

Saying I have had computer problems doesn't mean I have them regularly. A well maintained and well built gaming computer is just as reliable as a console.

Nanor. I've already had this discussion with D many moons ago. You just have to accept that he's old and miserable and doesn't like change.

 

[BiG D]

Hold on just a second there. I may be the MOST MISERABLE, but I'm the only one in this goddamn thread advocating change.

How does it even matter to you if I feel like my life needs less computer upkeep? If you aren't bothered by or enjoy that sort of thing, great, but I've got the means and the desire to trade money for a more streamlined PC experience. I don't see why I shouldn't...

 

[KillCrazy]

Wow, after a few months away from this forum I see not much has changed...

Attitudes toward one another are still far too sour. Everyone has their own opinion on the matter so a level of respect is needed for that. No one should be here to belittle, fight off or dismiss other persons opinions.

As far as consoles go, I have always favoured a gaming PC to any of the recent consoles on the market. I like the freedom and control of being able to choose my hardware and upgrade whenever I want. There can be a lot of problems with incompatibility issues, faults, failures and the like, but that is what I have chosen to deal with and have experience from.

That is not to say I dislike consoles and stay away from them completely. I understand that being a console gamer can be a much quicker and easier experience as the games are built to run on them properly, so faults and errors are few, but it is worth noting that consoles have their faults as well just like every piece of equipment out there. Things get old, things break, things can be incorrectly manufactured and arrive to you broken.
I have enjoyed a few games on the xbox360 that I probably wouldn't have on the PC. I am also very interested in what valve is proposing with this steam box. New technology in any form is always exciting to me.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

Attitudes toward one another are still far too sour. Everyone has their own opinion on the matter so a level of respect is needed for that. No one should be here to belittle, fight off or dismiss other persons opinions.

"No one can go home until the one who broke this owns up."

That is not to say I dislike consoles and stay away from them completely. I understand that being a console gamer can be a much quicker and easier experience as the games are built to run on them properly, so faults and errors are few, but it is worth noting that consoles have their faults as well just like every piece of equipment out there. Things get old, things break, things can be incorrectly manufactured and arrive to you broken.

There is a danger of the developer slacking on testing when the steam box gets its own share of the market.

As far as I am concerned, if there is no keyboard and mouse its not PC gaming.

Though as was brought up once before, those are controls of necessity and have not been designed for gaming, I do not own a controller, nor a console, though it is the controller that puts me off the console, and little else, as i have not had good experiences historically with imprecise input to computers.

And i am not so rigid as to decry consoles, at least, not any more.

I have enjoyed a few games on the xbox360 that I probably wouldn't have on the PC. I am also very interested in what valve is proposing with this steam box. New technology in any form is always exciting to me.

And anyone else with money.

 

[Zhar]

In my opinion another console choose between isn't going to add anything.
What we really need is to get more ports, when done properly (unlike skyrim and dark souls) to the PC.
As much as I despise the console peasants, there are some quality games on their system that I wouldn't mind enjoying, for example red dead redemption or dragon's dogma. This doesn't mean these are great game, I just feel like they would be a valuable asset to the current gaming library.

 

[Wol]

No one should be here to belittle, fight off or dismiss other persons opinions.

but mom!

I like the freedom and control of being able to choose my hardware and upgrade whenever I want. There can be a lot of problems with incompatibility issues, faults, failures and the like, but that is what I have chosen to deal with and have experience from.

As far as I am concerned, if there is no keyboard and mouse its not PC gaming.

I thought that underneath this all, PC gamers aren't their target market for the Steam Box. So going "well its not PC gaming" is pretty much the whole point. It's not meant to be?

 

[KillCrazy]

I thought that underneath this all, PC gamers aren't their target market for the Steam Box. So going "well its not PC gaming" is pretty much the whole point. It's not meant to be?

Not sure why you quoted me for that last comment, but okay I agree with what you have said. Consoles are favouring a different kind of market and of course it's not PC gaming. I was expressing my own views on why I prefer to game on a PC but I think (for myself anyway) it's a lot to do with what you have grown up with. In my household as a child we never had any console in any way shape or form. Instead we had PC computers which I started using. The only time I had experience using a console was when I went round to play at a friends. I think if you grow up using a console and playing on a controller you are more likely to favour console gaming. Exactly the same if you grow up using a keyboard and mouse. You get used to using one or the other. My friends who played on their consoles would always make fun of the keyboard and mouse and be completely hopeless playing any game with them, whereas I was the opposite and completely hopeless with a controller.

I don't like that some people have a view that console gamers should be looked down upon. It's just a preference, like pepsi or coke.

And of course this is just my opinion from experience. I know that people may have other reasons for preferring consoles to PCs and vice versa. I guess what my point is that we should understand there are those of us who prefer consoles and those who prefer PC gaming. SO lets all stop bickering and leave each in peace to what platform we prefer!

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

The only time I had experience using a console was when I went round to play at a friends. I think if you grow up using a console and playing on a controller you are more likely to favour console gaming. Exactly the same if you grow up using a keyboard and mouse. You get used to using one or the other. My friends who played on their consoles would always make fun of the keyboard and mouse and be completely hopeless playing any game with them, whereas I was the opposite and completely hopeless with a controller.

Similar to me, however there is a clear distinction in terms of general(average) skill level, in first person shooter games for example. The average ability to aim using a keyboard and mouse is about equal to the top players with a gamepad. Though that could just be interpreted as controllers are harder, deal with it.

Except for, why, why deal with it? Money.

/me intentionally did not bring up auto aim bullshit. Either type of auto aim(I do enjoy the auto aim which does not move your view, in certain circumstances).

 

[Nanor]

How does it even matter to you if I feel like my life needs less computer upkeep? If you aren't bothered by or enjoy that sort of thing, great, but I've got the means and the desire to trade money for a more streamlined PC experience. I don't see why I shouldn't...

That's perfectly fine. If the little maintenance that is required for a gaming PC is too much for you then it only makes sense to move to an easier to manage platform. Similarly, if you find your legs are too much to manage I won't quarrel with you dragging your ass along the carpet to get from A to B either.

The Steam Box hasn't given me any desire to buy it. I'll be interested to see how it plays out, though.