5punk

From what I gather it will be full Linux, just optimized primarily for gaming purposes. They have definitely said that you will be able to take steamOS off the steambox and replace it with something else, or put steamOS on something that isn't technically a steambox *and* they have said that steamOS will be available to futz about with its innards if you are one of those kinds of Linux users.
It would seem very strange to me if they were that wide open on all those things but the OS itself was locked down to Steam only. Plus, if they are leaving it all open like they say they are I would give it less than a day before someone hacked it into something more like a full Linux even if it was initially locked down in that way.

As far as the capabilities of the hardware itself goes: I've not read it in too much detail, but they have said that there will be several levels of steambox available, from a super-budget low end thing to a massive beast. I would imagine how much it can run things natively or has to rely on streaming from windows will depend on what level of box you have purchased.

That's all nice valve, but that third announcement had better be half-life 3.

Mr. Johnson wrote:That's all nice valve, but that third announcement had better be half-life 3.

It occurred to me earlier that one way or another the internet is going to explode when that third announcement comes out. Possibly to the sound of a million geeks ejaculating in synchronisation due to HL3, possibly to the raging on a million forum threads due to the lack of HL3, but there will be EXPLODES.

Personally I'm with the people predicting it to be some sort of controller announcement, even though that will be hilariously underwhelming.

half-life 3? Might be a long shot. But it would be fantastic if its a date for HL2:EP3
How many years now?? its very frustrating!

Reality check though: Announcement three is going to be something else living-room related

ProfHawking wrote:Reality check though: Announcement three is going to be something else living-room related

A range of Valve soft furnishings and wallpaper would be nice

There's talk of Source 2 game engine. If another Half-life game does ever come out it'll need a newer engine, original Source has been with us for 9 years. Although it seems unlikely Valve would develop a new engine and not a new game that uses it ...

mrbobbins wrote:

ProfHawking wrote:Reality check though: Announcement three is going to be something else living-room related

A range of Valve soft furnishings and wallpaper would be nice

I'd seriously buy Portal wallpaper if it made my living room look like Aperture Labs.

Gabe-flavoured lickable wallpaper.

Combine advisor beanbag sofas

I watched Contact again last night and noticed this in the alien codez:



The circular, boolean false symbol is the same as that on the announcement page, coincidence? I think not. Gabe and all of Valve are aliens.

Serious point though. Currently Netflix, etc. don't run on Linux* because it's easy to grab the video and the content producers don't like that. Which is annoying if you want to mainly use Linux. But if Valve can get them integrated into Steam(OS) then there'll be a way to get access to Netflix, Lovefilm, etc. from Linux.

*Hacks aside, which I can't be arsed with.

spoodie wrote:Serious point though. Currently Netflix, etc. don't run on Linux* because it's easy to grab the video and the content producers don't like that. Which is annoying if you want to mainly use Linux. But if Valve can get them integrated into Steam(OS) then there'll be a way to get access to Netflix, Lovefilm, etc. from Linux.

Im sure I read somewhere that they had already been in talks with "major online video content providers" to make sure their stuff was available, I would be amazed if that doesnt include netflix at co.

spoodie wrote:Gabe and all of Valve are aliens.

*GASP*

Was a controller - http://store.steampowered.com/livingroo ... ontroller/

Touchpads instead of sticks, I'm not sure about that ...

Touchpad d-pads were utter crap, but this looks a bit more sophisticated, with haptic feedback on the pads and a touchscreen in the middle. So, £80-100 just for the controller, then.

Looks like a sex toy. Ironic, since this is the only announcement which doesn't have me in the least bit excited.

Dog Pants wrote:Looks like a sex toy. Ironic, since this is the only announcement which doesn't have me in the least bit excited.

Hmm, I'd probably replace my PC's wired 360 controller with one if I could try one first and it wasn't too pricey. Playing a PC game with it in front of my PC isn't massively less attractive than streaming that same game downstairs.

Prices and requirements are key of course. I have a suspicion the PC's going to need the same minimum hardware spec that nVidia's handheld SHIELD requires, as it does essentially the same thing and that's an i3 and GTX650 I do not possess, so the controller and perhaps the OS are likely to be the more affordable bits. I can always take the PC downstairs and plug it into the TV if I really want.

Something interesting I remembered. AMD are now developing their own API. It's not explicitly connected to SteamOS - Nvidia are doing that - but if devs suddenly stop relying on DirectX then Windows becomes a lot less essential. Of course we're still stuck with the problem that they'll have to design a DirectX version for people with Nvidia cards...

Meh. Predictable and dissapointing.

I can't say i've enjoyed playing any games on a controller apart from driving games. Everything else i've found easier with a mouse & keyboard. But then I'm mainly a FPS player of course.