ImaJAN Media Network
MeltedJoystick Home
   Games  Members
Search +
Searching... Close  
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
  
 
  Login Using Facebook
Twitter
 
     

Steam Set to Escalate the Console Wars in 2014

View Nelson Schneider's Profile

By Nelson Schneider - 09/29/13 at 03:45 PM CT

It has been a long time coming, but this past week Valve, the company behind the incredible Steam PC gaming platform, made three big announcements about their intentions in the nascent 8th Generation Console Wars.

While Valve had traditionally been content to cater to the PC gaming community, recently the company’s president, Gabe Newell, has expressed nothing but disgust for Microsoft and its Windows 8 operating system. At the same time, he has flip-flopped his stance on PC gaming vs. console gaming and embraced the PlayStation 3 with a hacked-together and poorly-utilized version of Steam for Sony’s failure of a console.

With Valve’s week of Living Room announcements, however, Gaben’s true intentions have been revealed, after months of speculation and rumor mongering. Let’s take a look at each announcement in turn.

Announcement 1 – SteamOS:
It’s obvious that Gaben hates Windows 8, primarily due to fear that Microsoft will eventually lock-down the OS entirely, only allowing ‘apps’ purchased from the Windows Store to run, instead of allowing any correctly compiled ‘program’ to run. At one point I would have thought it impossible to Microsoft to do something that dumb… but that was before the Xbox One announcement. Valve’s solution for Microsoft’s potential future stupidity is to cut Windows out of the picture entirely. While Steam will still run as it always has on Windows and Mac OSX, Valve is also building a custom Linux (uh-oh) distribution focused entirely on gaming. SteamOS won’t be just a client or runtime layer running in another operating system, but will be the sole software required to play compatible (uh-oh) games.

While I love the idea of a PC operating environment that only does games, and is fully compatible with a controller, I do not love Linux. Granted, my last real interaction with Linux was in 2006 when I took some Webmastering classes at my local community college, but I’m dubious that the foundation of SteamOS has really gotten all that much better. Nobody but the beardiest of Neckbeards likes to use Linux as a desktop environment, and even system administrators that interact with Linux everyday usually do so through a remote terminal and only have to worry about setting up certain server-specific software packages. Linux is an OS that works best when it is used “set-and-forget” style on a machine that just does its thing and only requires human interaction when something goes terribly wrong. Based on the quality of their previous work, I am confident that Valve is capable of making improvements to Linux that will make the experience as user-friendly as possible. But what about things that are closely intertwined with the Linux kernel or that are heavily dependent on proprietary specifications that nVidia and AMD don’t want to share? How can Valve change the fundamental user hostility of Linux without beating up Linus Torvalds and stealing his lunch money? How can Valve force the GPU makers to provide high-quality Linux drivers where all others have failed (and indeed, when nVidia’s recent Windows driver releases have all been a bit crashy)?

But even if Valve is able to miraculously provide gamers the world over with a streamlined, friendly OS that has perfect driver support and is fully usable with only a controller, what exactly are we supposed to play on it? As of this writing, Steam for Linux supports ~200 games out of Steam’s massive library of ~2200 games. That’s not a very good percentage. Valve’s current solution to this issue of compatibility is to allow SteamOS to stream games over a local network that are running on another OS on another PC on the local network. This entire process seems completely unintuitive to me… if I have a PC capable of playing these games natively, why would I even bother booting up SteamOS? Game streaming is a tool that is meant to serve up demanding games to anemic hardware, like the nVidia Shield or the OUYA. Game streaming is a compromise that nobody should ever need to deal with. My hope is that streaming in SteamOS is only a stopgap measure put in place until Valve is able to implement a built-in emulation engine in their Linux build. And by ‘emulation engine,’ I mean WINE. Windows has been the de-facto gaming OS for decades. And before Windows, DOS was the gaming overlord (so SteamOS will need to include an integrated version of DOSbox too). If SteamOS is going to compete with Windows, SteamOS will need to be able to play ALL the games. Currently, the WINE Windows emulator for Linux gets an incredibly bad rap even from Linux apologists for being finicky, fiddly, and as user friendly as a bag of angry bobcats. If Valve can tame WINE and bake it into SteamOS as a fundamental feature, they could later scrap the ridiculous game streaming feature, or better still, keep game streaming and allow it to be an optional feature for those who choose to install SteamOS on x86 tablets.

Announcement 2 – Steam Machines:
While the ‘Steambox’ has been rumored for months (and said rumors even inspired some of us at MeltedJoystick to custom build ourselves a dedicated Steambox), Valve finally confirmed everything we in the gaming media have been speculating. There will be an official Valve-made Steambox, as well as other models made by various hardware partners. Unfortunately, Valve was much more cryptic about their hardware announcement than the other two reveals this past week, so we are still left to speculate on hardware stats and prices.

Announcement 3 – Steam Controller:
Unlike many PC Master Race Trolls, Valve and Gaben seem to realize that playing PC games with a controller instead of a typewriter is awesome. Thus Valve has created a prototype game controller for use with SteamOS and Steam Machines (as well as other OSes on generic hardware) that they are promoting as being compatible with every game ever. This single statement has me positively drooling to get my hands on a Steam Controller to try it out (though I’m worried that Valve’s perspective is a bit myopic and their definition of ‘every’ game only includes Linux games). Ever since Steam coerced me into returning to PC gaming last year, I’ve been struggling to make certain games to conform to the way I want to play them (“Torchlight 2” put up particularly strong resistance). While I normally love Steam Big Picture mode, I find that I rarely get to use it since many of the Steam games (and non-steam games) I’ve been playing lately require Xpadder or MotionCreator to handle the interface mapping. Neither of these helper apps plays particularly nicely with Big Picture mode, especially when it comes time to switch layouts or to kill the helper app in order to play a game that supports the controller natively. If Valve can make SteamOS and the Steam Controller mesh seamlessly via their so-called ‘Shared Configurations’ feature, without the need of helper apps, they will have achieved the kind of OS/controller unity that I have been wishing from Microsoft since they first announced the original Xbox.

But what about that Steam Controller? It’s kind of weird looking, isn’t it? Instead of dual analog sticks, it has dual trackpads. I hate the trackpad on my laptop and refuse to use it if I don’t absolutely need to. And what about that button layout? Where’s the traditional 4-button diamond? Where’s the d-pad? While the Steam Controller has the traditional 4 shoulder buttons, it also has some inner grip buttons reminiscent of the ones on my old Microsoft Sidewinder (I hated that controller, primarily for its incompatibility with every game I tried to play with it) and the 4 face buttons are at the 4 corners of the central touchscreen. This touchscreen, unlike the OUYA’s horrible mouse simulator, will initially be divided into 4 clickable button regions in the prototypes, with full-surface button customization supposedly coming in later hardware revisions. According to Valve, this weird, non-traditional button layout is intended to keep the controller completely symmetrical, allowing left-handed users to swap the controller's orientation with ease. I think a better solution would be to keep a traditional asymmetrical layout, but sell an inverted version for the Lefties who want one.

Just looking at the picture of the prototype, there are two major things I don’t like. First, the lack of a diamond layout for the face buttons completely kills the ergonomics of continually holding down one button with the tip of the thumb while hitting another button occasionally with the base of the thumb. This mechanical action applies to numerous older game genres, like SHMUPs where firing constantly is imperative while occasionally doing a barrel roll or dropping a bomb, or traditional platformers, like “Super Mario Bros.,” where the held button makes the character run and the intermittent button makes the character jump. The diamond pattern has been used almost entirely without variation (see: Gamecube) since the 4th Generation, and it would be foolish of Valve to ignore ergonomic perfection in order to pander to left-handers. Second, the fact that the Steam Controller lacks a d-pad seems to indicate that nobody at Valve likes to play 2D games anymore. While analog sticks and Valve’s experimental trackpads are necessary for games with 3D movement, old-school games – notably, the type of Indie games that make up the VAST majority of Steam’s Linux catalog – are better played with a simple, digital movement axis. Furthermore, the d-pad can serve a further use by simulating a keyboard’s numpad in games like MMORPGs that have a lot of character skills mapped to different buttons. It would be nearly impossible to play a game like this using a controller without the ability to map skills to the 8 discreet directions available on a d-pad.


Out of Valve’s three big announcements regarding the future of, all of them make perfect sense, provided that Valve can bring the technical expertise to provide a flawless experience and that Valve is willing to listen to user feedback and incorporate it into their revision process. It seems that the unification of PC gaming and console gaming is only speeding up. As we hurtle toward the gaming singularity’s event horizon, I can only hope that when we all meet together on the other side, it will be Heaven, not Hell.

Share:    
MeltedJoystick Gaming Blog RSS Feed
Comments
4 comments
Name: 

Avoid spam Captcha: Sign Up + or Log In +   



 
View Jonzor's Profile

Jonzor

Wrote on10/07/13 at 10:57 AM CT

Furthermore, looking at the specs Valve just put out, I'm not sure this Steam Box is going to be any more cost-effective for the masses than the "Steam Box" I've currently got sitting in my office not hooked up to a TV, the existence of which has yet to blow up the console market.

Write on Profile +

View Jonzor's Profile

Jonzor

Wrote on10/06/13 at 12:27 AM CT

Based on your opinion of the demographic at least one of those consoles makes hay off of, I doubt that threat hangs quite so certain for consoles. Mouth-breathing Madden and CoD fans that FROM WHAT I HEAR comprise the only reason the Xbox exists don't give a crap about Steam.

Write on Profile +

View Nelson Schneider's Profile

Nelson Schneider

Wrote on10/05/13 at 03:33 PM CT

With the PS4 and XBONE both being x86 hardware, it seems more like THEY need to worry about being serious competition for Steam. If Sony and MS can't adopt a Steam-like pricing and DRM model for digital purchases, they're going to be stuck with physical media forever, or face another XBONE-calibur backlash from the public.

Write on Profile +

View dbarry_22's Profile

dbarry_22

Wrote on09/30/13 at 10:54 PM CT

While I am a fan of Steam, I am confident that this effort will not be serious competition to Sony's and Microsoft's consoles.

Write on Profile +

Bloggers

Previous Blog Posts

Archive

All Posts

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

December 2023

November 2023

October 2023

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

December 2022

November 2022

October 2022

September 2022

August 2022

July 2022

June 2022

May 2022

April 2022

March 2022

February 2022

January 2022

December 2021

November 2021

October 2021

September 2021

August 2021

July 2021

June 2021

May 2021

April 2021

March 2021

February 2021

January 2021

December 2020

November 2020

October 2020

September 2020

August 2020

July 2020

June 2020

May 2020

April 2020

March 2020

February 2020

January 2020

December 2019

November 2019

October 2019

September 2019

August 2019

July 2019

June 2019

May 2019

April 2019

March 2019

February 2019

January 2019

December 2018

November 2018

October 2018

September 2018

August 2018

July 2018

June 2018

May 2018

April 2018

March 2018

February 2018

January 2018

December 2017

November 2017

October 2017

September 2017

August 2017

July 2017

June 2017

May 2017

April 2017

March 2017

February 2017

January 2017

December 2016

November 2016

October 2016

September 2016

August 2016

July 2016

June 2016

May 2016

April 2016

March 2016

February 2016

January 2016

December 2015

November 2015

October 2015

September 2015

August 2015

July 2015

June 2015

May 2015

April 2015

March 2015

February 2015

January 2015

December 2014

November 2014

October 2014

September 2014

August 2014

July 2014

June 2014

May 2014

April 2014

March 2014

February 2014

January 2014

December 2013

November 2013

October 2013

September 2013

August 2013

July 2013

June 2013

May 2013

April 2013

March 2013

February 2013

January 2013

December 2012

November 2012

October 2012

September 2012

August 2012

July 2012

June 2012

May 2012

April 2012

March 2012

February 2012

January 2012

December 2011

November 2011

October 2011

September 2011

August 2011

July 2011

June 2011

May 2011

April 2011

March 2011

February 2011

 
Log In
 
For members wanting to use FB to login, click here
remember me
 
 

What Members Are Doing

Comments about...

New Game Reviews

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams game review by Megadrive
Sunset Overdrive game review by Chris Kavan
The Vagrant game review by Chris Kavan
Honkai: Star Rail game review by Chris Kavan
Assassin's Creed IV: Black... game review by Nelson Schneider
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands game review by Nelson Schneider
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart game review by Nelson Schneider
Cthulhu Saves Christmas game review by Nick

New Game Lists

Backlog by Nelson Schneider
Top Wii Games by Megadrive
My Backlog by Chris Kavan
Games I Own: Switch Digital by dbarry_22
Top Nintendo (NES) Games by Nick
Backlog by Matt
Top Game List by SIngli6
Top Game List by Jonzor

 

 

 

Contact Us Public Relations MeltedJoystick Friends    

Advertise and Business

Contacts Us

Jobs

About us

SiteMap

 

Support Us

FAQ and Help

News and Press

Terms of Use

Privacy

Hitfix.com

Amazon.com

OVGuide.com

   
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
  
Are you sure you want to delete this blog?