Gabe Newell candid on PCs in the living room next year, says Valve plans to be there

I'm really curious about how they'll handle this and get the point across that this is a less confusing PC, not a fancy overpriced console. I have to agree with harbin about screen sizes, big TVs are nice for movies and TV but i prefer sitting up close to a small screen for gaming and using my PC so I gotta wonder how this would sit with your average consumer.

Hes definitely right about the "turnkey solution" typically less tech savvy people just want their PC to work without having to get their hands dirty with the technical stuff.

quote harbin

Alot of SmartTVs these days aren't that different from a PC. It has a processor, can do multimedia playback and access the internet.

Problem with big TVs is that you have to sit far away to play games on them and I can't stand that. If I want to play a game on a monitor or something I have to be sat close.

Modern SmartTV's don't even go close to the multimedia powerhouse that is a PC. Trust me, I've tried everything and the sun and I keep coming back to my PC as my entertainment hub.

This article describes me perfectly to be honest, I've setup my PC in my living room as my entertainment hub. I do everything on it, and if Steam can somehow synergise the experience away from mouse and keyboard to controllers (which I feel are more conducive to multiplayer gaming on the couch) and then I'll be sorted.

Exciting stuff.

quote harbin

quote walnuts

quote harbin

Alot of SmartTVs these days aren't that different from a PC. It has a processor, can do multimedia playback and access the internet.

Problem with big TVs is that you have to sit far away to play games on them and I can't stand that. If I want to play a game on a monitor or something I have to be sat close.

Modern SmartTV's don't even go close to the multimedia powerhouse that is a PC. Trust me, I've tried everything and the sun and I keep coming back to my PC as my entertainment hub.

This article describes me perfectly to be honest, I've setup my PC in my living room as my entertainment hub. I do everything on it, and if Steam can somehow synergise the experience away from mouse and keyboard to controllers (which I feel are more conducive to multiplayer gaming on the couch) and then I'll be sorted.

Exciting stuff.

well tbh if you want all your music and movies available on all your home devices then a home media server/centre is the best you can get. Not saying a SmartTV tops it, just that they are trying to edge in on the action

SmartTV's are probably for the casual market at the moment, because they do some of those things well. But for me, as a power user, they don't quite do enough yet

quote lKasHl

quote Zombie_Barioth

I'm really curious about how they'll handle this and get the point across that this is a less confusing PC, not a fancy overpriced console.

He did mention that it will have a "very controlled environment" I'd expect alot of standard PC functionality to be removed to increase usability and stop people infesting the box with malware. Presumably Big Picture will be the only accessible feature, so they are essentially selling a console, just with PC hardware.

It'd be interesting to see how Valve pulls this off, there are MANY complications they're going to have to face if they compete directly against consoles.
First and foremost is the fact that they have to license Windows to get support for Direct X and something tells me Microsoft won't be enthusiastic about providing OEM discounts on that front. With ~$100 or ~33% of cost relative to the 720's price invested into the OS alone, there wouldn't be much budget to play around with hardware whilst still remaining price competitive.

Thats my point, at what point does a PC become a console and vice versa? They could do proprietary parts or something to simplify things, or just do a Linux based OS similar to what android uses assuming they get Steam working on it.

THM I think he means for keyboard+mouse and stuff. I've always gamed on a small screen so I'm used to it and its become a preference, its also nice for RPGs and simulations or any other game that has you messing with your system a lot.

quote Zombie_Barioth

Thats my point, at what point does a PC become a console and vice versa? They could do proprietary parts or something to simplify things, or just do a Linux based OS similar to what android uses assuming they get Steam working on it.

It is a good point as well, I guess everyone has a different definition. For me the differentiating factor is that consoles are primarily for gaming and media streaming with a closed and highly regulated ecosystem whilst a PC offers an interface which is capable of fulfilling more functions with access to operating resources and more room for modification, placing Valves machine as more of a console.

I personally doubt Valve will end up using Linux since that would forfeit Direct X support which would remove compatibility with most major PC releases to date and create complications for future game development. It looks as if valve have found a niche and want to capitalise on the fact the PC ecosystem is already developed and just offer more readily preassembled consumer hardware, using Linux & OpenGL on a x86 architecture would defeat this tactic. Not to mention that the current OpenGL game library is restricted, using it would leave them competing against the Ouya rather than the 720 and PS4. Of course thats just my 2 cents worth of speculation, anything could happen.

quote Zombie_Barioth

So it seems we agree on the definition of consoles and PCs, so the only question would be just how closed does a PC have to be to be considered a console (or I suppose in this case, how open would a console have to be to still be considered a PC)?

I'd say how easily root operating system files can be accessed and home brew apps executed would perhaps be a good indicator alongside to considerations of the functionality and diversity of the pre-installed applications?

quote Zombie_Barioth

Your probably right about Linux, I suppose they might just create their own proprietary OS like Nintendo has done (don't know what Sony uses) that they can run Steam on. Otherwise they're between a rock and a hard place here since MS won't be too keen on letting their competition use their OEM. Maybe we're wrong in assuming it'll be a steam console but instead a more consumer friendly gaming PC, something like a pre built gaming rig without the hugely inflated price.

I never considered them making their own OS, it is plausible since they could just request to license the Direct X API and integrate it instead of using a full windows installation. It'd be interesting to see how MS respond considering they have the tendency to cannibalise their products to ensure that their products maintain dominance (porting Office and smartscreen to iOS as an example) of course they'll be forfeiting profit on hardware sales and software licenses for game titles which make up for a sizeable portion of their revenue... it'd definitely be interesting to see what happens

Smart move by valve releasing a massive library of games first (which is steam) before releasing the console, but if the OS is gonna be linux then that would totally nullify steam and its games. I like the idea of big picture, tried it on my laptop last night and the interface was pretty swell, will hook up my desktop to the big TV tonight and see how it works