Why Gabe Newell Chose the Wrong Xbox Stats to Make fun of

It’s certainly no secret that most companies involved in the video game industry – no less the console market – are in direct competition with one another. So it’s no surprise that Valve is jumping straight in to the fray with their Steam Machine set to bring the PC market into the living room.
But, to be honest, Newell didn’t really put his best jab forward.

[kwyjibo]

Gabe's point isn't that they'll sell more Steamboxes than Xboxes.

But that the next gen install base does not really concern Valve, given their strong not-Steambox market.

The other point is that for console manufacturers, next gen means starting again. While Steam just continues to grow.

With all the next gen hysteria, those are points with making.

[nukeitall]

This is definitely Valves strong point, but also their weakness.

Incompatibility issues with newer OS, drivers and hardware. I don't play PC games to much, but can still fire up StarCraft (yes, the original one) and it is magnificent!

[TheRedButterfly]

If you're going to talk about install base, wouldn't you also need to assume that some of Valve's existent install base will simply stick to their beefed-out gaming rigs? Why would/should they purchase an entirely new "console" when they can stick with the "Steam Machine" that they already have?

And if their reasoning is because of Steam OS, then they can simply install that on their existing rig.

The idea behind the Steam Machine is to bring console gamers to the console-lik ePC realm, not PC gamers to the console-like PC realm.

I highly doubt that all 65 million Steam users are going to dump their existing PCs (that some of them poured thousands of dollars into) in favor for an either over-priced or under-powered "console."

I can guarantee you that I won't be making that downgrade.

[KingDadXVI]

You hit the nail on the head there. I am not really sure that he knows what he is talking about. I have a rig I built myself 6 months ago that cost me $2200 just for the PC. Now I use it for gaming, run it as an HTPC, and also for engineering work. I definitely won't be running out to buy a new steam machine.

Basically they are trying to sell low end gaming rigs to pc gamers who like to build high end gaming rigs. Everyone else buys a console. The whole business model just seems counterintuitive to me. You may get some die hard steam maniacs that hate consoles or some noobs that want to enter the pc gaming market but the vast majority of people don't want to piss about with a PC even if it is running a modified version of Linux. That is why the buy a console.

Ubuntu/Linux and all of its derivatives are niche for a reason and I don't see them prying MS's hands off of the OS market ever.

You won't see MS, Sony or Nintendo lose any market share to Steam for the simple fact that damn near everyone has a PC already. Of those PC owners most will do their gaming on a console and use the PC as a PC. For the minority of PC owners who love to game they already have a gaming rig. I just don't get this business model.

[SmilingAdvocate]

Steam box will fail

[ifistbrowni]

steam box will change console gaming. They'll offer their digital games at less than half the price Sony or Microsoft does (through steam sales), hopefully, forcing Sony and Microsoft to follow suit.

I think the Steam Box will disprove the argument "we have to sell our digital games at that price because we'll piss off the retailers that sale our consoles."

Sony offers some good sales, but microsoft rarely does. Still though, neither of them offer deals as good as steam.

[Mustang300C2012]

Talk about blind faith. Why would Steam Box change console gaming? Why would I need to buy a Steam Box when I can build a computer with similar specs for cheaper? The only appealing thing to these boxes are the cases they come in. Linux has been around for years and for free and hasn't put a dent in Windows yet because Valve after all these years of Gabe hating Windows and hyping Linux it is now a danger to consoles? At the end of the day it is just a computer and most consumers don't build or spend this much on machine dedicated to just gaming. It will sell but not like any better than other PCs you can buy or build.

Digital has been around just as long as Gabe hating on MS and Steam being released the same year as Xbox Live in 2002. Why is 2014 the year digital is supreme to anything consoles do when you never hear about Steam in the news beyond these little annoucments. All they did was announce some new machines that virtually do exactly what existing computers do now. What is new about this?

[Joe913]

Maybe for pc gamers but I see no change coming for console gamer unless they start to tie down some exclusives I was pretty sure I was getting a ps4 over anything else because I am already into the established games and want to see what happens next in each game.

[Death]

There is a reason why Steam hasn't been a competitor in the console market, Steam doesn't play Xbox and Playstation exclusives.

Valve is fighting both companies on two levels with the Steambox. Sony now has two companies releasing Microsoft exclusives on their systems. Microsoft hasn't released much on Steam outside of Age of Empires and Fable, but with their stronger commitment to PC gaming that could change. It may be in Microsofts best interests to allow their PC games to be downloaded onto Steambox. The attack Gabe is making on Microsoft is the exclusion of Windows on the device. If Steambox fails to move units due to it's limited capability I can see a deal struck with suppliers to use Windows on their Steambox that allows Microsofts catalog to play on it.

Sony has more to lose with Steambox then Microsoft. For all those trumping resolution as the deciding factor, Steambox is much more powerful then PS4.

[CapsLocke]

I sense a great butthurt.

[Mikefizzled]

Gabe doesn't like Microsoft it seems even after he called himself a Microsoft millionaire after working there for 13 years.

[GirlOnFire]

If you can buy and play all of the current Steam games I'm most definitely getting one. I would get one before the Xbox One. I miss L4D2 and with all the custom maps omg I would be happy. ^~^

[linkenski]

Does the writer of this article has Aspergers? He takes Gabe's joke way too literally.

[danny818]

U guys are analyxing it too much. Im sure the guy meant that steam is fairly new and people with accounts will be inclined to buy a steam machine

[Stoppokingme]

Don't count your chickens before they roost, Gabe.

[Mister_Dawg]

He's a fat slug.

[ErryK]

Newell shouldn't be talking about consoles if he doesn't offer them. Steam Machines is just a moniker for a machine that houses the Steam OS for games. That's about it. My computer could be called a "Steam Machine" as long as it has Steam OS installed onto it, but I don't install it because Windows is a good enough OS that lets me play my games and do my other jobs (streaming, university work, video editing, etc.)

[LAWSON72]

Wow people are idiots Gabe was just joking

[beerzombie]

Why dose get Steam A pass Its Nothing But drm. Gabe wants to do what the Xbox one Was Supposed to be a digital drm filled box and he gets praised he should not be trusted.The sad thing is he is using this very trust to fool people.

[Gunstar75]

Ooooh, check out gabe! Poster boy.... ;0)

[TheRedButterfly]

I really don't think Valve has 65 million Steambox sold. The question was not about PC. Valve also didn't sell those PC to their users. If you count users as sales then Valve has a bit of catching up to do since the 360 is past 80+ million in sales.