Why Steam Os and Steam Box are not a competition for consoles.

Like everybody else I did expect Valve to move in with Steam OS and when it was introduced it did not surprise me except the fact that it was a linux based system.
The only thing that really did surprise me was their Steam gamepad.

Something that I see over and over in websites and forums and comments is how fellow pc gamers think Steam Box and Steam OS are going to bring an end to consoles.

Well pal, you could not be any more wrong than this.
Gabe is as close as I can get to worshipping a God so I am not a hater, also I am a PC gamer and Valve is the only PC gaming company that I trust.
I am not any hater and I have no reason to hate on Valve, I have nothing but love for them.

The problem here is that the people do not realise that Steam Box and Steam OS (Linux) are not going to hurt consoles.

Steam Box as innovative as it might sound (although it is not really, it is just like Alienware premade PCs) and Steam OS as cool as it might sound they are not geared towards console gamers.

The real problem is that they are PC and PC components.
The console gamers get their news from GameStop and stores like Gamestop while us PC gamers are much more liberated from retailers.
We barely even buy our games from retailers anymore and our PC parts are bought from online retailers.
We are living differently and that is the reason that Steam Box is not a competition for consoles.
Sony and Microsoft know how to do their advertising for their systems and they are doing a fine job.
Tvs, Fast food restaurants, game stores, billboards etc.
PC world doesn't work like that, first of all the idea of Steam Boxs is way too complicated for average console gamers, the cover for it is also thin, Steam Boxs are not going to be sold in GameStop and Game and other gaming retailers, they will not be advertised in TVs, they are not going to get the same treatment as consoles.

I also do not believe that Valve is actually trying to have a comtetion with consoles, they are aiming for PCs and Windows share.
They will not be moving user numbers from Consoles to steam Boxs, what they will be doing is moving user numbers from Windows based pcs to Steam Boxs, and a lot of people will be moving away from Windows to Steam OS although I would not be one, at least not for now.

Steam OS and Steam Boxs are good ideas but not game changing ideas for the Console industry.
They will change the balance in the PC gaming drastically and that is something that I would actually enjoy to watch happen.

Thanks for reading this post.
Kane_1371 is...out!

[AKR]

The way I see it; Steam OS is something that Microsoft should have thought about (who knows, maybe they did) eons ago.

Create a gaming-focused OS that is streamlined for the sole purpose of playing games and running a few other apps (like computer maintenance programs, video recorders/editors, photo editing suites and internet browsers). That defeats all of the deadweight, bloatware that has plagued the Windows OS and other OS for years - and why you really need a top-of-the-line PC to truly keep up with today's game requirements.

This is essentially an OS similar to that of a console (designed specifically for playing games) - on a flexible kernel (Linux). It goes hand-in-hand. This can possibly interest console-gamers who thought they could never truly enter the PC-gaming world head on because of the money they'd have to shell out for the machines and it's also for the PC-gamers who've wanted a more console-oriented experience.

It's gonna be real interesting how this plays out.

[kane_1371]

yes it is going to be interesting, but I would not say that this is going to be something that can help Console Gamers.
Actually I think that it could be even more confusing.
Since it is like a console with 100s of diggerent SKUs.
Do you remember PS3 and Xbox 360 skus?
It would actually in my opinion be much easier to build a PC instead.
And the pricepoint is still pretty high for anything interesting.
the lowest prices that are $499 are still not really something that I would call consumer friendly since you miss on some components that are need for PC gaming (CPU, bigger HDD, Better GFX)

[The_KELRaTH]

Maybe less time should thought about the hardware and branding and more about the games;

I offer you 3 PC based consoles, 2 offer games and paid for DLC while 1 offers games, paid for DLC and free user created DLC

[DomceM]

they are not competition because valve screwed up. Their goal was to make pc gaming more simple so they..... release 13 different steamboxes? wow.

they should have released either just 1 or if they wanted multiple options 3... Everyone can understand low, medium , best categories.

Sorting out the 13 variants valve has is a PITA.

[The_KELRaTH]

Just like there are lots of TV brands all with their variations whether it's image quality, Hz, smart, 3D but ppl seem to manage.

[DomceM]

do you live in the same universe I do?

are there 13 different version of ps4? hwo about xbox one?

You compared 2 completely unreleted things and somehow expect that to prove a point?

[kane_1371]

Actually most of those TV brands are dying out, if you keep an eye on the world market you can see that the brands that are making it through with a good chunk of sales are just a few.
DomceM is right, Steam Box as of now would not be anything interesting for a console gamer that never was interested in PC gaming.
Not only the controller is intimidating it is also not a convenient system.
Right now and it seems even in the future it will be streaming most of the games from Windows to Linux, that alone is just not a good deal for me.
I would rather keep my costum built PC and buy a steam controller if I'm interested in it.

Only people that will jump ship right now are going to be Valve's biggest fans and people that are for some reason really mad at windows 8 or just simply want a new OS to check out.
Steam Box will make a big loud noise in the PC market but in no way or shape in the console market, since as I said it doesn't have the media support and it is not widly advertised like consoles.

[The_KELRaTH]

My point is that it's not like the SteamMachine variations are alien to each other - they will all play games at least to the level expected from a PS4 - but with more game options (set anti-aliasing etc etc).

A lot of the arguments over buying a console over a PC games machine was it meant building the gaming PC.

You don't like the SteamOS controller - fine then use the PS4 one, use a Logitech one etc etc. The SteamOS is not locked to one controller type though a haptic controller with mouse like control would be an advantage over the analogue control.

I see the Steambox format as the modern day home games computers (Atari 800/Xe/ST, Sinclair Spectrum, BBC Acorn, Commodore C64/Amiga etc).

It wont be streaming most games - just some that only use the Direct3D API and can't be updated.
(but don't be surprised to hear about cloud streaming too).

If you are happy building a custom PC then it's not really aimed at you just now .
And who knows I might have a 4K TV in a few years time and looking for a games machine to connect to it and play at native 4K res... now what will my choices be I wonder?

[beatled]

console market is shrinkin

pc market is growing

there is room for 20 different steam boxes

but only 1 ps4 and 1 xbox1

pc market share destroys console market share

pc has 100x more exclusives, more games more features

http://i.imgur.com/UTBPj.jp...

what exclusives can you get for ps4 right now

killzone??

knack...lol

xbox1- dead rising 3, a game no one wanted or asked for

ryse...lol

[kane_1371]

Do you really believe your own words?
How many of the PCs sold in the market are even for gaming?
Just to pull out a number is easy.
There is a reason that PCs are never counted in the market share of gaming because they are not gaming machines.
They are multi tasking machines that do gaming too.
The matter of the fact is that the console market is growing bigger.
When was the last time that 3 home consoles went head to head and 2 handheld consoles went head to head and sold that many as the past gen?

PS3s and 360s are still selling btw.
I am a PC gamer, but I am not blind like you.
Pull out all the name of exclusives you want, more than half of them are indie games, those games sell by their bundle sells, they barely ever sell them selves.
how many of them ever end up being big names like Minecraft and Fez and Papers Please?
pull your head out of your ass and realize that all those games on consoles that YOU miss on are great games.

lmfao, I just checked that pic you linked, why am I even writing to you?
take care dude