"BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion" (pbs)
09/28/2013 at 15:09 • Filed to: None
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"BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion" (pbs)
09/28/2013 at 15:09 • Filed to: None | 0
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/rant maybe, personal opinions definitely inside
... This whole SteamOS/Steam Controller/Steam Machines initiative. Like I've said a few times already, I've always preferred consoles, but PC Gaming quickly became the best option for me thanks to the insane price increase in consoles and console games in the last couple generations. A game console does nothing but play games (I know they have other features like Blu Ray and stuff, but it's still cheaper to get a good PC and a blu ray player than a PS3 or Xbox360 where I live)
PCs, on the other hand, are useful for a bunch of things besides gaming, they're more affordable, easier to justify, run a much wider library, including a lot of older games you can't get on consoles anymore and you can pretty much put them together as you go, instead of buying a closed package that will go obsolete in a few years. Steam was also a big part of that, as you could get pretty much every multiplatorm game out there on release date for much lower prices than in stores (Back when it was released, Bioshock Infinite was 200 reais on local stores, while Steam had it for like 95 bucks, and it was available on Steam before it was on stores).
But the SteamOS and the Steam Machines might as well put an end to all that. I may have gotten it wrong, but an operating system totally dedicated to running Steam would kill all of the advantages of having a PC you can both work and play on. The Steam Machines sound just like the already established consoles, and I don't see how they could be a success when the games among the three are mostly the same, the only difference being that you have Steam on one of them, and the Steam Controller comes with an... awkward design to revolutionize one of the only things that, IMHO, doesn't need much revolutionizing after all, the controllers. Like I said, that's all my personal opinion, and how the SteamOS would impact me personally, and I'd love to hear from other users how these initiatives will/would change the way you guys buy and play games on Steam.
TheOnelectronic
> BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
09/28/2013 at 15:14 |
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Their controller COULD work really well, but only if a game was expressly designed for it and it alone. For anything else, it would essentially be the type of control system people have been buying accessories to ESCAPE from.
They've basically taken the disadvantages of the PC (multiple hardware configurations) and the disadvantages of the console (can't improve as quickly with new technology, limited functionality) and combined them. I can't see the draw of this for either console players of PC players. It just seems like part of Gabe Newell's weird angst about Windows 8 not being... open source... or something.
You know, because Portal 2 and Steam are both open source.
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BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
> TheOnelectronic
09/28/2013 at 15:25 |
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Agreed. I'm not really savvy to the goings on between Software companies, but I believe you are right on about the disadvantages. The Steam OS kills off the multufunctionality most people need from PCs and their consoles simply don't have enough arguments to stand against the already established models.
To be completely honest, if I were to go for a console, I'd probably just go back to Nintendo for their exclusives, and play the multiplatform stuff on a regular PC. That's what Steam was awesome, at least to me; providing a more affordable way to play stuff from the consoles I didn't have while I can focus on playing the stuff I like from Nintendo, which isn't available anywhere else.
BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
> BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
09/28/2013 at 15:28 |
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The reason I originally got into consoles was because in the late 90s and early 2000s it seemed like you always needed an upgrade to play the latest games on PC. Maybe it's not that way now, but back then I just always seemed to come up short, and got tired of upgrading my computer for every new game I got. I was like 11 after all.
ddavidn
> BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
09/28/2013 at 15:31 |
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I like it, and I want it. I hate control sticks. I think I could pick this up and use it right away for Dota2, TF2, or pretty much any other action-oriented game. SteamOS is a... nice idea, but I don't know if it's going to be at all cost-effective. I would rather build a machine I can use for multiple things, as you mention, if I have to build a brand-new PC. I think consoles are still going to be the way to go, with their subsidized prices...
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BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
> ddavidn
09/28/2013 at 15:36 |
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I wish they were subsidized here in Brazil... But an Xbox360 costs about as much as the most expensive stuff available directly from Dell, for example.
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ddavidn
> BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
09/28/2013 at 19:24 |
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Yikes. In that case, SteamOS will be a much more viable option for you...
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BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
> ddavidn
09/29/2013 at 00:59 |
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I think regular Steam would be the best option really. If I were to purchase a 3 thousand reais computer exclusively for gaming, I think I'd just go with a console...
I could buy whatever Nintendo is coming up with tese days and go back to playing all the series I used to play as a kid, or a could buy either a PS3 or Xbox360, depending on whether I'd rather have GT or Forza, since the rest of the games are pretty much the same, and I still think I'd be better off than with a Steam console or a Steam dedicated PC.