4 ms·

To be clear, it's not like there were never steam machines for sale, but manufacturers stopped making them. Here, you can see five for sale in 2016. https://we

To be clear, it's not like there were never steam machines for sale, but manufacturers stopped making them. Here, you can see five for sale in 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160225105722/https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines https://web.archive.org/web/20160225105722/https://store.ste... I don't know that Valve were ever going to make physical devices themselves (other than the 100 they made for beta testers.) From pretty early on, and definitely by Steam Dev Days 2014, it seemed to me like they were trying to make a platform for hardware manufacturers to build linux computers made for gaming, rather than manufacturing their own computers. As for the Steam Controller, and Steam link, I completely agree. Steam Link was a poor showing, and the Steam Controller, while neat, really could have used a V2 upgrade. More generally, I don't know that Valve has made a truly successful product or game other than maybe Halflife Alex in well over a decade. And even with Alex, the player base is so limited due to being a VR exclusive. It's pretty sad.

rightbyte 5y ago
I was going to say Portal 2 but realized that it is from 2011 ... Dota 2 is atleast barely in a decade from 2013. But ye, it is underwelming.
loup-vaillant 5y ago
> Halflife Alex Alyx. Sounds the same, but this spelling has the right gender. > And even with [Alyx], the player base is so limited due to being a VR exclusive. I have played it, and am currently replaying it with developer comments on. There's a reason it's a VR exclusive. There is no way this could transfer over a flat screen. VR interactions are fundamentally different. Motion sickness severely constrain how many players may move about (it gets better with practice, but Alyx is aimed at beginners). The ability to pick up objects and throw them about is crucial to immersion. The kind of weapons that work in VR are different (1 handed mostly). Pacing is different we move slower in VR than we do in a flat screen FPS, often by a factor of 5. This modify level design and how to manage tension. Even combat must be paced slower, especially at the beginning where players have yet to reload their guns seamlessly (requiring gestures is more immersive, but there's a learning curve, and doing it under duress requires serious training). A flat screen port of Half Life: Alyx would not be a good game. Most rooms would feel cramped. Some parts of the game would be cumbersome. Others like the Jeff chapter (Jeff is an unkillable monster with very good hearing) would swing between being overly punishing or way too easy. Many puzzles would have to be cut or replaced by something else. Some weapon features like an aiming laser would not even make sense (unless you remove the aiming dot at the centre of the screen, making aiming way too punishing). An inventory of 2 items (plus ammo) would feel limited for no good reason the player can see (one item per wrist is an obvious good reason in VR). Some games, like vehicle simulators (car, plane, spaceship…) can indeed have good flat screen and VR version. Standing first person games however cannot. The difference between a keyboard/mouse/gamepad and a pair of knuckles/Vive/touch is too great to compensate for, in either direction.
- juanuys 5y ago
  > Alyx. Sounds the same, but this spelling has the right gender. Our female friend Alexandra introduces herself as Alex.
  - loup-vaillant 5y ago
    Oops, now I remember that one of my classmates back in middle school had the exact same name. I missed an opportunity to shut up, there.

rightbyte 5y ago

I was going to say Portal 2 but realized that it is from 2011 ... Dota 2 is atleast barely in a decade from 2013. But ye, it is underwelming.

loup-vaillant 5y ago

> Halflife Alex Alyx. Sounds the same, but this spelling has the right gender. > And even with [Alyx], the player base is so limited due to being a VR exclusive. I have played it, and am currently replaying it with developer comments on. There's a reason it's a VR exclusive. There is no way this could transfer over a flat screen. VR interactions are fundamentally different. Motion sickness severely constrain how many players may move about (it gets better with practice, but Alyx is aimed at beginners). The ability to pick up objects and throw them about is crucial to immersion. The kind of weapons that work in VR are different (1 handed mostly). Pacing is different we move slower in VR than we do in a flat screen FPS, often by a factor of 5. This modify level design and how to manage tension. Even combat must be paced slower, especially at the beginning where players have yet to reload their guns seamlessly (requiring gestures is more immersive, but there's a learning curve, and doing it under duress requires serious training). A flat screen port of Half Life: Alyx would not be a good game. Most rooms would feel cramped. Some parts of the game would be cumbersome. Others like the Jeff chapter (Jeff is an unkillable monster with very good hearing) would swing between being overly punishing or way too easy. Many puzzles would have to be cut or replaced by something else. Some weapon features like an aiming laser would not even make sense (unless you remove the aiming dot at the centre of the screen, making aiming way too punishing). An inventory of 2 items (plus ammo) would feel limited for no good reason the player can see (one item per wrist is an obvious good reason in VR). Some games, like vehicle simulators (car, plane, spaceship…) can indeed have good flat screen and VR version. Standing first person games however cannot. The difference between a keyboard/mouse/gamepad and a pair of knuckles/Vive/touch is too great to compensate for, in either direction.

juanuys 5y ago
> Alyx. Sounds the same, but this spelling has the right gender. Our female friend Alexandra introduces herself as Alex.
- loup-vaillant 5y ago
  Oops, now I remember that one of my classmates back in middle school had the exact same name. I missed an opportunity to shut up, there.