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Valve has a pretty bad track record with hardware, do they not? I'm not very aware of this industry, but the vague impress I have is that they've tried this a c

by seneca 5y ago

Valve has a pretty bad track record with hardware, do they not? I'm not very aware of this industry, but the vague impress I have is that they've tried this a couple of different ways and it hasn't gone well for them. I'm curious why they would make this play again.

Bayart 5y ago
They've got a good record with making hardware, but not making it mainstream.
mindvirus 5y ago
I think their hardware has been great. The Index VR headset is high quality, and so was their controller although it didn't seem to find market fit.
Reubend 5y ago
The people who have used their VR hardware say it's excellent.
- porphyra 5y ago
  I have a Valve Index VR headset. It was clearly the best on the market when I got it last year. The controllers and headset tracking are great and the video quality was a notch above the competition (though recent newer headsets have closed the gap). However it did have some hardware issues such as crackling audio in one of the speakers, so I ended up removing the headset speakers and wearing my own headphones. Anyway, overall I'm satisfied.
kawsper 5y ago
They have a tendency to drop their hardware quite early - I had a Steam Link so I could play computer games on my television, it works really great.
- malfist 5y ago
  Steam link and the controllers were great. Too bad they dropped support for them so quickly. Went looking to replace one that finally broke down and found you couldn't buy them anymore.
amiga-workbench 5y ago
Do they? My Steam link still works, and its great. As is the controller.
- djrogers 5y ago
  I think the issue is that both of those are dead products now. Dropping support/sales for hardware so quickly is a bit of a turnoff.
rubicon33 5y ago
The Valve Index is one of, if not the best, VR headsets on the market. Quest 2 is a very close competitor and arguably better when you consider price + wireless ability. But the Index is no slouch.
legitster 5y ago
The Steam Link was awesome. Their VR headsets are the industry standard. The controller was niche but I heard good things. Steamboxes weren't really a hit, but I don't consider them a failure either (users still got fully functional gaming rigs). So no, I would disagree with that assessment.
moritonal 5y ago
I'd argue the opposite. The Steam Controller was a work of technical art (albeit without the centuries of experience in ergonomics its competitors had). The Steam Link was a few years ahead of its competitors. And the Steam Vive's Lighthouses were a literal light-speed ahead of the Oculus for a while. Fully agree however that you're right that they're too small to support a hardware long past its release when the market share is too small.
mojzu 5y ago
Happy index/steam controller customer here, had to RMA one of the index controllers for a weird resetting issue but they handled that really well so I feel I’ve got my money’s worth. I may be biased though because valve is actually the company I have been a customer of the longest in my life
danso 5y ago
Valve's arguably biggest most obvious failure are the Steam Machines [0], but that doesn't feel like a track record failure in the way that, say, a PS Vita was. Weren't Steam Machines basically just branded (and reasonably priced) PCs pre-loaded with SteamOS/Linux? Not even the Steam Controller feels proprietary. I mean, in the sense that I can still use it handily on macOS despite its ending production 2 years ago. [0] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/its-time-to-declare-valves-steam-machines-doa/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/its-time-to-declare-v...
IggleSniggle 5y ago
They have a great track record with hardware. They have a poor track record of hardware adoption. I have the Steam Controller: it's fantastic, so versatile, and everything it claimed it would be. I have the Steam Link: works great, brings my desktop to any TV in the house. I haven't used their VR equipment but from those that have, seems like basically the reason get Oculus instead of Valve is because of Oculus exclusives. I've been dying for this form-factor for years, since long before the Switch came out. Valve has been losing tons of money from me in the form of purchases, because games in their library haven't been in the right form factor, so I've bought them for mobile and for Switch, when really I'd rather have bought them in Steam with a mobile-play option. I've explored the mobile-phone-with-controllers-streaming-from-a-desktop option, and it's just not what I'm looking for. I've been looking for a feasible option in this space since the Razer Edge came out in 2013, and there just hasn't been a good one...not with phones-with-controllers-attached (have to stream), not with mini-laptops (bad ergonomics and performance), etc. I've looked into a number of homebrew efforts to try and get Steam games onto my Switch (streamed or otherwise) but it's just not worth the commitment of time and effort when I could spend the same $10 for that indie game I want on Switch instead of on Steam. I reluctantly got a Switch two years ago. I was reluctant because although I've been wanting this form factor for years, I also wanted a device that was compatible with my Steam library. Since buying the Switch, I've only bought Switch games (and not a single Steam game) mostly because being able to play on that form-factor is worth the price-premium to me. It's Valve's excellent record of delivery on hardware that makes this a pre-order for me. Super excited about this.

by seneca 5y ago

Bayart 5y ago

They've got a good record with making hardware, but not making it mainstream.

mindvirus 5y ago

I think their hardware has been great. The Index VR headset is high quality, and so was their controller although it didn't seem to find market fit.

Reubend 5y ago

The people who have used their VR hardware say it's excellent.

porphyra 5y ago
I have a Valve Index VR headset. It was clearly the best on the market when I got it last year. The controllers and headset tracking are great and the video quality was a notch above the competition (though recent newer headsets have closed the gap). However it did have some hardware issues such as crackling audio in one of the speakers, so I ended up removing the headset speakers and wearing my own headphones. Anyway, overall I'm satisfied.

kawsper 5y ago

They have a tendency to drop their hardware quite early - I had a Steam Link so I could play computer games on my television, it works really great.

malfist 5y ago
Steam link and the controllers were great. Too bad they dropped support for them so quickly. Went looking to replace one that finally broke down and found you couldn't buy them anymore.

amiga-workbench 5y ago

Do they? My Steam link still works, and its great. As is the controller.

djrogers 5y ago
I think the issue is that both of those are dead products now. Dropping support/sales for hardware so quickly is a bit of a turnoff.

rubicon33 5y ago

The Valve Index is one of, if not the best, VR headsets on the market. Quest 2 is a very close competitor and arguably better when you consider price + wireless ability. But the Index is no slouch.

legitster 5y ago

The Steam Link was awesome. Their VR headsets are the industry standard. The controller was niche but I heard good things. Steamboxes weren't really a hit, but I don't consider them a failure either (users still got fully functional gaming rigs). So no, I would disagree with that assessment.

moritonal 5y ago

I'd argue the opposite. The Steam Controller was a work of technical art (albeit without the centuries of experience in ergonomics its competitors had). The Steam Link was a few years ahead of its competitors. And the Steam Vive's Lighthouses were a literal light-speed ahead of the Oculus for a while. Fully agree however that you're right that they're too small to support a hardware long past its release when the market share is too small.

mojzu 5y ago

Happy index/steam controller customer here, had to RMA one of the index controllers for a weird resetting issue but they handled that really well so I feel I’ve got my money’s worth. I may be biased though because valve is actually the company I have been a customer of the longest in my life

danso 5y ago

Valve's arguably biggest most obvious failure are the Steam Machines [0], but that doesn't feel like a track record failure in the way that, say, a PS Vita was. Weren't Steam Machines basically just branded (and reasonably priced) PCs pre-loaded with SteamOS/Linux? Not even the Steam Controller feels proprietary. I mean, in the sense that I can still use it handily on macOS despite its ending production 2 years ago. [0] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/its-time-to-declare-valves-steam-machines-doa/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/its-time-to-declare-v...

IggleSniggle 5y ago

They have a great track record with hardware. They have a poor track record of hardware adoption. I have the Steam Controller: it's fantastic, so versatile, and everything it claimed it would be. I have the Steam Link: works great, brings my desktop to any TV in the house. I haven't used their VR equipment but from those that have, seems like basically the reason get Oculus instead of Valve is because of Oculus exclusives. I've been dying for this form-factor for years, since long before the Switch came out. Valve has been losing tons of money from me in the form of purchases, because games in their library haven't been in the right form factor, so I've bought them for mobile and for Switch, when really I'd rather have bought them in Steam with a mobile-play option. I've explored the mobile-phone-with-controllers-streaming-from-a-desktop option, and it's just not what I'm looking for. I've been looking for a feasible option in this space since the Razer Edge came out in 2013, and there just hasn't been a good one...not with phones-with-controllers-attached (have to stream), not with mini-laptops (bad ergonomics and performance), etc. I've looked into a number of homebrew efforts to try and get Steam games onto my Switch (streamed or otherwise) but it's just not worth the commitment of time and effort when I could spend the same $10 for that indie game I want on Switch instead of on Steam. I reluctantly got a Switch two years ago. I was reluctant because although I've been wanting this form factor for years, I also wanted a device that was compatible with my Steam library. Since buying the Switch, I've only bought Switch games (and not a single Steam game) mostly because being able to play on that form-factor is worth the price-premium to me. It's Valve's excellent record of delivery on hardware that makes this a pre-order for me. Super excited about this.