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A linux/Steam console would be pretty sick.
by smokeyj 14y ago
A linux/Steam console would be pretty sick.
- sliverstorm 14y agoYes, I think this is a better explanation than, "If Win8 flops we will go full Linux".
- wmf 14y agoIf Win8 flops I think people will keep buying Steam games on Win7. If Win8 (and its app store) succeeds then Valve needs plan B. IMO.
- jlgreco 14y agoI am not convinced. If they were getting ready for a "steambox", why would they be spending their time getting their stuff in working order on multiple drivers? And if they were going to pick one and stick with it, I would think that Intel's would be out of the running to begin with. That they are taking Intel's cards seriously suggests to me that they really do intend on taking Linux on consumer laptops/desktops seriously. They may still go for a dedicated Linux console, but I think that will be very much in addition to Linux on the desktop.
- scott_w 14y agoTo get competitive pricing on hardware. If Nvidia have the only working drivers for Source on Linux, then they can push up prices on their hardware to Valve, safe in the knowledge that it could take months for Valve to port their entire games library to AMD or Intel. If Valve keep support for all three, then they can squeeze the hardware manufacturers for better prices lest they take their custom elsewhere.
- jlgreco 14y agoI don't know. I think "Drop your price, or we'll stick an Intel GPU into our new console" is a pretty bad bluff, even if they can get Left4Dead running on it surprisingly well. NVidia and AMD should both know nobody would ever actually use an Intel GPU for something like that.
- scott_w 14y agoIt's a little more nuanced than that. It can put the brakes on Nvidia and AMD from trying to screw the nut in pricing, especially if the entire Steam catalogue will play on a good enough Intel GPU.
- Tuna-Fish 14y agoI don't think they want to get in the hardware business. Instead, what I would see them doing is develop a software package that any cheapo hw manufacturer can drop on a pile of x86 hardware and call the result a Steam console.
- dllthomas 14y agoI'd like to see this as a standard. Somewhere between the Linux Standard Base specification and the periodic Ultimate Linux Box, so I can know what to buy if I want to run the next round of games, developers can know what to target, etc. Then someone can make consoles to the spec.