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Valve has three announcements this week: http://kotaku.com/looks-like-well-hear-about-valves-new-hardware-on-mon-1356094018 http://kotaku.com/looks-like-well-he

Valve has three announcements this week: http://kotaku.com/looks-like-well-hear-about-valves-new-hardware-on-mon-1356094018 http://kotaku.com/looks-like-well-hear-about-valves-new-hard... One of the announcements is widely believe to be the long-rumored Steam Box hardware...

ketralnis 13y ago
Why would they announce the software separately from its #1 use case?
- scarlson 13y ago
  Casual vs Hardcore gaming. If they announce the console first, and it's not able to run the latest and greatest games on their highest resolution they stymie the idea of being able to run SteamOS on a high end gaming rig. This way people are thinking about how they can run SteamOS on their existing hardware before thinking they need to run it on a Steambox.
- concernedctzn 13y ago
  well, the next icon on this page http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ sure looks like a box enclosing the circle that turned out to be the OS. It's not really a separate announcement as this is all part of one unified event.
  - errnoh 13y ago
    Third one is more interesting since they already announced streaming from Steam to SteamOS.
- matthew-wegner 13y ago
  Maybe this? But who really knows, with Valve: "SteamOS will be available soon as a free download for users and as a freely licensable operating system for manufacturers."
- ZeroGravitas 13y ago
  Same reason Android was announced before the first phone: because surfing the wave of rapidly improving hardware is part of the plan.
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  Valve likes to escalate announcements. It would be very "Valve" to announce the OS, which can run anywhere, and then next announce the box they want you to run it on.
  - Apocryphon 13y ago
    ...and then announce the game that you'll be playing on the box?!?
    - sliverstorm 13y ago
      No, it's not half life 3. The logo for the 3rd announcement wouldn't make any sense then.
- perfectm 13y ago
  My thought is to temper disappointment. If they announced the steam box today and it ran a flavor of Linux it would be a disappointment. If we know about steam OS for 48 hours before the steam box announcement, we would all expect the steam box to run steam OS.
esw 13y ago
Yeah, but you know that we'll only get two announcements and the third will be delayed indefinitely.
skriticos2 13y ago
From the iconography on the main page I'd guess the second announcement will be Steam hardware and the third one will be Half Life 3 (second circle indicates software product again?). Pure speculation on my side here. http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/
- deletes 13y ago
  We know that the circle represents the SteamOS. The brackets int the second announcement must represent SteamBox. The third announcement has two circles with a plus sign in between which has to do something with connectivity to other players. Probably an equivalent of Xbox Live. ( My bet for the name is SteamPipe :) ) If Half-Life 3 was represented it would have to be a sign inside the circle as it is mainly a singleplayer experience. Also a single game as a third announcement is way too narrow-minded as Valve already has the one of the most popular games (Dota 2).
  - asdfs 13y ago
    The SteamPipe name is already used for their content distribution system: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamPipe https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamPipe
  - sleepybrett 13y ago
    Steam already has most of the xbox live functionality. Friends list, messaging, voice chat, online store. I think the only major missing piece is probably 'parties' though maybe that's in there (I've never had much of a need for it personally).
  - mladenkovacevic 13y ago
    Why is the circle off to one side of the box. Maybe I'm reading too much into it... but perhaps it could be a game controller and not a set-top box?
    - sliverstorm 13y ago
      That could be interesting... but I must say, the Xbox360 controller is fantastic, inexpensive, and easily integrates with a PC. Sort of a solved problem, if you will, so unless they have significant value to add, I'd hope they'd focus elsewhere.
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
The controller is the most interesting hardware component, the rest can improve over time much more easily.
machbio 13y ago
Steam OS needs to be on the Public Domain like an Opensource Project..Which it will most likely be.. In addition to that the Hardware should also be opensourced, like how to build the most optimal gaming console to work on Steam OS... But It will all come down to the gaming pad, how the gaming pad will be designed and how it will integrate with build your own systems
- icebraining 13y ago
  Steam OS needs to be on the Public Domain like an Opensource Project..Which it will most likely be.. Steam is a DRM platform with a few user features on top. Releasing an open source platform would be as uncharacteristic as suicidal.
  - lotyrin 13y ago
    Have to think about it like android, FOSS linux base that in most cases ships with a non-FOSS storefront application from its primary contributor.
    - icebraining 13y ago
      I don't think game publishers would trust their cash cows to an Android platform either.
devx 13y ago
If I were them I'd make Half Life 3, Portal 3 and whatever next versions they have of their own games, exclusive to their own Steambox, at least first months or so. They might not get as much money on the games themselves initially, but they'd make so much more on the hardware (they don't need to all Blu-ray and all the extra crap, so they could be profitable on it), and it would also be a great way to seed their console into the market, so developers target it.
- hrkristian 13y ago
  Alienating their main user-base for the sake of promoting their own console seems like a high-risk play when most people already are aiming at spending their "console-allowance" on the PS4 or One. The Steam Box is supposed to be modular (upgrade-able), while being strictly plug&play, this alone gives it a huge edge over existing consoles. Now we know SteamOS will be Open Source, and we know both Nvidia and AMD are commited to improving Linux drivers. What that means is AAA-titles don't even need to be ported, the Wine layer is able to provide 1:1 performance as proven with for instance World of Warcraft. The Wine devs don't even have the luxury of source access like game developers to. All in all, if Valve does this right they're sitting on a potential goldmine.
  - devx 13y ago
    Too bad PS4 wasn't based on Linux, too. Both could've helped Linux games a lot more.
twidlit 13y ago
1. Steam 2. Steambox 3a. some VR peripheral (looks like a VR goggle/headset to me) 3b. some special cross-play between Steambox and Windows/Mac/Linux 3c. cross play between steambox and PS4
- Fuzzwah 13y ago
  I hadn't thought about the possibility that day 3 could be about their VR stuff. Abrash has been beavering away on all that stuff for some time now. It has also been a fair while since he posted anything up on his blog (July 26, 2013): http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/ http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/
  - twidlit 13y ago
    I am sure it will be just 3b or 3c. a VR peripheral would be a long shot but I would be glad to be wrong. :)
- NamTaf 13y ago
  1. SteamOS 2. Steambox 3. It looks like two sets of wheels from side on. Gaben is giving us all A NEW CAR!!!

ketralnis 13y ago

Why would they announce the software separately from its #1 use case?

scarlson 13y ago
Casual vs Hardcore gaming. If they announce the console first, and it's not able to run the latest and greatest games on their highest resolution they stymie the idea of being able to run SteamOS on a high end gaming rig. This way people are thinking about how they can run SteamOS on their existing hardware before thinking they need to run it on a Steambox.
concernedctzn 13y ago
well, the next icon on this page http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ sure looks like a box enclosing the circle that turned out to be the OS. It's not really a separate announcement as this is all part of one unified event.
- errnoh 13y ago
  Third one is more interesting since they already announced streaming from Steam to SteamOS.
matthew-wegner 13y ago
Maybe this? But who really knows, with Valve: "SteamOS will be available soon as a free download for users and as a freely licensable operating system for manufacturers."
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
Same reason Android was announced before the first phone: because surfing the wave of rapidly improving hardware is part of the plan.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Valve likes to escalate announcements. It would be very "Valve" to announce the OS, which can run anywhere, and then next announce the box they want you to run it on.
- Apocryphon 13y ago
  ...and then announce the game that you'll be playing on the box?!?
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    No, it's not half life 3. The logo for the 3rd announcement wouldn't make any sense then.
perfectm 13y ago
My thought is to temper disappointment. If they announced the steam box today and it ran a flavor of Linux it would be a disappointment. If we know about steam OS for 48 hours before the steam box announcement, we would all expect the steam box to run steam OS.

esw 13y ago

Yeah, but you know that we'll only get two announcements and the third will be delayed indefinitely.

skriticos2 13y ago

From the iconography on the main page I'd guess the second announcement will be Steam hardware and the third one will be Half Life 3 (second circle indicates software product again?). Pure speculation on my side here. http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/

deletes 13y ago
We know that the circle represents the SteamOS. The brackets int the second announcement must represent SteamBox. The third announcement has two circles with a plus sign in between which has to do something with connectivity to other players. Probably an equivalent of Xbox Live. ( My bet for the name is SteamPipe :) ) If Half-Life 3 was represented it would have to be a sign inside the circle as it is mainly a singleplayer experience. Also a single game as a third announcement is way too narrow-minded as Valve already has the one of the most popular games (Dota 2).
- asdfs 13y ago
  The SteamPipe name is already used for their content distribution system: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamPipe https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamPipe
- sleepybrett 13y ago
  Steam already has most of the xbox live functionality. Friends list, messaging, voice chat, online store. I think the only major missing piece is probably 'parties' though maybe that's in there (I've never had much of a need for it personally).
- mladenkovacevic 13y ago
  Why is the circle off to one side of the box. Maybe I'm reading too much into it... but perhaps it could be a game controller and not a set-top box?
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    That could be interesting... but I must say, the Xbox360 controller is fantastic, inexpensive, and easily integrates with a PC. Sort of a solved problem, if you will, so unless they have significant value to add, I'd hope they'd focus elsewhere.

ZeroGravitas 13y ago

The controller is the most interesting hardware component, the rest can improve over time much more easily.

machbio 13y ago

Steam OS needs to be on the Public Domain like an Opensource Project..Which it will most likely be.. In addition to that the Hardware should also be opensourced, like how to build the most optimal gaming console to work on Steam OS... But It will all come down to the gaming pad, how the gaming pad will be designed and how it will integrate with build your own systems

icebraining 13y ago
Steam OS needs to be on the Public Domain like an Opensource Project..Which it will most likely be.. Steam is a DRM platform with a few user features on top. Releasing an open source platform would be as uncharacteristic as suicidal.
- lotyrin 13y ago
  Have to think about it like android, FOSS linux base that in most cases ships with a non-FOSS storefront application from its primary contributor.
  - icebraining 13y ago
    I don't think game publishers would trust their cash cows to an Android platform either.

devx 13y ago

If I were them I'd make Half Life 3, Portal 3 and whatever next versions they have of their own games, exclusive to their own Steambox, at least first months or so. They might not get as much money on the games themselves initially, but they'd make so much more on the hardware (they don't need to all Blu-ray and all the extra crap, so they could be profitable on it), and it would also be a great way to seed their console into the market, so developers target it.

hrkristian 13y ago
Alienating their main user-base for the sake of promoting their own console seems like a high-risk play when most people already are aiming at spending their "console-allowance" on the PS4 or One. The Steam Box is supposed to be modular (upgrade-able), while being strictly plug&play, this alone gives it a huge edge over existing consoles. Now we know SteamOS will be Open Source, and we know both Nvidia and AMD are commited to improving Linux drivers. What that means is AAA-titles don't even need to be ported, the Wine layer is able to provide 1:1 performance as proven with for instance World of Warcraft. The Wine devs don't even have the luxury of source access like game developers to. All in all, if Valve does this right they're sitting on a potential goldmine.
- devx 13y ago
  Too bad PS4 wasn't based on Linux, too. Both could've helped Linux games a lot more.

twidlit 13y ago

1. Steam 2. Steambox 3a. some VR peripheral (looks like a VR goggle/headset to me) 3b. some special cross-play between Steambox and Windows/Mac/Linux 3c. cross play between steambox and PS4

Fuzzwah 13y ago
I hadn't thought about the possibility that day 3 could be about their VR stuff. Abrash has been beavering away on all that stuff for some time now. It has also been a fair while since he posted anything up on his blog (July 26, 2013): http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/ http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/
- twidlit 13y ago
  I am sure it will be just 3b or 3c. a VR peripheral would be a long shot but I would be glad to be wrong. :)
NamTaf 13y ago
1. SteamOS 2. Steambox 3. It looks like two sets of wheels from side on. Gaben is giving us all A NEW CAR!!!