Isn't the absence of Steamboxes this year in CES2016 kind of strange? I thought we may see some bigger improvements and new takes on the subject but.. well, nothing
Any thoughts about it?
No one is really jumping on the Steam Box thing anymore. 2 manufacturers already dropped out a couple of months ago. I do not know why exactly tho. Maybe because their is a lack of AAA titles. I think this is going down the same road as Ouya.
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Steamboxes is just another name for specialized desktops running an OS with features cut out. You can build something for much cheaper, and make it much more useful in a Mini-itx box. If you want windows, go for it, if you want Linux, go for it, if you want SteamOS, go for it. But Steamboxes can't really do that.
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yeah manufactures still need to make money. it the same reason you dont buy prebuilt machines. not worth the money. (mostly because they try to over sell the computer 2-3\1)
fair enough, but still an actual product hitting the market will encourage more game developers to port their work to Linux and even manufacturers will consider improvements for compatibility with Linux more and more I guess
That gif is 10/10, anyways ever since the steam box hit all I've heard is "you can build it yourself better" and I've been saying the same thing. People aren't scared to build pcs anymore it's about as simple as plugging in your phone you don't even have to research much just watch a couple "build a pc for x dollars" videos and youre set, so they don't sell too well as a result and thus are sort of fading off... If you're a console noob you're gonna be a console noob there isn't some magical in-between space in the market like these manufacturers seemed to think.
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Exactly. Steam Machines and even Steam OS fill a niche that no one is asking to be filled. More advanced people will just build their own and out a full version of Linux or Windows on it. Console people will stick with those as SteamOS often offers less functionality than a console and game selection is problematic as well as persevered complexity.
Steam Machines and Steam OS are and will continue to be failures.
If people really want to make Linux more main stream this is now how you do it. You do it by making it less shit for the average desktop user which I doubt will happen for some time.
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I totally agree and second you on that. The reason I'm interested in seeing such product thrive, is how well It helps the Linux communities by pushing manufacturers to think more about their hardware compatibility with a Linux-based OS especially when It's about the big gaming market. Otherwise I could build my rig myself . (For the console thing, trust me I always suck when playing with a joystick :) ) I'm a linux end user and that's why It kinda matter for me.
Except for the fact that it doesn't. Why? No one is buying them. Even if they were, most bug developers still won't care about Linux. Even if Steam Machines took off, which they won't, the numbers are still too small for them to bother.
Help for Linux gaming will come.from support from large graphics venders first and game developers moving on their own accord. Not to develop OSes furthering fragmentation but by simply making games for it.
As I mentioned previously the best way to help Linux gaming is simply to improve Linux itself. Even some of the best distros simply aren't up to snuff for your average user. Until the Linux community cares about the average computer user Linux won't take off. It is anyone's guess if they will start caring. I have my doubts
I'm really far from surprised. The steam box is almost pointless. Why would willingly limit your hardware to such a useless point?
On top of that, it's a moot product. Those who purchase consoles purchase them, predominantly, because they aren't PC gaming. They're the type of people who are better off with a console because they don't know how to build their own PC or don't enjoy going through the hassle of installing games (though consoles are getting there now for some reason). Games can be buggy on PC and games "just work" (most of the time) on consoles. Consoles are simply better at doing online multiplayer configuration. I can't count the times that I've had an issue with trying to get the right internet configuration for an obscure game on an obscure server.
Next up comes the exclusive titles.
If someone made a 300-400 buck steam machine make a version of that a little more expensive bundled with a game console goers who don't know about p.c. specs like they would have sold. For some dumb reason they tried selling over priced dumbed down computers to computer enthusiasts...
Yeah, don't forsee much traction here PC gamers will just build the device themselves with Linux/Windows.
Console gamers are damn near religious about their chosen platform.
Only people I could see buying this is as a secondary living room machine.
What could help is if they integrated Kodi and MythTV into it.Have it be a one stop shop with a tuner card so you can stream, game and use a DVR all on one box. There is room for good 5ft display (TV friendly) software. But the trick has to be getting that software made. Casual photo and video editing software would be a good start. Then you would have a true living room centric computer.
Either way I am glad that this has spurred work into GPU drivers, usability and games. Back in 2011, when they started the Steam for Linux Beta and compared to where they are now is night and day.
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