Hrm, that's a pretty damning review.

The Fallout Classic Collection? That's a pretty cool start. I see that as a good thing; teach the younger generation how to play the good 'ol games first in Isometric. They'll have all the time in the world to practice, since SteamOS won't be compatible with a lot just yet ;). An appropriate gift for people's kids when they beg them for the next XBox or Playstation, "I got you this Steam Box instead, it has 3 games on it, but none of that Call of Duty stuff you play."

You pretty much need a Windows PC elsewhere on the home network to stream games to it, if you go by what SteamOS supports natively then it won't be much. I think it makes more sense to just use a SteamLink and a host PC.

Half-Life 3, SteamOS only

PHJF wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 10:02:
Half-Life 3, SteamOS only

Half-Life 3... BWAHAHAHAHA!!

I'm not sold on the idea of Steam Machines but it's worth noting that The Verge is a site that's run a number of different paid advertorial campaigns for Microsoft. They're also a site that relies on controversial clickbaiting more than actual journalism. Anything that comes from them should be taken with a mountain or two of salt.

But it's true. shit site or not.

you can’t even play games that are compatible with Linux but aren’t on Steam

I never would have expected that, seems to be Valve either being major douches or just stupid.

Are there still going to be options for these units to be ordered with Windows?

It seems like the author is missing the mark. You can install 3rd party software if you go in to desktop mode. Once there you can install the missing dependencies and packages just like any other linux distribution.

http://www.howtogeek.com/179883/how-to-use-the-steamos-desktop/

There are major AAA games coming out that support PC/Mac/Linux/SteamOS. The Back-catalog isn't really all that bad.

TheEmissary wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 12:08:
It seems like the author is missing the mark. You can install 3rd party software if you go in to desktop mode. Once there you can install the missing dependencies and packages just like any other linux distribution.

http://www.howtogeek.com/179883/how-to-use-the-steamos-desktop/

There are major AAA games coming out that support PC/Mac/Linux/SteamOS. The Back-catalog isn't really all that bad.

The entire point of this is to compete with consoles for ease-of-use for gamers who aren't PC savy so how would something like this possibly be of any benefit? It defeats the entire purpose of the machine to begin with. One way or the other you're still better off just buying a Windows based PC.

HorrorScope wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 11:54:
Are there still going to be options for these units to be ordered with Windows?

It's called the Alienware Alpha
http://www.alienware.com/landings/alpha/

Cutter wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 12:23:

TheEmissary wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 12:08:
It seems like the author is missing the mark. You can install 3rd party software if you go in to desktop mode. Once there you can install the missing dependencies and packages just like any other linux distribution.

http://www.howtogeek.com/179883/how-to-use-the-steamos-desktop/

There are major AAA games coming out that support PC/Mac/Linux/SteamOS. The Back-catalog isn't really all that bad.

The entire point of this is to compete with consoles for ease-of-use for gamers who aren't PC savy so how would something like this possibly be of any benefit? It defeats the entire purpose of the machine to begin with. One way or the other you're still better off just buying a Windows based PC.

I was just mentioning the edge cases. You can support games that aren't "Steam supported". On Windows even you might occasionally have to manually install and also no different to how people may sideload apps on mobile platforms.

I am sure Valve if they have the desire they can solve the dependency issue for running non-steam linux games. Most package managers are really easy in terms of installing what you need to run the application. It can almost be automated or have dialog prompts no different to when you install Windows games with 5-10 Redist libraries (DX/OGL, VC++, etc).

This entire article is really stupid. There are literally thousands of SteamOS compatible games on Steam right now. Of the 10 "most played" games on Steam, 7 of them are SteamOS compatible.

What console has a library of over a thousand games that is still constantly being expanded and updated?
What console has the ability to install 3rd party games?
What console has the ability to be upgraded in the event that they are not powerful enough to run SteamVR hardware?
What console lets you easily share your library with your friends/family without losing control of your physical copies of games?

Only the SteamBox.

Does it have flaws? Sure. Is version 1 of the SteamBox going to win the console war? of course not. Is it the best/only possibility we have for breaking down the walled-gardens of Sony and Microsoft and ending the disparity between PC and console games? Yes, absolutely. if only for that last reason alone people should be championing and hoping for the success of this venture.

This comment was edited on Jun 8, 2015, 12:47.

I'm glad if Steam Machines and SteamOS fail hard. The last thing that PC gaming needs is more fragmentation and a quasi console competitor mole undermining PC gaming from the inside with more inferior hardware and retarded nipple rubbing controllers.
Sad as it may be but Valve is the last bastion of PC gaming. It is very concerning what they are trying to achieve with Steam Machines and SteamOS.
Microsoft started the same way with the Xbox when they had the idea around Y2K to bring gaming and entertainment to the living room.
And we all know how that ended up and how much they care about the PC anymore.

descender wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 12:41:
This entire article is really stupid. There are literally thousands of SteamOS compatible games on Steam right now. Of the 10 "most played" games on Steam, 7 of them are SteamOS compatible.

What console has a library of over a thousand games that is still constantly being expanded and updated?
What console has the ability to install 3rd party games?
What console has the ability to be upgraded in the event that they are not powerful enough to run SteamVR hardware?

Only the SteamBox.

I agree with this, the long game blows consoles out of the water. 100% compatible, forever. Upgraded hardware purchasable when you like. Consoles really do need to make this move already. That said, I'd just rather have a win version of a steam box, even if it were just for playing games, that way you get everything.

descender wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 12:41:
This entire article is really stupid. There are literally thousands of SteamOS compatible games on Steam right now. Of the 10 "most played" games on Steam, 7 of them are SteamOS compatible.

What console has a library of over a thousand games that is still constantly being expanded and updated?
What console has the ability to install 3rd party games?
What console has the ability to be upgraded in the event that they are not powerful enough to run SteamVR hardware?
What console lets you easily share your library with your friends/family without losing control of your physical copies of games?

Only the SteamBox.

Does it have flaws? Sure. Is version 1 of the SteamBox going to win the console war? of course not. Is it the best/only possibility we have for breaking down the walled-gardens of Sony and Microsoft and ending the disparity between PC and console games? Yes, absolutely. if only for that last reason alone people should be championing and hoping for the success of this venture.

This entire comment is really stupid.

What console has a library of over a thousand games that is... - Since you're counting EVERYTHING, you have to count PSN and XBL games. Trust me, the PS3 and Xbox360 have well over a thousand games.
What console has the ability to install 3rd party games? Um... the 360 and PS3 have that ability, unless you have your own personal definition of "3rd party games"
Upgrading? The 360 can be upgraded. Not much, but still...

/sigh...

I get your point, but your arguments are idiotic. Stop that.

None of those counter-arguments make any sense.

It doesn't matter how many games there are for PS3 or XB360, they aren't making any new ones and they aren't updating that library anymore. Both of their game libraries are now now stale. If you want new xbox/PS games you have to buy a new console and lose compatibility with all of your old game purchases.

I guess I should have added that one in there, which one of these consoles won't cut you off from your library and make you repurchase new versions of the games you already paid for when updated hardware is released? Steambox.

3rd party games meaning, games not natively supported by the system. Xbox and PS absolutely do not let you install anything that is not an xbox or a ps game. SteamBox can have games installed on it not specifically supported by SteamOS.

Upgrading? You are still talking about upgrading a defunct console that no new games will be developed for within the next few months... so who cares if you can increase the hard drive size, you can't upgrade it to increase the performance in any way whatsoever.


Good try though? I don't know... not really. There are shortcomings to the SteamOS/SteamBox but none of the real ones are actually listed in this article.

This comment was edited on Jun 8, 2015, 13:09.

The problem with SteamOS is more that yeah it can play a bunch of things but you can also just use Steam with Windows and play everything. It's intended for the living room market where Windows as a UI doesn't make a lot of sense. Valve is seeing a lot of potential markets so they're throwing stuff at the wall hoping something will stick, they have a pretty good track record at doing so.

descender wrote on Jun 8, 2015, 13:04:
None of those counter-arguments make any sense.

It doesn't matter how many games there are for PS3 or XB360, they aren't making any new ones and they aren't updating that library anymore. Both of their game libraries are now now stale. If you want new xbox/PS games you have to buy a new console and lose compatibility with all of your old game purchases.

I guess I should have added that one in there, which one of these consoles won't cut you off from your library and make you repurchase new versions of the games you already paid for when updated hardware is released? Steambox.

3rd party games meaning, games not natively supported by the system. Xbox and PS absolutely do not let you install anything that is not an xbox or a ps game. SteamBox can have games installed on it not specifically supported by SteamOS.

Upgrading? You are still talking about upgrading a defunct console that no new games will be developed for within the next few months... so who cares if you can increase the hard drive size, you can't upgrade it to increase the performance in any way whatsoever.


Good try though? I don't know... not really. There are shortcomings to the SteamOS/SteamBox but none of the real ones are actually listed in this article.

Seems to be stupid post day for descender.

New games are still being released for the PS3/360, no the libraries are not stale. Has it slowed down? Of course, it's the tail end of a generation.

I'm sorry but I must have lost the memo that stated that old games stop working on old consoles when the new generation gets released. Hasn't happened and isn't happening.

Games that do get "shut down" are no less common on PC than they are on consoles and has nothing to do with the consoles themselves.

Long story short, the article is dumb and wrong on most accounts.
You can install Windows on the Steambox. SteamOS at this stage is to make them functional without having to pay MS a license.