... not complaining, as I am a Linux user, but Steam OS is going to be the game changer, and the back catalog working on Steam is arguably more important than two AAA titles.
The Seismic Event would be Newell confirming Half-Life 3... and saying it's coming to Steam OS (Linux) first.
Let's be honest, SteamOS is done. Steam got exactly what they wanted from Microsoft and dropped it like a hot potato (so sorry, you'll never get to use that cool controller).
Consider that for decades Microsoft has not allowed anyone, anyone to touch the user experience. Even after Netscape's antitrust lawsuit over active desktop, even after BeOS withered and died hoping someone would sell a windows computer with dualboot, or hell just a windows computer with a "Setup BeOS" icon on the desktop. Steam is facing the Microsoft Store and a real threat that the Microsoft Store will become the way to buy programs (see also: iOS). Steam trots out SteamOS, and Microsoft snickers. The hype train builds up, and Microsoft sweats. Games start to port and Microsoft snaps.
Alienware ships a Windows 8 PC that boots to Steam instead of Metro.
Now, let's step back a second and look at the big picture here. At the time, windows 8 adoption is absolute total shit, swirling the drain of a public restroom that hasn't been washed for years. The last windows evangelists are all hanging on imploring people to just try it out, just give it a chance, and oh by the way install Start8 to fix metro. Think about that. PC vendors are on the verge of revolt, their customers refuse to buy their goods, and all for the want of installing a $5 program to fix the metro experience. Best Buy is probably screaming at Microsoft, begging them to allow them to remove the metro experience so they can move their inventory. Hell, they're probably begging them to let them advertise their Geek Squad services to "optimize" the experience and install that $5 program for $100. But no, the Microsoft Experience is inviolate, the holiest of holies, eternally immutable. No matter how much hatred it gets, it Must. Not. Be. Changed.
And then Alienware ships a Windows 8 PC that boots to Steam instead of Metro.
SteamOS's job is done. When no-one was looking, Steam took Microsoft and snapped it like a twig. We'll never know exactly what dark magicks were invoked here, but in the blink of an eye, Valve routed Microsoft in a war that nobody even realized was being fought. When Japan makes an anime out of this event, GabeN will point at Steve Ballmer, say omae wo shindeiru and Ballmer's head will implode, without GabeN throwing a single visible punch.
Steam OS will probably putter along, we'll probably see a few things be trotted out to keep the dream alive, after all the hype train did build up a lot of steam (pun not intended). Eventually a few of these AAA developers will say "it's really just not ready for the prime time" and we'll go back to getting a few wine ports and indie games from hardcore dedicated guys who just really love Linux.
But the masses will probably never get to hold that controller.
If a game runs on SteamOS, it runs on Linux. SteamOS is Linux. And not in the way that Android is Linux, SteamOS is just another Linux distro. Based on Debian, specifically, but booting into Steam's UI instead of GNOME. Which is still included.
yesish... If they use API calls that depend on other window managers toolkits (since SteamOS is a Debian with GNOME fork), you would at least need a dependencies package and sometimes even that doesn't work. I remember having such issues with metacity (GNOME 2, this was replaced with Mutter in Gnome 3) dependencies when running a different window manager, I think Enlightenment. I pretty much needed to kill Enlightenment, start GNOME, and then could run the program. I had a lot better luck with GTK apps runn
Games generally don't know or care about the window manager; they're doing their own interfaces in OpenGL. And any APIs specific to Steam aren't an obstacle, because Steam isn't restricted to SteamOS (although they only package it for Ubuntu). Heck, some games don't even require X.
But no, the Microsoft Experience is inviolate, the holiest of holies, eternally immutable. No matter how much hatred it gets, it Must. Not. Be. Changed. And then Alienware ships a Windows 8 PC that boots to Steam instead of Metro. SteamOS's job is done. When no-one was looking, Steam took Microsoft and snapped it like a twig.
Or Microsoft found out they must cede the battle to avoid losing the war. That doesn't mean Valve should get complacent, once you make a threat like that it'd better stay credible. If they back down too far Microsoft might try for a blitzkrieg shoving the Microsoft Store down users' throat before Valve has time to rekindle the SteamOS project. At the same time they don't want Steam to go mainstream to avoid making it a real enemy to Windows.
There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.
-- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923
Gabe Newell is perhaps the biggest driver of this. (Score:3, Insightful)
The Seismic Event would be Newell confirming Half-Life 3... and saying it's coming to Steam OS (Linux) first.
Re:Gabe Newell is perhaps the biggest driver of th (Score:1, Interesting)
Let's be honest, SteamOS is done. Steam got exactly what they wanted from Microsoft and dropped it like a hot potato (so sorry, you'll never get to use that cool controller).
Consider that for decades Microsoft has not allowed anyone, anyone to touch the user experience. Even after Netscape's antitrust lawsuit over active desktop, even after BeOS withered and died hoping someone would sell a windows computer with dualboot, or hell just a windows computer with a "Setup BeOS" icon on the desktop. Steam is facing the Microsoft Store and a real threat that the Microsoft Store will become the way to buy programs (see also: iOS). Steam trots out SteamOS, and Microsoft snickers. The hype train builds up, and Microsoft sweats. Games start to port and Microsoft snaps.
Alienware ships a Windows 8 PC that boots to Steam instead of Metro.
Now, let's step back a second and look at the big picture here. At the time, windows 8 adoption is absolute total shit, swirling the drain of a public restroom that hasn't been washed for years. The last windows evangelists are all hanging on imploring people to just try it out, just give it a chance, and oh by the way install Start8 to fix metro. Think about that. PC vendors are on the verge of revolt, their customers refuse to buy their goods, and all for the want of installing a $5 program to fix the metro experience. Best Buy is probably screaming at Microsoft, begging them to allow them to remove the metro experience so they can move their inventory. Hell, they're probably begging them to let them advertise their Geek Squad services to "optimize" the experience and install that $5 program for $100. But no, the Microsoft Experience is inviolate, the holiest of holies, eternally immutable. No matter how much hatred it gets, it Must. Not. Be. Changed .
And then Alienware ships a Windows 8 PC that boots to Steam instead of Metro.
SteamOS's job is done. When no-one was looking, Steam took Microsoft and snapped it like a twig. We'll never know exactly what dark magicks were invoked here, but in the blink of an eye, Valve routed Microsoft in a war that nobody even realized was being fought. When Japan makes an anime out of this event, GabeN will point at Steve Ballmer, say omae wo shindeiru and Ballmer's head will implode, without GabeN throwing a single visible punch.
Steam OS will probably putter along, we'll probably see a few things be trotted out to keep the dream alive, after all the hype train did build up a lot of steam (pun not intended). Eventually a few of these AAA developers will say "it's really just not ready for the prime time" and we'll go back to getting a few wine ports and indie games from hardcore dedicated guys who just really love Linux.
But the masses will probably never get to hold that controller.
Re: (Score:2)
Let's be honest, SteamOS is done. Steam got exactly what they wanted from Microsoft and dropped it like a hot potato
I completely agree with you... Steam saw the threat, needed to create their own threat...
Microsoft saw that and countered...
Mission accomplished...
Re: (Score:2)
If a game runs on SteamOS, it runs on Linux. SteamOS is Linux. And not in the way that Android is Linux, SteamOS is just another Linux distro. Based on Debian, specifically, but booting into Steam's UI instead of GNOME. Which is still included.
Re: (Score:2)
yesish... If they use API calls that depend on other window managers toolkits (since SteamOS is a Debian with GNOME fork), you would at least need a dependencies package and sometimes even that doesn't work. I remember having such issues with metacity (GNOME 2, this was replaced with Mutter in Gnome 3) dependencies when running a different window manager, I think Enlightenment. I pretty much needed to kill Enlightenment, start GNOME, and then could run the program. I had a lot better luck with GTK apps runn
Re: (Score:2)
Games generally don't know or care about the window manager; they're doing their own interfaces in OpenGL. And any APIs specific to Steam aren't an obstacle, because Steam isn't restricted to SteamOS (although they only package it for Ubuntu). Heck, some games don't even require X.
Re: (Score:2)
Wait, there's such a thing as a cool controller?
Re: (Score:2)
But no, the Microsoft Experience is inviolate, the holiest of holies, eternally immutable. No matter how much hatred it gets, it Must. Not. Be. Changed. And then Alienware ships a Windows 8 PC that boots to Steam instead of Metro. SteamOS's job is done. When no-one was looking, Steam took Microsoft and snapped it like a twig.
Or Microsoft found out they must cede the battle to avoid losing the war. That doesn't mean Valve should get complacent, once you make a threat like that it'd better stay credible. If they back down too far Microsoft might try for a blitzkrieg shoving the Microsoft Store down users' throat before Valve has time to rekindle the SteamOS project. At the same time they don't want Steam to go mainstream to avoid making it a real enemy to Windows.