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Valve Steam Machines, Steam Controller, and SteamOS: Visionary or Vapor?

Valve's three announcements are out, and they haven't offered many specifics besides concepts that could completely change how PC and console gamers game.

By Will Greenwald
September 27, 2013
Steam Machines

I've seen the future, and it is Steam. Maybe. Possibly. Honestly, it's hard to tell whether Valve's announcements will actually become a reality. Let's go over what we know.

Valve is working on SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system focused on Steam access, networked game streaming like the Nvidia Shield, and a Big Picture-style interface. It is also pursuing a Steam Machine platform that will consist of several different gadgets from different vendors, presumably based around certain standards to run SteamOS and certain games. Finally, Valve is also making a game controller with two touchpads featuring new haptic feedback technology and a touch screen. The Steam Machine platform and Steam Controller will be given to 300 beta testers, who get the Golden Ticket trading card on Steam and get their elderly grandfathers to finally get out of bed to tour the chocolate factory.

But let's also go over what we don't know.

We don't know what the Steam Machines will be. We don't know what they'll do. We don't know what price point they'll have or if they'll be facing off against current-generation systems ($200-300), next-gen systems ($400-500), media hubs ($50-100), or gaming computers (all the money you can spend). We don't know what games will be playable natively on SteamOS beyond the handful of Linux titles on Steam. We don't know what games Steam Machines will run without streaming from another computer. We don't know how much the controller will cost.

So, after a week of buildup and a triple countdown that was kicked around and overanalyzed by Valve fans by the thousands, we have a confirmed OS, a semi-confirmed game system/computer, and a confirmed gamepad. And no clue about what they'll actually do or how they'll work yet beyond "Linux" and "haptics."

A year from now, Valve might stand as revolutionaries in the couch-based, HDTV gaming world just as they stand as revolutionaries in the PC digital distribution world. These impressive claims could certainly pay off. Right now, though, all we're seeing is promises, claims, and a loose framework around which future products will be based.

There's an Apple joke I could make here, but I'm not sure what it is.

Okay, for all of my sarcasm, I'm cautiously optimistic about what Valve is working on, and considering the gaming landscape, it's probably doing the best thing it could be doing by introducing new hardware. It hasn't carved a niche, but it has started placing the explosives for the initial excavation. They're cannily laying the groundwork and building up hype for SteamOS and Steam Machines to be the big gaming platform of next year.

However, I am disappointed that there was no official "Steambox" announcement and no word on Half-Life 3. But put that aside and look at what SteamOS and the Steam Machines might offer. Better yet, look at what the Steam Controller might offer first, because it shows exactly how Valve could have a huge success on its hands.

Continue Reading: Can Valve Revolutionize Gaming?

Can Valve Revolutionize Gaming?

Touchpads and touch screens generally aren't great for game controls. We need physical feedback, and PC gamers need precision. Flat surfaces you rub your thumb over just don't offer that, but the Steam Controller might. Emphasis on might. Both touchpads and the touch screen will be clickable, which is already an important aspect in making them feel responsive, and Valve says a new haptics system will offer precise force feedback that will go far beyond the usual "just shake it, then shake it harder" haptics current game controllers have.

If the force feedback on the touchpads feel precise enough, and if they click well, and if they're sensitive without being erratic, we could be looking at a new gamepad that will completely revolutionize how we look at gamepads. Take all of the face buttons and put them in the middle for more interface-based interaction, with two touchpads under the thumbs for the game controls. It's the small motions and precision that motion controllers lack, and it could be close enough to WASD/mouse controls that couch gamers won't need targeting help to win in shooters.

Steam Controller

Face it: mouse and keyboard won't work on a couch. I know. I've tried. I actually use it on a large TV table because my computer is hooked up to my HDTV. It feels like I'm sitting at a big desk with a huge screen instead of relaxing on the couch. You need a lot of space and a flat surface for a keyboard and mouse, and couches aren't conducive to that. If a gamepad can offer similar controls and precision, and a handy button for activating voice chat (as shown in Valve's example button layout for Portal 2), the old controls won't be needed. It's a bridge between PC gaming purists and people who like to sit back while they play their games. We'll have to see how it turns out, but the potential's there.

Steam Machines are another example of a unique and new potential bridge between PC and console gamers. Consoles have consistency of architecture. PCs can have any components you can put in a box. By putting together a Steam Machines standard for different companies to adhere to, you can be assured that games will work on your computer based on those standards like a console. But you'll still be able to tweak, expand, and go wallet-drainingly hardcore on your gaming system by spending extra and going with a different brand or higher-end model. But, like the Steam Controller, we'll have to see how it works first, and what the Steam Machines platform will require.

SteamOS, surprisingly, is less of a wild card, which might be why Valve announced it first. It'll be a freely available Linux-based operating system built around Steam that at the very least will support game streaming from Windows computers. That means hardcore PC games won't have to throw out or format their old systems for couch-bound gaming; put together a box with enough specs to stream and you're still gaming from that $4,000 custom rig under your desk. It also provides a specific Linux distribution and interface with the biggest PC game distribution platform in the world integrated. It gives developers a reason to code for Linux, if making a game SteamOS or Steam Machine compatible will mean digging into console sales for couch gamers in addition to desk-sitting PC gamers.

There's one big issue that SteamOS, and through it Steam Machines and the Steam Controller, have to get through: large publisher cooperation. It's fairly easy to convince indie developers to make Linux versions of games if it means expanding their audience, but big publishers who put out AAA console titles? Making them available for yet another platform when even Windows ports are uncertain is another matter entirely, and since many of these publishers have their own digital distribution systems they've tried to get off the ground (most of which rely heavily on Windows), that means getting SteamOS ports of big games could be difficult. Steam Machines won't be able to get big if they have to deal with EA-, Activision-, and Ubisoft-shaped holes in their library.

Valve has done what Valve does with announcements like this: revealed something possibly big and very vague. We'll know next year or the year after if Valve will do the other thing it does: create a platform-defining gaming ecosystem where there previously wasn't one.

For more, check out PCMag's Will Greenwald and James Plafke from ExtremeTech and Geek.com chat about this week's big announcements from Valve in the video below.

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About Will Greenwald

Lead Analyst, Consumer Electronics

I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).

Read Will's full bio

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