The SteamOS is a Linux based operating system, which is no surprise, as Gabe Newell said that Linux is the future of gaming. I think this was a great choice to base it off linux, because Windows kinda screwed over gaming company's with Windows 8. There's been a lot of compatibility issues and since Windows has changed their focus to touch screens, gaming just isn't ready for touch screen gaming (and it probably never will be). The only real problem, is that Linux isn't very "beginner friendly." People get intimidated by the fact that Linux is basically based off of the terminal. But there are certain "distros" of Linux that are more user friendly. Personally, I use Ubuntu (which is like Windows) whenever I use Linux and I use Cinnamon as my distro. A distro is basically a theme or layout for your desktop. There are many distros, so have a look around and find the one that you personally enjoy.
Anyway, back at the task at hand, Valve is now coming out with their own operating system. They're also creating the SteamBox and are going to send some lucky volunteers a beta version and have it already installed with SteamOS. Valve's goal is to eliminate the console by releasing PCs that you can put in your living room. That's right, just a Micro-ATX case (most likely) with everything a computer can possibly have.
With SteamOS, you can obviously assume that Steam will be on it by default. But what does that mean for other digital game distributors like origin, or GOG.com? Well, that's left to be decided. Valve is definitely making a push forward with their operating system, and I personally think it'll mean the downfall to some of these distributors. If Valve stops supporting Windows (highly unlikely) and only makes itself available to SteamOS, how much of the population of gamers are going to switch over? A majority of gamers, that's for sure. Personally, I would too, however, I would most likely run my system with a duel boot, or, if possible, run either Windows or SteamOS through a virtual machine.
So what exactly does SteamOS offer? Well for starters, games. Obviously right? But Valve is obviously going to implement some new features as well. They will offer In-home streaming. So if your SteamOS machine is in the living room (that's what they're hoping for), and you want to play your computer games, no problem. SteamOS is able to stream your game from your PC to your SteamOS. Which is a very cool feature, exactly like the Nvidia Shield. But exactly how much bandwidth would this use? Streaming 1080p isn't easy on your router and the consumer would need a wireless n or ac router in order to not produce any lag. Unless of course they are hard wired. But still, like myself, many consumers have limited bandwidth per month, and this could also be an issue to most consumers.
SteamOS and Valve are also working on media services. If you create an operating system, but can't offer any media services, you're going to have a rough time trying to pitch your product. But thankfully, Valve is smart, and is making media like music, tv, and movies possible on SteamOS. If they could get Netflix on their OS natively, that would appeal to the majority of consumers who watch Netflix, as it's increasing in popularity.
Something that I find really interesting is their introduction to Family Sharing. SteamOS and Steam itself, is coming out with the family sharing concept, which is people in your "family" can share games with each other. For example, if I bought a game, but my brother wanted to play on his computer on his account. No problem. He'll even have his own saves and achievements. But from what I hear, if my brother, or someone else, is playing my game, I can't play any game at all unless I want to kick the person playing my game out. Now the reason why family is in quotations is because, if your family is like mine, I'm the only person who actually does PC gaming. So no one else in my family has Steam. But what if I did it with friends and gave them access instead? I don't think Valve would really care, because that's what they want right? For people to share their games. Either way, I think it's a great concept and something that I'm really looking forward to.
With that said, there are also family options. So if a mature adult buys GTA but doesn't want his 10 year old to play as due to family sharing, no problem, with family options, you can choose which games you want to hide from the rest of your family. That way, 10 year old Jimmy doesn't kill cops and beat up random prostitutes on the street (virtually of course).
As I said before, with this new SteamOS, they also want to make a console related "box". They want to kill the console by getting into the console market themselves. You can sign up for a chance to receive a beta SteamBox here. All you need to do is join that group and do the required steps to sign up for the beta. If one of my readers gets in, please let me know, because I would love to know the specs of it and how it works.
From what I think, this SteamBox is completely upgradeable. Since it will be a micro-ATX computer, everything from the graphics card to the RAM will be upgradeable. This also means, instead of buying a pre-made SteamBox, you can make your own, as long as you download the SteamOS (it's free since it's linux based!) and install that on your hard drive.
And the last thing that Valve announced was their controller for the living room SteamBox. Here's a picture of it.
Notice that there are no analog sticks? That's because they're replaced with two track pads, a bold move by Valve. I don't know how I feel about having track pads instead of analog sticks. That may be because I'm so used to seeing analog sticks with controllers, that this concept just doesn't stick to me, but I am very interested on how their going to implement this controller with all their steam games. They claim that EVERY STEAM GAME is playable on this controller. They even specify RTS games. I'm sorry, but I don't see how someone can play DotA 2 on this controller. Valve says, that the controller is not required to play their games and they will not ditch the mouse and keyboard. This is just an option for people who prefer controllers or are playing games that are better on the controller then a mouse and keyboard. The controller also features a touch pad in the middle that can be swiped left or right to change the option on the screen. For example, there could be quick save on one screen and a quick load on the other, to access the other button, all you need to do is swipe left or right. The touch screen and both track pads are also pressable and can act as buttons (just like R3 and L3 for Playstation). I like this feature, I just hope the touch screen doesn't get dirty easily. Lastly, there are four buttons on the front, four on top, and two in the back. I don't like how the X and Y buttons are placed on the left side of the controller, because then if I'm playing some sort of FPS, I might need to stop moving entirely to reload my weapon. The controller is also fully customizable and you could actually take the entire thing apart, make adjustments and put it back together. In fact, Valve encourage it and want to see what people can come up with.
Overall, I am very excited to see what Valve has in store for us. If I receive a beta SteamBox, I know the first thing I'm going to do is take it apart and see what's inside it. Anyway, that's all I have about Valve and their SteamOS. If you want to check out more, you can here.
Stay frosty.
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