[Vitani]

Not quite sure if this is a general topic for discussion, or a feature request, but with Valve hinting that they will be launching a living-room-friendly PC next year it would be nice if the team could maybe get in touch with Valve and try to get XBMC bundled. Or maybe get XBMC launched as an official "app" on Steam making it easier to download and update (for users) since Steam is for more than just games these days.

Anyway, just a thought and I thought I'd share.

[Starstream]

Steam reportably don't tell you why you get rejected so you could submit XBMC to them, not get through and you wouldn't hear anything back why.

It sounds like this is just a regular PC expect not upgradable and made by Valve, you can buy those kind of boxes already like Alienwares X51 which is roughly similar in size to current consoles.

It's going to have to run Windows if they want the bulk of the stream library on it so it can run XBMC anyway and Valve are hoping people pick this over next gen consoles ? those people want appliances not PC's so the people most likely to buy this are existing Steam users who probably are aware of XBMC to begin with.

[Atomic Zombie]

It will be running Linux.

[bluesky2006]

It's going to have to run Windows if they want the bulk of the stream library on it so it can run XBMC anyway and Valve are hoping people pick this over next gen consoles ? those people want appliances not PC's so the people most likely to buy this are existing Steam users who probably are aware of XBMC to begin with.

I don't think the people who Valve hope will buy a Steam "console" will necessarily know anything about XBMC or anything else particularly PC-related for that matter, otherwise why would they bother? Surely they'll be aiming squarely at console-gamers by attempting to present PC gaming as easier-than-you-think and wrapping it up in a nice, controller-enabled package. If the market was just current PC users then who in their right mind would bother buying one, except a completist or someone with outdated hardware? I mean, why bother when you probably already have a good enough gaming PC in your house?

I'm not suggesting it won't be used for other means than just Steam, but I doubt the core intended market will be the people you suggest.

[DukeOfTheWicked]

It wouldn't hurt to submit XBMC as an app. Since steam does software now and they are trying to expand on that idea. If it gets shot down then oh well. On second thought... Wait till XBMC has full controller support in Win and Ubuntu out of the box, then submit it. They should like that it is "controller-enabled"

[poplap]

If you go to phoronix.com they have been in constant contact with valve over steam fro Linux. and in this article he states that for the most part the steam console that Gabe alluded to will be open enough that if someone wants to get access to the underlining OS they can. This stands to mean that even if XBMC would be rejected by valve for an application greenlight it could still be installed on the system.

I quite like the idea of a steam console, now would i want to use it for my main XBMC device im not sure, depends on how much i could modify it so that i could have XBMC start first then have a menu option (through advance luncher) that would run Steam Big Picture.

[topfs2]

It wouldn't hurt to submit XBMC as an app. Since steam does software now and they are trying to expand on that idea. If it gets shot down then oh well. On second thought... Wait till XBMC has full controller support in Win and Ubuntu out of the box, then submit it. They should like that it is "controller-enabled"

Please let the team handle this, the last thing we need is 200 unofficial submissions Besides, we would need to verify if its GPL compatible etc. Its way to early to do it now for a rumoured box.

[ashlar]

It will be running Linux.

Says who? If it launches next year as a Linux only box, two things could be true:

a) Gabe Newell has gone crazy and convinced several companies to throw their money away.

b) Gabe Newell has been able to keep the development of tons of Linux AAA games a secret.

I'd be more inclined to believe a Windows based launch with Linux as an option, maybe for the future.

It's not as if a Valve only console would sell well. Would you spend $300 just to play 4 or 5 games you can play on your PC or on your console?

[bluesky2006]

Well including Windows with the Steam box will inevitably bump its cost up a fair bit so putting Linux on it makes sense from a cost-saving perspective, though admittedly it seems strange given Linux is hardly the most supported gaming platform on Steam.

One can presumably safely assume they know what they're doing though. Valve have a pretty good track record (aside from keeping Half Life 3 from us for this long), and I doubt they're being stupid about this.

[poplap]

Valve has been working hard for over a year to make Linux a viable gaming option, they have worked with hardware manufactures such as Intel, and nvidia has stepped up there game.

Right now i will admit that Linux does not have the most AAA titles, but among the Indie community it has a good standing, and with Greenlight valve is reaching out to the indie community.

There is also an increasing number of AAA tittles coming out for it. The article even says that their plans is to get Big Picture to linux which gives it a strong standing for it to be a linux based console. My guess would be that they get a lot of new tittles to go on bored, maybe not COD or their ilk but but maybe some other tittles.

I think they would be crazy to go with windows for the console, i mean they are going to try to sell an appliance not a PC, which is what they would end up with, with windows. not to mention the bloat that goes with windows, because unless they are planning to through in expensive SSDs it would take way to long to boot up.

And you fail to take into account that the people that play all their games in the living room do not know what steam is nor have the computers to run the games, so if they can keep the price to the same or lower then the new consoles and offer some of the new games with the benefits of steam they could capture a good enough portion of the market if they play their cards right.

And yes i would by a Linux powered Steam Box, i would use it more then my Xbox.

[fasteddy]

It will be running Linux.

Says who? If it launches next year as a Linux only box, two things could be true:

a) Gabe Newell has gone crazy and convinced several companies to throw their money away.

b) Gabe Newell has been able to keep the development of tons of Linux AAA games a secret.

I'd be more inclined to believe a Windows based launch with Linux as an option, maybe for the future.

It's not as if a Valve only console would sell well. Would you spend $300 just to play 4 or 5 games you can play on your PC or on your console?

Of course it's going to run linux. Why do you think they've been working so hard to get linux support in the first place? They didn't just wake up one morning and say, "Hey, you guys. We should totally make a console of some kind. And, hey, you know that linux project we've been working on? Wouldn't it be cool to like, leverage it and stuff?"

No, they've been considering this route (console/living room pc) for a long time. And if you're going to release a console/living room game pc, you don't want to be beholden to Microsoft. You want to control the entire OS - what's included, when updates are released, etc. The work on linux support to this point has accomplished a couple of things: research and debugging; and goodwill from a linux community that are, on average, bigger computer nerds that other people, and therefore more likely to be gamers than your average person.

[bluesky2006]

For me the best thing about Steam isn't the AAA titles anyway, it's the indie games. Most of the AAA titles are represented by consoles as it is so it would seem a peculiar market to try to elbow their way into. It may be that they want to help represent and push the indie scene more, and given how the App Store has opened the world up to the concept of cheap, non-AAA titles, this may be a prescient manouevre. The recent Greenlight side of Steam shows how serious Valve take indie gaming - it would make some sort of sense. We can only speculate really!

[ashlar]

And you fail to take into account that the people that play all their games in the living room do not know what steam is nor have the computers to run the games, so if they can keep the price to the same or lower then the new consoles and offer some of the new games with the benefits of steam they could capture a good enough portion of the market if they play their cards right.

And yes i would by a Linux powered Steam Box, i would use it more then my Xbox.

Based on what? Bear in mind that, as time goes by and multinational corporations disclose their plans, I am more and more attracted by open source solutions only, as far as OS is concerned. So it's not that I oppose a Linux Steam box. It's just that I can't see it succeeding unless, again, Gabe has managed to keep *a lot* under wraps. It might be the case, who knows...

---

The work on linux support to this point has accomplished a couple of things: research and debugging; and goodwill from a linux community that are, on average, bigger computer nerds that other people, and therefore more likely to be gamers than your average person.

I'm sorry but the numbers *really* don't add up for this to be significant. No matter how you or I could wish things to be different.
If Gabe somehow manages to launch with at least... 80% of Windows AAA titles then, maybe, he has a chance to succeed. Otherwise, in my opinion, he's destined to fail. I wish him success, by the way.

[poplap]

Well my post was a bit biased (linux and Valve fan here) but in my personal experience i have known a lot of people that are 'gamers' but have no idea what steam is and had some cheap $300 laptop/netbook or a mac that would not run the titles that they played (COD, etc.). I can see it having a slow adoption rate in this demographic because they play Xbox and Play Station already, why get another console unlessitt offers something new. but i can see people that do use steam being more interested in it at first.

Look at the biggest Advantages with steam, Digital Download instead of CDs that can break, Greenlight, Great deals (better then anything on Console currently), Steam workshop on some titles, games can move between devices (under the same account), and the games are on average $10 cheaper sense there is no licensing rights with PC games. The last one is a big one, to put out a patch on Xbox for a game it cost around $40,000, steam i think there is no cost other then maybe hosting (not sure about this but it is still less then Xbox) this will help to get developers and AAA titles to the platform.

Now to put it more on topic with this forum, its going to be hackable so XBMC should run on it...

[fasteddy]

I'm sorry but the numbers *really* don't add up for this to be significant. No matter how you or I could wish things to be different.

Yes, of course the Linux community is small. That's why it's primarily a secondary benefit. But as long as you're working on a linux-based console (for the sake of brevity, I'll refer to it as a console, even though we can't be certain what form it might take) you may as well release the client portion of the software to Linux users. Yes, they're few, but they're passionate, a much higher proportion will actually be in a position to help debug (even if only through accurate logs) and many Linux users are likely to be gamers. Still, a small market, you'd say. True, but a very influential market. Don't overlook the influence that tech savvy have on friends and family. I know that my recommendations cast a fairly wide net among those who are not themselves Linux users.
At the end of the day, though, if you're creating a Linux client for a potential console anyway, these benefits far outweigh their meager costs (even if the benefits themselves are not that great in the first place).