What is the market for the Steam Box?
I've already done at least one article on the Steam Box already. Basically ridiculing analysts and fan boys and the likes for thinking that this will unseat or even simply eat into the market that Xbox One, PS4 and to a lesser degree Wii-U are currently dominating.
This doesn't mean I think the Steam Box is a bad idea. In theory. I think there are flaws, for sure. But most of that article was really just a long winded way of saying that I don't think Valve's console and those others are even targeting the same markets. At least not initially.
As I argued before, many of the gaming titles that are of the same calibre or exist across all of the aforementioned eco-systems, don't run on Linux. Which is the basis for the Steam Box. Combine that with what I was saying about the state of gaming on Linux, let alone PC's in general in terms of raw performance and you basically have a non-starter.
The games that do run on Linux tend to be the sort of game that run in browsers, or are in the same vein as those that run on an iPad or Android tablet. Granted, there is a huge market for these games. But I think you safely say that the people who play Bejeweled 24/7 probably don't even see the now $179 Xbox 360 as an economical decision.
But then, what actually is the market? The cost of the Steam Box, if I remember was the same as an Xbox One. The most expensive of the next-gen consoles. And we have already established that it isn't likely to be able to compete when it comes to next-gen titles. I have to be honest... I have no frickin' clue what their intended market is. Phones and tablets are attractive because they are portable social media devices and they occupy a broad spectrum of price points. So, the vast majority of people are able to have one.
A box that is basically glued to your entertainment unit and lets you play the same calibre of games you can on a tablet or phone with the occasional Counter Strike or similar title is a hard sell in my opinion for just about any market segment.
Now, basing it on Linux has a few interesting potential side effects. A partnership with Google and integration/companion apps for Android for instance might help attract premium game studios to the platform. It would also provide Google with a gaming OS to expand its rather weak eco-system (at present Google doesn't have an eco-system, they have Android). Making people with Android phones and/or tablets feel like there is a natural gaming console aimed at them could help bring a few sheep in.
That is just tossing ideas around of course. I've heard neither concrete evidence nor even rumours of such a deal. Just saying, that is one thing that would bring a bit more viability to this console. It would expand the target market.
Might as well keep going with the list of things which I have heard no mention of that would help boost the potential market for such a device. Most of it revolves around accepting that they are going to enter this business as much worse than just the underdog. Without the support from the game studios they are simply the poorer choice insofar as a gaming console goes. They need something to tide them over until they can get enough support there to be viable.
So, if Valve can also get some first class entertainment integrations and apps. Something akin to what the Xbox One is doing, it would also provide another means of extending the target market. HDMI pass-through with some PVR software, combined with support for external hard drives and you have a TV in a console solution that would make Xbox One's TV integration laughable. Many people are annoyed that Kinect is neither a PVR and cannot control the PVR functions of their cable boxes. If the console was also a PVR, it eliminates that problem to a degree (you still have an overpriced cable box with PVR that now does nothing).
Both Sony and Microsoft lack half decent media apps on their consoles. Granted, the input device is a large part of the hindrance. Most modern media players are designed for either keyboard and mouse or touch screens. Gamepads are still a terrible input device for this type of application, and as a result, the applications also tend to suck. Now, with how terrible Steam's app layout is, I doubt they have the design pedigree to pull this off. But if they could, that would also give them an edge.
Part of the audio/video story is integration with streaming and purchasing services. Microsoft and Sony support their own stores on their consoles and that is about it. Build a standard UI to wrap around external services (think along the lines of Windows Phones social network integration) where you could stream from multiple sources from a single UI, or even price shop between content suppliers in a single UI and then purchase and have the music ready and available in a common repository that just works and you might have a solution which actually encourages people to not only buy your solution, but to also dump a lot of money into it.
As much as I am primarily a Microsoft guy today. There is always what I have to think of as the "hippie-programmer" inside me that loves what Linux stands for and is tempted to run out, download and try out yet another new distro. If Valve did this OS in that same vein, the odds exist for community project to fill in the blanks (if they exist in the final unit) that I mention above.
I don't hold out much hope for this.
This doesn't mean I think the Steam Box is a bad idea. In theory. I think there are flaws, for sure. But most of that article was really just a long winded way of saying that I don't think Valve's console and those others are even targeting the same markets. At least not initially.
As I argued before, many of the gaming titles that are of the same calibre or exist across all of the aforementioned eco-systems, don't run on Linux. Which is the basis for the Steam Box. Combine that with what I was saying about the state of gaming on Linux, let alone PC's in general in terms of raw performance and you basically have a non-starter.
The games that do run on Linux tend to be the sort of game that run in browsers, or are in the same vein as those that run on an iPad or Android tablet. Granted, there is a huge market for these games. But I think you safely say that the people who play Bejeweled 24/7 probably don't even see the now $179 Xbox 360 as an economical decision.
But then, what actually is the market? The cost of the Steam Box, if I remember was the same as an Xbox One. The most expensive of the next-gen consoles. And we have already established that it isn't likely to be able to compete when it comes to next-gen titles. I have to be honest... I have no frickin' clue what their intended market is. Phones and tablets are attractive because they are portable social media devices and they occupy a broad spectrum of price points. So, the vast majority of people are able to have one.
A box that is basically glued to your entertainment unit and lets you play the same calibre of games you can on a tablet or phone with the occasional Counter Strike or similar title is a hard sell in my opinion for just about any market segment.
Now, basing it on Linux has a few interesting potential side effects. A partnership with Google and integration/companion apps for Android for instance might help attract premium game studios to the platform. It would also provide Google with a gaming OS to expand its rather weak eco-system (at present Google doesn't have an eco-system, they have Android). Making people with Android phones and/or tablets feel like there is a natural gaming console aimed at them could help bring a few sheep in.
That is just tossing ideas around of course. I've heard neither concrete evidence nor even rumours of such a deal. Just saying, that is one thing that would bring a bit more viability to this console. It would expand the target market.
Might as well keep going with the list of things which I have heard no mention of that would help boost the potential market for such a device. Most of it revolves around accepting that they are going to enter this business as much worse than just the underdog. Without the support from the game studios they are simply the poorer choice insofar as a gaming console goes. They need something to tide them over until they can get enough support there to be viable.
So, if Valve can also get some first class entertainment integrations and apps. Something akin to what the Xbox One is doing, it would also provide another means of extending the target market. HDMI pass-through with some PVR software, combined with support for external hard drives and you have a TV in a console solution that would make Xbox One's TV integration laughable. Many people are annoyed that Kinect is neither a PVR and cannot control the PVR functions of their cable boxes. If the console was also a PVR, it eliminates that problem to a degree (you still have an overpriced cable box with PVR that now does nothing).
Both Sony and Microsoft lack half decent media apps on their consoles. Granted, the input device is a large part of the hindrance. Most modern media players are designed for either keyboard and mouse or touch screens. Gamepads are still a terrible input device for this type of application, and as a result, the applications also tend to suck. Now, with how terrible Steam's app layout is, I doubt they have the design pedigree to pull this off. But if they could, that would also give them an edge.
Part of the audio/video story is integration with streaming and purchasing services. Microsoft and Sony support their own stores on their consoles and that is about it. Build a standard UI to wrap around external services (think along the lines of Windows Phones social network integration) where you could stream from multiple sources from a single UI, or even price shop between content suppliers in a single UI and then purchase and have the music ready and available in a common repository that just works and you might have a solution which actually encourages people to not only buy your solution, but to also dump a lot of money into it.
As much as I am primarily a Microsoft guy today. There is always what I have to think of as the "hippie-programmer" inside me that loves what Linux stands for and is tempted to run out, download and try out yet another new distro. If Valve did this OS in that same vein, the odds exist for community project to fill in the blanks (if they exist in the final unit) that I mention above.
I don't hold out much hope for this.
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