Re:Valve working on 'Steam Box' gaming console with hardware...
by kmfrk on Saturday March 03, 2012 @10:19AM
(#3660245)
Just take a look at community sites like NeoGAF where people own Xboxes, PS3s, Wiis, Vitas, PSPs, iPhones, etc., etc.
I'm sure a lot of people don't take it for granted that they will get the next version of any of these except for the iPhone.
I don't know how many people can imagine the Xbox without Halo, and if Valve can line up some companies or their own games, I wouldn't be surprised if they disrupted the industry. There aren't that many flagship franchises for either of the consoles, and just look at how Nintendo basically don't know how to innovate in videogames anymore and end up releasing Zelda 15, Mario 8, and Mario Kart/Party/Tennis/Golf Umpteen as a result. The iPhone is destroying the handheld market, and I'm sure Activision will figure out how to develop Call of Duty for the new console, if it gains traction.
Valve will allow their customers to play their games on Mac, Windows, and their console, if any versions are available, due to the cross-platform presence of Steam - they have basically already done this with Sony. That's new and very alluring, although I have to wonder how they will manage the disk space of the console. Maybe people will have to buy the physical version of the games and use the Steam key to let them download it to their Mac and PC. The prospect of selling your games directly to your customers with no expenditures save bandwidth through Steam might help the platform earn a profit, too.
I'm sure a lot of people don't take it for granted that they will get the next version of any of these except for the iPhone.
I don't know how many people can imagine the Xbox without Halo, and if Valve can line up some companies or their own games, I wouldn't be surprised if they disrupted the industry. There aren't that many flagship franchises for either of the consoles, and just look at how Nintendo basically don't know how to innovate in videogames anymore and end up releasing Zelda 15, Mario 8, and Mario Kart/Party/Tennis/Golf Umpteen as a result. The iPhone is destroying the handheld market, and I'm sure Activision will figure out how to develop Call of Duty for the new console, if it gains traction.
Valve will allow their customers to play their games on Mac, Windows, and their console, if any versions are available, due to the cross-platform presence of Steam - they have basically already done this with Sony. That's new and very alluring, although I have to wonder how they will manage the disk space of the console. Maybe people will have to buy the physical version of the games and use the Steam key to let them download it to their Mac and PC. The prospect of selling your games directly to your customers with no expenditures save bandwidth through Steam might help the platform earn a profit, too.