Platform: SteamOS

Developer: Valve Corporation

Release Date: OS January 2014, hardware starting January 2014

By Malefico

A couple of months ago, I wrote an article about the impending release of Steam Machines, Valve Corporation’s blend of PC and game console. This week, Steam opened up a bit about its hardware, software and plans for the immediate future. After reading all the articles available, I wanted to break the situation down, Bacon-style and offer some speculation on the future of this platform. Wile I was excited (and still am) about the possibilities Valve’s new hardware/software will offer, I’m less optimistic about their future.

Valve is the company behind Steam, the online digital distribution giant. Valve also developed and published of a number of hit PC game titles- Counter Strike, Half Life, Left4Dead, Portal and Team Fortress count among its franchises that have found wide fan bases and Steam community support. In addition to its own games, Steam distributes a large number of titles from big corporate shops and tiny indie studios. From humble beginnings, Steam has risen to dominate online distribution. Recently, larger companies like EA’s Origin have attempted to bury Steam in an avalanche of advertising, much to the derision of PC gamers across the planet.

Last week, Valve made news by joining the Linux Foundation, the large community of Linux users and programmers who evolve Linux on a daily basis. I didn’t know this, but according to Jim Zemlin, the Foundation’s Executive Director “the Linux kernel (the part of the OS that manages input/output requests from software and turns them into coherent data and instruction for the CPU) changes 8 ½ times per hour with 10,000 lines of new code written per day”¹. It was a smart move, albeit necessary; Valve can now leverage the power of thousands of talented Linux coders all over the world to improve its software platform and in return the community reaps the benefits of the research Valve has been doing to optimize Linux for gaming.

Valve has a long history of freely sharing its goodies with the rest of us nerds. Every game they release enables the user to at least make basic change via a development console, and using their Hammer Editor users can make new models, skins and playgrounds for the enjoyment of all.

By aligning itself with Linux officially, Valve has taken the next step toward carving itself a niche in the console gaming market.

But has it overstepped itself? SteamOS, while showing great promise for the future, is still very much a work in progress. Early users say the interface is taken directly from Steam’s Big Picture feature for current PC users. Aside from the games, and very basic browsing functions, it’s lagging far behind other devices in the market space. No media playback and no streaming of movies, etc. (though Valve is talking to Netflix, Hulu and others to incorporate these services) means it simply can’t compete with MS and Sony, whose platforms offer media features far above SteamOS. Since the first Steam Machines will launch in January, 2014, they clearly won’t be on par with MS and Sony at the outset.

About a month ago, Valve shared some early pictures and details about the Steam Machine development prototype it will be shipping to 300 lucky member of the Steam community. While the box is based on PC industry-standard components, its configuration is all console. Hardware beta testers get a core i7 CPU and GTX 780 video card to play with among other things. Since this prototype is basically a reference model, it’s instructive to the testers as well as hardware vendors (Valve will not manufacture Steam Machines itself, rather any manufacturer can design a box and install SteamOS) that Valve was able to get high-end, high-heat components like this to live together in harmony in a very small space.

The solution (ultimately all good ones are) is elegant and simple. Place a plastic shroud to separate the main components and provide individual exterior vented sections for the pieces themselves.²

The Steam Controller, too is worth mentioning. Valve poured a lot of time and money into developing a new controller design- the intent being to outperform current stick models found… well… everywhere else. According to Steam insiders, the controller has gone through a number of mild to wild iterations. Valve toyed with visionary ideas like hand-held devices where all the input was received via touchscreen, or from track balls (a very old concept that has its roots in early arcade games) before finally deciding the controller would have two ultra-sensitive touch pads, a small touchscreen that also recognizes gestures, and of course more conventional input buttons found on the bottom side. They have also included a haptic feedback system that transmits sensory information to the thumbs.³

The results are both good and bad in my opinion. Reports from people who have actually used the device say the level of control is phenomenal, but not entirely intuitive. Gamers in general like tactile sensation. From the simple resistance of keys to the more complex rumble of console controllers, we want to feel something that acknowledges our input is being received. With the only real sensation coming from vibrations under the thumbs, will the new controllers feel “weird” to the majority of gamers?

The company seems to be following its proven model of generosity in the hardware department. Unlike MS and Sony devices the Steam Machine uses commonly available parts that are 100% customizable by the user. Although this is a laudable philosophy, I’m starting to wonder if any consumer will care, for reasons I’ll go into later.

At least two hardware companies are jumping on the bandwagon already. At the end of November IbuyPower, a manufacturer of gaming systems announced it will sell at least two Steam Machines, code-named Gordon and Freeman- a nod to the protagonist in the Half-Life series. With a starting price point of $500, the company promised the capability of running any SteamOS game at 60FPS and 1080p. While the company didn’t release full specs, they did say they would be using an AMD chip and R9 270 GPU. The device has a 500GB drive also includes wi-fi and Bluetooth, so it’s probably sitting on an A88 board. I never understood why big builders limit drive size of all things when a 1TB drive costs about $10 more than a 500GB drive. RAM on the lower end device would be 4-8GB. With PSU and hard drive that would be doable with volume pricing on the parts, since the SteamOS is free. The pricier model will no doubt be much like Valve’s prototype, spec-wise.

Last week, a company called Piixl announced its plans to market a box called Jetpack. This Steam Machine will feature high-end components and mount to the back of HDTVs themselves, taking up zero space on your entertainment center. Although the hardware specs are impressive (similar to the Valve’s prototype), I’m dubious of their placement choice. Aside from sudden catastrophic failure of the mounting bracket, what about placing the pricy rig between another heat-generating device and a wall? While it’s novel, I’d be hesitant about strapping a relatively heavy device to my TV whether it was sitting on a flat surface or hanging in space. And to get the parts shoehorned into the diminutive height required for the device, they have to be using what is in effect a riser card for the PCI-E slot. This is a simple adapter that plugs into the slot and then turns 90-degrees, effectively mounting the video card in horizontal position. That being said, I see no vents on the side of the unit that’s open to the air, the only possibility would be vents on the side facing the back of the TV, or small areas on the sides of the unit. It would take some doing to keep high-end cards like the GTX 780 cool in that environment, shroud or no.

Valve also talked about its short-term strategy. Instead of going after the console big boys, it wants to entice PC gamers into the living room with its Steam Machines. While I now understand why they aren’t aggressively pursuing console gamers, I still doubt the efficacy of their strategy. Granted, I’m in a somewhat rarefied position, but many PC gamers are also diehard hardware enthusiasts. Why would we go out and buy a device limited to running SteamOS when we can just partition a drive or buy a new one and install it on our current systems? Unless Steam makes that impossible it makes no sense. But why would a company noted for its generosity with code do that, and more to the point, could they? Linux is an OS built by coders, for coders, although its use has spread fa beyond that to smart phones and even applications outside the realm of personal computing. It’s certain that any OS built on Linux would be cracked open in short order, and by attempting to limit access they would be violating the basic tenet of Linux, that the software is and will always be free and open to anyone who wants to use it.

Color me confused.

I’m unable to see any good result for Valve given the current direction of their program. They have an OS that can’t compete with PlayStation or X Box, and hardware that aside from a small form factor has nothing to offer PC gamers. I can get the Big Picture experience, if I want it by using that feature. And I can dual-boot any tower using Windows and SteamOS if I choose.

Then again, I won’t pretend to be smarter than the folks who run Valve. Steam, now THE giant in online digital distribution had a rocky and uncertain start. And Valve has proven to be a company that never rushes into things. Maybe that’s the root of the difficulties I’m having processing all this. I’m sure they’ve planned for contingencies that escape me, and have spent considerable time working out the details. But for all that, I’m still ambivalent about the details that have come to light.

The whole thing seems disorganized and haphazard to me. Why would you start a new venture with inferior software and hardware that fails to distinguish itself in any way except raw power (for console gamers, we PC nerds have been used to this level of performance for some time)? The console industry is rife with examples of good hardware that ultimately became extinct.

It seem more logical to me to evolve the OS until it becomes competitive in the market, then possibly release the controller to give players some time to adjust to the differences, and finally pique their interest by rolling out hardware that takes full advantage of both. Maybe Valve is feeling the financial pinch of the R&D necessary to develop the boxes and controllers and feels the need to start making some money off the projects.

There is a Zen proverb which states, “The fox that chases two rabbits will catch neither one.” The question on my mind is, who is the fox, and who (or what) are the rabbits? Does Valve hope to leverage its dominance in online gaming to attract people to its OS, and the rapid development potential of Linux to quickly catch up to and then surpass the console software? Will PC gamers pony up the dough for a device that as of now has inherent limitations, instead of just installing the OS on their current systems? How long will hardware manufacturers support the Steam Machines if early sales are weak?

Weird. I’m interested to see what becomes of all this. Those who read my first article may remember the “shark” imagery used. I’m now leaning toward the humbling reality that the shark may just be a manatee with delusions of grandeur.

Citations

1. Hern, Alex, The Guardian, “Valve joins the Linux Foundation in run up to Steam Machine console launch”, December 5, 2013
2. Gilbert, Ben, Engadget, “This is Valve’s Steam Machine prototype and SteamOS (hands-on)”, November 4, 2013
3. Hollister, Sean, The Verge, “We play with the Steam Machine, Valve’s game console of the future”, November 4, 2013