Valve boss says living room Steam PCs coming with Linux support

What I think would help is some set of standards that would let people create "PC Consoles". On the one hand, these are "no apology" consoles that absolutely appeal to the hardcore gamer that would otherwise use a PC. On the other hand, you ought to be able to pick one up at Target and not need to be a hardcore system builder to use it.

So I'm thinking someone starts a "PC Console Consortium" that does the following:

- Come up with a good name for the specs (similar to the old 3DO idea or the "THX" certification. It needs to have a marketable name.)

- Establish the proper bylaws and rules for the standardization process, including overall version levels, RFC-type specifications, etc.

- Come up with specs and reference designs / hardware for:

* Form factor of mother board

* Minimum number and preferred placement of ports, indicators, controls, and drive bays (if any)

* Minimum feature set (e.g. WiFi, DirectX 10, etc.)

* Standard OS image details and reference image (hopefully Linux)

* Living Room interface (Steam Big Picture mode should conform by fiat, we need those games)

* Reference controller designs and interface (should also allow use of XBox and PS3 controllers)

* etc

The way I see it, it should be possible to have the convenience of a console with the upgradability of a PC.

Lastly - and it's so important I put this separately - we need a way to take the "fiddle factor" out of PC games. Gamers shouldn't have to tweak anything when running on a spec-compliant system. They can if they want to, but it should be totally unnecessary for 95% of gamers.

To do this, I propose we standardize on some way to exactly report the system configuration. I'm thinking something like the Windows 7 scoring system. The idea is that the online stores will know ahead of time whether a game could even be played on your system. Also, when games run, they should automatically configure themselves with the optimum settings and resolution for your system (and TV or other display device).

Put simply, the "big picture vision" here is pretty simple: it's a box that looks and acts a lot like the XBox 360. The interface is just as simple. There are just as many features. The games run and play without headache. Controllers are just as nice (no more $10 "PC gamepads"). The entire experience looks like a console (no "seeing Linux or Windows boot first"). It's branded like a console. It's purchased like a console.

BUT...

It's buildable, upgradable (optionally depending on manufacturer), and "tinkerable" just like a PC. You do so at your own risk, of course, but the standard should be designed with this in mind.

EDIT:

Here's an idea that would be far in the future but would be cool. "GCPC" specs could include a new type of GPU interface. It would still be standard PCIe with power, but it would NOT include interface headers. Instead, standard video ports would be included in the motherboard standard (HDMI + Thunderbolt perhaps). If the chipset includes integrated graphics, it would use it. However, if a user plugs in one of these "headless GPUs", video signal would be directly routed to it. This would give the back of the console a cleaner, more standardized look while still allowing upgradability.

The back of the console should LOOK like the back of a console, NOT the back of a standard PC.

Another idea is to take a page from the upcoming TV apps playbook and standardize some kind of "feature card". This card would include processor, ram, and GPU in a known configuration and pinout. That way you can upgrade a lot of the "guts" with a simple card swap. I don't know if I'm too fond of this idea, but it's a possibility.

Valve may repeat a parallel for 'Android' in 'Gaming'. Make a Linux-based OS layer, with standardized interface to TV, WIFI, gaming controllers and GPU. Produce 'Nexus' lines but also allow others to produce. Make sure you have a market called Steam Play Store but also allow others to implement their own stores.

While I understand the desire to have an upgradable PC, as a developer the single greatest benefit of a console is a fixed target. If it runs on this machine, then it runs on all the machines.

From a user's perspective this means I can easily tell if something will run or not. No worrying about whether I have enough cores, enough pixel shader units or simply enough memory. It Just Works. That's the console promise.

I can't overstate how important this is for both the developer and the consumer. Not all developers can afford to have QA departments to test on every configuration out there and, believe me, there are a lot of OS/GPU/driver/memory configurations floating about.

I think the Apple/Nexus model that says "this is the new device this year" is a workable tradeoff. Then you can say: Only SteamBox 2013 and up are supported. We no longer support the 2012/older models.

However, allowing the user to upgrade their machine only helps the technically proficient and hurts the small developer and less technically inclined users that a console is usually targeted at.

This is going to have a very interesting effect on the console market if it becomes reality. For one, it'll destroy the used games market. But also, it will make the impulse purchase of games much easier, and it'll drastically reduce the aging process for games. No longer will a game's sales be tied to shelf space. The focus on sales right after a game has been released will decrease, which I think is a good thing in the long run.

I think that with the shift of the Wii and Wii U towards the casual gaming market, there's definitely space for a third competitor in the "serious" gaming market. It'll be interesting to see how this actually manifests itself.

Linux as a gaming platform, especially for Valve is genius. There of tons of PC games that with a bit of porting (and adding controller support) can be re-released and re-sold to the console gamers. And as we all know console gamers spend a lot more $$$ than PC gamers. And Valve is going to be in the middle of it all, genius.

I've been dying for something like this. Since switching to Apple laptops, I can do nothing but listen wistfully as my friends talk about how much they love Steam. The screenshots of Skyrim I see in online reviews don't look anything like the game I play on my Xbox360.

The problem is, I can't imagine playing video games on any screen but a TV or in any setting but the couch. I could probably build a PC box and hook it up to the TV on my own, but I'd much rather just buy something ready to go out of the box. A console with current hardware and a PC-like gaming experience is just what the doctor ordered!

It will be interesting to see what they do about cheating in the highly competitive online multiplayer games. This is one of those rare situations (perhaps the only one) where open systems tends to make the end user experience worse.

Previous discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4895372

Super interested to see whether they attempt to support DirectX games or no!

I hope this will get another great push for OpenGL as it was with mobile and web.

I get the new iMac this week, and I'm taking my current windows machine and turning it into a homebrew Steambox tomorrow. I'm using an Ikea dresser thing http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/90179927/#/601799... as the box (with the top drawer for the console games), though I'm a little concerned with the airflow... The current case is probably overkill with the 6 fans, but I can only cut out two holes in the drawer before I'm worried about loosing structural integrity, it's particle board after all. Add the power supply and drive mounts (I want both windows 7 and Linux), and there isn't any more space. Oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. As much as I love the hacking, it would be nice to have something prebuilt so I'm not completely screwed if I turn this into a smokebox instead of a steambox.