Kotaku: MS and Sony should be worried about the Steambox. Very worried.

[StranglingManiac]

Interesting analysis:
http://kotaku.com/5974387/sony-and-microsoft-should-be-worried-about-the-steam-box-very-worried

[Lilinda]

Error in that analysis. Gabe himself has said those little units aren't The Steambox, just some PCs with Steam preloaded. The actual Steambox ain't due out for this year.

Besides, as much as I'd love for the Steambox to take over and everyone migrate to that, it's not gonna happen. Too much hassle, perceived or actual, for most folks. As soon as they see the graphics settings dialogues for games, a ton of people check out. It's not stupidity, it's a mental block and/or an unwillingness to learn. The Steambox will expand the market when it finally happens, but it won't threaten Nintendo, Sony and MS.

Edit: Source for my claim about Gabe: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/09/gabe-opens-up-about-valves-own-biometric-steam-box/

[StranglingManiac]

Bgr: the wii u is nintendo's last console:
http://bgr.com/2012/12/28/nintendo-wii-u-criticism-272039/

[KaioShin]

Too much hassle, perceived or actual, for most folks. As soon as they see the graphics settings dialogues for games, a ton of people check out.

If Valve sells a dedicated Steam PC, don't you think they'll detect if you start games from that and load up the perfect settings for it automatically? That would be SUCH an obvious application. Valve isn't dumb, they'll do just that.

[DankPanties]

Bgr: the wii u is nintendo's last console:
http://bgr.com/2012/12/28/nintendo-wii-u-criticism-272039/

I think the author makes a good point or two about the controller, but the overall thread reads like "the Wii U isn't an Apple product so it sucks".

I sincerely doubt even if the Wii U was a miserable failure* that Nintendo would give up, and then not try at least one more time with a different console approach.


*Not saying it will or won't be.

[SargeSmash]

The only way this can work (and somewhat contrary to one of my original statements about exclusives) is if devs create an optimized version for the Steambox.

I think my biggest concern about this, of course, is that it pushes us further down the line towards a digital-only retail space.  And we've hashed over this countless times here before, but I want to actually own my games, not own what amounts to a rental license.  Now, if they keep the platform pretty open, then things get a little better.

Bgr: the wii u is nintendo's last console:
http://bgr.com/2012/12/28/nintendo-wii-u-criticism-272039/

Ugh.  That whole piece reeks of fanboy-ism.  I'm a bit of a Nintendo proponent myself, but I try not to wear it on my sleeve, or leave all my objectivity at the door.  So Apple makes a nice UI.  Not like UIs can't be changed, as we've seen from Microsoft how many times this generation on the 360?

[kingofcrusher]

And we've hashed over this countless times here before, but I want to actually own my games, not own what amounts to a rental license.  Now, if they keep the platform pretty open, then things get a little better.

I agree 100%, I don't think the general public will ever be comfortable with paying $50-$60 for digital-only games. I know Steam has big sales all the time which is really cool, but once you get over the $20 price point most people want a physical copy of whatever they're buying. Not everyone, of course, but I think to achieve the mass appeal of a PS3 or 360 you need to have physical media for people to walk into a store and buy. Maybe in another 10-15 years that will have changed though, who knows.

[MegaManJuno]

We'll come out with our own and we'll sell it to consumers by ourselves. That'll be a Linux box, [and] if you want to install Windows you can.

Well, that opens up the library if that's true. I remember we were discussing the current lackluster Linux-compatible library in another thread.


As for the guy's WiiU complaints, they definitely reek of Nintendo hate.

As for the controller... Step 1: Turn down the screen brightness. I set mine to 1, and still could see it fine. If I recall correctly, it comes default at 4 of 5 on the brightness scale. Even before turning it down, I think I got about 4 hours out of it before it needed a charge.

Not sure what he's on about with New Super Mario Bros. U not looking good in HD..? It looked fine to me. What, was he expecting super-realistic, Crysis-style graphics from a side-scrolling Mario game...? FFS.

[Nec5]

I agree 100%, I don't think the general public will ever be comfortable with paying $50-$60 for digital-only games. I know Steam has big sales all the time which is really cool, but once you get over the $20 price point most people want a physical copy of whatever they're buying.

Never underestimate the shortsightedness of the consumer and the effect of conditioning via the media.  There are thousands of things just 10-20 years ago that people said would never happen because the public wouldn't accept it.

For the record, I hope you're right, but I doubt it.

[SargeSmash]

Never underestimate the shortsightedness of the consumer and the effect of conditioning via the media.  There are thousands of things just 10-20 years ago that people said would never happen because the public wouldn't accept it.

For the record, I hope you're right, but I doubt it.

I mean, in a lot of ways, aren't we already there?  Steam sells tons of games, and they sell many of them at full price.  I see people all over the place saying "if it ain't Steam, I ain't buyin'".  There are plenty of folks that have limited space, so they just say to heck with it, and go with Steam (like dorm rooms, assuming they're not just all pirating).

The only real saving grace that I can think of is that console games are massive these days, and it's almost guaranteed that all the next consoles will use a format that is Blu-Ray-like.  I'm not too keen on 25GB+ downloads, and I don't figure a lot of other people are, either.

Even with that, though, it just feels inevitable.  And it sucks.

[Nec5]

  And it sucks.

Yes, you're right.  Kind of like the economy and this country.  But that's okay because Justin Bieber is like totally awesome, rite?

[Zoinkity]

I prefer hardcopies as well.

That said, if the bugger worked even somewhat well for popular titles it would at least put a small dent in future PC sales.  Future?  Yes, since if the dedicated hardware model works well enough that it doesn't need to be upgraded for some time, or at least is significantly less expensive than doing so to your computer, it will catch some people who would like to play on their likely larger-screen TVs and don't want to push for upgrades.

I'd worry though that the thing would become dated more quickly than a typical console cycle. 

Also:
What's with all the Nintendo hate, or for that matter all the Apple glory?  Also, I'd think it would be a spectacular thing that yet another company didn't clone the iCrap interface.  "Oh no!  An interface with actual personality that won't confuse this with the other dozen products I own."  Sorry, I don't care for it.  Sorry, the world is not about to trash +90% of the worlds so they can use iPads.  They aren't versatile enough.
I'm surprised he didn't complain about SMBU's cover art not using an impact logo.  Graphic art of Mario bursting out of Yoshi's body is all senate needs to nail VGs to the wall.  Incidentally, they've rereleased Desert Bus just now.

Besides, weren't all the launch titles lower resolution than the system is capable?  Isn't there a thread for that somewhere up here?

[SargeSmash]

Don't get me wrong, though, there have been advantages to download-only games.  There are quite a few that would never have received physical publication that have seen the light of day, and I'm thankful for that.  I've played some great games that are only on XBLA/PC, and there's no way they will ever see a hard copy.

Yes, you're right.  Kind of like the economy and this country.  But that's okay because Justin Bieber is like totally awesome, rite?

Justin Bieber would make a better President or Congressman than most of what we have.  And I'm not even sure if I'm joking when I say that.

[Klarth]

Justin Bieber would make a better President or Congressman than most of what we have.  And I'm not even sure if I'm joking when I say that.

Bieber would be one of the most effective dictators to ever exist.  His fans would follow him off of a cliff and his enemies...well, Bieber would just threaten them with a live performance and the opposition would be silenced.

[kingofcrusher]

Oh yeah I know that there are a lot of people who have no problem paying full price for download-only games, but I don't think that enough of the general public will be comfortable with that any time soon to achieve enough sales that hard copies aren't needed. Plus you would need enough of the country to have broadband internet that anyone who wanted the game could download it, and I'm pretty sure there are still large parts of the country that either don't have true broadband, or have data caps (I have a friend in Bend, Oregon, which is a fairly good sized town who can't use netflix because the only internet provider there has a data cap and charges ridiculous rates if you go over).

Plus, people have spent the last 25+ years getting physical copies of the games they buy that they can resell or loan or do whatever they want with, it doesn't seem likely to me that enough of the public will be comfortable with paying the same amount of money for substantially less any time soon. I think they'll sneak it in slowly over the next 10-15 years, but I'm hoping at some point there's a consumer backlash and people just say "Fuck you" to all this DL-only business.

[DankPanties]

I'm hoping at some point there's a consumer backlash and people just say "Fuck you" to all this DL-only business.

Unfortunately I doubt it because:

1) Most people are not game collectors.  People who do keep all their games are exceptions by far.  Most people sell off all their old games once a new console comes out.  Or continuously trade them in to get a new game when it comes out.  So in not being able to collect physical copies of games, this won't bother 95% of gamers out there IME.

2) People love immediacy.  Being able to download/stream and play the newest game the second it is released is massively tantalizing to the immediate gratification generation.  No driving to a store, no dealing with game shortages, no fear of buying a scratched up unplayable used copy.  Just sit back and let the net bring the goods. .  No matter where you are, if you have internet access, you can get a new game to play.  This is important for people who are always on the go and never around any actual brick'n'mortar game stores.  Also important for anti-social misanthropists who hate intermingling with physical real life people.

3) Most people play a game for about a week until they either get bored of it, or go ADD and start playing something else.  So again, they don't care if they have a physical copy of any given new game.  For them any given game is forgotten soon enough in light of the next new gaming experience

4) Storing game libraries gets to be a pain in the ass.  Trust me, the walls of my dork cave are filled with shelves that are filled with games and I am pretty much out of space now.  A lot of people have small apartments (think about Japan) and trying to store big assed game cases becomes a hassle.  Digital download games that reside on your console (or streaming games from a server) take zero physical space.  This is a tantalizing aspect for many people I am sure.

5) You can play downloaded and streamed games on portable devices easily.  It's one thing to carry your phone or 3DS around, but carrying a bunch of cartridges with them gets to be a liability.  It's a lot more convenient for portable gamers, especially those with phones or tablets as is the trend, to have their games downloaded and stored inside said portable devices.  Carrying cartridges around is just impractical and obsolete in most folks' eyes.  Also, if your games are available from an online storage, you don't have to worry about your games being stolen or burned down if your house incinerates.

So there's just 5 reasons why the future of gaming is digital downloads and/or streaming.  There are just as many reasons (more actually) why developers/publishers/platform holders want all games to become digital/streaming in the future.

This is the future of gaming whether we like it or not. 

Personally I am A-OK with download only games, as long as I have the ability to archive them myself for playing at a later date without needing an internet connection.  GOG lets me do this, that's why I have a boner for them.

[thr]

(...)I'm hoping at some point there's a consumer backlash and people just say "Fuck you" to all this DL-only business.

I truly hope not. there's enough waste-paper as is. from what I've seen so far, the worst offender in this regard seems to be Apple, with their big cardboard boxes, thick instuction manuals and lots of extra cardboard. we got Logic Studio a while ago. just look at the amounts of paper this thing has. everything except the cardboard boxes to keep stuff in, and the DVDs, ended up in the stove in winter. sorry Apple, I've got better things to read than thousands of pages of your instruction manuals. and about games... haven't bought a hard copy since '95 or so. I think of the trees.

[SargeSmash]

Convenience can trump a lot of other things, and for many people, it's convenient.  They're not thinking of all the ramifications of that, but then, most aren't as worried about these things in the first place like I am, just like Dank said.

[Nec5]

Personally I am A-OK with download only games, as long as I have the ability to archive them myself for playing at a later date without needing an internet connection.

That won't last.  Eventually, you won't "own" anything.  You'll simply rent what you want to play when you want to play it.  And if you don't like it, people will call you an old fashioned stick in the mud or a "collector" as though that were a bad word.  Some of the E-reader stuff already hints at this.  Remember that story of people "buying/downloading" a famous text, only to have it removed from their Kindle by Amazon(I think?), because of a disagreement over licensing.  People "bought" the book, but weren't allowed to archive or keep it in the traditional sense.

I see that as the future.

[SargeSmash]

What I find disturbing about e-books is that they're often just as expensive as print copies.  Really?  Really?  Come on, guys.

But yeah, the licensing stuff gets really sketchy.