The fuck just happened

It's all my fault.

This sounds like a good idea, but I'm not totally sure I "get" it.

Will the OS support the entire Steam library? I mean on a theoretical SteamBox running this OS, will Far Cry 3 just work without any additional effort on the part of the developer or end user? If so, that's pretty impressive to me.

I assume the OS will also be more efficient for gaming than Windows? So this could drive down the potential cost of a SteamBox, right? Because my impression was always that regardless of Steam, it takes a pretty beefy (expensive) PC to run modern games.

It sounds like the OS (which will be a Linux distro) will support streaming games locally, like what the Wii U does with its GamePad. You'll only be able to natively run whatever games have Linux versions.

I don't know how much more efficient it will be than Windows. Linux tends to use fewer resources, but that partially depends on the desktop environment used. In this case I guess the "desktop" will be Steam's Big Picture Mode, which doesn't seem to be very lightweight, but we'll see.

The point is to setup a completely dedicated Steam Experience. It won't support every game out of the box, many games that support only DirectX/3D will need to be re-programmed to support it.

However, once it's setup, you literally hit the power button on your computer, and then have a completely controlled-based experience. No need for a keyboard, no need for a mouse.

It's interesting, we'll see.

Well, right now it's a two part experience. One is the Streaming functionality, which in theory would support every game there is (still not sure how games with 3rd party launchers will work). The other are the games that natively run on Linux.

I think their long term plan is for more developers to support Linux and create native Linux versions of new titles, so that the only games you won't be playing natively on Linux are legacy titles.

It's pretty ambitious, but this is also a very safe "first step" for them, especially when you consider what they could of done right out the gates (i.e. a console).

I don't think any of the streaming will be "more efficient" than windows, since it's just a stream. They have already proven that Valve titles running on Linux are faster than their Windows counterparts. That's where they got that 30% number from (L4D2, TF2, and other Valve titles).

Yeah, I would assume if there's a "Steambox" announced in the next day or three, all of the current Valve games that utilize the Source engine will be on it. Right now, games like Counter-strike: Global Offensive, the original Left 4 Dead, and Portal 2 are just some of the few that haven't been coded over to Linux yet.

However, there's still a "hook" that's needed to get people bought in. Left 4 Dead 3 has been rumored constantly over the past year whereas Half-Life 3 has been rumored since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

Don't hold your breath on any of those "hooks", though I would agree that something like that would be a smart move, I'd put the likelihood of that happening at "launch" in the 0-5% range.

1:14:00 'til the next announcement.

Thinking about how much something like the Intel NUC already costs fully built out makes me wonder how affordable they can make a Steam Box.

STEAM MACHINES


Finally, a multiple choice answer

Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS.

It seems the second announcement is to join a beta program for "Steam Machines". I wonder what the heck the third announcement will be.

Easily decipherable from the icons, even on Monday.

O = SteamOS

[O ] = SteamOS in a box/machine

O+O = SteamOS with SteamOS or, rather, the experience with emphasis on game streaming.

So will the official Steam Box be a middle of the road piece of hardware or the top of the line beast?

They said there'd be multiple boxes with multiple configurations and all of them upgradable. So it all depends on what your wallet can afford.

I've currently met all of the beta requirements other than "Play a game using a gamepad in Big Picture mode."

I guess I'll be reinstalling my 360 controller drivers in the foreseeable future.

I've used Big Picture mode in the past, but it didn't count towards the hardware badge.

I need to make some more steam friends, it seems.

I just have to do the Big Picture mode thing too. I've played plenty of games with the 360 controller, just not using Big Picture mode.

Like I've been saying this entire time, there is no "official" steam box. Various OEMs will be making certified Steam Boxes.

That isn't true. They were referring to the "prototype" one Valve is giving out 300 of for the beta. Some of them definitely will be upgradable, but not all of them.

So, I know you know more than the rest of us...

I've been thinking about game streaming from my PC to this SteamOS-box in the living room for non-linux games. Obviously, this would rely on the host PC to actually play the game but the graphics, audio, and controls would be shown, heard, and input on the client device.

Lag is a slight concern here, but I would think that the OS would be able to mitigate a large portion of that during the "handshake" between the network points.

I just hope that others can use the host PC while I'm playing a game from it in another room and they aren't bogged down too much with used resources or, god forbid, actually mirroring gameplay on the monitor.

The upgradable part I find interesting to see how they will pull it off. In consoles they build the hardware with specially designed parts that are carefully integrated to take up less room and limit the size of the case, like a laptop.

If this Steam thing is going to be upgradable, it's going to need to accept common PC parts, which take up a LOT of room. Modern video cards are 10-12 inches long and over 4 inches tall, and CPUs need bulky heat sink/fan units. Unless Valve is planning to launch special parts made for this that take up less room (while remaining affordable), this "console" is going to be huge in size. So I can definitely see different models for those who want something more like the typical console form factor.