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Total War: Rome 2 will scratch SteamOS strategy gaming itch
Fans of historical, real-time strategy now have more reasons to be excited for Valve's upcoming SteamOS: Developer Creative Assembly has announced plans to bring Total War: Rome 2 to the platform. "We've always wanted the Total War franchise to be enjoyed by living room gamers, but the limitations of traditional hardware made our style of game play impossible," reads an announcement on the game's Steam community page. "Last month, when Valve invited us to test out the new Steam Controller and unveiled their plans for SteamOS - we were impressed." "We believe it will provide us with the control fidelity and platform we need to make a living room experience for [Total War: Rome 2] that could be a more compelling experience than playing with keyboard and mouse." There is no official launch date for the SteamOS version of Total War: Rome 2, though Creative Assembly claims it will debut "early next year." For now however, Steam is currently hosting a sale that reduces the price of the game by 25 percent. Purchase it now, and once the SteamOS version has launched, it will automatically be added to your list of Steam games.
Valve won't develop exclusive games for SteamOS, Steam Machines
Half-Life 3, if it exists, will not be exclusive to Valve's SteamOS or Steam Machines, nor will Portal 3, Left 4 Dead 3 or Team Fortress 3, if those games are in the works. Valve will not develop a game exclusive to SteamOS or Steam Machines, designer Greg Coomer told IGN. "You won't see an exclusive killer app for SteamOS from us," Coomer said. "We're not going to be doing that kind of thing." Valve spokesperson Anna Sweet added, "That would go against our whole philosophy, to launch something that's exclusive to SteamOS or Steam Machines." Sweet doesn't even want third-party games to be exclusive to Steam products: "Whenever we talk to third-party partners, we encourage them to put their games in as many places as possible, including not on our platforms. Because we think that customers are everywhere, and they want to put their games wherever customers are." Engadget did some open-box surgery on the Steam Machine prototypes Valve is sending out to 300 beta testers, and it went hands-on with the Steam Controller. Coomer told Engadget to expect more information on Steam Machines at CES in January.
A look inside Valve's Steam Machine prototype
Our techie pals at Engadget went hands-on with Valve's Steam Machine prototype, and by hands-on we mean they surgically investigated the thing, as the above image attests. The company's new line-up of gaming machines will support the Linux-based SteamOS, and are coming in multiple forms next year via third-party manufacturers. What Engadget took a look at is Valve's own prototype, which is going into the hands of just 300 beta testers. "Really we just wanna have confidence that all the customers on Steam are having enough options, and that the price/performance spectrum is as fleshed out as Steam customers want it to be," Valve designer Greg Coomeer told Engadget when pushed on the Machines' availability outside of beta. "And right now, the indications that we have from the lineup that we're gonna be talking about at CES, is that they are gonna have enough choice. So we're gonna continue to treat this as a test platform and see how that goes." So, more news on the Steam Machines at January's CES trade show. That's two of Valve's big three September reveals covered, just leaving the Steam Controller. Well, Engadget has you covered there too, so head that way for a hands-on look at the twin-trackpad peripheral.
This is Valve's Steam Machine prototype and SteamOS (hands-on)
Take a good hard look at Valve's Steam Machine, because it's the last time you'll see it. Er, something like that. Only 300 of the metal beast above will ship to beta testers, and then Valve says it's cutting off its own supply of Steam Machines. "We're really building this as a test platform, and there are many machines that are gonna be made by third-parties. They're the ones that will be available commercially in 2014," Valve designer Greg Coomer told Engadget. Those machines will be revealed at next January's CES, as well as partners and more information (fingers crossed for pricing!). Coomer expects a "good array of options, optimized for different features" in the Steam Machines lineup -- everything from a low-end, inexpensive streaming box to an Intel i7/GeForce Titan GPU-powered supercomputer. The machine above was somewhere in between, with an Intel i7 CPU and a GTX 780 GPU housed in its snug chassis. All the parts in the prototype were swappable, and the only standard it's missing internally is an optical drive (presumably unnecessary if you're running SteamOS and downloading all your games digitally, right?). Valve's Steam Machine prototype is a reference design, essentially. "We think it's the right test platform for us," Coomer said. Of course, putting all that work into a reference design and not creating the box seems mighty wasteful.
Steam now 65 million users strong as Valve makes a push for the living room
Valve's Steam service for PC distribution and sales has over 65 million users playing its over 3,000 games, the company announced this afternoon. That's a 30 percent increase (15 million accounts) over the last 12 months -- not too shabby! -- putting the service's userbase well above that of Microsoft's Xbox Live (which has 48 million, according to MS). Not quite the 110 million that belong to Sony's PlayStation Network, but not too shabby. The new Steam number comes ahead of Valve's planned hardware beta, which intends to test the three main components of the company's big living room push: SteamOS, Steam Controller, and Steam Machines. The first of those components, SteamOS, is a Linux-based navigation solution for gaming PCs in the living room. While in can be installed on any PC (and it's free), it'll come installed on the physical Steam Machines that Valve ships to 300 beta participants (alongside the aforementioned Steam Controller). That said, at 65 million users, you have 0.0005 percent chance of being chosen for the beta. Best of luck with that!
iConsole.tv gaming PC to support SteamOS through its Android shell
Mobile Media Ventures' iConsole.tv gaming system is quickly turning into a jack of all trades, as the company now plans to support SteamOS through its PC's Android interface. Valve's TV-friendly platform will only be a shortcut away, MMV claims. Players won't have to partition drives, tweak firmware or otherwise mess with low-level settings, either. We won't know how well this Linux-on-Linux approach works until the company provides more details in the months ahead, but it's promising -- it could greatly expand iConsole.tv's game library without compromising on simplicity of use.
See the Steam Controller in action right here (video)
You've already seen the prototype Steam Controller in stills, but today we've got a video of Valve's new Steam Controller gamepad in action. The Valve employee in the video, ex-Sixense engineer and current Valve hardware engineer Jeff Bellinghausen, takes viewers on a tour through the studio's own Portal 2 first. He employs the dual touchpads as thumbsticks, which seems a bit cumbersome in this instance: his right thumb can be seen repeatedly scrolling as it runs out of touchpad space. Not exactly an issue in something like Portal 2, but certainly an issue in a more twitch-based game. The second game shown is the normally mouse-and-keyboard-dependent Civilization 5 -- again, workable in this instance as Civ doesn't require twitch-based response. The facsimile of mouse control on the touchpad is clearly workable, though it looks like it'll require some getting used to (just like the devs who used it told us). Up next, Bellinghausen tries out Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's training map in an effort to demonstrate precision with the touchpads. Though it certainly works, we'd like to get a better idea of using the controller in a more rigorous match -- few multiplayer first-person shooters allow time for extra mouse movement. The final game shown is indie darling Papers, Please, yet another mouse-driven game that seemingly works well with Valve's controller. The first prototypes for the Steam Controller arrive in 300 lucky households later this year. Head below the break to take a look at what they'll be getting!
Valve hosting first Steam Dev Days game developer conference in January 2014
Following Valve's trio of announcements last month, from SteamOS to Steam Machines and a brand new, bizarre controller, the gaming company revealed that its hosting a Steam development conference next January. The conference, titled "Steam Dev Days," runs for two days in Seattle's Washington State Convention Center, and promises panels, instruction, and hands-on with the aforementioned Steam products. There's also talk of VR discussion, something Valve continues to explore in interesting ways. Unlike the pricey San Francisco-based Game Developers Conference, Steam Dev Days costs just $95 to attend. All events on-site are off the record, though sessions are to be recorded and available after the show. Should you wish to present a panel, Valve's asking for submissions right here -- news on sessions and speakers already confirmed are coming "soon."
Valve unveils prototype Steam Box specs
Valve Software has plans to ship 300 prototype Steam Box machines to eager testers by the end of 2013. This morning the company revealed the hardware to be included within these computers: The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components: GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660 CPU: some boxes with Intel : i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3 RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU) Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high Instead of shipping top-of-the-line technology to each tester, Valve has opted to ship a variety of configurations. This allows the company a more accurate view of how Steam Box will perform in the hands of the public, as not every player will have access to the latest, greatest hardware. However, if you grow tired of how your Steam Box performs, Valve claims that each of these prototypes is fully upgradeable using relatively common components.
Weekly Roundup: Surface Pro 2 hands-on, Xperia Z1 review, Valve's SteamOS efforts and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Recap: Valve's trio of Steam Box announcements
Valve took its time delivering three announcements this week, each related to the long-rumored Steam Box. Since March 2012, Valve has seesawed on the existence of a Steam-based piece of hardware, but one thing has remained constant: If the Steam Box existed, it would run on Linux. Here we present a rundown of the week's major news, and some thoughts on Valve's living room strategy. On Monday, Valve unveiled SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system designed to stream games, music, TV and movies from a PC and to a living room screen, with native Linux games. On Wednesday, Steam Box was officially announced as Steam Machines, a series of different boxes for varying player needs, all running SteamOS. On Friday, Valve revealed its Steam Controller, a gamepad with trackpads in the place of analog sticks, attempting to bring keyboard-and-mouse gaming to the couch Valve is sending out 300 Steam Machines and controllers (sans a few features) to Steam users in a beta program.
Harrison: Microsoft is watching what Valve does 'with great interest'
With this week's SteamOS and Steam Machines reveal, Valve's grand step into the living room might make the other major inhabitants uneasy. Microsoft's corporate VP Phil Harrison acknowledged the Steam creators in a recent interview with Eurogamer, saying that "Valve is a very impressive company, and obviously we're going to be watching what they do with great interest." While the Xbox One's impending launch is set for November 22, Harrison recently said in his Eurogamer Expo keynote that the console will be around for ten years. Valve's Steam Machines doesn't seem to impact that projection. "I think the death of the video game console was prematurely announced," Harrison continued, going back to an earlier question in the interview about the future of gaming consoles. "Clearly there is a lot of excitement around gaming in the living room on the biggest screen in the house, often times connected to a great sound system and creating that real intensely high quality game experience with a very powerful CPU and a very powerful GPU." "Our point of view, clearly, is that Xbox One is the best incarnation of that, but competition is good," he said. If Microsoft wants to watch Valve's approach closer, its best bet is getting in on the Steam Machines hardware beta, which includes the Steam Controller announced today.
Steam Machines beta program includes controller, sans touchscreen
The 300 individuals selected for Valve's Steam Machines hardware beta program will receive one of Valve's fancy new controllers as well. Along with the controller announcement today, Valve specified how the beta program controller will differ from the final version. The controller will not include the clickable touchscreen in the center, which will be replaced with four buttons. Additionally, the beta program controller will require a USB cable instead of being wireless. It's a small sacrifice the chosen 300 will have to make, but at least they'll have their hands on the first Valve-created Steam Boxes. We're still calling them that, right?
Valve reveals Steam PC game controller
Valve has revealed a new controller optimized for Steam and Steam Machines devices, concluding this week's string of announcements aimed at bridging the gap between PC gaming and the living room. The peripheral will support the full catalog of Steam games released to date, and will include legacy support for older titles that lack controller support. Contrasting "traditional gamepads," Valve's peripheral uses two trackpads, rather than the dual-analog setup common to consoles. Balancing the lack of physical sticks, Valve's controller uses haptic feedback, "allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement." The controller additionally features a touch-enabled surface with a high-resolution screen. The screen can also be clicked as a button. When a player taps the touch screen, its display overlays on top of the game itself, eliminating the need to look down at the controller during gameplay. According to Valve, "The screen allows an infinite number of discrete actions to be made available to the player, without requiring an infinite number of physical buttons."
Steam Box exists, will come in a variety of Steam Machines in 2014
Valve revealed the Steam Box today, under the name "Steam Machines." These boxes will come in multiple forms from different manufacturers in 2014, but all Steam Machines will run SteamOS. First, Valve is sending out 300 prototype boxes to Steam users, free, for testing purposes. See if you're eligible here. "Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world," Valve writes. "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." Valve announced SteamOS on Monday, a Linux-based operating system designed to play Linux games and stream Windows and Mac games, along with other media, from a computer to the big screen. SteamOS streams over a user's home network and onto a TV using "any living room machine," as Valve put it. "Any machine" now includes the Steam Machines. Steam's Big Picture, the UI portion of a living room gaming system, entered public beta in September 2012. Valve founder Gabe Newell has been pitching the Steam Box (in everything but name) as a device to unify mobile, desktop and living room technologies, all possible with a Linux backbone. On Monday, Valve announced that "hundreds" of games are already running in native Linux on SteamOS, and AAA titles are making their way to SteamOS in 2014. Valve has one more announcement to make this week, in 48 hours. Update: Valve's final announcement, made on Friday, is the Steam Controller.
Daily Roundup: Surface Pro 2 hands-on, BlackBerry sold for $4.7 billion, Apple sells nine million iPhones, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Valve announces SteamOS, a new platform for playing PC games on TVs
PC game service operator and game development studio Valve announced SteamOS this afternoon, finally formalizing a PC gaming hardware project known as "Steambox" we've heard dribs and drabs about over the past few years. The OS will function on "any living room machine," and it also streams games from your Mac and PC, as well as offering media playback functionality. The OS seems to be multifunctional in this aspect, both acting as an operating system for living room-based machines directly connected to televisions, and offering streaming capability from computers outside the living room. "Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV," the announcement page says. The OS is free and built on Linux; it will be available "soon." Valve says it's "achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing, and we're now targeting audio performance and reductions in input latency at the operating system level," with regards to streaming capability. "Game developers are already taking advantage of these gains as they target SteamOS for their new releases." No specific developers are named, but a job posting from Crytek points at one suspect. The project is intended to compete with traditional game consoles, and it seemingly evolves Steam's "Big Picture Mode" to that end (which isn't to say that service is going away). Valve specifically lists four new features as the pillars of SteamOS: in-home streaming, family sharing, music / TV / movies, and family options. Let's dive into those after the break.
