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    By: Mysssss x Show Full Post
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    The best discussion of "steam box" I've heard was the game informer show. Which stated the obvious that no one else seems to mention. The only way steam box is going to be a big deal or needs to be purchased is if valve commits its 1st party to the console exclusively. If not and I can just play valve games on my ps4 why waste money on steam box.

    I also believe a good deal of the excitement around steam box is it force MS, Sony and Nintendo to step up there game, and games. The competitive field gets a little bigger and somebody going to be missing some lunch money.
    Jan 11, 2013 6:20pm PST
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    The best discussion of "steam box" I've heard was the game informer show. Which stated the obvious that n... : Mysssss

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      Valve's games would probably never be exclusively for the Steambox (or Linux-based Steam OS or whatever),... : RedSwirl
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        You say that now but if they want to move the product the most logical conclusion is... Half life 3 exclu... : Mysssss
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          Why would they want to screw their huge install base on PC? That doesn't make a lot of sense. : HockeyJohnston
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            It's not their install base... Why doesn't Nintendo sell Pokemon on every platform? Same reason more cont... : Mysssss
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              For starters, Valve already has control over their platform, it just happens to be a software platform an... : RedSwirl
              • And if selling the hardware is important then they need exclusive on the steam box. If they don't have th... : Mysssss
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      The other thing to note here is that the Steambox isn't really for existing PC gamers. Valve already has ... : RedSwirl
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        This. 1000x this^. I think that what could really make a "Steam box" a big deal is if they can provide : goingcommando117
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          Spend $600 on the console that doesn't have exclusives to save $30 bucks on 10 or so games. That's what I... : Mysssss
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            You also may have to count every PC-exclusive game ever as an "exclusive" to this thing. The main targ : RedSwirl
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              You prove my point by bringing up crysis as a PC exclusive its not. If you want to say steam box is what ... : Mysssss
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                Maybe the only big AAA PC-exclusive developer, but you must really underestimate the sheer number of PC g : RedSwirl
                • Don't overestimate such games. 1,000 B tier titles doesn't make up for 1/2 of the audience a exclusive li... : Mysssss
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      The Steambox is just Valve giving themselves an out if Microsoft continues down the closed system path wi... : snubble100
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        Yeah I can buy that, but who's going to stock these (retail) if they're not really selling that many. The... : Mysssss
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          No they won't necessarily need to be making money on hardware sold, and Valve won't be the only manufactu... : RedSwirl
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            Not valve making money the retailers that sell the console they only have one dip that's the console. If ... : Mysssss
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              Even if it's an Amazon-only kinda thing, it'll still be an easy win for Valve to get more people using th... : HockeyJohnston
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                Ok how many extra people are they going to get. It's got to be a lot to cover the cost of producing hardw... : Mysssss
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                  I'm betting the hardware won't be sold at a loss. It's a long term strategy, they're not hoping to go on ... : HockeyJohnston
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                    Then it's really expensive even further away from average joe. They still need to sell a certain amount t... : Mysssss
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                      It'll be under a high-end PC, cost-wise. That's the real savings for people: you can have your cool PC wi... : HockeyJohnston
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                        You can already do that without a steam box. So spend $600-$800 just to spend it. You really think that's... : Mysssss
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                          If you like digital distribution, it'll be the best way to go this gen. Some people just care about the f... : HockeyJohnston
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                            Some people is a small audience that doesn't place price in the discussion. And yes the best digital dist... : Mysssss
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                              It's still about price. Steam games are cheaper, and the library is much bigger than anything that the co... : HockeyJohnston
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                                Yes the long run is a small group who buy 15 plus games a year and not day one but at price drop/sale tim... : Mysssss
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                                  I don't think anyone's expecting 'vast amounts of units'. Maybe that's where you got confused on this sub... : HockeyJohnston
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                                    By vast amounts I'm talking vita numbers over the 5 year haul. Enough so that they'd make a profit on the... : Mysssss
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                                      It's just a zero-risk thing for Valve. They don't need the hardware to succeed like MS does, they just ne... : HockeyJohnston
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                                        Exclusives system sellers, not some indie world of goo titles. I'm talking a game that moves units off st... : Mysssss
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                                          TF2 is already the best multiplayer game on any platform anywhere. : HockeyJohnston
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                                            And not exclusive! : Mysssss
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                                              Yes, it is! The workshop, the economy, the active player base -- that's exclusive. It's a weird point you... : HockeyJohnston
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                                                Weird point? What that hardware sales are driven by must play exclusive titles to that hardware. You real... : Mysssss
                                                • Also not unprecedented for valve to use half life to launch a product. That's how they got steam off the ... : Mysssss
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                                                  I don't agree that non-PC players won't pay for a higher priced box. The kinds of consumers publishers ca... : HockeyJohnston
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                                                    They already have the digital distribution Sony anyway look at the vita, the ps3 store as well and plus a... : Mysssss
                                                    • Yeah I think Valve does still have a digital distribution edge in terms of content. Steam has thousands o... : RedSwirl
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              Why would retailers sell tablets if they can't sell any of the software? They also still sold PSPGos, and... : RedSwirl
              • Because they sell a vey large amount of them. Nobody retailer went out and got more psp go units after it... : Mysssss
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      The whole point of Steambox would be to increase the devices that Steam exists. Aside from the fact that : DevSword
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        Excellent post that basically summarizes what I've been trying to say. With your second to last paragraph... : RedSwirl
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          To your 3rd paragraph if windows makes the Xbox essentially useless. Which it does to a degree that's exa... : Mysssss
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            Exclusives are becoming an artificial limitation however, that only the most hardcore gamers understand a : RedSwirl
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              Yes because halo, Mario, and gran turismo appeal so much more to the hardcore gamers then the casual game... : Mysssss
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                But I think you got away from the strength of your original post which is that if Valve made a game like ... : DevSword
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                  If they sold you a high end PC for $499 that would be a value, but they'd be eating 300-500 on that deal.... : Mysssss
                  • I would also say they need that core of their audience to buy the product (steam box). Because more than ... : Mysssss
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                    "They would exactly be leaving there core audience making something steam box exclusive. They'd be saying... : DevSword
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                      True, but that doesn't change the basic principal the concept isn't Greek. Gamers want games companies cr... : Mysssss
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                        Uh but Myss* you're completely missing the point. Valve isn't investing in creating hardware. They're w : DevSword
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                          I have to say after listening to Giant bomb the steam box/piston sounds like way less then what I thought... : Mysssss
                          • Not quite. Gabe said the lowest-end version might be a streaming box. Manufacturers could however make hi... : RedSwirl
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        Games have to be approved before they are allowed to be on Steam. The model would stay the same with a S... : spidlb
        • Right but there's no functional difference between the version of Crysis you buy in Best Buy for Windows ... : DevSword
    • In the same way that consoles sort of hold back PC development, I'm worried that a Steambox could do the ... : Mr.Manager