Was just thinking something about the Steam boxes in general. While it seems pretty obvious this is big trouble for the MS/SONY/Nintendo consoles, it may not be. All of those consoles still work without any Internet. I don't know the exact numbers, but there are still a lot of people, especially in the US, who use those consoles without Internet at all. They still buy games on plastic discs and do all the Gamestop bullshit. Maybe they have shitty Internet, no Internet, or no technical skills/equipment to have more than their one computer directly connected to the cable modem.
An XBox without Internet still works and does its thing. A Steam box without Internet is a worthless brick. If Steam itself can't even get people to get microphones working for voice communication on their PCs, I don't think the Steam box will motivate or educate people enough to get Internet to their consoles. It will be interesting.
Preach it Scott! When my internet went out during hurricane Sandy I tried to play some of my installed Steam games and I could not because Steam said I needed some small file save format update. At least on Xbox you can say no and still play offline.
I'll bet that the Steam Box will properly do offline mode - download your games, authenticate once, then it just works offline until you need to update/download a new game.
I'll bet that the Steam Box will properly do offline mode - download your games, authenticate once, then it just works offline until you need to update/download a new game.
But what about people who never have it online ever?
You know, people always say they have trouble with offline mode in Steam. I've never once had a problem activating Offline mode, even if I don't have an internet connection.
Sure, a lot of people bought multiple X-Boxes, especially due to red rings of death. But that's still 30 million people who don't have their consoles online.
I don't see the point of releasing a new console generation that doesn't rely on the Internet. Considering consoles tend to have a lifetime of 10 years or so, releasing one now that still uses disks just doesn't make sense.
Also, there's no reason you can't continue supporting the older generation of consoles for markets that are largely offline.
All that being said, if I were Valve, I would drop the console talk and partner with someone to make a Steam phone or tablet.
I don't see the point of releasing a new console generation that doesn't rely on the Internet. Considering consoles tend to have a lifetime of 10 years or so, releasing one now that still uses disks just doesn't make sense.
Optical drives are cheap. It certainly doesn't significantly add to the cost to toss in an optical drive. Plus, you also need to figure the "little kids" market. As a soon to be parent, I'm not 100% sure I'd want to give my kids, at least at first, unfettered internet access without supervision -- at least until I think they're old enough to be able to handle the responsibility, anyway. Having the option to have an offline-only video game console for them certainly is reassuring. Yes, I know I can put password restrictions and whatnot on internet access, but I'd also rather not have to have my kid yelling at me every time he wants to play a game to put the online password in or whatnot. Finally, a lot of console gamers aren't technically savvy (think Wiis at nursing homes) enough to get their system on a network.
Sure, a lot of people bought multiple X-Boxes, especially due to red rings of death. But that's still 30 million people who don't have their consoles online.
Sort of a bad comparison. Are those 40 million gold subscribers? What about families with multiple xbox accounts? Or all of those people who made a Steam account, registered one game, and forgot about it? I'd also say a starting customer base of ~50million (if we go by the article's statistics) is nothing to sneeze at.
I think the biggest obstacle regarding an online-only system is not going to be homes without broadband, but geography of the house. I know plenty of people who don't play online because they can't get a decent connection from their computer room to their gaming room. Parents aren't going to run wires so their kids can game more and wi-fi connections can be somewhat finicky.
Whatever the Steambox solution is, the hardware is going to have to be pretty damn intuitive, and, frankly, I'm not 100% confident that every manufacturer using Steam's software will be up to par.
That 10,000,000 game is on Steam now, I'm not sure it would be that fun to play on a PC. It's kinda just a game you play on the bus/train going home for a couple minutes.
That 10,000,000 game is on Steam now, I'm not sure it would be that fun to play on a PC. It's kinda just a game you play on the bus/train going home for a couple minutes.
I hate that game. It uses bejeweled to drive a quest system, where it makes you seek out certain matches to progress (or lose when the timer runs out). It totally breaks down when you realize the best way to win is ignore the top half of the game and furiously play Bejewled down below. If you are good, you'll get tons of matches and cascades, and it will take care of all the stuff up top eventually.
In other video game news, Nintendo is building some fancy-ass new $340M facility and merging their handheld and console S/W dev divisions. This is making some people get really excited about 3DS/Wii U integration but it's typical Nintendo fan wet dreams. 1) Organizational change like that doesn't result in product change overnight with a company that size. 2) With Nintendo seeing its first financial loss in, I dunno, ever(?), this could just as easily be them just trying to streamline the company's operations to make sure they eke out a profit.
That 10,000,000 game is on Steam now, I'm not sure it would be that fun to play on a PC. It's kinda just a game you play on the bus/train going home for a couple minutes.
I hate that game. It uses bejeweled to drive a quest system, where it makes you seek out certain matches to progress (or lose when the timer runs out). It totally breaks down when you realize the best way to win is ignore the top half of the game and furiously play Bejewled down below. If you are good, you'll get tons of matches and cascades, and it will take care of all the stuff up top eventually.
In other video game news, Nintendo is building some fancy-ass new $340M facility and merging their handheld and console S/W dev divisions. This is making some people get really excited about 3DS/Wii U integration but it's typical Nintendo fan wet dreams. 1) Organizational change like that doesn't result in product change overnight with a company that size. 2) With Nintendo seeing its first financial loss in, I dunno, ever(?), this could just as easily be them just trying to streamline the company's operations to make sure they eek out a profit.
You mean eke out a profit. Screaming isn't profitable.
That 10,000,000 game is on Steam now, I'm not sure it would be that fun to play on a PC. It's kinda just a game you play on the bus/train going home for a couple minutes.
I hate that game. It uses bejeweled to drive a quest system, where it makes you seek out certain matches to progress (or lose when the timer runs out). It totally breaks down when you realize the best way to win is ignore the top half of the game and furiously play Bejewled down below. If you are good, you'll get tons of matches and cascades, and it will take care of all the stuff up top eventually.
In other video game news, Nintendo is building some fancy-ass new $340M facility and merging their handheld and console S/W dev divisions. This is making some people get really excited about 3DS/Wii U integration but it's typical Nintendo fan wet dreams. 1) Organizational change like that doesn't result in product change overnight with a company that size. 2) With Nintendo seeing its first financial loss in, I dunno, ever(?), this could just as easily be them just trying to streamline the company's operations to make sure they eek out a profit.
You mean eke out a profit. Screaming isn't profitable.
Played this back when it was in alpha/beta (don't remember which) a few months ago. It was pretty fun, but it got a little dull after a while. They've probably added a bunch of stuff since I played it, so that might not be an issue anymore.
There are a bajillion games like bejeweled, I'm not sure why this one in particular bothers you.
This one bothers me because it's had a shower of golden praise poured down on it. In particular, it's being used as an example in arguments to show how people don't really need console or handheld gaming, and that when you factor in the convenience and price, 10000000 is "good enough" to satisfy the gaming market.
I'm not quick to quote Jonathan Blow, but he put it best in stating "Apple is treating games as shallow commercial entertainment experiences." I'm not opposed to shallow entertainment experiences. I love Bejeweled. 10000000 purports to be more than a shallow experience but it is not.
There are a bajillion games like bejeweled, I'm not sure why this one in particular bothers you.
This one bothers me because it's had a shower of golden praise poured down on it. In particular, it's being used as an example in arguments to show how people don't really need console or handheld gaming, and that when you factor in the convenience and price, 10000000 is "good enough" to satisfy the gaming market.
I'm not quick to quote Jonathan Blow, but he put it best in stating "Apple is treating games as shallow commercial entertainment experiences." I'm not opposed to shallow entertainment experiences. I love Bejeweled. 10000000 purports to be more than a shallow experience but it is not.
Maybe I don't know some specific details but I've yet to find any engaging experience on any touch platform that has been more than casual to begin with and I think that apple understands its catering to that market.
Apparently as you're editing the time still declines so ill just paste this to another post.
Maybe I don't know some specific details but I've yet to find any engaging experience on any touch platform that has been more than casual to begin with and I think that apple understands its catering to that market.
EDIT: Lol, lemme rewrite this not on my phone...
Maybe I don't understand the specifics of how Apple manages their store but I don't see how they are "[...] treating games as shallow commercial entertainment experiences." I've also never heard anyone laud 10000000 to any degree other than "pretty neat". So I guess you've had a different experience around the game. Like I said previously I've yet to see a game that has been more than a very casual experience on the iOS (or any touch) platform. There are more engaging experiences but they often handle poorly in my experience with them. Apple caters a little more to the casual market because the games work well and most of the audience that is playing games on their phone or tablet are doing so casually.
There are a bajillion games like bejeweled, I'm not sure why this one in particular bothers you.
This one bothers me because it's had a shower of golden praise poured down on it. In particular, it's being used as an example in arguments to show how people don't really need console or handheld gaming, and that when you factor in the convenience and price, 10000000 is "good enough" to satisfy the gaming market.
I'm not quick to quote Jonathan Blow, but he put it best in stating "Apple is treating games as shallow commercial entertainment experiences." I'm not opposed to shallow entertainment experiences. I love Bejeweled. 10000000 purports to be more than a shallow experience but it is not.
Jonathan Blow is an annoying jack ass and Apple doesn't do that at all. In reality, they curate collections of 'hardcore games' and 'artistic games' on their app store. A lot of mobile developers like to approach games super commercially, though, like basically every mobile game Square/Enix has put out. That new FF thing they just put out is hilariously bad.
Also MATATATAATAT: check out Ravenmark my dude. I'm playing it now and its damn good. Theres a decent amount of legit strategy games for iOS, check pockettactics.com
Yeah that pretty much happened today. And I don't think most USA gamers realize how big of a Japanese wet dream Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei is, or the Xenoblade that's either inspired by, or crossing with, Monster Hunter.
Those games are going to push so many Japanese sales it's not even funny. Iwata mentioned that they have many other similar collaborations in the works. I guess that's Nintendo's new card to play?
Comments
An XBox without Internet still works and does its thing. A Steam box without Internet is a worthless brick. If Steam itself can't even get people to get microphones working for voice communication on their PCs, I don't think the Steam box will motivate or educate people enough to get Internet to their consoles. It will be interesting.
Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-10-as-valve-confirms-the-steam-box-microsofts-phil-harrison-issues-a-warning
Sure, a lot of people bought multiple X-Boxes, especially due to red rings of death. But that's still 30 million people who don't have their consoles online.
Also, there's no reason you can't continue supporting the older generation of consoles for markets that are largely offline.
All that being said, if I were Valve, I would drop the console talk and partner with someone to make a Steam phone or tablet.
I think the biggest obstacle regarding an online-only system is not going to be homes without broadband, but geography of the house. I know plenty of people who don't play online because they can't get a decent connection from their computer room to their gaming room. Parents aren't going to run wires so their kids can game more and wi-fi connections can be somewhat finicky.
Whatever the Steambox solution is, the hardware is going to have to be pretty damn intuitive, and, frankly, I'm not 100% confident that every manufacturer using Steam's software will be up to par.
http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/simple-controls-fast-game-play-and-community-focus-shootmania-is-the-non-vi
In other video game news, Nintendo is building some fancy-ass new $340M facility and merging their handheld and console S/W dev divisions. This is making some people get really excited about 3DS/Wii U integration but it's typical Nintendo fan wet dreams. 1) Organizational change like that doesn't result in product change overnight with a company that size. 2) With Nintendo seeing its first financial loss in, I dunno, ever(?), this could just as easily be them just trying to streamline the company's operations to make sure they eke out a profit.
I'm not quick to quote Jonathan Blow, but he put it best in stating "Apple is treating games as shallow commercial entertainment experiences." I'm not opposed to shallow entertainment experiences. I love Bejeweled. 10000000 purports to be more than a shallow experience but it is not.
Maybe I don't know some specific details but I've yet to find any engaging experience on any touch platform that has been more than casual to begin with and I think that apple understands its catering to that market.
Maybe I don't know some specific details but I've yet to find any engaging experience on any touch platform that has been more than casual to begin with and I think that apple understands its catering to that market.
EDIT: Lol, lemme rewrite this not on my phone...
Maybe I don't understand the specifics of how Apple manages their store but I don't see how they are "[...] treating games as shallow commercial entertainment experiences." I've also never heard anyone laud 10000000 to any degree other than "pretty neat". So I guess you've had a different experience around the game. Like I said previously I've yet to see a game that has been more than a very casual experience on the iOS (or any touch) platform. There are more engaging experiences but they often handle poorly in my experience with them. Apple caters a little more to the casual market because the games work well and most of the audience that is playing games on their phone or tablet are doing so casually.
Also MATATATAATAT: check out Ravenmark my dude. I'm playing it now and its damn good. Theres a decent amount of legit strategy games for iOS, check pockettactics.com
Those games are going to push so many Japanese sales it's not even funny. Iwata mentioned that they have many other similar collaborations in the works. I guess that's Nintendo's new card to play?