CaptainABAB
Member
In addition, Valve currently has 116 people (based on their website.) Do they have the personnel required in order to launch a major hardware product?
Make a partnership with Sony and release it as the PS4, problem solved.In addition, Valve currently has 116 people (based on their website.) Do they have the personnel required in order to launch a major hardware product?
In addition, Valve currently has 116 people (based on their website.) Do they have the personnel required in order to launch a major hardware product?
The "People" section is far from exhaustive as it only includes those who wished to advertise a small blurb about themselves. Valve's actual headcount was "pushing 400" as of last August.
Steambox is going to bankrupt Valve.
In addition, Valve currently has 116 people (based on their website.) Do they have the personnel required in order to launch a major hardware product?
I seriously doubt Valve is going to be manufacturing the Steambox themselves. They'll partner with hardware manufacturers like Dell/Asus/ect. and create a standard system spec that others can follow to make a branded Steambox PC.
And who knows how many they might be adding with their San Francisco branch in the coming months!
Interestingly, the Valve Employee Handbook that leaked early last year mentioned an employee count of 293. Couple that with the aforementioned figure and you have a fun fact: Valve's employee count went up by about a third in less than a year.
Worth mentioning: if the Valve box takes off in any reasonably large way, would it not make sense for EA, Activision et al to publish Steamworks versions of their titles in the same way that they support infrastructure on360/PS3?
Steambox could cause changes in perspective, especially if you look a it as a console platform,
Will Valve subsidize the steambox? If not, I don't see how it will be price competitive with the 720/PS4.
Do they even have the resources to do so even if they wanted to?
Valve is only worth a few billion dollars, to actually launch a console would be "Putting all their eggs in a basket."Right, because Valve is putting all their eggs in this basket. EVERYTHING.
Steambox is going to bankrupt Valve.
Valve is only worth a few billion dollars, to actually launch a console would be "Putting all their eggs in a basket."
Can't wait until they go belly up and have to get bought out by a third party in order to survive.
Let's put things in perspective: Valve is worth 3 billion dollars, Microsoft lost 3.7 billion to keep the first Xbox alive, and then Microsoft lost another billion or two because of the Red Ring debacle.
Let's put things in perspective: Valve is worth 3 billion dollars, Microsoft lost 3.7 billion to keep the first Xbox alive, and then Microsoft lost another billion or two because of the Red Ring debacle.
Let's put things in perspective: Valve is worth 3 billion dollars, Microsoft lost 3.7 billion to keep the first Xbox alive, and then Microsoft lost another billion or two because of the Red Ring debacle.
In 2009, the PS3 lost Sony 4.7 billion dollars.
This could be very interesting. We will finally have another doomed member of the console maker family. Who will be the first one to make a Valve is doomed thread?
Edit: Not to dismiss the idea that it may as well be possible.
Valve is putting out a box that plays videogames in your living room. Using an OS and hardware that publishers need to develop for to use on that platform. It's going to be a competitor. If Valve doesn't see it that way, you're sure as shit that Sony and Microsoft will see it that way.Making this comparison does a great job of illustrating your lack of perspective if you think it's applicable to this situation. Valve wants to bring Steam into the living room and sell it to new people. Becoming the fourth member of the "big four" or outselling Durango and Orbis hasn't been mentioned or even hinted at. This is an extension of what they're already doing with Steam, not an attempt to conquer the console market.
Can't wait until they go belly up and have to get bought out by a third party in order to survive.
It was sarcasm, I actually am rather bummed out that all my PC games are tied with a company that is taking this big of a risk.I don't understand why people actively want this to fail. Even if it doesn't become the next big thing or revolutionize the industry, how does it completely failing help anyone? Comments like this seem completely fanboy-ish and do nothing but expose your bias.
As someone who just enjoys playing games I'm definitely keeping my eye on this but it's hard to make any sort of definitive judgement with the details we have at the moment.
It was sarcasm, I actually am rather bummed out that all my PC games are tied with a company that is taking this big of a risk.
Worst case scenario they are selling more games through steam for people using linux as their O.S.
What if Valve made the console out of magic and fairy dreams?How is it a risk if it is not sold at a subsidised price?
Which suggests that the razor blade model of console sales used by Sony and MS only works when you're pretty successful from the get go.
If Valve don't sell every box at a loss (and really, why should they? Whatever they make will be cheaper for a consumer than an equivalent Windows box) then they won't see massive losses even if it doesn't sell very well.
You notably left out the loser of the PS2 generation that had relatively moderate sales but was still profitable for the entire duration.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade#product_specs
Intel® Core™ i7
Quad Core Processor with Hyper-Threading
CPU: 2.2GHz (Base) / 3.2GHz (Turbo)
Chipset
Intel® HM77 Express Chipset
Memory
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
Storage
500GB 7200RPM HDD (Primary Storage)
64GB SATA III SSD with NVELO
Dataplex™ Software
(Cache Acceleration)
Graphics and Video
Integrated Intel® GMA HD – Mobile Mode
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M 2GB GDDR5
VRAM with NVIDIA Optimus™ Technology
Display
17.3” Full HD 16:9 Ratio, 1920x1080
LED Backlit
US$2,499.99
I wonder if Valve will mandate that third parties use Steamworks if they want to release on any Valve hardware. This of course precludes any major publisher wanting to release on it in the first place.I wonder if uPlay and Origin games will still work on the platform.
What if Valve made the console out of magic and fairy dreams?
What if Valve made the console out of magic and fairy dreams?
Here's something to consider: Who wins with the current status quo in the console space? I would say Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and AMD (because AMD has their chips in all next-gen consoles). PC OEMs, Intel and Nvidia get nothing, that market is closed to them.
In comes Valve. "Hey OEMs, Intel and Nvidia, we have a plan to claim a piece of the console pie for all of us, but we need your help. Can you price components in such a way as to make our joint platform competitive in price?"
I'm guessing their answer would most likely be "yes".
It is clear that there are a lot of people who have not played a PC game on steam(in the last 4 years) posting in this thread.
Such ignorance.
Why is everyone assuming this will be direct competition to Consoles, and not just a first step into the HTPC market in order to make it grow?
That reminds me of this:
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade#product_specs
I suspect that Razor hasn't sold a lot of these. They tried to innovate in the PC hardware space and we haven't heard any sales numbers or success stories from them. I'm sure if it was successful they would brag. The SteamBox can't use cutting edge anything or it will end up costing over $2000 and be dead on arrival.
What is Valve's goal here? I'm assuming it's something long-term, because they've shown in the past that they think far ahead- they used TF2 and HL2 as loss leaders for Steam, and the results were miraculous.
I do think we'd see HL3/TF3 exclusive to Steambox if Valve is seriously trying to make a new market, or trying to make the successor to the traditional console (which is what I tihnk the attempt is here)
My worry is what would Japan do, as I can't see Japan warming up to the Steambox, especially given the handheld focus Japan has now.
If it hooks up to an HDTV and plays games, it will be competition to consoles.
What if steambox on linux makes use of cloud gaming for games that are not properly optimized for linux?
Or what if it is a cloud gaming device?
What are the odds that Microsoft and/or Sony sells their hardware at a loss?
And if Microsoft and Sony does so, how much stronger is their hardware going to be compared to whatever off-the-shelf parts Valve hypothetically crams into their console?
How many units will this hypothetical unsubsidized Steambox sell when it doesn't have the software support, or graphical horsepower of it's competitors? How much money is Valve going to lose when no one buys this unsubsidized, comparitively weak console?
What are the odds that Microsoft and/or Sony sells their hardware at a loss? And if Microsoft and Sony does so, how much stronger is their hardware going to be compared to whatever off-the-shelf parts Valve hypothetically crams into their console? How many units will this hypothetical unsubsidized Steambox sell when it doesn't have the software support, or graphical horsepower of it's competitors? How much money is Valve going to lose when no one buys this unsubsidized, comparitively weak console?
If Valve is selling a $300-$400 console at a profit (made from off the shelf parts), that would be competitive graphically to whatever Microsoft puts out at the same price at a loss, then it really would be made out of magic and fairy dreams.
Here's something to consider: Who wins with the current status quo in the console space? I would say Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and AMD (because AMD has their chips in all next-gen consoles). PC OEMs, Intel and Nvidia get nothing, that market is closed to them.
In comes Valve. "Hey OEMs, Intel and Nvidia, we have a plan to claim a piece of the console pie for all of us, but we need your help. Can you price components in such a way as to make our joint platform competitive in price?"
I'm guessing their answer would most likely be "yes".