Community MetaSteam | May 2021 - Wallets Gone

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Durante

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Oct 21, 2018
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I think a handheld device which can run a selection of games out of the box and also stream your entire Steam library makes quite a bit of sense.

If they can build it at a somewhat approachable price that this. Which seems quite difficult on X86, especially now.
 
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Tizoc

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it IS a PC, but clearly in a console form factor. Key here is that no multiple systems release at the same time, 2 max. and all must be Valve, no third parties.
2 of my relatives at least have shown interest in getting a pc for gaming
This'll be a great option or alternative but it all comes down to availability and regions where it would br sold for commendable price :(
 
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Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
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I think a handheld device which can run a selection of games out of the box and also stream your entire Steam library makes quite a bit of sense.

If they can build it at a somewhat approachable price that this. Which seems quite difficult on X86, especially now.
I would expect a similar price point to the Index general pack (1000€ or so) :crying-face:

2 of my relatives at least have shown interest in getting a pc for gaming
This'll be a great option or alternative but it all comes down to availability and regions where it would br sold for commendable price :(
I mean, the PC handheld scene is booming right now, lots of devices that look AMAZING! :blobeyes:
 

Alexandros

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Nov 4, 2018
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Yes. I simply don't think Valve has what it takes to introduce a platform with any form of certification requirements. (And that's not necessarily a bad thing)


I'm not sure how that could be the case. Unless you don't want to run the existing Steam library of tens of thousands of games. Which is the whole point, is it not?


If there's a list of games, it needs to be a selection done and maintained by Valve which works out of the box (but hopefully the device wouldn't be limited to just that selection).
That is exactly what I expect, yeah.
 
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Durante

I <3 Pixels
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Given what it will cost, not putting a HMDI port on it would be silly (or USB-C with display capability).

That said I was just considering the options and with AMD apparently cancelling the Van Gogh APU series there's basically nothing good at this point.

I guess they could use an UP4-class Intel chip, but the lowest tier that makes any sense is $309 just for that chip.
 

Arc

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I wonder if this rumored Valve handheld would integrate something like xCloud outside of just web browser support. It seems like something MS would like to support with Game Pass (or maybe I'm just expressing some wishful thinking).
 
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prudis

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The Kingdom of Beer and Porn
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America/Euro Truck Simulator 2 is getting official MP mode
But first, what’s Convoy? Convoy is a new multiplayer game mode for ETS2/ATS, where players can set-up and host their own private sessions (password optional) to drive with their friends or other fellow truckers. There is currently support for synchronized AI traffic, time and weather, and the ability to take the same job as other players. There is also an option, before you leave the Convoy, to restore your game progress to a previous save game state, which may be handy if you are not happy with what happened to your truck, cargo, or wallet during your Convoy driving session.
 

yuraya

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May 4, 2019
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it'll probably cost like $1k ... sadly
1k seems too much. It will be a premium device for sure but I would go with around 600$.

And honestly it will easily be worth it since it will run thousands and thousands of steam games. If you already have a library you save so much money and most who buy it will as that is who the device will be advertised to.

Valve should get some neat games ready to launch with the handheld. Doesn't have to be anything huge but some cool DOTA top down spin off would be great for a handheld. Maybe even some third party game they partnered with to launch same day as the device release. Get Atlus to launch P5R at same time ;)

Also SteamPal is such a great name :geek: I hope its official and also lets you do local streaming from your pc.
 
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Gelf

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Maybe Valve has gone full Apple, and will lock down their handheld, so you cannot install anything but Steam games on it, nor run any other software. Then you could actually call it a console. :evilblob:

But yeah, there's little distinction between the two words anymore, even "consoles" are just locked down PCs these days.
Hey some make the argument that a 30% cut suddenly goes from being daylight robbery to justifed once it's covering a walled garden. 4D chess move from Valve. [UWSL]:sneaky:[/UWSL]
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
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I wonder if this rumored Valve handheld would integrate something like xCloud outside of just web browser support. It seems like something MS would like to support with Game Pass (or maybe I'm just expressing some wishful thinking).
Steam Link integration for sure, yes, something like playing on their servers? no or at least I highly doubt it.
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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I strongly doubt it. A single configuration would not need any tinkering.
Every gamer is using a "single configuration" for his gaming PC between upgrades, that doesn't make the games require any less tinkering. I guess they could introduce something like Nvidia's automatic settings thing (which I don't use but I guess some do) but they probably can't easily do it for every single game in the catalogue given they're thousands with vastly different methods of saving and changing the settings, what folder and type of file it's saved in, if it even needs a first run to generate the first configuration in the registry or not, etc. Same as Nvidia I guess, it doesn't work for every game, but generally does for the average new release, probably. And you'll still need to note the specs of the machine(s) they're selling and gauge if they will even run the games you want to run well for the foreseeable future by their ever changing and evolving requirements, how they stack up compared to others, etc. So, that sort of tinkering and checking specs and everything. Just like when buying and using any other PC build, AIO, whatever. On top of having to check how good a job Proton or whatever does for this or that game compared to native WIndows play etc. I don't see how there could be no tinkering for a PC, by Valve or anyone.

Even if they do introduce automatic settings by checking your specs, which they already do and they could introduce it for every Steam user with little additional effort as checking the performance ballpark of given chips isn't that much harder than the known device's configuration, that doesn't mean the user will agree with Valve's assessment of quality/performance ratio, even if they go the extra mile and have both performance and quality presets available to choose from per game or globally (somewhat defeating the point of having no hassle configuration for users with every such additional setting of the sort). And regardless of any of that the games will of course have all their normal menus and everything to check when you start them up, configure your controls based on your device, if it comes with a gamepad, if you've added a keyboard and mouse, or whatever, etc., so there's much more potential tinkering than just specs.

And I don't think they'd do something like only show games that can run on the device on the store page, though the auto settings could also give a warning when looking at games that need a vastly better PC and what not. But again that's all functionality they could introduce on Steam in general which won't make everyone's PC more like a console and less like a PC and for most would be gimmicks more than anything, as helpfiul as it'd be for some folks (but once again not blocking anything for anyone altogether as you could still disagree with their assessment of what's acceptable for your specs and everything). And it'd certainly be another pain for devs/pubs who already barely bother to check all the correct boxes for their games by features, functions, etc.

And once again, they can't guarantee, like a console does, that there will be no game that's available on the (Steam) platform that they can't run for x years until the successor, in fact if it does any good they're likely to offer a new model every year or so with updated specs to keep up with the rest of the PC market.

I don't think that's even remotely what people mean when they say "a single configuration".

Certainly if I used that phrase, I would mean "all instances of <device class> use the same or equivalent hardware / software". I don't see why that would be less true of a hypothetical Steam device than it is of Sony's or Nintendo's. (Well, modulo the question, at least of the software side, of the extent to which said device might be open or locked down...)
I've covered all this in this post, why did you only read and respond to the first line?
 
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Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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1k seems too much. It will be a premium device for sure but I would go with around 600$.
I'd really hope so, but I currently don't see a viable way to build that (assuming Valve isn't willing to lose money on it or create something substandard, both of which seem unlikely IMHO).

Maybe there will be a good cheaper suitable SoC/APU for it next year -- all assuming this is actually a thing.
 
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eonden

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Dec 20, 2018
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I wonder if this rumored Valve handheld would integrate something like xCloud outside of just web browser support. It seems like something MS would like to support with Game Pass (or maybe I'm just expressing some wishful thinking).
json code had "to the desktop" information. So it probably is something akin to SteamOS were it boots initially into Steam UI but you can access desktop if you so want.
 
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yuraya

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I'd really hope so, but I currently don't see a viable way to build that (assuming Valve isn't willing to lose money on it or create something substandard, both of which seem unlikely IMHO).

Maybe there will be a good cheaper suitable SoC/APU for it next year -- all assuming this is actually a thing.
I don't think Valve is willing to lose money on it either. They are probably fine with being flat tho at first and make profit selling software with it if the attach/buy rates are high.

I imagine a 1080p 6-7 inch screen would cost like 150-200$. They save on the OS so that leaves the rest 300-400 on everything else. It should all boil down to how deep in bed they get with Nvidia/AMD. That one Alienware device from early last year (or two years ago) was running a bunch of games just fine at 1080p high settings. It should be more than doable by now. I just don't see any pc gamers spending more than 600$ on a complimentary device like that. 500-600$ is tops. If the reviews for it are great I would seriously consider getting it for 500$. I would even put off buying a PS5 by a year or two just to get a SteamPal. I have hundreds of games in my steam library I would love to play on the go but there is no way I would go for it if its 1k.
 

fantomena

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I haven't bought a game since Snowrunner, so 1 week. My plate is so fully packed that Ive had to push myself not to buy anything.

Always funny to read on Reddit, ERA and other places people with nothing to play. Never have there been more games to play than today. Broaden your horizons. 4 years ago I could never imagine myself playing factory/management games like Dyson, Factorio, Satisfactory, Oxygen and driving games like Snowrunner. These days I love those types of games.
 

Gamall Wednesday Ida

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Dec 4, 2020
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Every gamer is using a "single configuration" for his gaming PC between upgrades,
I don't think that's even remotely what people mean when they say "a single configuration".

Certainly if I used that phrase, I would mean "all instances of <device class> use the same or equivalent hardware / software". I don't see why that would be less true of a hypothetical Steam device than it is of Sony's or Nintendo's. (Well, modulo the question, at least of the software side, of the extent to which said device might be open or locked down...)
 

AHA-Lambda

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Oct 9, 2018
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I haven't bought a game since Snowrunner, so 1 week. My plate is so fully packed that Ive had to push myself not to buy anything.

Always funny to read on Reddit, ERA and other places people with nothing to play. Never have there been more games to play than today. Broaden your horizons. 4 years ago I could never imagine myself playing factory/management games like Dyson, Factorio, Satisfactory, Oxygen and driving games like Snowrunner. These days I love those types of games.
Different stroke for different folks, I've only bought one new release game this year; Hitman 3.
Only one game 5 months into the year is unheard of for me.

I've spent this year with Game Pass and ruthlessly weeding out my backlog.
I'll likely get Nier and RE8 soon though, but Game Pass has taught me to be more patient, and simply getting older has taught me to be more selective.
 
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fantomena

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Different stroke for different folks, I've only bought one new release game this year; Hitman 3.
Only one game 5 months into the year is unheard of for me.

I've spent this year with Game Pass and ruthlessly weeding out my backlog.
I'll likely get Nier and RE8 soon though, but Game Pass has taught me to be more patient, and simply getting older has taught me to be more selective.
Depends if you have tried games in genres you haven't played before.

During the PS3/early PS4 gen I never played a single JRPG, those games never seemed to me for my and my tastes, just looking at games like Final Fantasy made me laugh at the thought of playing those games.

Then I out of the blue tried out Xenoblade Chronicles X as my first JRPG because I received it for free and thought "why not, lets give it a few min" and I ended up loving it.

People really should at least try games in genres they aren't particular interested in.

It's like saying you find a certain food disgusting or don't like it, but you never tasted it. Makes no sense to me.
 
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Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
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The only new release I've bought this year has been the Yakuza collection... of which I have only played 10 hours, not really feeling 3 that much tbh. (but it's not a purchase I regret or anything, I'll continue on eventually).
Other than that it has mainly been bundles and a few titles on sale (not even a handful though).
 

kio

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Apr 19, 2019
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A little late for the "Neptune" discussion but if it is real and is something similar to the GPDWIN, albeit more accessible and a bit more powerful, I guess I'll be in the market for something like that.
PC-on-the-go is such a good selling point and I'm sure Valve has the pockets to finance something like this. At day zero the system would have thousands of games available to be played with almost no settings' fiddling needed.
 

Nzyme

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i more or less fully agree. People hold boneworks in high regard, and I think that’s fair at least in terms and effort and ambition, but the IK model and movement systems feel awful to me in the same way. Typically frustrating and take me entirely out of feeling like I’m inhabiting a space and more like I’m trying to manipulate a puppet on strings
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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What if SteamPal is an Android device with a Steam Android store that also supports streaming from PCs?

We know Epic is looking to get in on Android and Valve may have decided it's a good idea too.
 
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Nzyme

Time to get Fit
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What if SteamPal is an Android device with a Steam Android store that also supports streaming from PCs?

We know Epic is looking to get in on Android and Valve may have decided it's a good idea too.
Doubtful. The development of this likely has been ongoing for a long time we’ll before EGS etc, and utilisation of android is completely pointless. This would be a terrible way of making business decisions and would reflect in the final product that way.
Much more likely that it is its own thing simply extending current Steam Store and library. Low power games running natively / via some compatibility layer if they somehow go ARM, and focusing on streaming seem a good bet.
 

mastemas

truman doctrine (actual norwegian guy)
Apr 15, 2021
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valve would literally just keep on slaying with this console, but there's one interesting thing here

there's an airplane mode, so it can't be a console that is completely dependant on streaming, so no steam link here
buut it's a steam console, so perhaps it can literally do the poggest thing and just FUCKING DOWNLOAD STEAM GAMES, AND PLAY THEM ON THE SPOT??? in that case, sign me and the rest of america up
 
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