Valve pushes back Steam Machines until 2015

[Jos]

Valve has been drumming up interest in Steam Machines with over a dozen hardware partners onboard and a few hundred prototypes in the hands of a few lucky testers. But the company’s ambitions of rivaling game consoles in the living room will have to wait a bit longer, as further tweaks being made to the controller have now pushed the expected release window to 2015.

Valve staffer Eric Hope posted the update on the Steam Universe group's announcements page, noting that they’re using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests with industry professionals and gamers alike, and using all the feedback to make the controller a lot better.

“Obviously we’re just as eager as you are to get a Steam Machine in your hands. But our number one priority is making sure that when you do, you’ll be getting the best gaming experience possible. We hope you’ll be patient with us while we get there.”

Hope didn't clarify how the delay will impact the planned launch of the Linux-based SteamOS, or whether the other companies building Steam Machines will be pushing back their hardware as well to wait for Valve’s controller.

The gaming giant believes its controller will be a vital aspect of Steam Machines, serving as a bridge between keyboard-and-mouse and traditional console-style gaming. Valve’s design has already had two major iterations and currently features two touchpads instead of the usual analog sticks.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/56904-valve-pushes-back-steam-machines-until-2015.html

 

[Jad Chaar]

Good move. If it means a more refined product, I am all for it!

 

[9Nails]

The last go around on the controller didn't earn it many praises. Glad that they're considering more testing.

 

[Vrmithrax]

The controller is one part of the issue. It needs work, but it's a pretty good gamepad (based on some time I spent playing with one). The problem is it's just a touch gamepad. One thing that PC gamers tend to enjoy over consoles is the depth of control we have with mouse & keyboard. If Valve can't figure out how to bring that advantage into the Steam Machines, there is very little incentive to buy one of their consoles over a traditional gaming console.

I'm guessing that the real issue, though, is game adoption and conversion to the Linux-based OS. I think that Valve was hoping for a much more excited and enthusiastic support of Linux by developers, and it's been brutally lackluster, at best. If the game library is just not there, the Steam Machine will be a huge flop. It's got to be nearly perfect at launch, with a large chunk of fun games available instantly, and not just reliant on customers already having an expensive gaming rig on hand to stream games.

Maybe Valve watched the Ouya launch and its difficulty in ever dragging itself out of the mire of mediocrity and indifference... That would give me pause, and deciding to delay launch while fine-tuning the hardware... And maybe hope to get just one more generation above the recent big consoles to create a performance gap.

 

[yukka]

Streamed Magicka coop from a monster PC to the living room and it was.. Jerky. Big bitmap-like backgrounds. Maybe driver issues, it was the Mac steam client on a Mac mini but still.. Was impressive on games with little background movement, not so good on Magicka.