Steam comes to Linux

Started by Ryex, December 20, 2012, 04:20:10 pm

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Ryex

December 20, 2012, 04:20:10 pm Last Edit: December 21, 2012, 01:31:00 am by Ryex
http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/20/3787316/valve-opens-steam-for-linux-beta-to-public

I came across this post after I realized that there is a Linux tab in the steam store today

Basically Steam has ported to Lynix and is back porting a good portion of their first party library to support it.

another interesting thing the article points out is that Valve is working on a console, and it's probably going o be Linux based.

the comments section quickly devolves into a war over the potential of this "Steambox" I made my own argument in those comments somewhere

My Argument: ShowHide
Quote from: Ryexander's reply:
"Steam is a distribution powerhouse due to the relative ease of taking games that have already been ported to PC (or developed for PC). It requires very little additional development to actually make a game that runs on PC work with Steam on PC." ~ 5yrup

Your a bit off there. while it is true that getting a PC game built for PC to run in steam is cake that is NOT what made Steam the powerhouse it is today.
the honer for that award goes to Steam itself. Steam is a complacently original distribution platform. the fact that users can manage their entire library of games with out even having them installed on their computer. the fact that the never have to go to the store to but a dick to install a game.
THATS what brought the initial users.
but what brought the developers? the ease of distributing their games. suddenly you don't have to pay manufacturing costs or shipping costs or retailer fees for distributing the install disk for your game. a game release on steam has a significantly higher profit margin than a game distributed via disk to play on a console. Whats more they didn't have to give a thought to piracy as the launching of games is tied to a users account. This brought more developers to release via steam which in turn brought more users which brought more developers to target the growing audience. THAT'S how Steam cornered the PC gaming market, they made an appealing platform for both their users and the developers.

"So what does the Steambox offer that will get people to play it instead of the other consoles? " ~ 5yrup

and a good pair question


What does the Steambox have that will get developers to want to target it?

Well, the answer to both questions is Steam.
apart form not costing 50$ a year, both developers and users have an appealing platform to sell and buy with and integrated community
The answer to why the Steambox has a lot of potential can be found in similar stories like Android. the open platform and ease of developer distribution is fast kicking out the IOS and taking it's own share of the market the Parnell isn't perfect but the core ideas are the same.

"Oh but other platforms have digital distributions too!" ~Someone will ask

Can you honestly say that those platform even get close to the ease of using steam? Steam did it first, They did it best. and they will continues to improve it so it STAYS the best
As for all the other points made, about media streaming ect. How other platforms also have digital distribution ect

TL;DR the major selling points of a Steambox in order of importance
1) I has Steam (and don't underestimate just how big of a selling point that will be)
2) It will more than likely be an open platform



what are your thoughts?
I no longer keep up with posts in the forum very well. If you have a question or comment, about my work, or in general I welcome PM's. if you make a post in one of my threads and I don't reply with in a day or two feel free to PM me and point it out to me.<br /><br />DropBox, the best free file syncing service there is.<br />

G_G

Linux* Linux* Linux* Linux*

Honestly, I think it's awesome Steam is going to be truly cross-platform now.

winkio

Quote from: Ryex on December 20, 2012, 04:20:10 pm
http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/20/3787316/valve-opens-steam-for-linux-beta-to-public

I came across this post after I realized that there is a lynix tab in the steam store today

Basically Steam has ported to Lynix and is back porting a good portion of their first party library to support it.

another interesting thing the article points out is that Valve is working on a console, and it's probably going o be lynix based.

the comments section quickly devolves into a war over the potential of this "Steambox" I made my own argument in those comments somewhere

My Argument: ShowHide
Quote from: Ryexander's reply:
"Steam is a distribution powerhouse due to the relative ease of taking games that have already been ported to PC (or developed for PC). It requires very little additional development to actually make a game that runs on PC work with Steam on PC." ~ 5yrup

Your a bit off there. while it is true that getting a PC game built for PC to run in steam is cake that is NOT what made Steam the powerhouse it is today.
the honer for that award goes to Steam itself. Steam is a complacently original distribution platform. the fact that users can manage their entire library of games with out even having them installed on their computer. the fact that the never have to go to the store to but a dick to install a game.
THATS what brought the initial users.
but what brought the developers? the ease of distributing their games. suddenly you don't have to pay manufacturing costs or shipping costs or retailer fees for distributing the install disk for your game. a game release on steam has a significantly higher profit margin than a game distributed via disk to play on a console. Whats more they didn't have to give a thought to piracy as the launching of games is tied to a users account. This brought more developers to release via steam which in turn brought more users which brought more developers to target the growing audience. THAT'S how Steam cornered the PC gaming market, they made an appealing platform for both their users and the developers.

"So what does the Steambox offer that will get people to play it instead of the other consoles? " ~ 5yrup

and a good pair question


What does the Steambox have that will get developers to want to target it?

Well, the answer to both questions is Steam.
apart form not costing 50$ a year, both developers and users have an appealing platform to sell and buy with and integrated community
The answer to why the Steambox has a lot of potential can be found in similar stories like Android. the open platform and ease of developer distribution is fast kicking out the IOS and taking it's own share of the market the Parnell isn't perfect but the core ideas are the same.

"Oh but other platforms have digital distributions too!" ~Someone will ask

Can you honestly say that those platform even get close to the ease of using steam? Steam did it first, They did it best. and they will continues to improve it so it STAYS the best
As for all the other points made, about media streaming ect. How other platforms also have digital distribution ect

TL;DR the major selling points of a Steambox in order of importance
1) I has Steam (and don't underestimate just how big of a selling point that will be)
2) It will more than likely be an open platform



what are your thoughts?


Quoted for preservation

Ryex

there, I edited it. you happy?
I no longer keep up with posts in the forum very well. If you have a question or comment, about my work, or in general I welcome PM's. if you make a post in one of my threads and I don't reply with in a day or two feel free to PM me and point it out to me.<br /><br />DropBox, the best free file syncing service there is.<br />

Holyrapid

My thoughts are that this is great! I think i will be either fully or almost fully switching to Linux instead of Windows once they get Steam and the games to run well on Linux.
The main reason i've stayed on Windows platforms is the games... Other software either has a Linux version or an equivalent. There are many office software out there, such as OpenOffice etc.
And if the need be to use something Windows only, i can either leave windows as a side installation, or virtualize it if i need it so little that it's almost pointless to have a side installation.
I have began to slightly dabble into Linux via a virtualized Ubuntu...

Ryex

December 27, 2012, 06:29:10 pm #5 Last Edit: December 27, 2012, 06:47:07 pm by Ryex
What I think is reall good about this is that it will be a huge incentive for people like AMD and nivida to finally write good drivers for lynix
I no longer keep up with posts in the forum very well. If you have a question or comment, about my work, or in general I welcome PM's. if you make a post in one of my threads and I don't reply with in a day or two feel free to PM me and point it out to me.<br /><br />DropBox, the best free file syncing service there is.<br />