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    Valve Details Initial Steambox Hardware Partners

    Discussion in 'Notebook News and Reviews' started by Michael Wall, Jan 7, 2014.

  1. Michael Wall

    Michael Wall Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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  2. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    Doesn't sound to me like they're pursuing the idea of standardized tiers of hardware that would allow developers to optimize for particular hardware configurations. When SteamMachines were first announced, they seemed to be promising the best of both worlds of PCs and consoles. Now they seem to be basically small-form-factor PCs running Linux, with little or nothing console-y about them.
     
  3. Michael Wall

    Michael Wall Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    Yeah I agree. Currently the only restrictions are 1) That they run Steam OS and 2) use a Steam controller. At this point there is little reason to consider purchasing a Steambox over a traditional gaming PC.
     
  4. J.R. Nelson

    J.R. Nelson Minister of Awesome

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    It's a chicken and egg scenario. Theoretically they can customize the OS to an extent to get better performance than under Windows, and without forcing gamers to pay for a Windows license. Their hope is that this will blossom into a pretty robust gaming environment - right now, yeah, it's hard to see the appeal over a more traditional box, but we have to start somewhere.