Linux gaming is here. I haven’t run Windows in 3+ years at this point. The world has changed.
I’m more intrigued by how they’re now also running x86 code on ARM at a playable level.
Why a new Steam Machine when the first ones flopped? Because this time, Valve say, it'll actually have games
Submitted 12 hours ago by ZippyBot@lemmy.zip [bot] to gaming@lemmy.zip
Comments
circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 6 hours ago
how they’re now also running x86 code on ARM at a playable level
The answer is that they arent…
At least not most games. It doesnt even have active cooling. The most you will be able to play on device will be phone games basically. But that is not the point, the thing comes with a custom wireless adapter to stream video from your computer to the headset, so primarily the processing will happen on the computer / steam machine.circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
The answer is that they arent…
But they are: tomshardware.com/…/hands-on-with-valves-new-steam…
You have the choice of streaming to Frame or running games directly on the device. If the latter, they’re utilizing FEX as the ARM translation layer.
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 hours ago
Theres a few simple reasons that this steam machine is better:
- Game support: Proton plus significantly more native games
- Linux is significantly more mature than it was a decade ago (wayland + pipewire + advances in KDE)
- The controller is significantly less opinionated (full dpad plus two analog sticks)
- The Steam ecosystem and PC gaming as a whole is significantly more mature than it was a decade ago (more games support controllers, steaminput has advanced, and PC game ports are for the most part better than they were during 2015)
- This machine actually ships SteamOS and is made by Valve, other companies will make their own Steam Machines later on but this one is the gold standard set by Valve. In this sense Valve has the capacity to demand quality from OEMs rather than OEMs being able to make any demands out of Valve like before.
- Quite frankly as bad as the Xbox One/PS4 were they had significantly more games for a lot less money than the Xbox Series or the PS5, competition is simply weaker
PoorYorick@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Still think they missed a step by not calling it the “companion cube”.
FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
The GabeCube.
the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
It has a removable face, just print a companion cube on it.
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 7 hours ago
Thank God for that, because after seeing it's ventilation setup, I'm gonna have to drill holes in that front panel. XD
deliriousdreams@fedia.io 8 hours ago
I'm actually hoping to buy one and then see if dbrand or similar sells a companion cube set of vinyl appliques for it. Although I do think the 3D printed faceplates would be much better quality.
gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Yea people would buy it just for the meme clout. It would be a fun game prop if it actually looked like one. If the system flopped at least you have a fun paper weight.
ragepaw@lemmy.ca 10 hours ago
It’s not too late!
Shirasho@lemmings.world 11 hours ago
"Developers were kind of stuck between the equation of ‘Do I want to do a bunch of work to port my game? But there’s not an audience for it that justifies this work yet.’ So it was a little bit of a bootstrapping problem.
While Proton is an amazing technology I think it will also be a crutch and an excuse to not make native ports. Proton brought gaming to Linux, but it will also hold games on Linux back for decades.
tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 11 hours ago
I half agree. The more we get the masses away from windows and macOS the more likely they’ll be included in the dev process.
tea@lemmy.today 11 hours ago
Performance and playability on Linux are effectively solved by Proton; therefore, the effort required to maintain a native Linux build is an unnecessary and inefficient use of development resources, especially for smaller studios. “Holding games back” on Linux feels like a semantic distinction if we’re moving to a world where every PC game is playable on Linux.
(this assumption relies on Linux marketshare growing and the remaining games that don’t support Proton due to anti-cheat software eventually are pressured to support playing on Linux, even if they don’t build a native linux port)
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
Relying on Proton just offloads development/optimization to the community instead of the actual developers getting paid to develop it. Sure it’s cool the game runs better. But like pay people to do that.
rafoix@lemmy.zip 10 hours ago
It’s a crutch until it isn’t. I’m guessing that the majority of Machine buyers won’t install windows on it.
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 10 hours ago
If there’s a safe subset of the Windows API defined as a virtual machine for gaming on x86-64 machines, and running with next to no overhead on Linux, does it really matter that the binaries are PE-COFF . EXE files assuming their world to have DirectX rendering and drive letters rather than POSIX?
Faydaikin@beehaw.org 11 hours ago
As SteamOS is Linux, it’s a matter of the Steam Machine actually competing with PS and Xbox. If it sells enough, it’d be a logical step to start porting directly to it instead of relying on Proton. But then again, logic isn’t always developers or publishers forte.
lectricleopard@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Im upvoting as this is a valid concern imo.
However, all it’ll take is one studio to find an angle to leverage native linux support in a way that shows its value. What value? I dont know, Im not in that space. But there is a big push from valve here to show devs that this isnt the token effort is was last time, and any effort they put into such a project won’t be wasted.
We just need the killer app, and valve is holding open the space for someone to make it, for now.
tea@lemmy.today 5 hours ago
We just need the killer app, and valve is holding open the space for someone to make it, for now.
The killer app is already there and it’s Steam and it’s massive library.
Sure, previously Steam has had Steam Link or having a computer connected to your TV, but frankly it just was never going to be a mainstream option. Too much finickiness, it locks up your PC in the other room, sound and controllers are wonky, etc. Local compute on the hardware under your TV is what console gamers are comfortable with and having a PC that isn’t giant and butt-ugly in the living room is a huge hurdle. This hardware, assuming it delivers, is priced right, is a potential console killer.
JiveTurkey@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Linux ports are more common now than they ever have been. I think you might be off base with this take.
bizarroland@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Agreed. Saying that just because an application layer that allows it to run on Linux exists will prevent developers from simply exporting the game and making the few critical changes necessary in order to make it work on Linux natively are two entirely different things.
The developers that export their games to run on Linux natively will likely have a higher sales rate for their Linux users, as us, the users, will know that the developer cares enough to do the proper export, and therefore we are likely to have some level of support should something go awry.
Whereas with proton, we have to rely on community notes in order to solve incompatibility issues, which can be a major hurdle for the less technologically inclined, AKA the majority of computer users
deliriousdreams@fedia.io 8 hours ago
They never really release a steam machine the first time. They were all windows PC's that had decent specs for the footprint that the things were, and ran steam in big picture mode. The experience wasn't bad but it didn't give you anything a "non-steam machine" gaming PC that you could build yourself didn't give you at the time, and building a PC yourself was both affordable and very much could provide a better product/experience.
I think it's unfair to say they flopped the first time when it came down to PC vendors not really shipping them with steam OS because at the time it was not ready yet. It's fairer to say steam OS flopped back then and the hardware didn't sell as well as it could have as a result of them being sold almost entirely as windows PC's.
At the time I fully remember (because I bought an Alienware Alpha for like $350) that there was supposed to be an option to buy a steam OS variant that never really materialized. Never saw it anywhere but in press articles and reviews.
I had the windows variant. There were some drawbacks: had to provide my own keyboard and mouse), the controller that came with mine was one of the old school XBOX 360 controllers, windows 8, and big picture mode sometimes not allowing me to leave it to return to the desktop. But all in all my experience with it was pretty good. Certainly comparable to the gaming PC I had built and owned before it (in that it ran the games I wanted to play, which were games of that time period at a decent frame rate and quality).
DarkCloud@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
The fact I have to ask what is is - is not a good sign. Is it a VR geadset system? Does it stream video? Is it a console? Is any of it portable, which parts? Mains power or rechargeable?
Huh?
Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
I don’t get your point. You could ask the same questions about any other hardware, including Playstation and specially Xbox.
TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
This is a teaser. It’s not meant to answer all those questions (although the full hardware page does answer a lot). It’s to get you thinking and talking about it. More details will come, but they haven’t even announced an order date and deliver is still “early 2026”.
unmagical@lemmy.ml 9 hours ago
Here’s the product page if you want to learn about it.
It’s a computer with an accessible OS that you can do whatever you want to it which happens to be optimised for gaming, but can also stream.
llii@discuss.tchncs.de 10 hours ago
The steam machine is a small PC with Steam OS (The same that runs on the Steam Deck).
artyom@piefed.social 12 hours ago
I mean the obvious answer is Proton
sidebro@lemmy.zip 11 hours ago
And SteamOS to some extent, is much more refined
kn33@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
And this is made by Valve, not third parties.