Comments on: Valve Explains Steam Streaming

By: Brandon Fenty

Brandon Fenty — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:17:00 +0000

I think their overall strategy here is to get the Steam OS up and running for a lot of people, and then once it is a widely used and accepted platform, more developers will sit up and take notice. One company, trying to make gaming work on Linux, isn’t going to work unless the demand is there. So they’re going to create the demand with a lot of low-cost linux gaming rigs that everyone has, creating a viable platform for developers to release content on. Everyone wins in this scenario, it just takes that initial catalyst.

By: RobertAnalog

RobertAnalog — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 07:22:00 +0000

I am definitely the opposite of an OS genius, but if getting games to work on linux was as easy as building some APIs, wouldn’t some programmers in the labyrinthine open-source world or Canonical have done that by now and linux wouldn’t have that problem?

techbiscuit below I think has it right: the issue is that the game companies would have to do get involved to make it happen still. Valve has more leverage over game companies than linux companies/groups currently, but that’s only because that leverage is greater than zero. Even if they get movement from game designers on recent and future games for this, it will take time to implement.

Streaming seems more like a short-term tactic to address library size while they try to work out a more permanent solution.

By: techbiscuit

techbiscuit — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 20:29:00 +0000

It’s not ideal that the computer playing the game (server) will be unusable while streaming to the computer playing (client). Though, it’s understandable to the point that you don’t want someone else logging onto the server and running some other programs that will bring your game to a crawl.

I don’t agree that an API for easy porting would have been better. A small selection of companies would probably bother to go back and port the games. This is an immediate tool that can be used to play anything. Sure, there might be a bit of input/display lag, but if you cared much about that you’d probably be playing on the server instead of the client.

Also, the client won’t always have the power of the server. I know my laptop couldn’t play Skyrim, but my main computer can. My main computer is currently hooked up to the TV. It would be great to have the option of playing a game on my laptop while someone is watching a movie from the Blu-Ray player. Or, to play from my room, if I want to chat with friends in a quieter space while playing.

Being able to switch devices I’m playing from would also be amazing… Using my example, if I were playing a game on the TV when someone wants to watch a movie… No problem! Just hop onto my laptop and keep playing.