Could Xbox become the ultimate steam machine?

[Fightaa]

New Xbox One Experience (NXOE)

Could Xbox become the ultimate steam machine?
IMO, with various input devices, steam-app, etc. it should be possible to use your game library on XB1..? Or am I wrong? What are your thoughts?

 

[Keith Wallace]

Not unless they put new hardware in the consoles. You'd also need Valve (who isn't big on MS) and all of the game publishers (who want to keep their overpriced digital market going) to agree to the move. You'd also need MS to agree to have Steam come wreck its sky-high pricing policy.

THEN you go to worrying about architectural issues, which might not mean much on an x86 console.

 

[Mercule]

I'm on the cusp of buying a PS4 -- probably as a family Christmas present. If the Windows 10 update for XBox allows me to play my Steam games on the XBox, it's a game changer for both the XBox and Steam. I'm already slightly invested in the Sony space, and my friends have already upgraded to PS4, so I have some ability to network and share games, which pushes me towards a PS4.

I don't get much on Steam, anymore, because I don't want to play action games on my PC. I play Civilization on my Surface, but otherwise do most of my gaming from the console. With the frequent sales on Steam, I'd probably be prompted to increase my gaming budget and spend more of it on Steam, if I could play them in the living room. I don't want to get a Steam Machine, though, because 1) I don't have faith that the first gen won't feel a bit beta and 2) I still want to be in the "console first" space (i.e. walk into Target and buy a disk, get a used disk, etc.).

 

[Fightaa]

there seem to be some rumours about Steam on Xbox:
reddit.com/r/Games/comments/45lbw2/steam_now_has_a_subdomain_of_xboxsteampoweredcom/

 

[Lord Method Man]

Hardware isn't an issue. I just want a Steam app for in-home streaming.

 

[Keith Wallace]

Hardware isn't an issue. I just want a Steam app for in-home streaming.

It wouldn't be a problem if your reality came true, that the XB1 could just be a Steam Link of sorts, but I don't see any way it can work out well. There are two troublesome realities that could arise:

1. Steam players on Xbox get wrecked by PC players using a mouse and keyboard.
2. Developers have to pick and choose when/if to support mouse and keyboard on XB1, and run the risk of getting mouse and keyboard users into console multiplayer, which would similarly kill competitive balance.

Beyond all of that, I don't see it happening because Microsoft won't want it to. Could they really want to lose sales revenue to Steam on console? Valve won't let Microsoft release some stripped-down Steam that blocks XB1 titles from showing up. If Microsoft's got Watch_Dogs at $40 on the Xbox Store, and an XB1 Steam store has it at $20, are you going to pick the XB1 copy? Unlikely, and Steam sales re probably the biggest hurdle involved with such a marriage.

 

[TechFreak1]

1. Steam players on Xbox get wrecked by PC players using a mouse and keyboard.
2. Developers have to pick and choose when/if to support mouse and keyboard on XB1, and run the risk of getting mouse and keyboard users into console multiplayer, which would similarly kill competitive balance.

1) Steam on xbox one is not going to happen. As you already stated, plus it makes cross buy and the xbox store defunct.

2) Developers need to provide match making rules for the multiplayer lobby, that is all. Users can choose if they want to play solely against mouse and keyboard players, mixed or just controllers. The second layer would be booting players who switch peripherals mid match or just after the match begins (unless it's a mixed lobby) so no going to controller only lobby then plugging in the keyboard and mouse presuming they figure away around the peripheral lock down (match is locked to the peripheral you started with).

 

[Keith Wallace]

1) Steam on xbox one is not going to happen. As you already stated, plus it makes cross buy and the xbox store defunct.

2) Developers need to provide match making rules for the multiplayer lobby, that is all. Users can choose if they want to play solely against mouse and keyboard players, mixed or just controllers. The second layer would be booting players who switch peripherals mid match or just after the match begins (unless it's a mixed lobby) so no going to controller only lobby then plugging in the keyboard and mouse presuming they figure away around the peripheral lock down (match is locked to the peripheral you started with).

1. Pretty much.

2. If there's anything I learned, it's to never underestimate the ingenuity of people, especially cheaters. After YEARS, WoW still can't purge the cheaters in its battlegrounds, for example. We've seen plenty of input converters on the market, things allowing keyboards to work on consoles, or controllers to work on platforms other than the ones they were designed for. What's more, with a PC, you can have multiple types of devices plugged in, so how does the system react to that? What if you've got both plugged in, but want to use the controller, but while in the controller lobby, you bump your desk and the mouse moves? Do you boot someone over that? Do people REALLY have to unplug and plug in peripherals when going into and out of games? There are too many variables, and I think the actions of questionable PC gamers partially influence the design of the XB1 as it is (locking down the HDD and using a different file format to make cracking console games harder).

 

[TechFreak1]

1. Pretty much.

2. If there's anything I learned, it's to never underestimate the ingenuity of people, especially cheaters. After YEARS, WoW still can't purge the cheaters in its battlegrounds, for example. We've seen plenty of input converters on the market, things allowing keyboards to work on consoles, or controllers to work on platforms other than the ones they were designed for. What's more, with a PC, you can have multiple types of devices plugged in, so how does the system react to that? What if you've got both plugged in, but want to use the controller, but while in the controller lobby, you bump your desk and the mouse moves? Do you boot someone over that? Do people REALLY have to unplug and plug in peripherals when going into and out of games? There are too many variables, and I think the actions of questionable PC gamers partially influence the design of the XB1 as it is (locking down the HDD and using a different file format to make cracking console games harder).

2) That is true, I didn't want to give any one any ideas :winktongue: so just left it as "switching peripherals" but you've understood what I meant. Booting someone over mouse movement is far too draconian and I agree there are far too many variables. By the time you've tried to address all these said variables you will end up with a system that is both complex and clunky.

The key here is to keep it simple which will work for majority of the users, but of course if someone is persistent in trying to cheat they will always find away (for instance using a memory logger to identify hooks for a cheat table - that would be rather difficult to detect unless you employ a ridiculously draconian method thus risk losing users from the DRM backlash - there is no win-win here but just a grey middle ground imo).

The PC landscape will remain what it is an open platform, there is no way you will get around that.