Steam Big Picture

Valve are awesome. Given that recently they stated they were worried about the effect Windows 8 would have on the gaming market this seems like a good step to counteract that and help them stay ahead.

 

Can someone clarify two things for me?

What is this 'big picture' thing exactly? I did read the link but I'm still confused.

And how does Win8 affect gaming? I know that some really really really old games don't work any more, but I can't think why Win8 would cause problems, unless I'm missing something here?

 

Steam did it, in the living room, with a controller.

 

Valve seem to be of the opinion that Windows 8 will restrict the openess of the PC system that allows many manufacturers freedom to create and profit within a free market. If what Valve say is true, Microsoft is trying to pull a leaf out of Apple's book and limit its own software in an attempt to control the market for itself. Monopolising the market is not a good thing and should not be tolerated

 

What I'm seeing from that is speculation that people might not use Steam because Microsoft is tying all its products together. As a 360 gamer it seems like good news if it makes 360 gaming better and easier, but I'll not give up Steam either. I buy Sims 3 stuff through Origin and that hasn't made me stop using Steam.

To put it in perspective a little, before Apple switched to x86 and x64 chips the games available were few and far between. They were also out considerably later and at a much greater cost. There are also restrictions on what Apple will let you run MacOS on (a Mac) and what software you can run natively on their Macs (MacOS). OK, so Bootcamp changed the latter a little, but I don't think this will be anything as bad as what Valve think it will be.

What's also worth noting is this: On versions of Windows 8 designed to run on ARM-based chips, it will be the only way to get downloadable software such as games.

As far as I know, the only devices to use ARM based chips and Windows 8 will be the new Surface tablet. It'll have a full physical keyboard and ports for a mouse, but a gaming machine it is not. I'd probably play Solitaire on it and nothing more. Considering the size of games these days and the limited capacity of tablets, you can't exactly fit many games on a tablet.

I think an 360 player will go with the Windows Store thingumy if they didn't use Steam already, a PS3 player already has Steam integration so that's obvious. But someone who's new to gaming and has no loyalties? I think they'll go with the proven best, which has been Steam so far. Don't get me wrong, monopolising a market is bad, but I don't think that will happen here. If I'm wrong then I'll eat a Win8 installation disk.

 

I'm not really sure what Valve's objection to W8 is. I mean, if its the level of control, why is there a steam client for OSX, and a pretty fair number of games? It's not like Apple is such a titan in the gaming industry that you can't just ignore it.

Anyway, played around with this abit today. Given the emphasis on the controller and the eventual boot straight to steam from startup option I think it's obviously the first step towards a Steam set top box. It's not really much of an improvement if you're using a keyboard and mouse, but it sure works very well with a controller. It's nice for a laptop running games, too-all you need (for most of the games I have) is a 360 for PC controller.