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No. 181032
We were using the Summer Sale thread to discuss it, but at this point it makes sense.
Quick link to those wanting to see their progress on the Steam Hardware Beta Candidate badge: http://steamcommunity.com/my/badges/15
The Steam universe group has a stickied thread with thousands of posts for people unable to get 10 friends. Kinda sad, really.
Anyway, I'm most interested in the controller, especially if the haptic feedback is any good. I also like having the buttons on the underside, because for YEARS I've wondered why no one has tried that since the N64. Considering how much focus they put on the trackpads, I would have thought that a pressure-sensitive trigger like the Gamecube had would make sense, too, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. The buttons need serious improvement, though, especially the lower bar for easier reach.
Even if the whole exercise fails, you can bet that a lot of the tech from the controller will find its way into the next next gen consoles. Probably see it used on some laptops, too.
As for the Steam Machine (which is a far better term than SteamBox), I'm betting they'll do two major things to convince devs to code for Linux: 1) While it can be any configuration of hardware (I guess?) they'll have a simple rating system to know min-specs. Say a 1-5 scale, and it's rolling so each year (as new hardware comes out) the scale moves down one, so you'd have 2013 5 becomes 2014 4 becomes 2015 3 etc. Or just have two-three tiers per year and treat them like versions. "Supports Windows 9 or higher, Mac OS X-2 or higher, Steam Machine Module 12 or higher" This makes it easier for devs to target hardware instead of having to test a bazillion different configurations and cards, and easier for more casual game consumers to know if their SteamMachine can run it or not. 2) Increase the amount of money the publisher/devs take home if they do a simultaneous release for Windows and for SteamOS.
SteamOS will likely have a number of finely-tuned graphics libraries that can now be heavily relied upon that wouldn't otherwise appear in Linux or be a default part of the installation. Essentially creating a framework in addition to an operating system.
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