Steam Big Picture

[Keven]

Wow, as discussed, it's been unveiled.

http://store.steampowered.com/bigpicture/



I watched their little YouTube video/trailer. Some interesting lines:

"You can bring a keyboard and mouse if you want, but it's been designed with a controller in mind. You can even type with a controller."

"And it has a web browser for TVs that don't suck." (nice dig at PS3's shitty web browser)

Seems cool. But, I like my desk and keyboard and mouse, thank you.

[modru2004]

i see the potential but it doesn't help when you have to play certain games on other digital delivery systems *cough*origin*cough*.

the ideal solution is an operating system ie: windows that will provide a friendly environment that could be navigated with a controller or remote that you could then launch steam or origin.

the idea is cool, but theres alot of things that would have to fall into place for this to be practical.

[Keven]

i see the potential but it doesn't help when you have to play certain games on other digital delivery systems *cough*origin*cough*.

the ideal solution is an operating system ie: windows that will provide a friendly environment that could be navigated with a controller or remote that you could then launch steam or origin.

the idea is cool, but theres alot of things that would have to fall into place for this to be practical.

I guess the answer to that would be Windows 8 and its Metro UI or whatever they're calling it now. It's supposed to be for tablets but I guess it could kinda work for big TVs, although somebody told me that it in the Developer Release Candidate, USB controllers (including the Xbox 360/PC controller) don't manipulate the Metro UI so they would have to patch it in.

[Activate: AMD]

I like the idea, but my htpc is currently down so I don't have anything hooked up to a PC to test it

[Keven]

I like the idea, but my htpc is currently down so I don't have anything hooked up to a PC to test it

Would you want to play games on your HTPC? I mean, does it have the hardware to play games at a good resolution and with anti-aliasing and all that stuff?

I guess if I wanted to play games on the TV, I would want the big hardware. Then you'd have to have a full tower ATX case next to the TV, which would be kinda silly.

[Activate: AMD]

no, my HTPC is currently a tiny mITX E-350 based system, which doesn't have enough juice to do much of anything at 1080p. I'm definitely not going to be trying to play any hardcore games on it anyway, so it'd be more like casual indie titles that would be suitable to big-screen controller based gaming. They typically don't have stringent requirements. Still, I have a non-low profile HTPC case that I used to run a mATX HTPC system in that would have no problem accommodating something powerful enough to run something at 1080p with medium quality. Even my laptop with HD3000 gpu can do things at native res with low quality. Maybe by the time Haswell comes out we'll see an iGPU capable of doing 1080p in a very small HTPC form factor.

And while we're on the subject, you don't need "big hardware" to do 1080p with decent quality anyway. mITX cases can handle stuff in the GTX 560-660 range no problem as long as you choose the right one

[Keven]

no, my HTPC is currently a tiny mITX E-350 based system, which doesn't have enough juice to do much of anything at 1080p. I'm definitely not going to be trying to play any hardcore games on it anyway, so it'd be more like casual indie titles that would be suitable to big-screen controller based gaming. They typically don't have stringent requirements. Still, I have a non-low profile HTPC case that I used to run a mATX HTPC system in that would have no problem accommodating something powerful enough to run something at 1080p with medium quality. Even my laptop with HD3000 gpu can do things at native res with low quality. Maybe by the time Haswell comes out we'll see an iGPU capable of doing 1080p in a very small HTPC form factor.

And while we're on the subject, you don't need "big hardware" to do 1080p with decent quality anyway. mITX cases can handle stuff in the GTX 560-660 range no problem as long as you choose the right one

A low profile 560? Wouldn't want to play Witcher 2 or BF3 on that. I guess casual gaming wouldn't be bad.

[Activate: AMD]

A low profile 560? Wouldn't want to play Witcher 2 or BF3 on that. I guess casual gaming wouldn't be bad.

not all mini ITX cases are low profile. There are people who stuff 680's into mini ITX cases. Plus, a GTX 560 is perfectly capable of running BF3 at 1080p. Don't expect MSAA, but mostly high settings were in the realm of possibility even on my old 460

Anyway, this isn't a debate about the hardware. The Engadget review of Big Picture mode brought up some rough edges. Namely, dialogue boxes that need to be closed with a mouse. Definitely breaks the immersion if you're attempting to use with a controller. I'm sure it'll be polished up in the future

[sn00zie]

there are only a subset of games that you'd wanna play on your TV.... all the ones on steam that say "controller enabled" and work flawlessly with the 360 controller.

other then that its back to the keyboard and mouse on the computer.

This is exactly how I have always used steam... all the controller games are installed on my HTPC (yes it has hardware) and everything else is upstairs on the other computer.

keyboard and mouse games suck with a controller and controller games suck with keyboard and mouse.

I don't wanna use a keyboard and mouse at my TV the same way I don't wanna use a controller at my computer.

ALSO i REALLY REALLY REALLY steam would create a search option for "controller enabled" games... would make finding couch potato stuff much easier.

[Keven]

Did anybody try this yet?

I've heard the Xbox 360 controller is kinda buggy with this new interface. Obviously, it's still in beta. But, not finished yet.