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Valve delays Steam Machine launch until 2015

by Mark Tyson on 28 May 2014, 11:30

Tags: Valve, PC

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Valve's product designer Eric Hope has written on the Steam official blog announcing that Valve will be pushing back its Steam Machine platform launch until sometime in 2015. This represents a delay of several months.

Controller contortions

To keep those who have been following the development of the new PC gaming platform in the loop, Valve has given an update on the console's status and it would seem that the team is still not happy with the development of its touch-pad Steam controller.

"We're now using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests, with everyone from industry professionals to die-hard gamers to casual gamers," said Hope in the post. "It's generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we'll be able to make the controller a lot better."

It would appear that Valve will only release its Steam Machine if and when it thinks it's ready. Whilst such improvement will take some time, we think it's essential for Valve to get the hardware right in order to wow fans right from launch day, or its reputation could be tarnished worse than by any delay. It is important that Valve can successfully replace the desktop keyboard and mouse experience with a console style controller at the core of the living room experience, a task which is undoubtedly difficult to achieve.

Still on the horizon...

Partners must hold fire

Hardware partners such as Dell's Alienware division boss, who recently appeared to be rather pessimistic about the Steam Machine's capacity to generate it any income, might be feeling even more negative thanks to this delay. However Valve must have weighed up such partnership considerations before delaying the launch. In the meantime it will gain as much information from beta testing as possible, in order to get the best gaming experience possible from its controller, before launch.

Valve says that it will continue to post updates on this project regularly and as soon as more information surfaces, we will be sure to update you with it.



HEXUS Forums :: 11 Comments

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This should also mean the ability to use Broadwell and a newer generation of graphics cards = better thermals / processing power = smaller cheaper hardware perhaps…
I really couldn't give 2 hoots about the controller. I'll be sticking with keyboard and mouse for the foreseeable future, but then I'm one of those old stick-in-the-mud PC gamer snobs. I like my fast-paced, twitch shooters, and you simply cannot play them with a controller to anything like the same level as with a mouse and keyboard.
Roobubba
I really couldn't give 2 hoots about the controller. I'll be sticking with keyboard and mouse for the foreseeable future, but then I'm one of those old stick-in-the-mud PC gamer snobs. I like my fast-paced, twitch shooters, and you simply cannot play them with a controller to anything like the same level as with a mouse and keyboard.

And you're exactly the sort of person this is not aimed at :)

They must get the controller right, it is the one thing that stops PC gaming hitting the couch and big screen in peoples homes. Gutted it's delayed though, assuming I could buy a controller separately that is.
Roobubba
I really couldn't give 2 hoots about the controller. I'll be sticking with keyboard and mouse for the foreseeable future, but then I'm one of those old stick-in-the-mud PC gamer snobs. I like my fast-paced, twitch shooters, and you simply cannot play them with a controller to anything like the same level as with a mouse and keyboard.
Horses for courses time imho. There's some games where you just need the precision of a mouse, (keyboard is a bit more arguable for me). On the other side there's others that just feel “wrong” without a controller.
I'm playing Wolfenstein:NewOrder at the moment with kbd+mouse and there's some occasions where I'm in “finger spider” territory (where you end up having to press umpteen different keys to get a particular action AND operate the mouse at the same time).
For the other viewpoint I was playing Just Cause 2 at the weekend, and my XBox (for PC) controller definitely makes it a lot easier to “get into” that game. Keyboard controls for driving etc just feel utterly clunky.

Like jimbouk, I'd assumed that the controller wasn't going to be a SteamBox exclusive. Then again, if I can use my XBox/PC controller then I'm not so bothered about a dedicated Valve controller. Props to Valve for being brave enough to say “this isn't right yet, so we're delaying”. Downside is that there'll undoubtedly be a lot of press saying “SteamOS is dead, go buy Windows”.
jimbouk
And you're exactly the sort of person this is not aimed at :)

….
Me too.

Given the anticipated hardware requirements, If I'm buying a “PC” with that sort of price tag, I expect it to be a LOT more than a glorified console, and a whole lot less locked in.

Add, of course, I never have and never will buy any game that requires Steam. Ever.

I suspect that makes me the perfect example of who it's not aimed at.

A PC that is open and I can do what I wish with, yes. A console tightly targeted at gaming, yes. A Steam hybrid, hell no.

YMMV …. and probably will.