• TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyzEnglish
      4·
      35 minutes ago

      It’s built like an extra beefy gaming laptop. Many people have no interest in replacing PC parts, they just want something that works (like a console). If you want a tiny desktop with a graphics card you can build your own, and you probably already have one.

  • Viirax@piefed.socialEnglish
    12·
    4 hours ago

    Finally, another worthwhile controller with symmetrical sticks. Now to find out how to get my hands on one…

      • Viirax@piefed.socialEnglish
        4·
        1 hour ago

        I did notice that in this picture, but I don’t think it actually is. Pretty sure this is from the “animation” where the puck with the USB cable is put under the controller to charge, and not with the USB cable connected to the controller. From what I see though it should all be centered, even the puck and charging pins, so not sure why they made it off-center here

  • Kyden Fumofly@lemmy.worldEnglish
    161·
    4 hours ago

    Since the Steam Machine is more like an entry PC and not a console (and will be priced as that), does that mean that SteamOS for desktop will be officially supported?

    • Zetta@mander.xyzEnglish
      3·
      36 minutes ago

      In their announcement video, they specifically called out that you can install whatever software you want and showed somebody working on CAD. So, yeah, definitely.

  • CosmoNova@lemmy.worldEnglish
    273·
    6 hours ago

    Not gonna lie the controller looks ass but maybe it feels fantastic so I‘ll wait with my final judgement. I‘m interested to see how they will try to push VR since most users are still incredibly uninterested in it.

    • nialv7@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 hour ago

      It’s basically steam deck minus the screen. If you are used to the steam deck it’ll be fine.

    • D_C@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      52·
      3 hours ago

      The first controller looked the same, but was very good to use once you got used to it. The build quality, though, was…fucking terrible.

      I had to fix my controllers so many times that in the end I was swapping them out almost weekly. Still, felt great in the hand.

      • titanicx@lemmy.zipEnglish
        2·
        18 minutes ago

        I have the first controller, just dug it out the other day because I thought I was going to be able to use it on my new tablet, it still sucks. I never could get used to it, but it’s a far sight better looking then this thing.

      • Nalivai@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        20 minutes ago

        It might be you just got unlucky. Mine is still going strong all this years, and I use it often.

    • explodicle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      18·
      6 hours ago

      I’ve wanted to get into VR for the longest time but they all seemed like extremely walled gardens. This sounds awesome to me.

      • Ftumch@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        2 hours ago

        I’ve got a Meta Quest 2 as a hand-me-down and yes, it’s extremely locked down. It’s possible to use a third-party app store, but to make it work you have to get a developer account with Meta and enable wireless debugging.

      • Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        71·
        5 hours ago

        For most of my life VR has been, ‘VR is a great way to experience shitty games and you just have to pay a grand or more for this interactive tummy ache, and your unit may not be supported next year! Buy!’

        I’m going to hold out until I can pick up one of these at the pawn shop for a bill.

        • zqps@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          12·
          4 hours ago

          I got an Index for cheap last year and was very excited to play a number of my favorite games with optional VR mode. Turns out:

          1. the Index ecosystem is more accessible than expected. 2) the games I was looking forward to all played like ass and made VR seem like a stupid gimmick. 3) In a desperate move that felt like sunk cost fallacy, I tried several VR-only games, and got TOTALLY hooked on modded Beatsaber. This itself made the buy-in worth it.
          • TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyzEnglish
            4·
            28 minutes ago

            VR-only games

            For the most part VR “ports” of traditional games are not worth buying. The developers usually put 0 effort into them. There are exceptions like sim racing titles, but for the most part games developed specifically for VR will be way better designed

        • utopiah@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          5 hours ago

          ‘VR is a great way to experience shitty games

          Have you tried Half-life: Alyx?

          I recommend you give that, or something equivalent, a go without even buying any hardware. Either ask a friend or go to an arcade. You don’t need to shell out a grand to try.

          If you hate it, move on.

        • Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          5·
          5 hours ago

          Edit! I’m a 90s kid, and I’m really disappointed that VR hasn’t taken off the way scifi suggested it would. Back then, being absorbed in pure information sounded awesome, but now it is just going the way of 24/7 misinformation advertisements and micro transactions.

          I’ll hold off on VR until there is a decent open source unit that isnt $800.

          • whaleross@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            3 hours ago

            I remember trying the first VR headset game 1990 that ran on a Commodore Amiga in like 7 fps and was terrible in every way.

            • Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              4·
              2 hours ago

              Yegods. My first foray into VR was at a high end arcade at North Pier in Chicago. I think the game was Dactyl. The headset was super heavy and none of the goals of the game were explained to me. I basically wandered around for five minutes, shooting green polygons in the sky, then time was up.

              Dad was pissed that he’d blown $20 on it.

              Edit: For historical reference, in the mid 90s $5 could keep your kids occupied at a regular arcade for a couple hours. $20 could have gotten us a couple of movie tickets and some Twizzlers.

              I’d of been angry too.

              • whaleross@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                2 hours ago

                I think that’s the same game I queued up for like 90 mins at a computer fair to have a few minutes of very confused playtime and that was it.

      • oopsgodisdeadmybad@lemmy.zipEnglish
        5·
        5 hours ago

        The problem is to really make an informed decision you have to try it first-hand. The sensory experience unlike any other device, so descriptions aren’t super helpful, video doesn’t convey what it’s actually like, so you really have to experience it to understand it.

        Also given how common it seems to be anecdotally to get sick from it, no one wants to jump in just to have to jump back out.

        And unless you know someone that already jumped in and can try theirs, a lot of people like me just don’t want to commit sight unseen. (I mean I’m also broke, but this would be true anyway)

        I don’t have a way to try it out, so until I do it’s not on my radar to care. I’m very curious about it. Even if I don’t like it I do really want to see what it’s like at least once. But I’m not gonna pay for that chance. It’s gotta impress me without effort on my part (more than driving to it anyway).

    • SeventySeven@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      5·
      5 hours ago

      Looks can be deceiving. Coming from someone who uses the steamdeck, that layout looks exactly how I hoped and imagined it would be. The steamdeck is incredibly comfortable to hold and this looks like it would be the same!

  • SabinStargem@lemmy.todayEnglish
    13·
    5 hours ago

    Hopefully, this means an official release of SteamOS Desktop. I want to switch away from Windows 11 IoT, if I can get a flavor of Linux with official backing from an 800lb gaming gorilla. While I can try out Bazzite or Cachy, I would prefer to have only one Linux for the rest of my PC’s life.

    Would have stuck with Windows, if it weren’t for the fact that Microsoft has been channeling the spirit of an overly controlling parent.

    • azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      1 hour ago

      They said there’s still a lot of work for them to do with SteamOS before it’s usable on all PCs. I wouldn’t hold my breath especially if you’re on NVIDIA, especially if it’s older than RTX-es. Besides, when SteamOS is ready for general public, the desktop Linux experience is elsewhere regardless of the distribution.

    • Kindness is Punk@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      2 hours ago

      Not what you asked for but as someone else who used W11 IOT as a daily driver, CachyOS is fantastic. It’s just Arch Linux with really strong gaming first additions.

      Haven’t had a hitch.

      • tb_@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        4 hours ago

        Those companies aren’t exactly releasing consumer-facing distro’s, though.

        • utopiah@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          4 hours ago

          True, but would one want to have a BigTech labels on their Linux distribution? Wouldn’t that kind of miss the point and bring us back to e.g. ChromeBooks?

          • tb_@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            4 hours ago

            Maybe. As it stands Valve is rather open with their implementation, but who’s to say it will remain indefinitely so.

            I do get the desire, though. I’ve gone to Bazzite and Fedora and – even though it’s a lot better than just a year ago – it still requires some commandline tweaking. It isn’t entirely smooth sailing yet.
            Will SteamOS be? I do have some doubts.

            • utopiah@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              4 hours ago

              FWIW been using SteamOS on the SteamDeck for ~3 years now and from gaming to tinkering, no major problems. Never had to tinker hard or re-install. A couple of time it didn’t suspend properly or I had to hold power button of to force a shutdown but that’s about it.

              I doubt Valve would back of from the openness because that’s their one single advantage.

              • tb_@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                48 minutes ago

                I doubt Valve would back of from the openness

                Not on the short term, but who knows. If SteamOS becomes a major player in the PC space, at a post-GabeN Valve–

                But that will take many more years, if ever it does happen. I do think it is a legitimate reason to be somewhat cautious.

                • utopiah@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  30 minutes ago

                  Right, better be safe than sorry. The important point though IMHO that with Proton and now FEX they have shown that compatibility layers are not that costly or complex :

                  • try to make it run
                  • nothing works
                  • note precisely what doesn’t, try a way
                  • one thing work and it’s slow as heck
                  • understand why
                  • 2 things now work, one of them is fast, the other slow
                  • rinse&repeat until it’s good enough to crowd source quality control to others

                  So… I don’t want to diminish how amazing that is, technically speaking, but we now all know it’s feasible. Initially it looks like supporting an entire OS architecture was ridiculous (and it was, emulation was just “good enough” for games that were some years old and for much more powerful machine) until somebody tried “just” swapping or fixing the right API (i.e. DirectX) and … that was actually OK.

                  Again, it’s a TON of work. A lot of it also comes from Wine. But… now we now why it works and how to do that. Even if Valve were to lock SteamOS, that knowledge wouldn’t be lost on the broader community.

                  PS: they briefly mention this during the Tested video (sorry YouTube only) on the new hardware.

  • oopsgodisdeadmybad@lemmy.zipEnglish
    5·
    5 hours ago

    I was a pretty big enjoyer of the design of the first Steam controller, so adding a second stick and keeping the touchpads sounds great. Also mine broke, I can’t remember exactly what gave out, but it was just destroyed, and using a touchpad for a second stick felt awkward af.

    I didn’t even mind the way it bent “backwards”, the fact that the stick and buttons were tiny, or its weird shape. Actually thinking about it, it was the right trigger that broke and just caved in, Spring broke, plastic tab snapped off, just basically a hole left there. I wasn’t about to attempt a repair, either. I don’t have the skill for that.

    Anyway, this looks nice. A lot of people seem to call it ugly, but I don’t get it. Sturdy and functional are a good look, so this looks great. And if it functions just as well as the Steam Deck controls, (and of course it will, since it’s basically the same parts except switching out magnetic sticks instead of regular ones)

    Here’s hoping the triggers are better on it. It’s definitely on my radar for next year.

  • MoonlitSanguine@lemmy.zipEnglish
    36·
    10 hours ago

    Hopefully the Frames can compete with the Meta Quest in both price/performance. It will be good to have relatively affordable VR headset not made by Facebook.

  • GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1482·
    13 hours ago

    The announcement did not include Copilot? No mention of 300 useless AI features being shoved down our throats??!

    It’s wild how by virtue of the fact that Valve isn’t a publicly traded company beholden to shareholders, the same Valve which has a history of putting out half-baked goods and which has an always-on DRM client called Steam, seems poised to surpass most of its competitors both in the user privacy and hardware hardware spaces with just straightforward products. They have a product to sell, and that’s it. They don’t need to micro-optimize for bullshit like seemingly every other large tech company does.

    • brachiosaurus@mander.xyzEnglish
      11·
      1 hour ago

      They need their products to be as clean as possible to hook people into microtransactions and their proprietary platform. Valve is a for profit company and the ceo owns a fleet of mega yachts

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2322·
      11 hours ago

      That’s because they make an insane amount of money by taking 30% of every sale on their platform, which nearly everyone uses because they’re a near monopoly and the alternatives are terrible. Around $3.5 Million per employee, nearly 5x the next highest company, which is Facebook at around $780,000 per employee.

      https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/valves-reported-profit-per-head-from-steam-commissions-is-out-there-and-at-usd3-5-million-per-employee-it-makes-apple-and-facebook-look-like-a-lemonade-stand/

      • CosmoNova@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        6 hours ago

        You‘re getting downvotes for no reason. Also anyone who ever had to contact Steam support felt how criminally understaffed they are so it makes sense they make tons of money per employee I guess.

      • ysjet@lemmy.worldEnglish
        491·
        10 hours ago

        I should note that 30% is incredibly standard in the industry, and Valve offers a LOT more for that 30% than literally any other digital publisher. Physical publishers take substantially more, and the only digital store that offers less is EGS, which is simultaneously absolute dogshite and also has been trying very, very hard to astroturd the ‘30%’ thing for ages.

        Nintendo, Sony, and Apple all take 30%. I think MS does as well, but don’t quote me on that one.

      • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        82·
        7 hours ago

        Around $3.5 Million per employee, nearly 5x the next highest company, which is Facebook at around $780,000 per employee.

        that’s a bullshit metric only useful to incite hatred. why the fuck do you want to say that valve is “this many times worse than facebook!”? it is obviously false.

        only thing this proves is that they have relatively few employees. which also probably means that most of them do real work instead of being overloaded with managers

        • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
          52·
          6 hours ago

          The numbers just show that they are 8x as efficient. I only referenced Facebook because they’re the next closest company for comparison.

          I never said they were worse than Facebook. That’s your assumption, reading what you want, not what’s actually being said.

            • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
              42·
              5 hours ago

              Which is also one of the reasons so few new things get done, and why they (until now) haven’t been able to count to 3.

              To get anything done you either have to be able to do it entirely by yourself which is unlikely, or get enough others organized and on board to make it happen.

              • CatsPajamas@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                61·
                5 hours ago

                What? Valve released CS2 like last year? They do stuff all the time. They have like three games they’re actively maintaining while making HL3 and three new pieces of tech? This is a wild, unfounded take and feels ideologically bound.

                • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  14·
                  4 hours ago

                  That was 2023, and one of very few things made not to specifically promote their hardware or as a cheap spinoff of existing IP. And define “actively maintaining”, because general bug fixes for decade old multi-player games and managing item marketplaces doesn’t require much manpower.

                  Going further back there’s Aperture Desk Job which was a tech demo for the Steam Deck in 2022. Then an extended cut version of Artifact originally meant as a sequel in 2021, which is a Dota 2 card game, but still remains unfinished, so effectively abandoned. Then Half Life: Alyx in 2020 which 90% of gamers can’t play because it’s VR only, and clearly made to further promote their VR hardware. Dota Warlords in 2020 which was originally a community game mode. The original Artifact in 2018, which had abandoned iOS and Android ports. The Lab in 2016 which was made to promote the launch of the HTC Vive. A zombie CS spinoff in 2014, Dota 2 in 2013, CS:Go in 2012, Portal 2 in 2011, and Left 4 Dead 2 in 2009.

                  If you remove the spinoff and niche stuff from the list you get game releases in 2023, 2020 (arguable since it’s VR only and thus inherently niche), 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009.

                  That’s a pretty big gap of not much for the last decade game-wise. Its been previously documented and published that Valve has issues getting games developed because of the flat organization structure. Articles like this.

      • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
        19·
        9 hours ago

        It’s fucking wild. Like, I love Steam, don’t get me wrong, but holy shit just suck less (edit: than other stores do) and charge less (edit: of devs) and you could gobble up a lot of that market share. But none of them do.