Microsoft All But Confirms Always-Online Console, Tells customers to "Deal With It"|Page 2|General Gaming Discussion|Forum|SNES HUB

The 1000 dollars is for the base model of the first Steambox the Piston. It will fail.

Good costs 1000 dollars

Better costs 1350 dollars

Best costs 1750 dollars

Valve worked closely with the manufacturer. There will not be one but several Steamboxes.

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“If you have a gaming quality PC, SteamBox is not for you.”

So PC gamers wont buy Steambox, right?

“This is obvious; people who want to play games but don’t own / can’t afford a gaming-quality PC.”

You mean like a CONSOLE? this function is already serviced.

“They’re basically buying the same games for their Xbox that Valve sells on Steam.”

On their CONSOLE? Why would they leave behind the cheaper and easier experience? 

“If you do most of your computing on a smart phone / tablet / underpowered laptop, SteamBox MIGHT be for you.”

In which case IF they game at all, they probably already game on a CONSOLE. Or a phone.

No speculation…..

http://xi3.com/buy_now-piston.php

You have to dig deeper to get the story. Valve and xi3 had a VERY close relationship. They are also working closely with Nividia on a portable steambox.

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-34439…..gaming-pc/

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*Sony made a console because they had already invested millions in the Nintendo Playstation. It worked out for them due to Nintendo’s partnership coupled with their CD format, and they began to use the Playstation brand to push their entertainment tech and disrupt Microsoft.

*Microsoft made a console because Sony was threatening to disrupt the PC with their attempts to make a living room hub. they
lost BILLIONS OF DOLLARS and if not for Sony they would pull out tomorrow.

*Toyota expanded globally after domestic production tanked due to WW2. A deal with the U.S Military revived the company. Exporting was done by necessity, as the Japanese population post WW2 was not numerous or wealthy enough to absorb production.

The chief drive of business is necessity, not guts. Perhaps Valve feels threatened by the home consoles leaning toward Digital Distribution.

You need bravery to take the step, but without necessity there would be no need. Why change if everything stays good forever? 

Figure 1:Xi3 Piston Order Page: http://xi3.com/buy_now-piston.php

Primary Storage:

8GB RAM
3.2Ghz Quad Core (R464)

Internal Drives:
Standard – Internal 128GB SSD
Add $340 – Internal 256GB SSD
Add $750 – Internal 512GB SSD

Figure 2: Escapist Story You Linked To: http://www.escapistmagazine.co…..-Steam-Box

“The big beard at Valve says the “Piston” PC unveiled yesterday is just one of several partner projects the company has on the go.”

“Piston is just one of several hardware projects being developed by various companies with Valve’s support, while Valve continues to work on its own hardware in-house.” (confirmation of Valves involvement)

“Newell talked about supporting the development of “good/better/best” tiers of hardware, ranging from low-cost streaming solutions to “whatever those guys want to manufacture,” even when they don’t necessarily jibe with what Valve thinks is best. “It’s been surprisingly difficult when we say to people, ‘Don’t put an optical media drive in there,’ and they put an optical media drive in there and you’re like, ‘That makes it hotter, that makes it more expensive, and it makes the box bigger.’ Go ahead,” he said.” (This confirms multiple “Steambox” Projects, all with unique configurations)

Valve, for its part, is focused on building a system “that’s quiet and focuses on high performance,” he continued. “We’ll come out with our own [system] and we’ll sell it to consumers by ourselves.” (High Performance is business-speak for expensive”)

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 As for guts being instrumental in business, I never said it wasn’t. But guts is preceded by necessity. Mark Zuckerberg was facing expulsion and outrage from his peers for hacking into restricted areas of the Harvard network to get photos for Facesmash. This sobering experience was the catalyst for his next project, which would give Harvard a VOLUNTARY photo directory of students as well as reverse the hit his reputation took with the students and administration.

Zuckerberg was unprepared for the rapid growth that came, and soon the servers ate up his entire savings. This led him to make a decision: Either shut down the site, or find funding for it. I think we know the rest.    

Guts was present, but without a situation that forces the gut-check you never step outside. Both are essential but one generally comes before the other.   

Ah, not to worry! clarity is tough in a text-based exchange, since a lot of language is in the body and expresions!

I see what you are saying. The answer is that as of right now, that is what we have, and from what Gabe says it sounds like the others are going to be similar. Hopefully Valve’s will be cheaper. It HAS to be to penetrate this market.

That said, Gabe is also stating Valve’s will be “high-performance”. We will have to wait and see….

Business is about seeing the future, something Gabe Newell has always excelled at. That is why I cannot see Valve doing this unless they feel they have a good reason to (ex)digital distribution systems by MS and SONY). They are not Microsoft. They do not have the resources to weather a hostile console market. 

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He went to Harvard, so of course he had options. In the context of his choice to continue Facebook, he could either seek funding, or he could shut the site down. If the site had never grown exponentially due to the DEMAND for a TRANSPARENT networking site (myspace did not do this), then Zuckerberg may have never been in the do-or-die situation that forced the business to grow or falter. As my mentor once told me: “Necessity is the fertilizer by which businesses grow.”

Perhaps it is more commonly said as “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

it is not just Business but History, and Warfare, Politics and Law. They are the mirrors to human nature, and if you study them closely you will see a pattern of cautious expansion driven by various needs and desires. The guts are a product of that necessity, be it a man who works to eat and have shelter, or the businessman who is forced to act to avoid Disruption from a competitor.

………..And here we are getting philosophical again.

Going to bed. This has been engrossing to the point of exhaustion.

We should continue this tomorrow…..