Don't want to see articles from a certain category? When logged in, go to your User Settings and adjust your feed in the Content Preferences section where you can block tags!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

A Good & Honest Video About The Alienware Steam Machine

By - | Views: 26,633
YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link
Lon Seidman on youtube posted up a pretty decent video showing off the Alienware Steam Machine, it's worth a watch and has given me some more thoughts.

I think the hidden usb port for the wireless dongle is a fantastic idea, but apparently it can make the signal be a bit iffy which is a shame.

He does mention a few times about the lack of games on SteamOS, and he later clarifies it to be more about the AAA games. We will see a lot of complaints about this, and despite what people think about our still rather large library the bigger AAA games will be a problem for a lot of potential buyers.

It also highlights a major problem, and that is the filtering on SteamOS is quite pants. To show Windows games by default, and having to manually filter them to what is available. That, plus the featured section showing Windows games is a stupid major issue. I sincerely hope Valve have some new filtering up their sleeve for the SteamOS/Steam Machine official launch, otherwise I'm really going to be wondering if they want it to actually succeed. It's a ridiculous issue to not have solved already, and there has been a bug open on github about it for many months. You wouldn't expect to have to filter out Xbox games on a Playstation, so why do Valve think it's a good idea to leave it in for SteamOS? It just doesn't make sense to me right now.

It would work much better if Valve lumped all non-supported games into a category you manually select yourself, as that is what I would personally expect from it. It is the only way that would make sense to me, to only show games I can actually run on my hardware at the forefront.

Every time I log into Steam and view the store, or use Big Picture Mode I'm instantly hooked by the look of a game featured or "recommended for you", only to realise it's a Windows game. It's damned annoying.

This video reviewer isn't the only one who has come across that either, a few of the major PC news websites who did their take on it also noted it was weird.

I obviously want it to succeed for us all, but Valve need to sort this crap out. There's a lot of uncertainty about how anything will be handled, but as usual I'm sure Valve have something up their sleeve. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Video
0 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
51 comments
Page: 1/6»
  Go to:

Mohandevir Nov 2, 2015
It's even worse when you consider the fact that the option "show only content for my system" is checked by default... What is this feature then???
ricki42 Nov 2, 2015
I've never tried SteamOS, but on Ubuntu and Fedora, when I started Steam after installing, it showed me only Linux games by default. Of course, I didn't boot into big picture, don't know if that makes a difference. But I'm still surprised that the default would be different on SteamOS. In the video, Steam also suggests to stream a Windows game. Does it do that by default, or does it detect his PC is also logged into Steam? This could be the reason that it shows Windows games, because Steam knows he has a Windows PC that he could use to stream.
supashang Nov 2, 2015
I'm sorry, but people need to understand that AAA games does not mean "must have for best gaming experience". I've had more fun playing Indie games on my Linux steam library lately than I have on any AAA (except Skyrim) that I have in my AAA Windows library. I shouldn't need to mention how many AA titles have been a complete disaster after launch on Windows. Indie FTW.
Liam Dawe Nov 2, 2015
Quoting: supashangI'm sorry, but people need to understand that AAA games does not mean "must have for best gaming experience". I've had more fun playing Indie games on my Linux steam library lately than I have on any AAA (except Skyrim) that I have in my AAA Windows library. I shouldn't need to mention how many AA titles have been a complete disaster after launch on Windows. Indie FTW.

The problem here is what you're happy with, isn't what others are happy with.

Niche indie games won't push Steam Machines to be a major success, we do need the bigger AAA games. You may not think so, but all reviews so far have noted the lack of them as a downside, many users won't switch due to not having them available, etc.

You need to think outside of your own personal box.

Otherwise, we are destined to be the 1% forever.
LinuxGamesTV Nov 2, 2015
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: supashangI'm sorry, but people need to understand that AAA games does not mean "must have for best gaming experience". I've had more fun playing Indie games on my Linux steam library lately than I have on any AAA (except Skyrim) that I have in my AAA Windows library. I shouldn't need to mention how many AA titles have been a complete disaster after launch on Windows. Indie FTW.

The problem here is what you're happy with, isn't what others are happy with.

Niche indie games won't push Steam Machines to be a major success, we do need the bigger AAA games. You may not think so, but all reviews so far have noted the lack of them as a downside, many users won't switch due to not having them available, etc.

You need to think outside of your own personal box.

Otherwise, we are destined to be the 1% forever.

Yes you are full to be right.
AsavarTzeth Nov 2, 2015
If I remember correctly the featured section showing non-SteamOS games was admitted to be a bug.

In any case, intentional or not, they fixed this issue once already, a long time ago. I remember reading in the change logs that they removed Windows/OSX games from SteamOS store completely, by default. You used to have to go into settings and opt in if you wanted to see everything, thus proving you knew what you were doing.

Now why they would abandon that idea. I have no idea. One theory I have is that a lot of issues might have been (re-)introduced with the recent new Big Picture UI. Some of them have been fixed already. Let's hope the store pages will be as well.


Last edited by AsavarTzeth on 2 November 2015 at 3:35 pm UTC
supashang Nov 2, 2015
Quoting: liamdaweNiche indie games won't push Steam Machines to be a major success...

Obviously from your reply you think that I'm a Indie only fan and failed to understand the gist of my argument.
I never said that SteamOS doesn't need AAA gaming titles to be a success - I was trying to make the point that having AAA titles doesn't necessarily mean that you are guaranteed to have fun playing.
Most AAA games that arrive on Linux are months after they have arrived on Windows anyway, which means that only new people to gaming and Steam will experience AAA titles as a success for the Linux platform.
Case in point, how many people bought and played "Witcher 2", "Alien: Isolation" or "Shadow or Mordor" on Windows months/years before they arrived on Linux? I know I did.
By the time those titles arrived on Linux many people had completed them on Windows anyway. Where is the incentive to play them again just because it feels fluffy to now have them in your Steam Linux library? Is that going to make SteamOS a success?!
You know I'm right, but can you admit it?
If AAA gaming on Linux means that all I am getting is stale old Windows AAA titles, I'd rather check out the thousands of Indie titles and be happy find diamonds in the rough there, rather that being able to say "Yep, I have that too on my Linux Steam" to Windows AAA gamers.

Now for day one release AAA on Windows/Mac/Linux, that is another matter. Full steam ahead.
tamccullough Nov 2, 2015
My biggest guess is that Valve is either working on something similar to Wine, or they are waiting to see what kind of numbers these machines generate.

A version of Wine would make a lot of sense, because I would imagine one of the biggest disappointments with Windows of late, for Valve, has been the inability to get older games working on newer versions of Windows. Windows emulation could allow someone like me, for example to play CoD4 again. Or some even older title incompatible with newer machines.

The benefit of running emulation on SteamOS would probably be less CPU overhead as well.

I think mostly that this comes down to a numbers game though. If enough people within the community dive into the machine, then it should be enticing for devs.

I don't believe that Valve doesn't want it to succeed. They just probably want it to grow more organically.
wolfyrion Nov 2, 2015
I totally agree with Liam, we definitely need AAA Titles at launch and not after a year :><:

GTA5
WITCHER 3
MAD MAX
FALLOUT4
KILLING FLOOR 2
PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER
CAPCOM TITLES
METAL GEAR THE PHANTOM PAIN

and so many other cool AAA games will prevent someone to switch to Linux...
Liam Dawe Nov 2, 2015
Quoting: supashangObviously from your reply you think that I'm a Indie only fan and failed to understand the gist of my argument.
I never said that SteamOS doesn't need AAA gaming titles to be a success - I was trying to make the point that having AAA titles doesn't necessarily mean that you are guaranteed to have fun playing.

No, I know exactly what you said. I'm simply pointing out because you're having fun with indie games, it doesn't mean the vast majority will. Indie games for the most part still sell far less, and have far less of a push than the bigger budget games.

I use myself as a prime example of this, I don't put all that much time into indie games often, but I put tons of hours into the bigger games. XCOM for example is one of the highest hours playtime I have on any game (all of which are under Linux I should add).

Quoting: supashangMost AAA games that arrive on Linux are months after they have arrived on Windows anyway, which means that only new people to gaming and Steam will experience AAA titles as a success for the Linux platform.
Case in point, how many people bought and played "Witcher 2", "Alien: Isolation" or "Shadow or Mordor" on Windows months/years before they arrived on Linux? I know I did.
By the time those titles arrived on Linux many people had completed them on Windows anyway. Where is the incentive to play them again just because it feels fluffy to now have them in your Steam Linux library? Is that going to make SteamOS a success?!
You know I'm right, but can you admit it?

Where did I say anything about having delayed AAA games was a good thing? Why wouldn't I "admit it" as you phrased it that having same-day release was important? In fact I'm sure I've said it plenty of times that a same-day release is excellent and needs to happen more.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 2 November 2015 at 3:47 pm UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.