Valve Announces ''Big Picture'' Mode
Steam is coming the the den and bedroom TV.
Monday Valve Software said that it will be adding a "Big Picture" mode to Steam at a later date. This new feature will offer controller support and navigation designed for televisions, allowing Steam gamers to enjoy their library "on more screens throughout the house." Valve said that more will be revealed during the Game Developers Conference this week in San Francisco.
"Our partners and customers have asked us to make Steam available in more places. With the introduction of Steam on the Mac, and soon in Portal 2 on the PS3T, we've done just that," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing for Valve. "With big picture mode, gaming opportunities for Steam partners and customers become possible via PCs and Macs on any TV or computer display in the house."
In addition to the new "Big Picture" feature, Valve will also discuss the numbers generated from the new Steam Microtransactions launched late last year within Team Fortress 2. An in-game economy can now be readily created by partners using the microtransactions system within the Steamworks SDK, the company said.
"We've come to understand what type of content sells well in TF2's in-game store, and the various price points at which players value this content," said Robin Walker, game designer at Valve. "Our players are continually teaching us what works and what doesn't. Much of this feedback can be generalized to other titles on Steam, so we're looking forward to sharing what we've learned with partners at GDC. We're also interested in seeing partners get up and running with their own in-game economies, so they can collect game-specific data to inform their design decisions."
The Game Developers Conference is already underway, and will conclude on March 4, 2011.
As for this BP mode, it sounds like a fantastic addition to Steam. Can't wait to see it in action.
"gaming opportunities for Steam partners"
"Steam Microtransactions launched late last year within Team Fortress 2. An in-game economy can now be readily created by partners"
"partners get up and running with their own in-game economies"
Let the nickel and diming being.
I don't get it. So is this cloud based gaming via TV's with internet connectivity to steam using a controller?
In fact it does! Word 2007 put a red squiggly under the second "the" when I copy/pasted it into Word.
I think it is implemented quite well. You do not need to buy anything, you still will find most of items that are "performance changers", but you can take a shortcut, but more importantly, most of the items there are things like hats.
However, even with the items that do change the class capabilities, they are not over powered and more a class tweak to fit your stile. The base class is as good as the modified class. It is like instead of just solder class, you now have solder 1, solder 2 and so on. Brings more variety without being imbalance.
Plus, I personally want to thank Valve team for continues improvement of the game, and thank them with my money. So it is great that I can "donate" them money, and get something in return, even if this is some silly hat.
Its fine right now. None of the store items give you a huge advantage, there are the set advantages but the hats that go with them are craftable making them easy to get. The hats and items are overpriced, this is true, but theres nothing stopping you from getting them normally. I still think the hat craze and bundles are getting annoying though.
Really, the base class is sometimes even better than the modified stats.
This might be Steams attempt at destroying Onlive, which it WILL and CAN do if it even so much as slight attempts it. Onlive licks balls. Steam would destroy it if it competed.
And for the TF2 economy, I must say that it is very well implemented. Cheap bastardos like me don't have to buy a damn thing to still be competitive and enjoy the game. Not like the CoD Series, where you buy the latest game to end up with a never fully completed product replaced the next year with a new game you buy. TF2's been kicking for years, but it's perpetually updated. If you want to spend the money, then you can as well! In fact the only thing I've bought is a support stamp to support some map developers. Haven't bought an item as yet.
Looking very forward to this, and to find out what a PS3T is myself.
Playstaion 3 Tehsuck