Steam Gets Skype Codec, Could Record Video
Steam is now using Skype's SILK codec for improved chat quality. There's also a new Portal 2 video, and talk about possible video capture capabilities within Steam.
Tuesday Valve Software said that its Steam distribution platform has been upgraded with the SILK voice codec, the same codec that was developed and is currently in use by Skype. Starting now, support will automatically be included in the Steam client once it's loaded or restarted.
"SILK provides a significant improvement to Steam's voice chat quality," Valve said in a brief email. "Steam voice chat is available both in one-on-one or group chats, and works both at the desktop as well as while a user is in game."
Following Valve's SILK announcement, rumors surfaced that Gabe Newell himself told long-time Team Fortress 2 community member "Political Gamer" that a video recording system for Steam would be made available "real soon." This would be the next logical step after Valve's recent addition of a screen capture feature to the Steam client.
There's also talk that Newell mentioned that Steam support may arrive on iOS and Android platforms in the near future. Valve is currently gearing up to launch Portal 2 on the PlayStation 3 which will also include the company's Steamworks client. This will be Valve's first use of its Steam platform within a console title to date.
Tuesday Valve also launched a new "investment opportunity" series of videos promoting Portal 2. The first video, pasted below, is called "Panels" and showcases one of the many lucrative products in development at the applied sciences company. The feature clip is narrated by the fictional Aperture CEO and founder, Cave Johnson.
Valve said the other three videos in the "investment opportunity" series will be unleashed at thinkwithportals.com every week leading up to the release of Portal 2 on April 19 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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eklipz330 about time with the video recording! i hope it has plenty of settings to accommodate to anyone's need of quality or space...Reply -
the_krasno Awesome! I really like that part that talks about integrating a videomaking service, since fraps is licensed software and steam is free.Reply -
nukemaster xfire has video too, but it was never as good as fraps(fraps did not drop frames) was. bring it on steam, i have not used xfire in a long time anyway. steam is always on :)Reply -
11796pcs fausto- I wondered if they would do this once they released the screenshot capability but shooed it aside as they wouldn;t do it for fear of getting in trouble with FRAPS but this is awesome. If I was FRAPS I would be crapping my pants right now.Reply -
11796pcs P.S. Tom's needs to get an article up on the fact that the Netflix site is down right now.Reply -
eklipz330 i hope its one of those recorders that's constantly on, and you can save the most recent 10 mins of gameplay if you so choose to...cause you never know when something amazing is about to happenReply -
joytech22 I hope the recorder isn't much slower than fraps, or I hope it's even better then fraps (speed-wise) at the cost of quality, or even being able to tweak the settings!Reply