Steam Just turned PC gaming into a relaxing Console experience.

[QUOTE="Animal-Mother"][QUOTE="BPoole96"]

Big Picture Mode is awesome. I like the UI much better than PSN. I'm curious if Valve will start adding apps like Netflix and all that so there wouldn't be a need to exit BPM for users with HTPCs

Loegi

[QUOTE="II_Seraphim_II"][QUOTE="clyde46"] Get the 360 pad. I cant recommend it enough.BPoole96

Use your PS3 controller with MotionJoy. It will emulate a 360 pad and works just as well. You just have to keep it plugged in with the PS3 charger cable unless you buy the bluetooth dongle.

omg, I can't beleive I'm reading that people actually would set up their computers to their tvs for this even though you could have already done that.

:?

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]

[QUOTE="II_Seraphim_II"] yeah i want it real bad, but im in St. Lucia and they dont have a lot of gaming hardware. They have used 360 pads on sale but they are the wireless ones and they dont sell the dongle to enable them to be used on PC. :(II_Seraphim_II

Use your PS3 controller with MotionJoy. It will emulate a 360 pad and works just as well. You just have to keep it plugged in with the PS3 charger cable unless you buy the bluetooth dongle.

lol yeah I just read the most recent posts. I don't always have time to read entire threads, especially when they're 100+ posts :P

So my complaint with PC gaming was it was never a seemless relaxing console like experience, that was always why the console was still my number 1 choice, but after I was prompted to restart steam I noticed a icon in the top right hand corner called big picture, once you click that it bascially turned steam into a TV/console like OS that is fully navagational with a 360 controller.

Steam was already great but this just made my pc into the console I have always wanted :)

Totalgym9000

Oh so that is what it does. I was trying to figure it out yesterday when I saw the news on GS. I wonder what new spin the PC haters here on SW will come up with. ;)

omg, I can't beleive I'm reading that people actually would set up their computers to their tvs for this even though you could have already done that.

:?

LegatoSkyheart

No they couldn't. Read exactly what it does. It is like a XBL/PSN interface were you can use the gamepad to control everything.

omg, I can't beleive I'm reading that people actually would set up their computers to their tvs for this even though you could have already done that.

:?

LegatoSkyheart

Having to switch between KB/M all the time previously was a bit of a hassle. Now, one could set Steam to launch when Windows opens, have BPM set to launch on Steam, and be right at the controller friendly UI without having to touch a mouse. Building an HTPC with a 7850 or 660Ti would be just like having a next gen console, except having all the benefit of PC.

Pair it up with XBMC, and you've got a much better entertainment hub for your living room than a console could provide.

Cool, I guess. Can you make it launch at startup in this mode?

KiZZo1

Yeah some guy on youtube shows how you can do it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiA5JxWLUKo&list=FLhBx4YTB1c6nIhIaQAyirlQ&index=1&feature=plpp_video

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

[QUOTE="amaneuvering"]

Like I said; I simply came on trying to get some clarification as to how you're supposed to use this/benefit from this on a TV if you're not already using it via your PC anyway and people bashed me like I am some kind of retard.

I simply pointed out the stupidity of their initial reactions by going through exactly why I didn't think this was anything besides a mostly useless gimmick for the vast majority of people.

I didn't start the insults. I just returned the favor in kind.

amaneuvering

You must be right. You're a random dude on the gamespot forums and your opinion of nerdy/geeky features is bound to be more accurate than a whole gaming focused company that have invested a lot of time and money into developing a new UI. I guess Valve just love those 5 people you seem to think do this so much.

Come on man, you aren't that stupid....are you? Or maybe you are if you think it's hard to connect a HDMI cable from your PC to the TV.

See, it's clueless people like you that cause all the trouble.

I'm not on about it being hard to do. I'm on about it being pointless for the VAST VAST majority of people because most people haven't connected their PC to their TV and they quite simply won't. Not even for "Big Picture Mode".

The feature is going to be genuinely appealing to and practical for a tiny minority of people and it doesn't actually add that much of benefit even to those who do bother to connect their PC to their TV anyway.

They've invested a lot of time and money on a feature that very few people are ever going to use and even fewer are going to stick with using after a few mins and they realize they'd be better just using their keyboard and mouse for the most part.

You're just not clued in enough to comprehend that.

Over 500,000 people used the Beta

See, it's clueless people like you that cause all the trouble.

I'm not on about it being hard to do. I'm on about it being pointless for the VAST VAST majority of people because most people haven't connected their PC to their TV and they quite simply won't. Not even for "Big Picture Mode".

The feature is going to be genuinely appealing to and practical for a tiny minority of people and it doesn't actually add that much of benefit even to those who do bother to connect their PC to their TV anyway.

They've invested a lot of time and money on a feature that very few people are ever going to use and even fewer are going to stick with using after a few mins and they realize they'd be better just using their keyboard and mouse for the most part.

You're just not clued in enough to comprehend that.

amaneuvering

Stop raging. What 'trouble' am I, or people 'like me', causing? The only problem is in your mind...or what's left of it. The VAST VAST majority of people don't play games full stop, so by your reasoning we shouldn't get excited about anything on these boards.

There are so many reasons to hook up a PC to a TV these days and this is just one more. There are whole companies devoted to producing HTPC's and HTPC's alone...I guess they are selling to no one at all. It may not be completely mainstream yet but as more and more people do connect up and more and more features are released to support it then it will become so.

My TV has a great little gaming/multimedia PC behind it. I have a wireless KB with built in trackpad for web surfing, online TV streaming, Netflix/Lovefilm, DVD's and Blurays, playing my music from, recording TV onto and more. I then have a Wireless dongle and a couple of Wireless Xbox pads for playing games that I buy from Steam. I can now fire up Steam, toss the mini keyboard to one side and control everything from my pad when I have mates over...awesome.

Just go back to your rock, cover your eyes and hope the dark ages return.

Over 500,000 people used the Beta

NoodleFighter

Can't be true man, I heard some forum troll telling me no one would use it and he is da man for knowledge and stuff, serious!

Its really nice. I think if the colors/theme could be customized then that would be really cool. Right now it is better and easier to navigate than XBL and PSN which have had many more years to improve the TV gaming experience and still fail hard. That just shows you how awesome Valve is.

It's nice, but very few of my PC games even have partial gamepad support, so I don't think I'd find much use for it.

Just checked it out, looks awesome. Easily better than the 360 or PS3's UI's. Of course, I don't play PC games on my TV but it's a nice setup and I bet it would work well with the controller. Might just have to get an HDMI cable long enough to give it a shot.

Some screens.

Some screens.

SAGE_OF_FIRE

How did you get non steam games to display pictures?

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

Some screens.

NoodleFighter

How did you get non steam games to display pictures?

No they couldn't. Read exactly what it does. It is like a XBL/PSN interface were you can use the gamepad to control everything.

glez13

Why should I read on something I've had access to for months?

It's freakin' pointless if you ask me.

Having to switch between KB/M all the time previously was a bit of a hassle. Now, one could set Steam to launch when Windows opens, have BPM set to launch on Steam, and be right at the controller friendly UI without having to touch a mouse. Building an HTPC with a 7850 or 660Ti would be just like having a next gen console, except having all the benefit of PC.

Pair it up with XBMC, and you've got a much better entertainment hub for your living room than a console could provide.

BPoole96

Never is or was.

getting a game to read your Controller is usually as easy as plugging it in. If you needed to you could always install the drivers yourself, which is as simple as copy and pasting.

Otherwise you're just being lazy.

Oh btw, Big Picture Mode doesn't support all PC controlers fyi.

chat looks nice in BP

Some screens.

SAGE_OF_FIRE

I suddenly realized that most of those aren't PC games.

I've been using a 360 controller for PC gaming for years..... I'm failing to see the "NEW" here.

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

Some screens.

LegatoSkyheart

I suddenly realized that most of those aren't PC games.

I suppose

[QUOTE="LegatoSkyheart"]

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

Some screens.

SAGE_OF_FIRE

I suddenly realized that most of those aren't PC games.

I suppose

;) it's cool. I got non steam games on mine too.

(find the nonsteam games. :P bet you can't guess them lol.)

This is Valve's stepping stone to making their own OS and/or gaming platform. They are going to see how well this does and how many users consistently use it. Then use that data to select to either make a whole gaming oriented OS (based on Linux) and or a complete console like system (also probably Linux based).

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

[QUOTE="LegatoSkyheart"]

I suddenly realized that most of those aren't PC games.

LegatoSkyheart

I suppose

;) it's cool. I got non steam games on mine too.

(find the nonsteam games. :P bet you can't guess them lol.)

Billy Hatcher

Day Z

Battlefield 3

SWTOR

Jioel

Kanoei

MineCraft

Guild Wars 2

What's my prize :D

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

[QUOTE="amaneuvering"]

Like I said; I simply came on trying to get some clarification as to how you're supposed to use this/benefit from this on a TV if you're not already using it via your PC anyway and people bashed me like I am some kind of retard.

I simply pointed out the stupidity of their initial reactions by going through exactly why I didn't think this was anything besides a mostly useless gimmick for the vast majority of people.

I didn't start the insults. I just returned the favor in kind.

amaneuvering

You must be right. You're a random dude on the gamespot forums and your opinion of nerdy/geeky features is bound to be more accurate than a whole gaming focused company that have invested a lot of time and money into developing a new UI. I guess Valve just love those 5 people you seem to think do this so much.

Come on man, you aren't that stupid....are you? Or maybe you are if you think it's hard to connect a HDMI cable from your PC to the TV.

See, it's clueless people like you that cause all the trouble.

I'm not on about it being hard to do. I'm on about it being pointless for the VAST VAST majority of people because most people haven't connected their PC to their TV and they quite simply won't. Not even for "Big Picture Mode".

The feature is going to be genuinely appealing to and practical for a tiny minority of people and it doesn't actually add that much of benefit even to those who do bother to connect their PC to their TV anyway.

They've invested a lot of time and money on a feature that very few people are ever going to use and even fewer are going to stick with using after a few mins and they realize they'd be better just using their keyboard and mouse for the most part.

You're just not clued in enough to comprehend that.

That's funny because the guys who are more into the HTPC scene probably consider the gamers the geeky ones! LOL

[QUOTE="LegatoSkyheart"]

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

I suppose

NoodleFighter

;) it's cool. I got non steam games on mine too.

(find the nonsteam games. :P bet you can't guess them lol.)

Billy Hatcher

Day Z

Battlefield 3

SWTOR

Jioel

Kanoei

MineCraft

Guild Wars 2

What's my prize :D

ooo so close. and it's Jisei and Kansei but yeah you were close to naming them all.

according to what I see in the pictures theres at least 10 (12 actually) visible games that are not Steam Powered.

Some screensSAGE_OF_FIRE

I know this stuff can't be talked about on the forums so can you send me a PM on how you can have a seperate icon & launcher per game i.e. not launch them through one program ?

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

Some screensR4gn4r0k

I know this stuff can't be talked about on the forums so can you send me a PM on how you can have a seperate icon & launcher per game i.e. not launch them through one program ?

[spoiler] For the Ps2 in the Steam shortcut you just place the path to the iso after the target in quotes (Example: "C:\Games\application.exe" "C:\Games\game.ISO") for the wii/gcn you do the same thing but add /e between the two paths and /b after the second one (Example: "C:\Games\application.exe" /e "C:\Games\game.iso" /b). [/spoiler] .

hidden

SAGE_OF_FIRE

You should probably PM him instead bra.

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]

hidden

LegatoSkyheart

You should probably PM him instead bra.

I'm wondering if you can hook up a WiiU pro controller to PC. The 360 controller is pretty great except for 2D games like Super Meat Boy, nintendo controllers always have a better D-pad, which is ideal for that type of game.

Anyone try it ?

Hey I'm just talking about making shortcuts which is a normal feature in operating systems. SAGE_OF_FIRE

Thanks. Never knew that:)

So wait...does this mean Steam is now casual and/or holding back PCs? Because I thought PC fanboys believed everything associated with consoles was horrible, inferior and "holding back PC".

So wait...does this mean Steam is now casual and/or holding back PCs? Because I thought PC fanboys believed everything associated with consoles was horrible, inferior and "holding back PC".

ZIMdoom

So wait...does this mean Steam is now casual and/or holding back PCs? Because I thought PC fanboys believed everything associated with consoles was horrible, inferior and "holding back PC".

ZIMdoom

Yawn. Not everything, just 98.63% of things. Controllers for the arcade titles, KB/M for everything else.

So wait...does this mean Steam is now casual and/or holding back PCs? Because I thought PC fanboys believed everything associated with consoles was horrible, inferior and "holding back PC".

ZIMdoom

They also mostly agree that more options are better :?

I don't see the point of my gaming rigg next to my HDTV in the living room but whatever floats your boat.

They need to hurry up with Steam gamepad. Playing games with keyboard is turrible.

Mr_BillGates

Works fine with 360 controller :)

I don't see the point of my gaming rigg next to my HDTV in the living room but whatever floats your boat.

jimmypsn

Take a look at these

[QUOTE="jimmypsn"]

I don't see the point of my gaming rigg next to my HDTV in the living room but whatever floats your boat.

BPoole96

Take a look at these

Steam definitely helps makes games more available but it doesn't turn a PC into a console imo. There are lots of other aspects of consoles that make them more approachable to the average consumer besides selecting games. There's the initial price of the hardware for one, but mostly the fact that you don't have to worry about maintaining your hardware after buying a console. With a console you can stick it in the corner and forget about it until the next gen. With PCs you have to worry about keeping your specs up and also keeping it running smoothly as performance drags down the more you use it. A lot of people don't know about or understand the benefits of defrag.GunSmith1_basic

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]

[QUOTE="jimmypsn"]

I don't see the point of my gaming rigg next to my HDTV in the living room but whatever floats your boat.

jimmypsn

Take a look at these

They aren't meant for high performance PC gaming (at least as standalone chips with no dedicated GPU), but having a game system that is smaller than a modem that plays PC games definitely has it's perks. These will only get better as APU tech becomes more robust.