A supposed insider on Reddit mentioned that this will be their new hardware ecosystem which will allow combining multiple devices for improved performance. The example they gave was having a desktop, a Steam Deck, and a new Deckard VR headset then using 2 or all 3 of these devices in tandem for better gaming performance.
They also mentioned the new Half-Life game is likely to be announced in the first half of September for release in November, however in could be delayed until next year if they aren’t perfectly happy with the state of the game.
This person said this is all part of the “Steam Next” era which will be introduced to the world with an Orange Box kind of release.
Given the problems SLI and crossfire had with more than one gpu, but in the same system, I doubt even valve would be able to combine different devices in a very meaningful way. The best I can imagine would be a pc rendering a game which is streamed to a steam deck, which in turn throws all its resources on FSR-like upscaling. Or, in case of a VR device that it handles interframe generation and reprojection locally on a stream rendered by a different device.
Perhaps it’s actually an eGPU dock for the Steam deck? Like you can connect you steam deck to it via USB4 and have better graphics performance? And it would cost less than a separate gaming PC.
There’s no way it’s VR. They already have the Index name for the VR line. It’d be called the Index 2 without a doubt. Maybe AR glasses, but frame does not imply glasses. Sure, glasses have a frame, but so do so many other things. Have you ever heard of a main frame? Those aren’t a type of glasses.
They’ve been working on standalone VR for a while now, like the Quest, so it wouldn’t have to be called Index 2, since it’s not just an improved version of what they made before. A colloquial term for glasses is “frames”.
The vast majority of people today have no idea whata mainframe is or think it is an old and outdated concept (or where Dot and Enzo live). Similarly, the Index branding is pretty much aligned with “VR is insanely expensive” so it wouldn’t make sense to reuse that.
What we do know is that Valve have a console form factor device in development and a new VR device in development. There are arguments for Frame being either of those. My hopium being that it is the unified ecosystem where, through the power of streaming (I am all for Steam Link either using moonlight or making better moonlight), you can have your VR/TV/Handheld gaming get supercharged by your desktop or whatever but, time will tell.
Although, truth be told, I mostly just want a Steam Controller 2.
Main frame was just an example of a type of frame that aren’t glasses. There are many other types of frames that have nothing to do with glasses. A frame is just the structure of something. The people using that name to say it must be glasses are hyper-focusing on one usage of the word.
Although, truth be told, I mostly just want a Steam Controller 2.
Jokes on all of you, it’s actually just a Steam branded digital picture frame that cycles through the cover art of games from your library that you’ve never played to constantly remind you of the money you waste.
I’m hoping for an ARM based standalone Linux VR headset. Both VR and Linux ARM gaming would get a major boost from a major company putting out hardware with software support. A PlayStation sized gaming PC eventually someday too. Just an ARM VR headset is a bigger leap for Linux gaming from where ARM/VR Linux is today than an x86 gaming PC
The thing that would speak against ARM are the recent sightings of new AMD based APUs from Valve on benchmark sites. Unless that is the next thing over and they are actually now ready with Deckard/Frame.
I was getting mainframe. A steam deck style server box you plug in next to your router and can stream to your deck, your phone, your whatever. A home pc console mainframe.
Developers like consoles because it limits the platforms you need to optimize for. The steam deck gave pc gaming a benchmark. If they made a standardized home console you can still run your own software on, i would bet on a big growth in proton support
The problem with VR is the quality of games are quite substandard. We know they were capable of much more considering HL:Alex, but the industry decided they would output only half-assed shit quality phone games. Also whatever vr controller replacement they come up with, don’t use low quality dog shit potentiometers ffs.
My first thought on hearing frame is server. I’m likely way off the mark (to the point I don’t actually think it’s what they’re doing) but it could be the basis for a cloud gaming setup for steam. Would extend the deck life and allow them to optimise settings for proton locally.
What if it's some system where you buy a server system in a box with everything pre-installed, you can use it as a console game box, and when not in use it's a game streaming server to other players (like Geforce Now), and it pays a bit in your steam wallet.
So it would be a Mainframe, without the Main as it's distributed, hence a Frame
I really hope not, that feels like crypto all over again, with inconsistent payouts and varying electricity prices… And on top of that probably awful service since people tend to have the weirdest internet connections.
Though if you remove the part where it’s used to stream games to other players, that sounds too niche to be viable, but could be cool. If going in that direction, I’d imagine it more likely to be gaming servers for businesses, like VR gaming spots, where they have multiple gaming computers hooked up to headsets.
I wouldn’t mind a budget dedicated server of some sort designed to shove in the corner of my room and host game servers on paired with a similar ease of access as SteamOS
It’s still a good time to get a Steam Deck. Most games fit its spec just fine, it’s one of the cheaper handhelds on the market for the power you get out of it, and it has good battery life for that power, too.
The idea of a linux box that is VR capable is a strong business proposition. VR on linux is not a thing yet, at least not seamlessly. It would be a major market shift to compete directly with Sony.
VR works just fine on linux. I’ve got the index and run it exclusively on a linux mint machine. It was a little rough around the edges a few years ago but has been running with no issues for the past couple years.
They’ve been working on VR hardware for a while, but the market has kind of stalled out on what the technology is capable of. They’d have to be pretty confident that they can jumpstart it again with their own games if that’s what it is.
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Aktywne