Post Tagged with: "Steam"

Valve Opens Steam for Linux Beta To All

The announcement is short and sweet, and that’s all it needs to be. Linux gamers eager to play games from Valve and other developers natively can get on Steam now. The Steam for Linux beta client is now available to all Steam users, so if you’ve been patiently waiting for an invitation to join us, consider yourself officially invited! With a growing catalog of Linux-supported games, an active Steam for Linux community group, and a new GitHub bug reporting repository, the timing’s right to jump in and share your feedback.

Valve Developing Home Theater PC to Compete with Consoles

Valve has been making a lot of headlines lately especially with their Big Picture Mode launching. Many people have suggested that Big Picture is just the first step in Valve creating a hardware solution for the home theater and we have even hinted at it before. Now that is all but confirmed as Kotaku says according to Valve boss Gabe Newell, “you’ll be able to buy a living-room-friendly PC package next year”.

Steam Big Picture Available Now

Valve today announced the public release of Big Picture, Steam’s new mode that lets gamers access all of their favorite Steam games on a television from the comfort of their sofa. Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional gamepad, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input. To celebrate the public launch of Big Picture, over thirty controller-friendly games will be on sale from now until December 10, with savings up to 75% off.

Steam Expands Beyond Games, Adds Software Section

Valve has finally expanded beyond games on it’s extremely popular cloud gaming service Steam. Just launched is the new software section. To start there are only six titles: ArtRage Studio Pro, CameraBag 2, GameMaker: Studio, 3D-Coat, 3DMark Vantage and 3DMark 11. While only having six titles does not seem like a lot it is a step in the right direction. In a press release Valve stated, “Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you.”

Valve ‘Jumping In’ to Hardware Developement

For quite a while now many people have been talking about a “Steam Box”. A piece of hardware that would allow you to play your steam games in your living room, dorm room or wherever you are. Valve has always denied these rumors, but things like the Steam Big Picture Mode always kept us thinking about a Steam Box. Now Steam has a new job listing on their website for a an industrial designer. The post says, “Valve is traditionally a software company. Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers. We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we’re jumping in.”

Steam’s Big Picture Mode Beta to Launch in September

Have you heard of Steam’s big picture mode? First announced last year, Big Picture Mode allows users to easily navigate the steam interface on a large TV screen. Big Picture Mode will be open for beta access in September, as confirmed by product design executive Greg Coomer.

Many steam games play very well with a controller, but even if you have your PC connected to your TV you will need at least a mouse to get the game started. With Big Picture the Steam UI is designed to be used with larger TV’s and with a controller, although you can still use a mouse and keyboard of course. Bringing this new UI to the “lounge” or living room area steam hopes to allow greater accessibility to their digital distribution platform.

Gaming Friday: DotA 2

Many games have since been made emulating DotA’s basic principle, and an entire genre has been created in its honor. MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games have grown at a phenomenal rate, and an example of success is League of Legends. Enter DotA 2. The first true successor to the original custom map is currently in-development by Valve and in closed beta. More people are added frequently, with online numbers reaching around 30,000 people at any time of the day.

Gaming Friday: Payday The Heist

Have you ever thought about robbing a bank, c’mon I know you have.  This is just one of the scenarios that you are able to play out online with friends or in single player mode on Payday: The Heist.  This first-person shooter is unlike others where you are fighting in a war, against aliens, or in some arena.  Here you are able to play the bad guys and break the law and six action-packed and thrilling scenarios, one of which is robbing a bank.  Read on to see what this game is all about!

Gaming Friday: Realm of the Mad God

It is Friday and you know what that mean, it is Gaming Friday!  Today we have a really awesome game that I found out about last week at FITES LANFest and I haven’t stopped playing it since.  The game is coined as a “co-op fantasy mmo shooter”.  So can you really combine all of those things together and come out with a good game?  Well I sure think so and so does Wild Shadow Studios the independent developer of the game.  After playing this game once you will keep on coming back, oh and did I mention it has the classic 8-bit theme to it?  Read on to see what Realm of the Mad God is all about.

A Quick Look at Steam for Android Beta

I got into the Steam for Android beta and thought I would share some screenshots with our readers! The interface is pretty slick. I’m a little annoyed that it feels more like an iPhone app than an Android app, but hopefully it’ll improve in future versions.

Upon sign-in, the user is presented with their friends list and can start a chat with anyone who is online.