Steam Machines will officially ship to 300 lucky beta participants tomorrow on December 13th, 2013. I’ve been surprisingly mum about Steam Machines as information has slowly trickled out since their initial announcement. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to think and had to wrap my head around the whole thing. With their enigmatic “3 Announcements” a while back, I was a bit let down. The controller in particular, seemed ugly as hell and a little stupid. But I’ve let the whole thing sit, mulling it over here and there. Anyone who’s followed this blog knows that Indie Games are my drug of choice. They’re cheap and offer some of the most unique experiences to be had. Yes, I love my triple-A’s like anyone else, but I’m definitely getting disheartened on that end as more and more developers are less willing to take risks. Per OXM on the future of the Battlefield series:

…creative director Lars Gustavsson would “love” to make a new Bad Company, but other studio heads and publisher EA appear ambivalent about the idea of a threequel. According to Bach, the numbered Battlefields are a safer prospect because comedy is too “personal” to win the favor of a mass market.

A lot of this, in my opinion has been driven in EAs attempt to compete with Call of Duty. And we all know that it was on consoles, particularly the Xbox 360, where that series really became the phenomenon it is today. Naturally, Activision has done what most companies seek to do – generate more revenue. As a result, we’ve seen an explosion of annual releases and DLC.

Because of that, the gaming space, particularly the console space, has become “sick.”

I’m not saying this from a PC gamer’s perspective, so don’t take this as an assault (or insult) on your preferred source of gaming, my console friends. In terms of sales, both the PS4 and Xbox One are clearly doing fine in that department. No, what I’m talking about is where the console space has gone, where things are headed, and where you as a consumer should be concerned. First off, the big beef I have is that our digital libraries, especially those on consoles, are considered disposable. I imagine some of you have spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on digital games and goods. I also understand that there are some architectural changes where it’s not easy to port titles over to next-gen. But it can be done, especially when one sees things like Rayman Legends and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition coming to the Xb1 and PS4 (thanks EvAv).

WTF!?

Seriously?

The saddest thing is that this is nothing new. I can’t even begin to name the countless re-releases of games on subsequent console releases. Unfortunately, it’s been like that for some time and will continue so long as people allow it to.

People jokingly bitch about the horse armor from Oblivion, but here we are years later, with a damn wolf skin available in Call of Duty: Ghosts for (a similar price of) two bucks! WHAAAAAAAAAT!?

And guess who’s responsible? All of us.

I’m just as guilty as anyone else. I bought the map packs. I fed into the craze. I fed fuel to the fire. And now we’re all (literally) paying. But what bothers me most, is that from what I’ve seen, this content doesn’t carry over between titles. Considering we have annual installments of major franchises now, you’d think there’d be some cool perks or incentives to bridge over between games in a series. Shit, throw us an exclusive character skin or two at the least! But from what I’ve read, that’s not happening. Please, correct me if I’m missing something. This attitude is what’s wrong with big publishers and developers, particularly in the driving part of the market – the console space. I honestly feel like we’re heading to a place where big games will be less about creating experiences and more about meeting standards:

• Big explosions? Check. 
• Predictable single-player game? Got it.
• Diverse, multi-gender/racial group of main characters that actually lack character? Done.
• Horde-type co-op mode? Bam – got it.
• Multi-player experience with progressive leveling system and unlocks? Check.
• Micro-transactions in a $60 dollar game? Yup, we’ve got that. 
• $30 to $50 fee that packages most DLC to the consumer and provides “value”? Done and done!

Those examples, though humorous, are true. We’re seeing more and more games that are less inclined to change things up and do something different, even if that includes raising the bar. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Assassin’s Creed IV. I bet that’s because the game is so different from other titles in the series. The essence is there, but this time, you’re a fucking pirate. How does that not sound awesome?

Image courtesy of my friend Adrian.

And it’s great because Ubisoft has taken creative risks.

Look, I understand that’s not necessarily feasible in the triple-A market. But we need some of that.

For triple-A’s, I think we’re heading to a point where it’s all becoming the same. And when the big titles are so expensive, I have to wonder if it’s really worth it. In a recent post on his blog, Cliff Bleszinski makes a great comparison between games and food that aptly sums up my sentiments:

Why am I going on and on about food and capitalism and chains versus indie restaurants? Because I can see a similar thing happening in the video gaming space. My greatest fear right now is that in the triple A space, in the next 3-5 years, there are only going to be a handful of uber brands that are known entities. Just like in your average American town you get Taco Bell, Applebees, and all the other Same Exact Stuff, in gaming you’re going to see Assassin’s Creed 6, Call of Duty 9, Madden 2016, and Halo 6. And each progressive title is progressively going to take less risks than the previous one because of the sheer amount of development costs and marketing necessary to push these titles on an annual basis. (Shout out to Rockstar for NOT annualizing.) The fact that Watch Dogs even EXISTS as a new IP is a testament to some bold folks at Ubisoft on both the creative and business side having the tenacity and strength to push for something new, something fresh, something that should not exist in AAA.

Even more disheartening though, is that we’re in this place where if a console breaks, we have to desperately hope that our warranty will cover repairs. I’ve been pissed about this issue for years, and with good reason – I had over twenty-one Xbox 360s fall to the infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD) on me. During the lifespan of the 360, I purchased probably four, and at times, paid as much as a hundred dollars to have my consoles “repaired.” Finally, I just had enough. For that reason, I’m not sure I can ever go back to consoles. I prefer PC because if a part breaks, I can replace it. No warranties voided. I can still log online. Oh, and my library transfers across hardware.

I say all that to explain myself and set up the point of this article. All I’ve said is not an attack on consoles. Even my previous article on the “Death of Consoles” isn’t if you really pay attention to what I’m saying, isn’t an attack. If you want to tell me that consoles are your preference, fine. I can understand and respect that. I’m not here to get into a pissing contest about which platform, or even console for that matter, is best. They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

No, what I want to discuss is the possibility of an open-source console. See, that’s what a Steam Machine aspires to be. I’m not sure how it will do in terms of marketing, or if it will even go the traditional marketing route for that matter. Hell, I’m not even sure Valve have enough clout to kick ass in the console space simply by word-of-mouth!

But what we’re seeing here with consoles, even if you ignore the Steam Box for a moment, is that they’re more like PCs.

The problem, is that until recently, Sony and Microsoft haven’t wanted to play nice. I won’t cover for Valve here either. They’re a company like any other. But there’s something to be said when you can download SteamOS tomorrow for free. That’s some serious shit people. And though Linux isn’t widely supported yet, we’re seeing the list of playable games on that OS growing. Hell, even Battlefield 4 may come to Linux. Why do you think that is? Because some pebbles are starting to roll, and they could very well cause an avalanche.

If anyone can do it, Valve can.

Steam had a rocky start. I don’t expect SteamOS to be any different. But there’s already a sizable library of games on Steam that support Linux. And you can bet your ass it will grow. For anyone wanting to build a PC, knock off at least two hundred bucks as you won’t have to buy an OS. That alone is pretty damn exciting. But if you really pay attention to the indie titles coming out, so many of them already support Linux. If more of the big dogs start supporting that, we’ll be seeing a domino effect. And if that happens, we could very well see a revolution in the gaming space.

The only other piece to the puzzle is hardware. If Valve or some other company makes an affordable Steam Machine that meets an equitable price point to the PS4 or Xbox One and provides reliable hardware, this could very well be it – a goddamned sexual tyrannosaurus in the world of gaming!

I’m not saying Sony and Microsoft need to go away. They don’t. The more diversity, the more options out there, the more we benefit as gamers. Competition is good. It inspires innovation. We’re finally seeing some damn fine game sales in the console space (thank you Steam)! And thank the maker Sony that Microsoft has stuck with the Games for Gold program as it’s brilliant. It even (kind of) justifies a pay-wall for online services. But I want more. And you should too.

I’m still not sure how the Steam Box will fare. But the possibilities of its success excites me.  And if it shakes up the big players, we all win.

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