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Comment: Re:Never been a fan of multiplayer. (Score 1) 292

by sheehaje (#47917837) Attached to: The Growing Illusion of Single Player Gaming

This nice thing is there have been so many single players made that I can go back and play the slew of ones I missed. Just finished up Batman: Arkham City ... going to try the Metro series next... I have 150 steam games and I've played through maybe 20 of them.

I've been playing Destiny. I noticed it's made in a way that the multiplayer functionality is just there, but can be ignored for much of the game. I've found that jumping in and out of multiplayer as I desire has made me more likely to join quick co-op matches as I don't feel it's a burden because I can leave them at any point. For all the negative press the game has gotten - I feel like they hit my demographic - aging gamers that can't spend hours on end in a game anymore...

Comment: Re:No story here, move along (Score 1) 208

by sheehaje (#46939613) Attached to: Brain Injury Turns Man Into Math Genius

I don't think the amazing thing is what he can see or can't so, or even what is math skills are or aren't.

The intriguing part (to me) is the mechanics of the brain changing so drastically after an injury. From the little information I've read - his injuries weren't much more than a concussion - yet it's completely changed some functions of how his brain processes information. That's truly amazing to me - and leads me to more questions but mainly these two: Was this ability there all along and somehow was unlocked? Did the injury change the brain in some way to produce an ability that wasn't there already?

While this case may have no significance to mathematics or mathematicians it certainly does to anyone in the cognitive sciences.

Comment: Re:Better late than never (Score 1) 108

by sheehaje (#45606787) Attached to: Valve Joins the Linux Foundation

Sega (I know it's a publisher) has a few of there titles either all ready ported to Linux or is going to port to SteamOS (Total War: Rome III)

The Metro series is being ported - which while 4A Studios isn't a huge name, their publisher (Deep Silver) definitely has some AAA titles under belt (Saints Row to name the top one).

Of course Valve has ported some of their titles, and more importantly the Source Engine. I'm sure their full catalogue will be ready to go soon. Don't underestimate that - Counter Strike is still one of the most played online games going, and so it DotA now.

One last one I'll include is Brutal Legend - yes it's old. Yes it's wasn't wildly popular - but it's another engine successfully ported.

Yes - I know this is a small sample. And like I said in an earlier post - I wonder about critical mass. If anyone can pull it off though, it is Steam. I remember Loki Games trying to achieve critical mass - they ported games like Myth and Railroad Tycoon and Heretic. I still have about 10 of their ports. Unfortunately - they didn't get critical mass - and most importantly they didn't get first day titles to release. The back library will be important for SteamOS/Machines - but even more important will be the ability to get AAA titles released on par with the big 3 (Sony, MS, Nintendo).

Comment: Re:Not a kernel problem (Score 1) 108

by sheehaje (#45598153) Attached to: Valve Joins the Linux Foundation

They did port there own Source Engine with great success. While Source isn't the latest and greatest - they did at least show it was possible without reinventing the wheel. Also, there are a ton of titles on Steam based on Valves own source engine.

I don't think the hoops they have to jump through are as small as they used to be - especially now that the driver situation is starting to be ironed out.

Comment: Re:Better late than never (Score 4, Interesting) 108

by sheehaje (#45597779) Attached to: Valve Joins the Linux Foundation

I don't really fully get your gripe. Why would Valve release SteamOS/Machines with just their games in mind? This is not what they've stated at all - and besides games they say there will be streaming media services available too (Maybe Netflix for Linux is finally coming)... There are already some developers lining up to produce triple A titles on the console - I'm just wondering how many.

While Valve has dragged their feet on their games they haven't done so with the Steam platform. In fact, just this past year they've introduced Big Picture, Steam for Linux, Family Sharing (in beta) and a slew of updates. They definitely aren't standing still and making empty announcements.


by sheehaje (#45597549) Attached to: Valve Joins the Linux Foundation

I hope Steam Machines take enough of a foothold to attract the major studios for developing native Linux games. Right now what is missing is a critical mass. You say you have 88 titles working on Linux - most of them are indie - which is great, but I want 90%+ of my current library to be natively supported. It's going to be an issue if I buy a steam machine and can only get a handful of the titles I play the most working. While streaming may be nice, I will be purposely buying a steam machine so my kids aren't taking over my gaming rig anymore - or just the opposite, so I can play while they are on my gaming rig. So streaming, while a nice option, isn't always going to be of use because you can stream and play from the same machine.

With that said - I have great hope this will work. Valve will take it's time - and a $700 steam machine in 2014 will cost half that in 2016. So if Valve is willing to stick it out for the long haul - this can really cut into Microsoft and Sony (and Nintendo to a lesser degree)... I'm also eagerly awaiting their controller.

Now - as far as Valve on the LF - that's just icing on the cake. Any wins for Valve at this point will be wins for Linux in general. And if anyone has used Microsoft's lastest abominations of OS's, that's a win for the PC. Funny thing is, a console may be the best thing for finally seeing Linux on the Desktop.

Comment: Re:Not this time, Sony (Score 1, Informative) 294

by sheehaje (#45434529) Attached to: PlayStation 4 Released

This again for me. I will never buy Sony Products again. They aren't the only company out there that makes mistakes, but the track record speaks volumes of why I won't do anything Sony.

Just some of the things at the top of the list:

Rootkits part of game installations
PSN Got hacked and didn't immediately disclose the accounts that got hacked, and tried to cover up the extent of it.
and yes - removing functionality from the PS3 (OtherOS) against customer wishes

Granted - Microsoft isn't exactly high on my list either - I do own an Xbox 360, but probably won't own an XBone

I'm saving my money for a Steam Machine - whether Valve succeeds or flops with it, I'd rather support them - and the streaming feature alone is a huge win for anyone with a large Steam collection anyway.

Comment: Re:For me - yes (Score 1) 348

I'm neither Unemployed or a Kid - I have a family of 4 on 1 paycheck... So staying on budget is almost an art.

We are very much into computer entertainment and my kids and myself are into gaming. I don't probably need a bunch of different titles - but I happen to like variety. I've been gaming for over 30 years - and while I don't play nearly as much as I used to - my style of play isn't to play one game to unlock every nook and cranny of it. I like playing a game - spending 40 or so hours with it at most, and moving on to the next title. My 4 year old seems to like variety too - racing, lego games, and a few of the indy titles. If I buy an xbox one - it will sit in the living room hardly used for months - because even with $20 off it will take a long time to actually afford enough variety to be useful across my family. I went through this with the Wii U - it was a decent enough system... but it just didn't get used - and didn't have enough variety for our tastes at the time we had it.

If I buy a Steam Machine - I already have a library of 100's of games, and can keep expanding at the deals I'm used to (which is usually even better than the $10 - 15 deals on amazon)

Comment: Re:For me - yes (Score 1) 348

I think initially - any steam machine will play any title - but the Video Quality will be scaled to the price. I can't imagine releasing hardware that doesn't play anything in the steam library. Even a cheap PC these days with integrated GPU to the CPU plays most titles at lower graphics settings.

I had a friend just switch back to PC gaming after years dedicated to the XBox -- a HUGE halo fan that was involved in that community... But he was also off put with the recent announcements from Sony and Xbox - with Steam and the Humble Bundles - he is now entrenched into PC gaming after only starting back to it a few months ago... He tells me he only occasionally uses the Xbox - probably to play Halo. His PC is a run of the mill consumer build with a $100 APU ... Probably at most a $350 PC setup. Manufactures SHOULD be able to put together similar specs for at or under this price point.

Comment: For me - yes (Score 5, Insightful) 348

I own an Xbox 360, a Wii, I owned a Wii U (but was so underwhelmed I brought it back).

I've had several consoles over the years, but I keep going back to PC gaming. My 360 collects dust - it's not worth paying the online tax to even watch netflix on it. The Wii is used for Wii Fit only. My 4 year old son prefers the games on the computer. I don't know why - he just does - with one caveat - they work with a controller.

I was looking at possibly the XBone for the living room - but it won't play 360 titles - and the entry price is very high considering I'd have to restock the titles at ~$60 a pop.

Now that Steam has announced SteamOS, Steam Machines and the Controller - I can kill many birds with one stone. I can buy a modern console for the living room. I can keep my current library of titles (that I've been building since 2006). My son can have a controller that's the same for both devices. I can stream old games, hopefully though there will be enough native releases - because that will be a key point to most people. Now that Steam will offer Family Sharing/Controls, I can finally stop buying for 2 accounts and just focus on building one library. For myself, this is a great solution.

Now, will people who exclusive use PS/Xbox switch? I don't think so easily. First, you have the Madden crowd - good luck getting EA to budge on releasing sports games for the PC again. Then there are the exclusives and the kinect. I know Kinect is a failure to a lot - but it is a great family device and one of the only things I fire the Xbox up for all anymore is stuff like Sesame Kinect...

But - as these machines proliferate - I can see more and more people picking them up. This is pure speculation - but I imagine they will refresh the hardware frequently - like phones and tablets. Being and Open System - I can see many of it's own exclusives - whether whole titles or features in a title. The idea of being able to self-upgrade is phenomenal. I imagine over time these machines will become more than just different form factor PC's - and may offer some sorely needed innovation in the market... SteamOS makes that possible - kind of like an Android for Consoles - just even more open.

The worse case scenario is it doesn't pan out great, and not a lot of manufacturers fizzle out on the idea and SteamOS/Machines become a footnote - but the damage is already done - because a game optimized kernel will exist with opitmized graphics drivers - something sorely lacking for Linux for many years... So even a short term failure could lead to greater things down the road.

Comment: Re:No expectation (Score 1) 332

by sheehaje (#43415281) Attached to: IRS Can Read Your Email Without Warrant

How does anyone expect email to be private? I still scratch my head at how many times emails have been used for indictments, yet people feel it is a reasonable secure mechanism - and this is internal email....

Use encryption for sensitive data. We have a secure email system. It's reasonably protected. Sending plain email to the wild isn't.

The simple of it - if you are putting stuff in unsecured email that can be used against you for tax evasion - you're doing it wrong.
