Comment by Legion | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Legion | Hacker News Reader

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At least on the Xbox side, it has a lot to do with their systematic dismantlement of the machine's GUI, which was originally a joy to use, and geared towards being, you know, a game playing machine. Now it's like webTV for the 2010s.

I used to rave about the old Blades interface and how, OMG, Microsoft made a great user experience, and how weird it was for me to feel so strongly positive about a Microsoft consumer product. So of course they destroyed everything about that interface that was so great.

When Steam put Big Picture mode in beta, I knew I was done with consoles. I got a cube-shaped PC case that was big enough for a full-size video card, put said video card with a nice Ivy Bridge i5 CPU in it, and my consoles got the permanent shut-down.

I am concerned though about the lack of any new info on the steambox in the last, what, year? They announced their intention to create a Linux distro with Steam to run on hardware to a spec, but they haven't moved forward with it at all.

I think Valve would crush the console scene if they actually had anything to show for the hype.

> I am concerned though about the lack of any new info on the steambox in the last, what, year?

Everything I saw about the "Steam Box" suggested to me that it would be an underpowered machine for more casual games.

But the great part about Steam is that I could build my own damn hardware and use Steam and Big Picture Mode on it. So now I have a legitimate mid-range gaming PC hooked up to my TV and launching Big Picture on startup.

As a Linux user and lover, the idea of an eventual Steam box running on Linux is an exciting idea, but in the meantime, I'm running my own box on Windows.

But they have moved forward. Portal, Half-Life 2, and (I think) Left 4 dead 2 all now work under Linux as of a few weeks ago. That's quite an achievement.

To each his own I suppose, but to me the old Blades interface was atrocious. I like the current UI, though the organization could be a little smarter (e.g. frequently used apps should be more accessible)

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