Steam Big Picture (+ tip of the hat to BM)

Technology and Gaming
#21

So, I love Big Picture mode. I just went out and bought a wired 360 controller to plug into my PC and loaded up steam on the 40 inch to play some Space Marine. It’s really cool. Obviously I will only be using it to play ‘controller friendly’ games such as Space Marine, Just Cause 2, etc. So far, I really like the wheel keyboard thing and the internet browser. I think I actually like the whole thing better than the Xbox dashboard…

#22

Ironic, that Valve would make a really good controller interface that seems to be better then existing console designs, for a PC.

Somebody in the youtube comments asked if plugging it into the TV would make steam run his games better then his mac does :lol:

#23

Another obvious plus for playing PC games on your TV rather than console games is the post-processing available to high-end PC users, like AA and whatnot. Space Marine runs at a buttery smooth high framerate and looks much better than it’s 360 counterpart, but you also get the added comfort of lounging on the couch rather than hunched in a chair.

Big Picture mode definitely has its uses.

My only problem now is that I have to choose between playing on the big screen, or playing in SLI Surround :frowning:

#24

#25

I just hope this encourages split screen play, a feature that I feel most modern pc games are missing. Hell even console games are starting to abandon it with the developers citing hard where limitations.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

#26

I stopped reading there.

#27

I don’t have a great chair or anything like that, but it’s decent enough that I can basically lay back and almost sit on it like a couch, so this isn’t as much of a problem for me

#28

Yeah, I mostly just like the convenience of a console with the performance of a PC.

#29

So I’m remote into my media centre at home, and it seems to be running well enough. I may have to install an ad block feature as I haven’t got it enabled in my router at the moment. Some of the pop ups are annoying when in a mobile browser.

#30

The wheel-keyboard seems like quite the handy thing, I wonder how soon other companies or developers will pick that up.

#31

Greenlight isn’t rendering properly in it for me.
https://i.imgur.com/nMyAP.png

Edit: Seems to do that on every page, some sort of buffer at the top and bottom.

#32

I for one hope that Microsoft is able to implement it into the Xbox OS. It sucks ass trying to type anything on it as it is now

#33

That’s made on purpose. Same thing happens if you scroll to the bottom of the page. It’s for convenience - you can read top and the bottom in the very middle of your TV :wink:

#34

I’ve been using steam on a large HD in my bedroom for a while now, and for some reason when I saw the video about Big Picture, I assumed they were working on some sort of Valve-console to play PC games in your living room.

Now that I understand what this is, it’s really no change for me, but it might make me start using my gamepad more…

#35

The video even showed it being “clicked”

#36

even better :slight_smile:

#37

Every other console needs to emulate this typing style.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.