Steam and the future of PC gaming

This weekend I decided to hook up my aging Dell PC to my TV and AV system, and see what it is like to use Steam, and the "Big Screen" mode.

I have been a member of Steam for some time - I joined when my interest in PC gaming had been piqued by some great offers on decent games, plus and interest in the Steam service, how it worked and what it offered. This was initially to see what would run on a Linux PC (Ubuntu), but I have progressed (or regressed?!) to Windows to try linking to the TV. Perhaps I should also try booting into Linux (the machine is set up to dual boot) and see how that works on the big screen?

Anyway, all this talk of "Steam OS" and the steam boxes in development I thought I would revisit a system that might actually have a chance against the Microsoft/Sony dominated console market. I don't mention the Wii U as I see it more as a niche machine (though I rate it, sadly I see it being swept away by the tsunami that is Xbox One and PS4).

So after digging around for some cables, I found a DVI to HDMI (previous used with a Raspberry Pi, but that is another story) and hooked it up to my Denon AV system. This was very easy, and the PC does offer a great diversity of services, internet, streaming and music, that easily matches any console. I have only stereo sound as my PC does not support sound over HDMI (as it is DVI to HDMI) and I don't have a decent sound card.

So I fired up Steam, and soon was running in full screen mode. This looks good, and offers up the store as well as your library of games. Loading games was simple, although it would be nice to have a more integrated experience when the games start.

I have an Xbox controller that worked well with Trine 2, though the PC itself was unable to run this properly. Damn. Oh well, worth a try. However, what I really wanted to try, EVE, worked a treat (though I am still trying to figure out how to make the fonts bigger as they are pretty small on a large TV). I had to set video to all the lowest settings to run, but was still a good experience. Armed with a wireless mouse and bluetooth keyboard I was off, and it was a good experience.

Now the games themselves in Steam are a steal. They have great sales and the games are available immediately. And they are decent games too. Origin offer a similar service, I bought Sim City (but unfortunately my PC couldn't handle it!!) which is good too, and a hooked up PC to a TV offers numerous services without having to buy new hardware. This is why I think PCs are to experience a resurgence, maybe in the form of small-factor upgradable PCs with modular parts. The Steam boxes sound interesting, and I'll be looking out for progress on that next year.

So all in all, a good test and now I have another useable games machine (just) that can do a lot more besides.