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Comment by Zambyte

3 months ago

> I'm honestly surprised nobody else tried a "boot to game library" PC

Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Atari, Sega...

They intentionally choose to brand their personal computers poorly to coerce their customers into giving up control of their computers. That doesn't make their computers any less personal, unless they are using it to serve other people.

13 comments

Zambyte

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jerojero  3 months ago

Valve had to make an entire operating system to make this the case for steam games.

A lot of these capabilities would rely on windows, sleeping and resuming the system thats entirely the purview of the OS.

And Microsoft just doesn't care.

  • Zambyte  3 months ago

    Microsoft had to make an entire operating system to make this the case for running Xbox games. Sony had to make an entire operating system to make this work for PlayStation games. I don't really know why that's significant.

  • nsxwolf  3 months ago

    Microsoft’s core competency is a general purpose operating system that can be used for anything and work with infinite combinations of hardware.

    The fact that you can almost, sort of use a Windows PC as a gaming console, even with all the headaches that come with it, is something of a miracle.

  • scns  3 months ago

    > Valve had to make an entire operating system

    A Linux distribution. Which is often done by one person. Zero snark intended.

nsxwolf  3 months ago

The goal with consoles is not to force people to give up control of their computers, it’s to create the best possible gaming appliance, which consoles succeed at.

  • Zambyte  3 months ago

    What is the difference between an appliance and a computer?

    • currency  3 months ago

      Speaking of electronic devices, an appliance is generally locked down, and the manufacturer limits the number of use cases. You end up with something that is not a general-purpose computer, even though many use the same hardware as a computer would.

      A game console is a classic appliance. You turn it on and see your current game running or a selection of games to play and you can start playing a game with zero intermediate steps.

      The Steam Deck and Steam Box are designed as appliance emulators—they boot and by default operate in appliance mode. They can provide the same exact experience as a console if you use them as designed. They are also general-purpose computers, if you wish to step out of console mode.