Steam's Big Picture Mode Launches in Beta Today

Something to use the Mini Mac for now.

Looks a lot like Metro.

@Ravelle said:

they forgot to mention you have to set your monitor settings to duplicate and sound to go trough HMDI.

You should be doing that anyway because duplication makes it so much easier to send stuff over to your TV. I used to run my TV as an extended desktop and sending games over to it could be really annoying if they didn't support display switching or windowed mode.

That controller keyboard is very original, and has potential. I like.

@wolf_blitzer85 said:

Either way my computer is about 5 feet away from the tv and all I have to do is swivel my chair if I want to use that over my monitor so it wouldn't be a big deal. If they actually worked in some universal controller support voodoo magic for games where there is none, that would be fantastic.

You are missing the point of Big Picture mode and its not for you, Its for people who have ran it either ran a HDMI through the house or people with high powered PC's at their TV's. Its convenient to not have to pull out the keyboard every time you want to switch games. All I need to find is a way to make the 360 home button launch this from the windows desktop and a keyboard would barely be used at all on the media PC.

Looks utter shit

I have not had a chance to try this yet, but I will give it a go when I get home later.

A question for someone who is running Windows 8!

Is there any way to make the big picture mode launch directly from a start screen icon?

There must be a shortcut in the steam folder that launches directly to this right? So that people can add it to their startup if they just want steam?

I'm following a couple of people who are trying to get the 360 controller working with the modern interface, and so these things together could be interesting.

Also, MS should buy Valve.

@AtomicEdge said:

I have not had a chance to try this yet, but I will give it a go when I get home later.

A question for someone who is running Windows 8!

Is there any way to make the big picture mode launch directly from a start screen icon?

There must be a shortcut in the steam folder that launches directly to this right? So that people can add it to their startup if they just want steam?

I'm following a couple of people who are trying to get the 360 controller working with the modern interface, and so these things together could be interesting.

Also, MS should buy Valve.

You can set steam to be a metro tile, and click on that. When steam comes up, all you have to do is push the guide button on the 360 controller and it changes to big picture mode if your in the beta. I haven't tried messing with the launch files, but that would be interesting.

I'd like to see Steam incorporate 360 controller support for all pc games via an app kind of like xpadder/pinnacle. It would be ideal if they could have you set up a standard preference (emulate standard 360 controls for all games, southpaw, etc.) one time and then let you tweak it if you'd like. xpadder is ok, but it's not very user friendly and the profiles never quite emulate standard 360 controls without significant tweaking.

@Cirdain said:

Daisywheel.... arrcgggghhhhhhhhhh. That's so damn clever.

Gabey, Gabey, Give me your answer do, Why so crazy, I spend all my money on you!

@AtomicEdge said:

I have not had a chance to try this yet, but I will give it a go when I get home later.

A question for someone who is running Windows 8!

Is there any way to make the big picture mode launch directly from a start screen icon?

There must be a shortcut in the steam folder that launches directly to this right? So that people can add it to their startup if they just want steam?

I'm following a couple of people who are trying to get the 360 controller working with the modern interface, and so these things together could be interesting.

Also, MS should buy Valve.

You can create your own shortcut that does this, just copy the existing one and add "-bigpicture" to it.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -bigpicture" for example.

Also, like Saethir said, you can launch it with the home button on the Xbox controller when Steam is on top.

Can't we kinda do this already by plugging our pc into the tv and using steam as normal?

Can't fucking wait. I use 75-foot HDMI and audio cables to play PC games on my projector, and using a wireless mouse and keyboard is spotty. This will make things waaaay easier.

I'm not impressed. The browser is far from good. The whole thing is slow and CPU heavy. It doesn't turn off when launching a game, so it's a constant waste of CPU resources, hence lowering the framerate.

I'm not going to use it.

Seeing that text interface just blew my mind. That there is an innovation I'd love to see Microsoft crib from for the Xbox.

@Szlifier said:

I'm not impressed. The browser is far from good. The whole thing is slow and CPU heavy. It doesn't turn off when launching a game, so it's a constant waste of CPU resources, hence lowering the framerate.

I'm not going to use it.

someone needs a hardware update

If only I had a good enough PC to take advantage of this. At least it will make indie games with small text easier to play

@mattchops said:

Can't we kinda do this already by plugging our pc into the tv and using steam as normal?

Yup! But what if you are, say, 10 feet away from the screen and don't want to use a mouse and keyboard (or can't, god damned cables) to navigate the tiny Steam UI? And the game you're playing is fine with a wireless X360 pad? Like The Borderlands 2 or The Super Meat Boy or The Batman: Arkham Asylum/City The Witcher 2? It's just another option. My body. My choice. Video games!

All this time, I thought Big Picture was some kind of movie app for Steam.

I already play steam on my TV, but this is better.

@Szlifier said:

I'm not impressed. The browser is far from good. The whole thing is slow and CPU heavy. It doesn't turn off when launching a game, so it's a constant waste of CPU resources, hence lowering the framerate.

I'm not going to use it.

Try this, this will speed up the browser a lot.

TL;DR Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections Tab > LAN Settings > Uncheck Automatically Detect Settings

Windows, for compatibility reasons, has Automatically Detect Proxy settings enabled. It unfortunately adds a significant lag to loading web pages in Steam as well as other internet dependent applications. Nearly no one needs this compatibility feature anymore, worst case if something goes wrong simply re-check the box.

@John1912 said:

@moomoomashoo said:

@John1912 said:

@moomoomashoo said:

Please tell me this includes the ability to start a game on my second screen by default... If so, this is perfection.

If your using two screens for you pc You can extend the displays. Chose which one is the main display IE screen 2. Or swap which position they are in under screen resolution.

Yeah I know, I have a laptop hooked up to me TV. I know I can start fiddling and make it work, but it would be pretty dandy if I didn't have to.

Not really fiddling if it takes 3 secs.

There is no fiddling. Press "Windows + P" until desired display shows up :)

Where's my sammich! Why it's there no TF2 meme in there! Can't wait for Valve to release this. I had Xpadder (for mouse control) working quite fine with the Windows virtual keyboard but this would improve my gaming sessions so much!

@AtomicEdge said:

Also, MS should buy Valve.

Oh yeah that'd end up real well, given how MS deliberately designs their UI.

Gabe left Microsoft for a reason. It wasn't in any way related to this, but there was still a reason.

God. It is such a bloody downgrade from the regular UI. The store, library and community in big picture mode is extremely limited (dumbed down wouldn't even be the right word here). But hey, smart thing for Valve to chase after console poeple, this is the perfect time to do so.

@zaglis said:

God. It is such a bloody downgrade from the regular UI. The store, library and community in big picture mode is extremely limited (dumbed down wouldn't even be the right word here). But hey, smart thing for Valve to chase after console poeple, this is the perfect time to do so.

Different point of views. I would not use the big picture mode on my PC monitor at my desk. But I wouldn't use the normal view either on a living room TV. Big picture mode is perfect for the TV.

Wow, looks like some interesting stuff and I've had my PC hooked up to my TV for years now so this'll just make things easier.

Hopefully we'll get a quick look of this soon. Pretty please?

@Majkiboy said:

@John1912 said:

@moomoomashoo said:

@John1912 said:

@moomoomashoo said:

Please tell me this includes the ability to start a game on my second screen by default... If so, this is perfection.

If your using two screens for you pc You can extend the displays. Chose which one is the main display IE screen 2. Or swap which position they are in under screen resolution.

Yeah I know, I have a laptop hooked up to me TV. I know I can start fiddling and make it work, but it would be pretty dandy if I didn't have to.

Not really fiddling if it takes 3 secs.

There is no fiddling. Press "Windows + P" until desired display shows up :)

"Every real PC gamer disabled their Windows key back in '95." -Hardcore Dave

As a fan of PC on my t.v., I'm definitely looking forward to this.

Those saying this video wasn't "Edgey" or "Valve" - Remember that though they are both essentially Valve, "Valve" and "Steam" are very different "personalities". "Speech Marks."

its available now. just go to settings > beta participation and get the beta update. They also added gamepad support to steam overlay so you can take screenshots while using a gamepad by pressing RT and the guide button on a 360 pad or equivalent.

@NekuCTR: You realize they sell call of duty on steam, right? Seriously though millions of people use steam. come on now

hooked up my 46" tv to my computer today so i can use this. It definitely makes the experience more pleasant.

This looks like something for those who are in the midst of making a MAME cabinet or whatever. But I really wish some of these games that are mouse and keyboard only could either be updated or hidden from Big Picture mode.

@AtomicEdge: Just go to the desktop and create a new shortcut. Point at steam.exe. Then edit the resulting line by adding -tenfoot to the end of it. So, for instance:

"c:\program files(x86)\steam\steam.exe" -tenfoot

Then just rightclick the shortcut and pin it to start.

Might just add that to my startup items as well, seeing as steam as the only thing I use that particular PC for these days.

The design theme is snazzy.

@chilipeppersman said:

great idea, BUT MAKE HALF-LIFE 3 ALREADY! Damn.

Man, Page 5 of a Valve article and this is the first HL3 comment. People must really like this Big Picture thing.

@AtomicEdge said:

Also, MS should buy Valve.

I can't think of a worse thing for Valve than this.....

"A tv web browser that doesn't suck"

That made me lol pretty hard.

Looks dashboard-esque, sans the torrents of advertising.

Microsoft better watch out!

It IS pretty sweet... I was using it on my HTPC last night. The problem is a lot of game start up to a launcher - which I then need a mouse to click. Hopefully upcoming games plan for this as they know this is the future. (i'm sure most games now could go directly to the game too if I pre-setup some command line its steam entry.

Patrick, those "input innovations" were first seen in Killzone for PS2 and more recently "Circboard":

The idea has been done elsewhere as well; I heard there was a similar thing for XBMC.

@Dark said:

@wolf_blitzer85 said:

Either way my computer is about 5 feet away from the tv and all I have to do is swivel my chair if I want to use that over my monitor so it wouldn't be a big deal. If they actually worked in some universal controller support voodoo magic for games where there is none, that would be fantastic.

You are missing the point of Big Picture mode and its not for you, Its for people who have ran it either ran a HDMI through the house or people with high powered PC's at their TV's. Its convenient to not have to pull out the keyboard every time you want to switch games. All I need to find is a way to make the 360 home button launch this from the windows desktop and a keyboard would barely be used at all on the media PC.

I have my PC hooked up to my TV, and I have been enjoying the new UI quite a bit. Having had my computer hooked up to a tv since the s-video days, I am perfectly aware of what Valve are trying to do with Big Picture. The only teensy-tiny problem I have with it, is that, if I'm enjoying a game of Magic on my 360 controller, then want to switch over to Mass Effect 2, I will still need to pull my keyboard out anyway. My computer is like 3 feet away from the TV, so switching back and forth really is a non-issue for me.

I just thought it would be cool if they could implement some sort of magic wrapper that would add in configurable support for those games without having to go through Xpadder or JoyToKey. Again not a big deal, but one less hoop to jump through is okay by me.

Looks like a great idea. I'd like to try it out someday. My PC is in my office, though so it might be a while. Hopefully, by then they'll have all the kinks worked out.

Big Picture is pretty amazing: Just tried it now and I think that given time, it might totally supplant the standard view.

If you've got time, I think it could be worth a Quick Look actually. Jeff Quick Looks Xbox 360 dashboard updates and I don't see how this is any different really.

I played with it a bit on my TV (hooked up to my computer via a 25 ft HDMI from another room) and I can see myself totally diggn it. A much better way to launch games while away from my computer, since if I am playing on my TV there is a chance that I don't have a mouse/keyboard around and am using a wireless 360 controller anyway.

+1 on this.

The steam "console" is going to be an easy to set up wireless system with two devices. It puts your computer on your TV and thanks to this you can use your controller easily.

GG console gaming. It was cute how for the last twenty years you pretended that every "advancement" wasn't a rip off superior PC functionality.

sounds pretty cool.