Steam releases Big Picture mode

[Dowly]

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/big_picture_release

I must say that I do like it's chat interface. Having my PC hooked to the big telly
makes the font a bit small on the normal chat window. :hmmm:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Is that not just connecting your PC to the telly? Like some do already? Just navigating Steam with a controller instead (or as well as) a mouse and keyboard?

Fail to be excited about this. Am I missing something? :hmmm:

[Arclight]

It's normally designed to be viewed from a short distance; it's rather likely you can't read a bloody thing when you stick it on the telly and sit back on the couch (I couldn't, though my TV isn't particularly big). Not to mention navigating the original thing would be impossible with a controller.


Just tried it, works rather well. It's a completely separate thing, what I imagine is similar to the console dashboards.

[Dowly]

Is that not just connecting your PC to the telly? Like some do already? Just navigating Steam with a controller instead (or as well as) a mouse and keyboard?

Yup, it's meant for big screens. And like I said, it does help with the chat in my case. :yep:

Normal chat, 1920x1080 on 42'' telly
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/Dowly/steam_chat1.jpg

Big Picture mode:
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/Dowly/steam_chat2.jpg

Other than that though, not much use for it. :hmmm:

[Herr-Berbunch]

I'll give you that. Chat looks lots better. :yep:

At first glance of the Steam site I thought they were offering an 'Onlive' type experience.

[danlisa]

You can alter the Font Size in the chat window with a minor edit to the Styles script. Although if BigScreen fixes it for you, why bother.

Personally, I like it a lot more than the standard UI and have been using it on my PC since it was released through Steam Beta.

[Dowly]

You can alter the Font Size in the chat window with a minor edit to the Styles script. Although if BigScreen fixes it for you, why bother.

Ah, good to know. :up:

[CaptainHaplo]

Is there a way to get rid of the blasted button - its in the way when I want to minimize or whatnot.

[Dowly]

Don't think so. :hmmm:

[Sonarman]

This could actually be quite a bad thing for PC Gaming in that it again moves it in a console style control direction.

[Arclight]

Mm I disagree, just another reason why PC is no worse (and arguably better) than consoles.

The whole "but I can sit on my couch and play with a controller" argument goes out the window. Which is really the primary argument put forth every time, even though it was flawed before already.


Also, there's no such thing as "console style control direction". PC was there first, PC had controllers first. If anything, consoles have always imitated PC. What they did though was surpass PC in ease of use, and this actually helps to bridge that gap.

If there's so many games (arguably) best played on a TV and with a controller , why not make them more viable on PC?

[Dowly]

Yeah, I agree with Arc. If anything, the BPM just shows that you can do same with PC
that you can with a console: sit on your couch and play games if you want to.