Steam Big Picture

[Tek7@Work]

Steam's new Big Picture mode lets gamers access all of their favorite Steam games on a television. With the press of a button, Steam displays a new full-screen user interface optimized for readability and interaction on TV. Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional game controller, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input.

Steam gamers can experience Big Picture by connecting their PC or Mac to a TV, typically with a single HDMI cable. Access to the complete Steam store is included, as is the Steam Community. In addition to their complete library of Steam games, each user's cloud files, Steam Workshop content, account information and preferences will be accessible automatically in the new mode.

Source: Steam Big Picture Available Today

I tried it last night.

I really like it.

I have my new-to-me PC connected to my HDTV in the living room and I had my old desktop hooked up to the same TV before it croaked, so I have been looking forward to this update since last February.

There's room for improvement, but I trust that Valve is going to improve on what they already have.

Maybe Valve's first venture into developing hardware will be an inexpensive (both for the manufacturer to produce and the consumer to purchase), stable, and universal HDMI-over-wireless adapter. I certainly hope it is.

I anticipate an uptick in the sales of Logitech F710 controllers (Atown! Please add the Logitech F710 to the CGA Amazon Store pronto!) following this announcement. I bought one a while back and <3 it.

I also anticipate MotioninJoy getting a fresh wave of downloads and sales of Bluetooth adapters picking up.

Now I'm off to see if there's a command line parameter for the Steam executable to activate Big Picture mode at startup.

 

[Stc95]

Yea!! TF2 ON DA BIG SCREEN!

 

[[toj.cc]phantom]

 

[Tek7@Work]

Still loving Big Picture mode. Played Critter Crunch last night using Big Picture mode and chatted with Kendrik after. Wireless gamepad + wireless keyboard/mouse combo + desktop PC hooked up to HDTV = win.

It's like having a next generation console with crazy good sale prices (not like those weak "33% off for non-Plus subscribers" sales on PSN).