Monday, December 3rd 2012

Steam Big Picture Available Now

Valve today announced the public release of Big Picture, Steam's new mode that lets gamers access all of their favorite Steam games on a television from the comfort of their sofa. Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional gamepad, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input.

To celebrate the public launch of Big Picture, over thirty controller-friendly games will be on sale from now until December 10, with savings up to 75% off.

Access to the complete Steam store is included, as is the Steam Community. Big Picture is available worldwide in over twenty languages, including German, French, Russian, Korean, and Portuguese.

Gamers' existing games are all available in Big Picture. In addition to having the 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.

Steam gamers may easily experience Big Picture on their televisions by connecting their PC or Mac, typically with a single HDMI cable. Big Picture also includes a new web browser designed for televisions and game controllers. It is accessible from anywhere within the Big Picture UI, and even while playing Steam games on a TV. It supports Big Picture's new method of typing with a gamepad, which is useful for entering URLs, filling out forms, chatting, and other functions.

For more information, please visit steampowered.com/bigpicture.
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19 Comments on Steam Big Picture Available Now

#1
Ravenas
Wow this is a really good idea.

Understandably, it was easy to do before just by connecting you HDMI cable to your TV. However, no that they have offically implentmented software which allows this to happen is more than welcome.
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#2
Jstn7477
Although I rarely ever use my 42" HDTV, I did try computing with it and I could only be less than 6 feet away to read anything at 1080p and default text sizes. This should be a lot better.
Posted on Reply
#3
sy5tem
this is very nice, on of my rl friend was a xbox 360 player, because PC was too much learning ,,, he just want to play...

i sold him a computer a while ago and he's using steam only because its really ez to use, + there is a lot of game that work with is 360 controller .

now thanks to this , its gona be easier! (he still used mouse to start game e.t.c, so with this he doesn't need a mouse)
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#4
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
Onward towards the steambox!
Posted on Reply
#5
Ravenas
Easy RhinoOnward towards the steambox!
Can't wait. It will be a day 1 purchase for me.
Posted on Reply
#6
stinger608
Dedicated TPU Cruncher & Folder
This is awesome. I am glad that Steam moved this forward from being a beta program.

Will give this a shot very soon.
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#7
Crap Daddy
Been using it from some time now. It's great!
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#8
lyndonguitar
I play games
its really cool, interface and design looks slick
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#9
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
nevermind terrible question
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#10
NC37
Don't like the button placement. Right under the minimize/maximize. Too easy to hit it by accident.
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#11
bangboy90
Crap DaddyBeen using it from some time now. It's great!
where you a beta tester of this thing ?
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#12
Lionheart
Not sure about everyone else but this thing is buggy as hell for me, nothing loads so I exit then steam crashes:wtf:
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#13
AsRock
TPU addict
NC37Don't like the button placement. Right under the minimize/maximize. Too easy to hit it by accident.
At least you can turn it on or off..

Been using steam on a TV for years now.. And i tried this when it was in beta and still don't like it as i don't play games with a controller and and i surly dont play games with a wireless mouse and keyboard as the last thing ya need is one of those items ripped from ya hands as some one passes between the sofa and computer.
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#14
Novulux
bangboy90where you a beta tester of this thing ?
It's been in open beta since September, so anyone could have quite easily.
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#15
syeef
Updated... looks nice.
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#16
mlee49
I got the update late last night, looks cool.

I like the new Big Picture option, it was a bit oversized for a 26" but on a 40"+ it should look nice. Anyone else like it?
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#17
DannibusX
Yeah, I think it's fantastic. I haven't used it in a while and it had some minor issues, but it looks great and is easy to navigate.
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#18
mlee49
I like it, but I'm being a bit partial since I've bought all my games there for the last 2 years.

That and I dont have an 360 or PS3 to compare against. I did have a 360 for a while, the dashboard was okay but it wasn't super.
Posted on Reply
#19
Unregistered
My complaint about "Big Picture" is a lack of ready to go apps to make it in all-in-one setup...
Like Netfix, Media players and a game explorer for non-steam games...They also need to include something like Xpadder so you can create profiles to use on games and other apps that don't yet support a controller...

So far I've worked around the lack of everyday App's such as Netflix by going into the GAMES tab and then clicking on "ADD A NON STEAM GAME TO MY LIBRARY and then Clicking on "Internet Explorer" (since I use an Alternate browser) and then signing into Netflix and setting Netflix as the hompage...Then once it's in the Games list I right click on it and on the first line I changed the name to Netflix and then It Appears in the "Big Picture mode" in my games Library as Netflix with no ICON (I'm still trying to figure out how to add an ICON in Big Picture)
Posted on Edit | Reply
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