Streaming Blizzard Games through Steam

The Nvidia Shield is really tempting. Having just one PC at home capable of gaming, and having it situated in my bedroom means that sometimes, I just can't play if my wife and child are sleeping. When Steam Home Streaming was announced, I was thrilled. The problem was, the only other laptops I have are a netbook, and a notebook more than 10 years old. Would it actually work on these devices?

The amazing thing (or perhaps not if you understand how streaming works...) is that it does work. While I've yet to try it on the netbook, I can play games on the old machine. Frame rate does become an issue on certain games, and I've yet to properly troubleshoot so I can't say if it can be improved, but, it does work quite well. Ideally, you want to stream Steam games, but you can actually add other 'non-Steam' games to Steam to make it work.

Simply clicking 'Add a Non-Steam Game to my Library' does not work with Blizzard games though, likely because of the laucher app. Here are some troubleshooting tips I got from forums:

1) Select 'browse' at the 'Add a Non-Steam Game to my Library' window and navigate to the folder with your game and select the .exe file.

2) If you can't find the .exe file, or it doesn't work with Steam, try the folder 'Support'. Sometimes, the file will come with a 'Switcher' in the file name. For example: "E:\Program Files\Heroes of the Storm\Support\HeroesSwitcher.exe"

3) Add a -launch after the file name. For example: "C:\Program Files\Diablo III\Diablo III.exe" -launch

Hope these tips help if you want to stream through Steam. I haven't been able to get Hearthstone to work though, but when Android tablets and smart phone support comes, we won't need to. For now, Splashtop streaming to tablet works for me if I don't manage to steal my wife's iPad 2 to play.

Streaming at Home - Gadget Lust, Pointless Feature or Potential Multiplayer Experience

Nvidia Shield, Steam, PS Vita, Wii U and so on all gives gamers the option of playing games in a different location from their main gaming system. Is this a pointless feature or is there any other uses for this feature?

I suppose you've read the title and know what I intend to talk about. PC multiplayer games tend to be an impersonal experience, primarily being done over the internet. One thing that's so appealing about console gaming is couch multiplayer. Even though monitors are getting larger and larger, it is still difficult for multiple people to gather in front of a PC. Streaming gives players the option of playing PC games on a TV, though multiple controllers are needed (not so much an issue if you own an Xbox) and a game that supports it (much more an issue).

The Wii U though, has a unique feature not often seen in other streaming systems - that is, having the TV screen and controller screen display different scenes. PCs should make good use of this feature. Most people now have another device besides their gaming PCs, like a laptop or a tablet. Imagine if streaming can do what the Wii U is doing. An old laptop can be used for a LAN party, tablets can be used as well when a controller is plugged in. Instead of lugging gaming laptops or towers that weigh a ton around for LAN parties, even ultrabooks and tablet PCs like the Surface Pro will do as long as the host has a powerful PC capable of streaming

Of course, there are limits to what can be done, but there is potential in this. I've tried Steam Home Streaming and it works even on my old 10+ year old laptop, even though it is a little laggy and the screen leaves much to be desired. Hopefully the tech continues to improve and 'couch multiplayer' on PC will take off, bringing back the days of 'split screen' to PC players as well.

GoG's Galaxy

When Steam was first released, and made even essential if you're running Valve games, gamers were all up in arms. Steam was DRM, and, similar to always-on DRM, it gave a lot of problems. Also, requiring a client meant having to have the system devote resource to running it, and given the technology then, perhaps that was a valid concern. As time passed, Valve brought about improvements to the client to address the stability issues, and, together with Steam sales, a larger game library and convenience of multiplayer through a friends list, Steam eventually became where a lot of PC gamers kept their library of games to the point where people won't buy digital games that weren't on Steam. Now, GoG is planning a Steam like client for its users and, according to their announcement, we can expect features like auto-patching, achievements and multiplayer features, to the point of playing with players from other clients like Steam.

One major difference between Galaxy and other clients like Steam, Origin and Uplay is that it is purely optional, and not required to run GoG games; games from GoG will remain DRM free. GoG is already running sales like Steam, and we are seeing an ever increasing number of games on GoG as well so a client to organize our games might be appealing, and at the very least, the multiplayer convenience will be welcome. GoG rarely has triple A titles on their catalogue, so it is not likely to go as big as Steam, but on the other hand, that also means games on GoG are better managed with better quality control. Achievements are just a bonus. Not all players are into them, but for those who are, this could be a major feature. At the very least, it's more things to do. Some of us might not be keen on installing another client though, but hey, did I mention, it is optional?

Convenience comes at a price. A major concern will be whether the client will be a system hog, or if it installs malware or adware. So far, GoG has been reputable, but the notion of having to run another client might not be too appealing, even with the convenience of managing our GoG game library. Perhaps the ideal is a client that can manage all major online game retailers, a merging of Steam, Origin, Uplay etc into one client and having all our games there. The inter-client multiplayer feature seems to be a step in this direction, and perhaps we might even see a consolidated friends list. But realistically speaking, it is unlikely for a single client to do this, even if it were third party, and even more unlikely for developers like Blizzard, who also have their own client, to play ball. Maybe one day it might just happen, but it is, still, a big maybe.

Linux - Ubuntu 14.04 and Gaming

I recently installed Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on my desktop alongside Windows 8.1 and was surprised how smooth the installation went and how the Linux OS was able to detect and provide drivers for my PC components. Perhaps the last time I installed a Linux distro was before Ubuntu tried to reach a wider audience or it was because my components were older, but it seems that Ubuntu is trying to provide proper drivers (whether official or open-source community developed ones) packed into the OS installation. This makes it really simple for someone like me who still don't understand how to 'compile the kernel' to get into Linux.

The 'app store' makes it easy to get software for Ubuntu. I still remember the hoops I had to jump through just to install an instant messenger on Ubuntu many years before, plus totally screwing up a display driver installation.

Things are so much simpler now. As for games, just a simple install of Steam from the Ubuntu One 'app store' and I have games ready to go. The selection is limited, and not all games that I buy on the Windows platform come with a Linux version, but at least I have some games, mainly Valve and Indie titles, but games nonetheless and I have more games from Humble Bundle as well.

It was pretty simple getting most games on Steam to run. Indies like Papers Please and FTL: Faster than Light ran without a hitch. I couldn't get Serious Sam 3: BFE to run at first, but switching my graphics card driver from the open source one to the proprietary one solved the problem. The Xbox 360 controller worked right out of the box, so to speak, for The Witcher 2, which is pretty impressive.

More online distributors are placing focus on Linux. Among them, perhaps one of the first ones would be Humble's bundles. With Steam development of the Steam OS and GoG's coming support for Ubuntu, the day when Linux users can stop relying on Wine for games might be approaching. That, and the fact that some Linux destros are striving to be more user friendly, we might see more people using the open source OS. We're still seeing a lack of games, especially that from the free-to-play department but that might change as SteamOS kicks off and the free-to-play titles already on Steam possibly taking an interest if there are enough people adopting Linux.

Anyway, thank you for taking an interest in my experience with Ubuntu 14.04. Are you using Linux? Will you ever consider playing on Linux with Ubuntu or SteamOS? Let me know in the comments!

Exciting Times

Phew, it's been a while since this page has been updated. Is anybody still around? It's an exciting time for gaming with the PS4 and the Xbox One coming, not to mention more powerful phones, tablets and devices like the Nvdia Shield and Ouya promoting Android and iOS gaming. Then there's the Oculus Rift 3D immersion to enhance gaming, increase in power and games of the Vita and 3DS, streaming through the Shield and Steam Machine.

Speaking of the Steam Machine, gaming might possibly move on to Linux and PC gaming into the living room. There is so much to keep track of, and we haven't even touched on the new games which probably will be better graphically due to next gen, and best thing is, innovation will not be stifled because of the shift in focus towards indie.

Are you having fun yet? It'll probably cost a bomb to keep up with all these; already, I'm wishing I were much richer. I'm feeling like a kid at a toy store ogling at the toys. What are you excited for? Are you getting any of the new consoles at launch? Me? I'm first going to need to rob a bank...

Linux for the Game, Steam takes on Consoles

Steam is really going all out to increase it's market share. A statement was made by Gabe Newell, boss of Valve, that Windows 8 is bad for gaming (Windows 8 is a catastrophe), and later came the announcement that Steam plans to sell software other than games, will be on Linux and has a 'console mode' in big picture and the rumoured Steam Hardware.

But people are suspecting that the main reason that they said Windows 8 is bad for gaming is probably because of the App Store set-up that will be used in the upcoming operating system which will interfere with Steam's business as well as compete for sales of software. Interestingly, Linux, or more specifically, Ubuntu has a store like in the form of Ubuntu Software Centre. And frankly, even if Microsoft decide to move into sell software, which it already does, we all know how that will probably turn out (check out the disaster which is Games for Windows Live if you want to see how successful they are).

So is the statement made by Gabe Newell valid? I guess it's up to consumers to decide after testing out the OS. But I've always believed competition is good for the consumers, so Linux coming up as a gaming OS is a good thing, but then again, Steam being everywhere now makes it a kind of monopoly; and having too many games on the client means it's a huge risk should something happen to the account. I'm glad there are distributors for Linux and Mac games like Desura, but most games aren't made for those Operating Systems, yet. Making games for Linux is understandingly difficult because of the different distros, however, for Mac, it should be rather straight forward since not only is the OS more or less the same on all machines, but configurations for hardware is much less diverse than that of the PC, so optimizing should actually be simpler, which makes it strange why there aren't more games on that.

Like it or not, Steam is one of the major distributors in gaming, so bringing that over to Linux is a great thing. Hopefully, more developers will move into supporting more Operating Systems so Windows won't be the only one gamers have to work with.

For further reading in support or against Windows 8 gaming:
You're being lied to, Windows 8 isn't bad for gaming
The Windows 8 gaming defense
Windows 8 is not good for gamers