Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.

Big Picture Mode Coming to Steam Today

Valve invades your living room
This article is over 12 years old and may contain outdated information

Steam will today be updated with Big Picture Mode, which will blow up the scale of many of its elements in order to ease use for TVs and gamepads, reports Kotaku.

Recommended Videos

While it may look a lot like the Xbox 360 dashboard there are a few major changes, including the addition of a virtual keyboard you can use without wanting to throw your controller at the screen. Character selection is performed via a lotus flower-shaped interface, which splits the alphabet and a few common characters into 8 “petals”. To type a sentence, a user must point the analogue stick to the relevant petal (organized alphabetically) and tap a corresponding button on their gamepad (A, B, X or Y). It really works, and much better than most virtual keyboards.

There are plans to allow multiple users to sign in simultaneously and play splitscreen on TV.

There have been rumors of a Valve console for a while, and the company keeps making these little hints to the possibility of it becoming a real thing. Greg Coomer is the man who’s headed the Big Picture project, and he admits a Valve console could happen, going ever further to say that this operation is testing the water. “What we really want is to ship [Big Picture mode] and then learn,” said Coomer. “So we want to find out what people value about that. How they make use of it. When they make use of it. Whether it’s even a good idea for the broadest set of customers or not. And then decide what to do next.”

“So it could be that the thing that really makes sense is to build the box that you’re describing. But we really don’t have a road map. And we think we’re going to learn a tremendous amount through this first release.”

The report went on to make reference to a device with similar functionality to the Wii U or Microsoft’s Smart Glass. “We are really interested in it but it hasn’t been any of the focus in our work… Having a secondary experience, driving the primary experience, augmenting it with stuff that’s social but ancillary – all those things are great, it’s just not at the front of our priority list right now.”

There’s a launch trailer below, why not have a little look?


Prima Games is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author