Steam's 'Big Picture' Mode BETA coming in September

[garyopa]

Announced in the latest episode of GameTrailers TV.



Next month 'you'll be able to hop into a beta, click a button, and see Steam reformatted for your TV'...

In the latest episode of GameTrailers TV, which was focused on Valve, the company announced more details about the 'mysterious' Big Picture mode for Steam.

Next month, "you'll be able to hop into a beta, click a button, and see Steam reformatted for your TV and usable with a PC game controller or a mouse and keyboard, if you want to play that way," revealed Valve's Greg Coomer.

Here's the official Big Picture Mode description:

They’ve got the big screen, now give them the big picture.

It’s time to come out of the den and explore a few more rooms of the house.

Heading to the living room—or anywhere there’s a big screen—is Steam’s soon-to-be-released big-picture mode, offering simple, easy-to-read navigation designed specifically for TV. With full controller support, big-picture mode will let gamers kick back and enjoy their favorite games on the biggest screen in the house.

Steam’s big-picture mode doesn’t require any additional development from you. Just ensure your game works well with a controller, and we’ll take care of the rest. And don’t worry, keyboard and mouse aren’t going anywhere—users will be able to switch between input devices at any time.

This revolution will be televised.

And some off-screen pics of it:















So, stay tuned for the BETA!

NEWS SOURCE #1: Big picture mode beta headed for steam in September (via) Destructoid
NEWS SOURCE #2: Forum Thread #487335 (via) NeoGAF

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!

[Signa]

UI looks pretty sweet. I doubt I'll use it, because my TV is my computer monitor. I have a wireless mouse/keyboard combo that I can use from my bed, and the Xbox controller is wireless. I doubt there will be any advantages I haven't already covered on my own.

[Battlefield]

My Samsung SmartTV have a Dual Core processor + several USB ports. Is this some kind of TV app you install to your SmartTV, and plug in a wired USB 360 controller and similar?
I dont even know what kind of CPU my TV uses... It could be Intel, AMD or ARM. I dont even know how much RAM it have.
The TV specs doesent mention these details.

[GaussTek]

My Samsung SmartTV have a Dual Core processor + several USB ports. Is this some kind of TV app you install to your SmartTV, and plug in a wired USB 360 controller and similar?
I dont even know what kind of CPU my TV uses... It could be Intel, AMD or ARM. I dont even know how much RAM it have.
The TV specs doesent mention these details.

Sadly, it's probably only for those who plug their PC's to a TV or something like that (I guess).

[Ztype]

No you don't install this on your TV. This is an alternative user interface to use when you're running Steam on a big TV rather than a computer monitor.

[Battlefield]

Thanks for the info guys! It would be cool if they added Steam store to SmartTV's as an app like Youtube etc. thou.