Hello gamers. This is Kyle with Game Freaks 365. You might have heard the news that Valve just
released an update to Steam's Big Picture Mode ahead of the launch of the first Steam
Machines.
The update also applies on PC so you don't need a Steam Machine, which for those of you
not aware is basically a Steam version of a home console.
Anyway, I've never been a big fan of Big Picture Mode because I never saw much point to it
when the Steam interface is already designed in a way that is really no frills, and very utilitarian.
The new Big Picture Mode is a lot prettier than the old one. It's a lot cleaner and more
functional. So let's take a look.
After that little intro animation we come to this console looking dashboard. It's a
lot like the old Big Picture Mode dashboard but it looks a little sleeker. You can see
all of the different options but we're going to start off looking at the new storefront.
As you can see, these have really large icons. The old Big Picture Mode had much smaller
icons. These are more pronounced. New is this kind of secondary menu down here shows you
top sellers, specials that are going on in the store and also new releases and genres,
which we'll check out. Really good way to sort of catalog games by your interest. And
And if you want to see what just came out, go to the new releases. Check that out. When you click on this
and you push enter, first thing you'll see and it takes a while to load is a video of
the game if they have one available. We'll see if this loads. It doesn't look like it
wants to. That's probably the most disappointing thing about this. The videos do take a while
to load but that might depend on your Internet connection as well. But you also have other
things screenshots, descriptions of the game, that sort of stuff. Oh, you need a -- they
have an age gate. Since I'm logged in they should already know this. Just put that. There's
another new release, let's see if we can get a video to work. So it has really good picture
quality and the screenshots all look good as well. So you can add it to your wish list.
You can also look up system requirements and other useful information. Let's go ahead and
go back now and take a look at our existing library. This is how it's presented. So it
shows you games that you've been playing lately, games that your friends have been playing
lately, and some games that you just purchased or haven't played yet. Also shows all of the
games that you recently bought, all of the games that you have installed on your hard
drive, all of the games that you have in your library, which I have a lot of games in there
thanks to Humble Bundle. Let's go to community. This is kind of like their little social network
on Steam. You get a bunch of screenshots, user-created content, videos. Watch a horse
jump on a dragon in Skyrim. I tell you the fans out there are pretty creative. So you
have news here, friend activities. Here we have more video. These are all gameplay videos
that users created. Let's check this out. This is supposed to be SOMA. But I don't see
anything going on. I want your baby. Okay. Let's check out Metal Gear Solid. Yeah, don't
want to get into any spoilers. But we can type in Metal Gear Solid V and find out some
more information about the game, in case we're interested. So first thing you see is a bunch
of user-created content. On the side menu you have screenshots that you can look at.
I have yet to play Metal Gear Solid V. I've been meaning to do so but so many good games
out right now but I haven't found the time. So you have artwork and again more video.
Broadcasts which shows livestreams. News for the game. If you need any tips or resources
when you're trying to solve something that doesn't come naturally to you. Get some help
from the community. And of course reviews, which I'm not sure why it is getting slammed
so badly on here. Yeah, that's weird. All right. So you also have this -- which I believe
this is new, maybe it's not -- but this right tab, which shows you your friends and what
they're doing right now. Let's go ahead and say hi to angelito. He's playing a game right
now: Assassin's Creed III. He noticed us. How's Assassin's Creed III going? Have another
friend in SOMA. Another game that I need to check out. Probably get to a review for that
at some point. Just murdering some red coats. Yeah, I think he has the wrong war. Maybe
we should remind him? It's the American Revolution, Angel. All right well. If he responds. Okay,
well shows up right there if you're in Big Picture Mode. There's also a browser on the
left side. I don't think you'll need that. Down here you have again it shows you what
friends are playing, and it gives you a nice gentle reminder of games that you haven't
played. Let's check out some music. These are all of the soundtracks that you accumulate
in your library and you can just play it in the background if you want. This sounds interesting.
The Ballad of the Space Babies. All right well enough of that. Let's check out some
more of these tabs up here. Apparently we have to click away from it. Okay so this is
the downloading, yes this is the download screen. If you have any updates or anything
you need for games it's in there. And of course you have settings so if you need to connect
a controller or whatever you can do that in there. So anyway hopefully this has been helpful.
Maybe you'll check out Big Picture Mode and see what it's all about. Thanks for checking
out our video. Be sure to check out the gamefreaks365.com website and subscribe to our YouTube channel
for more gaming news, reviews and other original content.
