Valve has officially launched their new Big Picture Mode, which enables PC gamers to hook their PC up to their TV and access Steam games just as easily as games are accessed on a game console. This means full screen support, full gamepad support and lots of easy-to-access and cheap-as-a-tack-in-the-floor games ready and willing to be purchased and played on your TV.
The update is available right now for everyone's Steam client. All you need to do is login, let it update, restart and then plug-n-play on your big screen TV. It's going to be hard going back to console gaming once you play your games in real HD using your GTX 680. Am I right? Am I right?
It's interesting because more than a decade ago I never would said that PC gaming could invade and take over the home console space. A lack of co-op games, a lack of ease-of-access and a lack of accessibility made PC an exclusive club while consoles were more of an inclusive one. However, the PC Master Race can be anyone with a few hundred bucks and a Steam account. You no longer have to install games the old fashioned way, you no longer have to use boot disks, trouble shooting your extended and expanded memory or tweaking ini files on a regular basis just to get a game to work (although it still happens every once in a while).
To celebrate the launch of the Big Picture Mode, Valve is doing what Valve does best and allowing up to 75% off on about a hundred games and DLC. If you're willing and your Mac or PC is up to snuff, I believe your TV is awaiting the destiny it's always dreamed of: playing PC games at 1080p with 60fps in 3D...without jaggies. Cue the choir and the tears.
