The steam machine is back y’all -new controller, VR headset, game console

[Scaaar]

Anything over $500 is DOA

This is not a 4K machine for AAA titles. The performance for most graphically intense titles will be sub par even with FSR up scaling. Not enough VRAM. But for what it is which is basically a console with a computer OS, and you can run your indie titles and older games from your steam library in your living room this is dope. I think most ppl will have this to supplement a more powerful comp or console.

Yeah I would cop it to play all of my older steam catalog on the TV. But I think they're setting themselves up for criticism calling it a 4k/60 box especially for AAA games. I don't know why they didn't just call it a 1440p box. That's what a majority of people are going to be playing at to reach 60+ fps

 

[OneManGang]

Yeah I would cop it to play all of my older steam catalog on the TV. But I think they're setting themselves up for criticism calling it a 4k/60 box especially for AAA games. I don't know why they didn't just call it a 1440p box. That's what a majority of people are going to be playing at to reach 60+ fps

Their marketing department said

4K/60 looks better than 1440p/higher fps

In fairness I think the type of games I’m thinking of playing on here will hit that bc I play intense stuff on my desktop. But ppl will def buy this thinking it’s more powerful than it is you’re right. Let’s see how greedy Valve gets bc they could easily take a slight loss on these at a lower price point to drive sales, they’d make it up elsewhere

 

[O³ (O cubed)]

Then why would those players pay 600 bucks for this thing? Even if they wanned a non traditional PC, the small ass Ryzen mini PCs can run those games, its much cheaper and the process of hooking it up to a TV is the same

Those mini PCs have awful cooling, especially when gaming and they throttle. But I see your point.

Yeah I would cop it to play all of my older steam catalog on the TV. But I think they're setting themselves up for criticism calling it a 4k/60 box especially for AAA games. I don't know why they didn't just call it a 1440p box. That's what a majority of people are going to be playing at to reach 60+ fps

Well it probably could run games at 4K 60*




* Using FSR4, frame generation, turning off shadows, textures, raytracing, settings to low, upscaling from 360p

 

[Scustin Bieburr]

think I’m starting to finally believe those HL3 rumors

If it's real, that's how they'll move units.

It's basically DOA unless they have a strong marketing budget to push the PC games that are popular but you can't play on consoles(like counter-strike 2). Price will be a huge factor too. If the thing is able to give comparable performance to a base PS5 or a series X whilst being cheaper, they will be able to move a ton of units for people who want to play newer games but cannot afford a PS5 or XBOX.

If marketed correctly they can even steal some would-be playstation buyers by advertising the sony published franchises you can get on steam like spiderman, last of us, horizon, helldivers II, etc.

Ironically this might force sony to either limit the amount of games that they port to the PC or double down and gain even more revenue from both PC and steam machine sales. They have to market this thing as an alternative to other consoles because the whole appeal of PC gaming is that you get access to games that work better with a keyboard and mouse and you get visuals and performance that exceeds the consoles. A customer looking to upgrade from their PS4 or Xbox 1 will likely say "fukk it" and buy the steam box if it's cheaper and has the games they would be playing on an xbox or ps5. It might force Sony and Microsoft to rethink their strategy of trying to sell even more expensive and significantly more powerful consoles.

It's ironic how PC gaming seems to be getting more console-like whilst console gaming seems to be getting more PC-like. It used to be that the benefit of buying a console was that the thing was cheaper and their games had way less bugs. Now that shyt doesn't matter anymore because major publishers are putting pressure on studios to release the games before they're fully polished so you're getting bad performance that needs to be fixed with patches AND the cost of the consoles are going up. If they market this thing correctly, it will sell like crazy especially if the price is close to $400.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

If it's real, that's how they'll move units.

It's basically DOA unless they have a strong marketing budget to push the PC games that are popular but you can't play on consoles(like counter-strike 2). Price will be a huge factor too. If the thing is able to give comparable performance to a base PS5 or a series X whilst being cheaper, they will be able to move a ton of units for people who want to play newer games but cannot afford a PS5 or XBOX.

If marketed correctly they can even steal some would-be playstation buyers by advertising the sony published franchises you can get on steam like spiderman, last of us, horizon, helldivers II, etc.

Ironically this might force sony to either limit the amount of games that they port to the PC or double down and gain even more revenue from both PC and steam machine sales. They have to market this thing as an alternative to other consoles because the whole appeal of PC gaming is that you get access to games that work better with a keyboard and mouse and you get visuals and performance that exceeds the consoles. A customer looking to upgrade from their PS4 or Xbox 1 will likely say "fukk it" and buy the steam box if it's cheaper and has the games they would be playing on an xbox or ps5. It might force Sony and Microsoft to rethink their strategy of trying to sell even more expensive and significantly more powerful consoles.

It's ironic how PC gaming seems to be getting more console-like whilst console gaming seems to be getting more PC-like. It used to be that the benefit of buying a console was that the thing was cheaper and their games had way less bugs. Now that shyt doesn't matter anymore because major publishers are putting pressure on studios to release the games before they're fully polished so you're getting bad performance that needs to be fixed with patches AND the cost of the consoles are going up. If they market this thing correctly, it will sell like crazy especially if the price is close to $400.

Wouldn’t mind seeing them apply pressure to sony, especially for the pc ports

 

[BlaccSunrise]

That controller is an automatic cop

 

[Diondon]

So this & the Nextbox fighting for crumbs

 

[NotAHotep]

It looks like a Xbox Series X cut in half.

I want that controller.

 

[Rice N Beans]

Valve is trying to widen the net for PC gaming market thru streamlined HW and peripherals, plus doing it all on an open platform in Linux.

Meanwhile, Spencer and his trillion dollar daddy is busy promoting their competition being Tik-Tok while upcharging for Xbox branding.

All they gotta do is hover around $500-$600 for the Steam Machine. The lower the better.

 

[Grand Conde]

I assume if Half-life 3 releases with this it will be multi-plat as console exclusives are dead...

 

[MeachTheMonster]

No instant confusion on this and instant interest


Glad OP isn't confused and can clearly label it as what it is... a console.

No questions about exclusives and “why would people want that”…..

 

[Phantum]

I could see some console users using this to dip into pc gaming if they're curious and it's priced accordingly.

 

[Hersh]

this should b priced just above the most expensive oled steamdeck..

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

No questions about exclusives and “why would people want that”…..

Why would there be questions, i don’t think anyone is under the delusion that this thing isn’t going to sell like the steam deck.

Its only the Larry x-squad that think a 1000 dolllar xbox is still gonna move 30 million units

 

[Scustin Bieburr]

Valve is trying to widen the net for PC gaming market thru streamlined HW and peripherals, plus doing it all on an open platform in Linux.

Meanwhile, Spencer and his trillion dollar daddy is busy promoting their competition being Tik-Tok while upcharging for Xbox branding.

All they gotta do is hover around $500-$600 for the Steam Machine. The lower the better.

The difference between valve and microsoft is that valve is a gaming company. They understand their customer, and they understand the business they are in.

Microsoft is basically a b2b sales company. They're making money selling cloud computing services through azure, and they've slowly turned things that used to be bundled with windows(like office) into subscriptions. They care more about organizations using their software than the user experience of individuals. Most computers you buy have windows on it by default and the alternative is to spend several times more for an apple computer.

There's a hierarchy of importance in that company:
1.Share holders who will buy the stock if microsoft is investing in a hot new technology(right now it's a.i. within the next 5 years everyone will be focusing on personal robots).
2.Businesses who pay monthly to use cloud services(azure) and software(teams, windows, office).
3. Individual customers.

Microsoft hasn't grown into a nearly 4 TRILLION dollar company because they xbox is a commercial success or because people love windows 11 and want microsoft office to be a subscription. They've gotten that rich because of investor hype and a basic monopoly on business software. When you understand that, their contempt for their individual customers makes perfect sense. It's the equivalent of having "fukk you money" and deciding to treat everyone you work with like shyt because even if you get fired you never have to work again.

Valve, Nintendo, and Sony are customer focused companies. Sony has no monopoly on any technologies that a business needs. Nintendo isn't pushing any subscriptions for businesses and customers(other than maybe online), and valve is not a public traded company that needs to appeal to shareholders and continue trying to attract them to keep spending money on their stock. All three are more or less committed to at least trying to make products that customers want and making sure that those customers keep having reasons to spend. Microsoft doesn't, and that's why they can say some dumbass shyt like "we're competing with tik tok" without realizing a big chunk of tik tok content is footage from videogames and that a good videogame is so immersive that motherfukkers forget about their phone. Statements like that show a fundamental misunderstanding and honestly lack of interest in this business and their decisions have absolutely reflected that.

I genuinely hope this steam box is a smash hit and it gives linux a battery in its back so that more people are drawn to developing for it and making it a strong alternative to windows. The things Linux has going for it potentially are ease of use, privacy, and efficiency.