I'll be skipping Xbox next gen for the first time ever, whenever that may be. I have had every new Xbox pre ordered and delivered on day one. I have moved back to PS. There's no way I am replacing it with one of these though, regardless of it's price and power. The beauty of console gaming is having no faff around, this seems like it's compromised before it's even released. I dabbled back into PC gaming this year after a very long layoff and other than sprawling RTS's (which you aren't going to be playing on the Steam machine) I had a pretty underwhelming experience. Without ability to watch Bluray discs or watch Netflix and the like I can't see a wide audience buying it.
*** Valve Steam Machine ***
- Thread starter kakarott
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Lots of videos of YouTubers putting SteamOS on mini pcs like the MX100G very similar specs that can be had for less than 500 dollaroos.
No streaming capability (legally at least) is going to be a killer for the mainstream audience to me as many would want it as a one box stop for entertainment just like consoles but you'd still need a separate setup for streaming.
No streaming capability (legally at least) is going to be a killer for the mainstream audience to me as many would want it as a one box stop for entertainment just like consoles but you'd still need a separate setup for streaming.
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Unfortunately this is low hanging fruit. In the same way everyone rushed to do a 'let's build a PS5 Pro for less'.
That said I hope it makes people realise that Linux is an option for some and if you're on an AMD platform Steam OS from Valve is viable even without official support.
I just hope it pushes Devs to actually bother with Linux eventually
Absolutely, again I can only think it's a good thing. More Steam OS boxes, even if it just sells 5 million. Windows 11 and all its negatives is one thing putting me off an all-PC gaming future.
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If they start by letting us use anticheat so we can play things like Battlfield and Destiny 2 that would be great.
Ram alone is 600 if you build a pc
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It will be a similar price to a prebuilt PC of similar specifications.
So yeh £700-800 sounds about right.
Let’s also be realistic, the steam deck refresh will not be £300 either. I can see the vast model pushing £500 easily.
Well I would be getting mostly all 2nd hand stuff and using a AM4 base
If they release this in 2028 then yes.
Soldato
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I just can't see it releasing for more than £600 considering you can buy a PS5 Pro for £560 and the PS5 Pro is quite a bit more powerful. The standard PS5 digital can be had for £290 right now and is roughly on par with the Steam Machine.
I'm guessing £500 is the price Valve were aiming for before the AI disaster came to town. In normal times it really shouldn't cost more than £400 considering the PS5 competition.
It is quite easy to pick up a PS5 and a year of PSPlus Extra for about £350. A Steam Machine for more than double that cost just doesn't make sense to me especially when it can't even play some of the most popular games in the world due to Anti Cheat.
You have to imagine that Valve wants this machine to be a mass market box to increase the Steam user base and also to get more people off of Windows. I don't think a cost of entry north of £600 alongside the lack of anti cheat support will achieve those goals.
£500 is what I would like. £600 is what I think it will end up being and I will probably think twice about buying it Vs selling my base PS5 and upgrading to a Pro.
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The steam (edit) machine isn't a console, the PS5 isnt a computer, the PS5 development costs and selling price is supported by game sales and it benefits from massive economies of scale.
It's not a good equivilence. A mid range pre-built PC is.
It's not a good equivilence. A mid range pre-built PC is.
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Caporegime
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PS5 started out being sold at or near a loss too. Steam have no intention of doing the same they've said.
I think this will be more expensive than many will be comfortable with.
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Soldato
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I don't really buy this argument to be honest. The Steam Machine is primarily going to be sold as a gaming machine in a console form factor with an operating system that by default boots to a console like UI. It can do anything any other PC can with a big caveat. Windows support on the Steam Machine will be absolutely minimal and if it is anything like the Steam Deck it will be extremely flakey.
The Steam Deck's Windows drivers weren't great. I personally experienced an audio driver bug that was basically unfixable and required a complete re-install of Windows which is no walk in the park either if you want to still have a dual boot with Steam OS. The drivers are also not updated very often. People planning to dual boot Windows and Steam OS on the Steam Machine might be in for a disappointing experience.
Even using the Steam OS desktop mode isn't the best experience and I used a Steam Deck as my main computer for over 6 months. I couldn't get my printer working, many of my preferred applications were unavailable on Linux, if I remember right there were issues with streaming service DRM and I hate having to use the command line which is necessary more times than you might think. Multi monitor support through the dock was pretty bad too.
Clearly the Steam Machine is designed to be an easy way for primarily console players to get into the Steam ecosystem in the same way the Steam Deck is. Not many people suggest people should treat the Steam Deck as a standard PC even though you can dock it and I think the same will be true for the Steam Machine.
If the Steam Machine isn't competing with consoles in the same ballpark regarding price I don't think it will do any better than the Steam Deck. Once the performance benchmarks start coming out for the Steam Machine, I think the majority of people won't see the value if it is significantly more expensive than a PS5. You have to imagine Valve want to get a bigger user base with the Steam Machine because why bother otherwise?
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I think the Steam Machine is another case of Valve playing the long game. Continuing to build their ecosystem and being the go-to platform for gamers.
The video above makes some good points. I think many users, myself included, are increasingly disilllusioned at the direction Windows 11 is heading in and are looking for alternatives. If it wasn't for gaming I'd personally have switched to MacOS or Linux at this point. I'm sure there are loads of other folk who feel the same. With Windows 10 support ending I'm sure many will be unable to upgrade their computers or simply frustrated at being forced to move to an OS they don't want.
Windows increasingly feels like a platform to push online MS services rather than an OS I've installed on my own hardware and it really frustrates me.
The "Year of the Linux Desktop" has been a running joke for years now but I can genuinely see Valve being in a position to push SteamOS/Linux as an alternative to Windows if they can keep the momentum going and get developers onboard with providing SteamOS compatibility.
I don't think I'd personally buy a Steam Machine but if there were the option to install SteamOS on my own hardware in future and the compatibiilty was solid it's something I'd consider.
The video above makes some good points. I think many users, myself included, are increasingly disilllusioned at the direction Windows 11 is heading in and are looking for alternatives. If it wasn't for gaming I'd personally have switched to MacOS or Linux at this point. I'm sure there are loads of other folk who feel the same. With Windows 10 support ending I'm sure many will be unable to upgrade their computers or simply frustrated at being forced to move to an OS they don't want.
Windows increasingly feels like a platform to push online MS services rather than an OS I've installed on my own hardware and it really frustrates me.
The "Year of the Linux Desktop" has been a running joke for years now but I can genuinely see Valve being in a position to push SteamOS/Linux as an alternative to Windows if they can keep the momentum going and get developers onboard with providing SteamOS compatibility.
I don't think I'd personally buy a Steam Machine but if there were the option to install SteamOS on my own hardware in future and the compatibiilty was solid it's something I'd consider.
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Have you tried Bazzite? I’ve been using it for a couple of years now as the main OS on my gaming PC. In all those years there’s only been one game I couldn’t install and that was an old one. Game compatibility is so good I don’t even look to see if it’s Linux compatible any more.
Caveats - I don’t play any form of online multiplayer games. And I use Steam to buy/ activate all my games.
I haven't tried it but the TechAltar video above mentioned it. He did say that multiplayer anti-cheat software was the main issue for SteamOS (and presumably Linux/Bazzite) at the moment. Good to hear you've found it works well as I didn't even realise it was a thing until I'd seen that video!
Bazzite - The operating system for the next generation of gamers
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