Some people have a lot of disposable income and don't care if they waste it on crap products I guess.
I buy lots of things myself but this is one product I really can't see the appeal in. Offers absolutely nothing new.
*** Valve Steam Machine ***
- Thread starter kakarott
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Some people have a lot of disposable income and don't care if they waste it on crap products I guess.
I buy lots of things myself but this is one product I really can't see the appeal in. Offers absolutely nothing new.
If I was in the market for this I'd actually just buy a laptop, I bet for the same price as the steam machine a laptop would be better.
Caporegime
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My issue is that due to the lack of power, it doesn’t run that many more games that my SD can’t run. I don’t play AAA or newer games on it anyway so my usage won’t shift because the SM can do it now with a few more frames.
I will continue to use my SD.
They're releasing it for download aren't they....?
Nvidia doesn't have drivers because of Nvidia so that narrows the options quite a bit for a laptop.
Team green being team green
Soldato
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Just run Bazzite if you want steamos experience
Soldato
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Unfortunately for me, I feel like I am being priced out of my hobby. I can't ever see prices going back to the way they were before.
I suspect the next consoles will be released and sold as a subscription service with the option to buy outright if you like, just like the £1000+ phone market. If consoles are £1000+, PC components aren't likely to be cheaper.
At the other end of the market you have the kids who have little to no interest in the types of games us millennials play. They are playing Roblox. Nintendo might convert a few of them but they will most likely never be interested enough to invest £1000+ into a console / PC.
It kind of makes me mad that gamers never take a stand as a large group and just say no. No we won't pay a price that we know is inflated. I know AI is mostly to blame at the moment but the industry has been headed this direction for years without the help of AI.
I guess I am mainly talking about hardware as you can pick up the games for pretty cheap on sale so long as you are patient. It just makes me sad as someone who's first console was a SNES and lived through the fast technological progress in video games that now we are at the point of mega expensive hardware for relatively minor improvements in fidelity.
I actually think that is the reason the Steam Machine annoys me so much. Valve are asking for a tremendous amount of money for a piece of hardware that is a regression in many ways. The only new thing it brings is CEC on the PC and a small form factor and let's be honest that is kind of boring. It feels like such a missed opportunity. It could have been an exciting product if it was priced the same as a PS5 and was manufactured in volume. A PC console that could go toe to toe with Sony and Microsoft and ignite more competition in the space. Valve could have subsidised it to make that a reality, they print money, but no (yes the AI crisis stops that being a reality too). Instead it is condemned to become a niche product and something not many people are likely to be excited about. Shame.
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I missed out on this batch, but completely convinced myself now that its just not worth it
Have you looked at what they are playing on Roblox? My niece (15) and nephew (14) spend hours playing rip offs of indie games which simplifies the game so much you could "play" it with your eyes closed. At first I would see what they were playing and buy the proper version, but they would just get bored of the game that looked better and had some gameplay and go back to the Roblox clone so I just gave up and left them to it
Because people have the money, prices of products have raised but so have wages. If they weren't selling, the prices would lower or industries would collapse.
No idea why valve would subsidise it when their going to hit their sales targets. You follow sales not people's feelings on prices.
It's expensive but it's also the same price as any equivalent pc, especially when you consider the size factor. Self build of similar will cost you the same these days.
Is it for me. No.
Soldato
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Sales of the PS5 and Xbox have collapsed:
PlayStation and Xbox Console Sales Collapse Following Damaging Price Rises
May was a catastrophic month for PlayStation and Xbox sales in the U.S., driven by price rises that have clearly had a significant impact on consumer interest in buying a new console.
That is why it is a boring product. Not a bad product but boring.
Valve just don't really care about making a huge success of the Steam Machine. Seems like they just want to try and recoup their costs and move on. It is not a big push from them to enter the console space (I know it's technically a PC but come on it is a console) but it could have been and that could have been really exciting. Imagine if they had launched the Steam Machine at the same price as a PS5, they included the controller, Half Life 3, made hundreds of thousands of them and sold them at retail stores. Imagine how huge that could have been. That would most certainly be the biggest console launch in decades. It is basically impossible now due to hardware costs but imagine if Valve had managed to release it a year ago. They would have been able to do all those things potentially but as it stands today the Steam Machine is just a huge missed opportunity.
Soldato
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Yes my Daughters friends play Roblox. It is horrible and exploitative but the kids love it. A lot of people don't seem to appreciate that Roblox is the biggest game in the world. The amount of kids that will transition from Roblox to "proper" games will be really small I think. How do you convince them that they need to spend the best part of a grand on a piece of hardware and then more money for each game on top of that when any old phone will play Roblox for free. None of my Daughter's friends own a console except for one that has a Switch 1 but they all play dress to impress and grow a garden. I never hear any of the boys at her school talking about Xbox or Playstation either. If they are not talking about Roblox it is Fortnite.
Games as us millennial's know it are doomed long term I fear.
Sales of the PS5 and Xbox have collapsed:
PlayStation and Xbox Console Sales Collapse Following Damaging Price Rises
May was a catastrophic month for PlayStation and Xbox sales in the U.S., driven by price rises that have clearly had a significant impact on consumer interest in buying a new console.www.ign.com
That is why it is a boring product. Not a bad product but boring.
Valve just don't really care about making a huge success of the Steam Machine. Seems like they just want to try and recoup their costs and move on. It is not a big push from them to enter the console space (I know it's technically a PC but come on it is a console) but it could have been and that could have been really exciting. Imagine if they had launched the Steam Machine at the same price as a PS5, they included the controller, Half Life 3, made hundreds of thousands of them and sold them at retail stores. Imagine how huge that could have been. That would most certainly be the biggest console launch in decades. It is basically impossible now due to hardware costs but imagine if Valve had managed to release it a year ago. They would have been able to do all those things potentially but as it stands today the Steam Machine is just a huge missed opportunity.
Summer time and pretty much everyone who wants a ps5/xbox already owns one.
Soldato
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"Mat Piscatella, Senior Director, Video Games at Circana said PlayStation hardware unit sales fell to their lowest May total since May 2000, which seems pretty terrible for Sony. Meanwhile, Xbox hardware unit sales were the lowest ever recorded for a May month. "
This is not just the time of year. It seems like people have reached their limit on how much they are willing or able to spend on a console. Sony and Microsoft are probably praying that GTAVI is amazing!
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They should have considered shelving the idea until hardware prices came down.
That said, no one is forcing anyone to buy it. My 5+ year old pc (except for gpu) is much better already.
I know i can keep my pc for another 2 more generation of gpu's and it would be fine. So I am in absolute no rush to upgrade anything
That said, no one is forcing anyone to buy it. My 5+ year old pc (except for gpu) is much better already.
I know i can keep my pc for another 2 more generation of gpu's and it would be fine. So I am in absolute no rush to upgrade anything
Yeah that doesn't help at all. But sales will also naturally slow down as a products life cycle continues.
Sales generally keep up because prices drop, we're now in a weird system that prices go up than down.
But their profit from software is up, so they don't care about pricing or particularly console sales as long as the software is keeping that profit incoming.
It's like steam machine, it's selling an o/s an idea not hardware. If they manage to get tonnes of Chinese boxes with steam o/s on it and it works well. They'll profit substantially from steam game sales.
Soldato
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Yes that is true. I am using SteamOS to type this message right now and it is getting better all the time but it still has a way to go to fully replace windows for me. Weirdly I used SteamOS on my Steam Deck as my main PC but use Windows on my gaming machine because it can play all the games and works with Nvidia. If Valve can solve the Nvidia / Multiplayer Anticheat problems then they will have a very compelling reason to use their OS instead of Windows for games.
Caporegime
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I think this generation of PS5/SX/Switch 2 and even the current Steam Deck is going to last at least another 5 years. Nobody in their right mind wants to launch a new console with the current pricing since the sales will be abysmal.