Steam Machine

[Crumb]

Is anyone considering buying this?
for those that don't know
http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/

with my laptop 4.5 years old now, it's starting to show it's age, and so, instead of buying a new gaming laptop, I thought I'd go console/tablet instead. and since I mainly get my games via steam anyhow...
with this Steam Machine coming to market soonish, it'd be another thing to consider along with ps4/xb1

thoughts? comments?

 

[Ann_Sulu]

Is anyone considering buying this?
for those that don't know
http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/

with my laptop 4.5 years old now, it's starting to show it's age, and so, instead of buying a new gaming laptop, I thought I'd go console/tablet instead. and since I mainly get my games via steam anyhow...
with this Steam Machine coming to market soonish, it'd be another thing to consider along with ps4/xb1

thoughts? comments?

They're only like half the power of my pc, so I won't be bothering.

You can't even upgrade the video card. so it's kinda like what's the point other than owning a console made by Steam?

Also I can't imagine gaming on a tablet, unless it's like Puzzles and Dragons. Like I can't imagine playing Fallout 4 on a tablet... :?

 

[MeekoRaccoon]

made by Steam?

It's not even made by Steam (or Valve). They are made by third parties, like Alienware.

 

[mynameisbob84]

It's a cool idea in theory, but in practice, I can see it suffering from the same problems (or what I perceive to be problems anyway) that come with buying a gaming PC. I'm probably gonna get a PS4 next week. It's a £300 investment in something that's going to allow me to enjoy the most up-to-date console games for the next five years or so. To get a Steam Machine, I'd probably have to pay double that and within a year or two, it's no longer gonna be able to support the latest games at full spec.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

It's a cool idea in theory, but in practice, I can see it suffering from the same problems (or what I perceive to be problems anyway) that come with buying a gaming PC. I'm probably gonna get a PS4 next week. It's a £300 investment in something that's going to allow me to enjoy the most up-to-date console games for the next five years or so. To get a Steam Machine, I'd probably have to pay double that and within a year or two, it's no longer gonna be able to support the latest games at full spec.

For the money they are starting out with and the specs given I think I'd rather buy an Intel NUC and put in the ram, ssd and video card of my choice. I think it would be about the same price comparatively to their proposed variants.

To be fair the Steam machine did look like it had a rather nice selection of ports on the back and maybe more usb 3.0 connections. So that should be taken into consideration too. I suspect the picture Steam is using for it is the higher end models that cost more than the $480 starting price.

 

[zippypinhead]

The implications of Steam essentially getting into the console market troubles me. It's already drm that's got way too big a hold on PC gaming. Taking that hold, and deciding to turn PC gaming into console gaming doesn't strike me as the right direction to move. I'd rather just hook a computer up to a tv.

 

[MeekoRaccoon]

It's a cool idea in theory, but in practice, I can see it suffering from the same problems (or what I perceive to be problems anyway) that come with buying a gaming PC. I'm probably gonna get a PS4 next week. It's a £300 investment in something that's going to allow me to enjoy the most up-to-date console games for the next five years or so. To get a Steam Machine, I'd probably have to pay double that and within a year or two, it's no longer gonna be able to support the latest games at full spec.

For the money they are starting out with and the specs given I think I'd rather buy an Intel NUC and put in the ram, ssd and video card of my choice. I think it would be about the same price comparatively to their proposed variants.

To be fair the Steam machine did look like it had a rather nice selection of ports on the back and maybe more usb 3.0 connections. So that should be taken into consideration too. I suspect the picture Steam is using for it is the higher end models that cost more than the $480 starting price.

I thought a NUC was the size of a deck of cards ... how do you put your choice of video card in there?

Don't get me wrong, I have a NUC and it makes a splendid little server... but I can't see using it as an A+ gaming machine.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

It's a cool idea in theory, but in practice, I can see it suffering from the same problems (or what I perceive to be problems anyway) that come with buying a gaming PC. I'm probably gonna get a PS4 next week. It's a £300 investment in something that's going to allow me to enjoy the most up-to-date console games for the next five years or so. To get a Steam Machine, I'd probably have to pay double that and within a year or two, it's no longer gonna be able to support the latest games at full spec.

For the money they are starting out with and the specs given I think I'd rather buy an Intel NUC and put in the ram, ssd and video card of my choice. I think it would be about the same price comparatively to their proposed variants.

To be fair the Steam machine did look like it had a rather nice selection of ports on the back and maybe more usb 3.0 connections. So that should be taken into consideration too. I suspect the picture Steam is using for it is the higher end models that cost more than the $480 starting price.

I thought a NUC was the size of a deck of cards ... how do you put your choice of video card in there?

Don't get me wrong, I have a NUC and it makes a splendid little server... but I can't see using it as an A+ gaming machine.

Derp. you're right. I was looking at other builds at the same time and wasn't thinking about it when i said video card.

 

[Shaun__]

I would not want a computer that did not run Windows or IOS. I like knowing I can do other things on my computer, besides play games.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

I would not want a computer that did not run Windows or IOS. I like knowing I can do other things on my computer, besides play games.

The way i'm understanding it there are some options there.

First off the Steam Machines themselves are capable of having windows installed on them. So there may be options for dual booting there as well as outright overwriting the SteamOS.
http://www.alienware.com/landings/steammachine/


The SteamOS itself is just a linux Debian 7 (wheezy) and according to this page it's an open linux install, so you can install other linux programs as you wish. In other words it's a full computer OS, not just a gaming console. And since SteamOS is free it means you could install it on your own computer and not even buy the Steam Machine at all if you just want the environment. The SteamControllers will still work even if you use your own computer build.
http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown

Personally I think they missed the boat there a bit. If they had wrapped SteamOS around a full Linux Mint distro it would have been much more desirable. I tend to think of Mint as about the best of all the linux distros out there. It's pretty much a windows replacement right now for most users.

Basically if you already have a good computer you like gaming from I'm not seeing much reason to buy a SteamMachine. But if you have a lot of Steam games AND you're in the market for a gaming console specifically it may be worthwhile.

Really the more I look at this it just makes me think of an XBMC/Kodi clone designed for Steam games installed on a linux OS. Nothing really special at all.

 

[Shaun__]

The way i'm understanding it there are some options there.

First off the Steam Machines themselves are capable of having windows installed on them. So there may be options for dual booting there as well as outright overwriting the SteamOS.
http://www.alienware.com/landings/steammachine/


The SteamOS itself is just a linux Debian 7 (wheezy) and according to this page it's an open linux install, so you can install other linux programs as you wish. In other words it's a full computer OS, not just a gaming console. And since SteamOS is free it means you could install it on your own computer and not even buy the Steam Machine at all if you just want the environment. The SteamControllers will still work even if you use your own computer build.
http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown

Personally I think they missed the boat there a bit. If they had wrapped SteamOS around a full Linux Mint distro it would have been much more desirable. I tend to think of Mint as about the best of all the linux distros out there. It's pretty much a windows replacement right now for most users.

Basically if you already have a good computer you like gaming from I'm not seeing much reason to buy a SteamMachine. But if you have a lot of Steam games AND you're in the market for a gaming console specifically it may be worthwhile.

Really the more I look at this it just makes me think of an XBMC/Kodi clone designed for Steam games installed on a linux OS. Nothing really special at all.

I have not used linux for many many years, but the last time I checked windows had a much better game library and received way more launch titles as well. If I wanted to buy a console I could get all three of the current gen ones for less than the price of a high end steam machine, or a single console for less than the price of the low end steam machine. I just fail to see the value for people in these systems.

 

[MeekoRaccoon]

Jerry, stop trying to make Linux on desktop happen. It's not going to happen.