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Valve gets rid of the Steam Machine section
- Thread starter Deleted member 15428
- Start date
I think steam machines could have been cool if there was a way of having it be something that wasn't just an expensive small PC for in front of your TV. I can move my PC into my bedroom and get the same effect, and not have to spend extra. I can see why it would be nice in some situations, but the cost for something half way decent was extremely high (which makes sense as they are just PC's) and they didn't have enough variety to entice people. It was a good idea just not executed all that well.
Having multiple companies trying to sell STEAM machines that all performed and looked differently was not a smart move. I'm not one for closed platforms, but I'm not against homogeneity when it comes to hardware. It saves on cost, easier to market, and the consumer knows what they're getting.
Valve does come up with some cool ideas, like the Steam Machine and the Steam Link, but they do fuck all to support them and then let them die off. I don't get why, except that I guess when your company literally prints money by doing nothing, you don't really have to care.
By a VERY small amount of people. Most were against the idea and thought it was ridiculous.
You know its bad when Ouya seemed more successful than something.
Steamlink and Steam controllers have been nifty though. I popped a Steam link in my Retropi bartop arcade so I can switch from classic gaming goodness to streaming pc stuff. Great for those moments when you want some Shmup remakes.
Steamlink and Steam controllers have been nifty though. I popped a Steam link in my Retropi bartop arcade so I can switch from classic gaming goodness to streaming pc stuff. Great for those moments when you want some Shmup remakes.
Steam Machines failed, but at least Steam lives on with a rock solid console style experience for those of us with HDMI output to TV or Steam Link.
You mean instead of investing more into DOTA2 and getting Artifact sooner. HL3 stopped being important years ago.
The initiative was doomed when Valve decided against releasing its own system. I understand that was done because it didn't want to undercut OEMs, but Steam Machines were never going to work as such products due to manufacturers needing to make money on the hardware itself.
Yep. I rarely saw any good inducation they would lead to a new huge market for PCs.
I feel like Alienware were the only company to make a good go of it but the state of SteamOS means this was never going to be a success regardless of the available hardware.
It's a shame. I was hopeful Valve could break the Windows stranglehold on PC gaming, but they couldn't pull it off. And if they cant, who can?
They did it way too soon. They should have waited for Vulkan support to get more wide spread like it is now and then go in on it.
I mean they didn't even try to make this one into a success. All they did was spend an enormous amount of time and resources on building and iterating on the Steam Controller, which was an eventual failure. On top of that, they didn't even bother putting in the appropriate resources on their crappy Steam OS. The final nail in coffin was the offering of Steam Machines that weren't even subsidized by Valve so that building PCs was as cheap or often cheaper than buying from a 3rd party. The whole thing was just a train wreck from start to finish. It's no wonder they're trying to phase this project out.
Not an amount worthy of retrospection, even if you were to play devil's advocate and assume that the associated actions to strengthen Linux as a gaming-oriented OS bore no fruit. Outside of the prototypes that were sent to select Steam Community members, Valve didn't manufacture its own system, so this isn't a uDrawesque situation where Valve has thousands upon thousands of unsold units sitting unloved in a warehouse somewhere.
When Valve were first working internally on Steam machines, they made these small form factor, compartmentalized cases that were so cool looking and easy to build in. It seemed like a real forebear to the niche high end mITX cases that has gained popularity over the years. When they sent those out to random people for testing, I think the thought was that Steam machines would be something more like Valve's test product. Instead the manufacturers made a bunch of pretty ugly boxes which were scant on specs details. What I'm saying is, they should just sell that sweet case they made.
Edit: The Alienware Steam machine was actually pretty cool though. I remember seeing dozens at PAX.
Edit: The Alienware Steam machine was actually pretty cool though. I remember seeing dozens at PAX.
Among all the numerous things others have pointed out in this thread, I also feel like Windows 10 not sucking (and being pretty good!) really hurt this whole initiative a lot, too. I remember a lot of doom and gloom over Windows 8 and the MS Store that was driving the idea of going to a different platform like SteamOS. Except Windows 10 righted the course (or at least righted it enough) that the feeling that you might need to abandon ship subsided dramatically.
But hey, at least Steam Link is solid and Big Picture Mode still makes it versatile enough to use on a TV, so not everything is lost. Hopefully they're actually focusing on something that's more practically substantial, like a UI overhaul of the desktop app and new features.
But hey, at least Steam Link is solid and Big Picture Mode still makes it versatile enough to use on a TV, so not everything is lost. Hopefully they're actually focusing on something that's more practically substantial, like a UI overhaul of the desktop app and new features.
Sooo much this. The original concept seemed to be custom small form factor cases and accessories to make tv friendly PCs. The rather dumb take on gaf from console gamers who thought this was about making a steam console was always rather ridiculous. This was always about making it easier for PC gamers to make tiny, stylish machines for living room gameplay, or to facilitate streaming from your tiny pc to a tv in another room.
But their designs and prototypes never made it out to partners, or at least they didn't seem to want to follow them. Instead we got over priced, under performing fully built systems, instead of more form factor and style options.
At least we got the steamlink and steam controller out of it.
The idea of a small and silent gaming-PC is still viable, and with power-consumption and heat on GPUs going down quite a bit over the last years might now be more realistic than ever.
But the stupid "PC-masterrace" idiots had nothing better to do than shout at every single one of those, saying they had bad specs or were to expensive, while posting PC-builds of noisy minitowers and thus missing the entire point of those small formfactor PCs.
Funnily, PS4 and XB1-hardware ended up pretty close to the optimal Steam-machine spec- & pricewise.
But the stupid "PC-masterrace" idiots had nothing better to do than shout at every single one of those, saying they had bad specs or were to expensive, while posting PC-builds of noisy minitowers and thus missing the entire point of those small formfactor PCs.
Funnily, PS4 and XB1-hardware ended up pretty close to the optimal Steam-machine spec- & pricewise.
Valve fucking sucks.
I love their attempts at innovating, but I can't stand their quick-to-complacency attitude
I love their attempts at innovating, but I can't stand their quick-to-complacency attitude
It wasn't the year of gaming on Linux just yet, it seems.
They have made gaming on Linux way more accessible tho, they should be applauded for that.
They have made gaming on Linux way more accessible tho, they should be applauded for that.
Half the reason (maybe 90% of the reason actually) Steam Machines and Steam OS were a thing was to break PC gaming's reliance on Windows. Remember this was back when everyone was paranoid Microsoft was going to close the ecosystem and make PC apps only purchasable from the Windows store.
I believe this was one of the biggest issue with the Steam Machines, alongside them being Steam OS based with some Windows Machines alongside them. I would have liked to have seen something like the prototype Steam Machines made available instead of the Steam Machines from various different companies, some of them were incredibly limited or just bad too. I feel that if Valve released finalized versions of the Prototype Steam Machines they would have done much better, although having Windows would be ideal for game compatibility reasons.
The Prototype Steam Machine models were upgradable and some of them had pretty nice hardware in them for their time, IIRC some had GPUs in them like GTX 780s and CPUs such as the i7-4770 and i5-4570.
Having a solid baseline for a Steam Machine would be great as it ensures those who buy even the lowest priced model, if hypothetically there were multiple models, that many games would be compatible on the system for years to come and offer performance and visuals above consoles, with room to upgrade if you desire. It would make entering PC Gaming so much more accessible for people if the lowest priced model was essentially a mid-range PC.
I'd also love it if these hypothetical Steam Machines made PC Gaming a more affordable entry route through Steam Machines, compared to a total custom build. Like if Valve were able to source the hardware and offer the whole machine at lower price point or something, like how console companies are able to bring consoles to market because they're getting things at lower prices, or even by making money off the software. Valve gets a 30% cut of all Steam sales so I think the latter option could work well in their favour.
If Valve were to launch their own Steam Machines today, I'd like to see something like this:
Base Model
CPU: i5 8400 (6 cores at 2.8-4.0GHz)
GPU: GTX 1060 6GB/RX 480 8GB
Memory: 16GB 3000MHz (2X8GB)
Storage: 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD for OS and Software)
PSU: 500-600W (Gold, 80 Plus? - This leaves headroom for GPU upgrades, etc.
Operating Systems - Windows 10 + optional dual boot Steam OS?
Price: £600-800?
Yeah I know, GPU and Ram prices are kinda messed up these days... My gosh I just had another look at ram prices, wow!
I don't know really, the concept of Steam Machines really intrigues me, I believe there is tons of potential and it could also make mid to high-end PC Gaming more approachable and mainstream.
Of-course, there's so much things that could be said about such a concept, such as the feasibility of it, how Valve could work with developers etc.
Edit - Expanded post and corrected spelling mistake.
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