Too early for me to judge yet, but I do like a nice cube.
I think for a prebuilt system that you can just turn into some media box when it’s not good for gaming anymore, it’ll have much more longevity than Xbox and PlayStation stuff.
As a PC, you can probably get something better if you just build one, especially for upgrading and repairs, but small form factors are pretty difficult to get parts for!
It’s actually not very different to the Framework PC, which also uses a laptop GPU embedded into the custom motherboard to save space, unfortunately reducing repairability. What I will say, however, is that FW actually does refresh internal components with replacements, something Valve likely will not do.
Frameworks are also pretty pricey, but I think they’re using specs higher than Valve, or their cost per AMD chip is higher. If you like the Valve system but want something beefier or (in theory) slightly better long-term ecosystem, maybe compare the Framework’s proposition once Valve’s system is released.
https://frame.work/gb/en/products/desktop-diy-amd-aimax300/configuration/new
I can’t believe Dr. Eggman finally released the GameCube 2
Loss leader to make sure xbox stays dead. I would just build a pc but the option to not have windows and have it be seamless is tempting
I hope it’s priced as a loss leader like regular consoles. One of the biggest appeals of the deck is how cheap it is. If they can do the same for this I think it will move units.
Also, if devs start optimising towards the cube like they’ve done for the deck it will be good for g*mers everywhere
They already said they’re not doing that. Especially since a corporation could just buy 10k and use them as desktops.
That makes sense. Even though the deck was a full blown PC on the inside its form factor meant you couldn’t really use it as a regular workstation. These things are regular PCs and if people don’t use them for gaming thenValve doesn’t get that extra cut. The tradeoff for making such an open system
RETVRN
If it’s fairly decent I’ll probably get it. It’s tiny in comparison to the nuclear reactor of a PC I have rn so I’d be able to bring it with me when I’m visiting family/friends rather than hauling a bunch of cables and monitors around, which is honestly the biggest selling point for me since I work seasonally and have to move every 8 ish months. I could leave my PC at home and just take the cube to my work accommodations.
so I’d be able to bring it with me
But how will you do that without a handle???
It’s just a sort of midrange linux prebuilt, if it’s priced competitively with other prebuilts it’ll be a good lil PC to recommend to people who don’t want to build one. If it’s priced high it’ll just flop like it did the first time.
If it’s anywhere higher than $1000 dollars then it’s going to flop hard. It really needs to be priced in the same way as a Steam Deck OLED or a little higher (I think 800 would be a limit).
I think Valve isn’t giving a price because they don’t have the supply chain manufacturing process down due to tariffs.
More than just being a prebuilt, a big part of what you’re buying is guaranteed compatibility of SteamOS and the hardware.
Given that SteamOS is a pretty stellar gaming Linux distro, and the only reason it’s not widely adopted is hardware/setup compatibility, that is a big deal.
It’s a moot point because it’s not something I’m going to be able to budget anytime soon, but I’m fascinated with VR so I find the Frame intriguing. I’ll be very curious about the pricing for both the Frame and the Cube. The more I learn about the headset, the more I wonder if they’re not going to try and eat some cost on the Frame to encourage people to buy the Cube. Apparently, the Frame was designed with a mentality of Streaming First. It even runs a less capable chip than the steam deck, in order to tackle thermal issues. So while it will be able to run a lot of titles from your Steam Library, it’s primary usage was meant to be a wireless streaming headset for your Cube. It will be interesting to see how they present that in the pricing.
From a developer standpoint, having a set hardware standard with large adoption sounds like a dream when it comes to optimizing. Plus, less Microsoft hardware out there is always a plus.
Oh, something else I found out that was pretty cool. The Frame can track the new Steam Controller. Neat!
Regardless of buying it or not this could make linux gaming much better, just like the steam deck did
I think the Gabecube looks good, i probably wont get it because i dont need it.
The fact that you can apparently upgrate it and you can use a usb to add games to it does make it look really good, also the little customization it has its nice
I think the only thing you can upgrade is the SSD. Most other things are soldered.
You can upgrade the ram too, but need to disassemble it a bit further than for the ssd
Gamecube looks cute.
Also KDE getting massive deserved stonks from valve choosing them as their desktop provider and partner. GNOME has dominated most distributions since rhel and Ubuntu use it as the default so its nice to see KDE get its own stardom.
It’s also funny that they mention “steamOS (arch based)” when arch really has nothing to do with any user facing stuff. Even valve wants that juicy arch name recognition.
Really excited about the frame being an ARM system since it means that FEX gets more recognition and valve will focus on cross architecture compatibility.
The best time to get into GNU/Linux is now, the next best time is like 6 months from now when a new software cycle finishes and like 1/3 of all issues are solved.
Them figuring out an immutablr/atomic system based on arch is fascinating.
I hadn’t thought about that bit but that’s true
I like small computers so this will probably be my next. Didn’t want a steam deck cause I basically never play portables. Controller looks neat.
Can’t really see myself ever building a huge power monster computer ever again. Small, silent, good enough performance* - perfect for me.
*(seriously, it’s around the PS5 in power - you can name any game and the PS5 would still be overkill - this thing will be good for a long time)
The most value I’ve gotten from the steamdeck is that it solves the cat sitting in front of the screen problem.
Yeah I’m about the same. I have a SD but it’s in docked mode 90% of the time, and I’d love something with a bit more juice, so the cube looks perfect. I’ll probably sell the SD when this drops to ease the blow. While I obviously love that the cube will function as a full computer, in a LTT video on it he brought up an important point that they can’t let game sales subsidize the price, because there’d be nothing stopping a company with no intention of buying games from scooping up thousands of subsidized computers. So the price point might scare me away.
Very cool because it’ll boost Linux use. I probably won’t buy it, since I already have decent enough computers running Linux. Steam Frame is very interesting, price-depending.
My computer is already going to be far better than this thing but I’m happy they’re making it just the same.
I personally don’t really give a shit about the cube. The ARM Linux VR headset with inside out tracking and foveated rendering is pretty interesting, not that I’m likely to be able to afford whatever they price it at any time soon.
it’s only going to cost 200 years of daily starbucks
Me personally? I like it. Beefy little gaming rig with a Linux-based OS? Yes please. Steam migrating more people towards Linux? Very big yes please. I’m unfortunately trapped in a dual-boot situation because Autodesk is a flaming pile of dumpster trash that only builds for Windows, but if Valve can move the needle, maybe that can change.
Their new Frame is also something I’m very interested in as well. The Index was crazy good when it came out. Dated now, sure, but the Frame addresses pretty much all of that. I’m glad to see they didn’t just bow out of the market, but instead put the proverbial pencil to paper and worked on coming up with something really good.
Yes I really liked frame either so planning to buy it
