It’s funny, the Steam Machine has a weird identity problem.
We talk about it like it’s a PC, and what a detriment it is to not be able to upgrade the GPU, like why else do you have a PC. But you can’t upgrade console GPU’s either. And it’s still a plug-in-and-play box, no building required.
We also talk about it like it’s a console, and what a detriment it is that a console costs over a thousand dollars and is digital-only. But the next generation consoles are almost certainly going to be as expensive if not more, with no disc drive either.
The SM is a glass half full and a glass half empty. It’s the best of both consoles and PC’s, or the worst of both worlds.
The way I view Steam Machines is just as a delivery system for SteamOS. I don’t know if Valve even thinks Steam Machines will themselves be successful. I’m thinking they are betting on enough users adopting Steam Machines that they will get a foothold with their OS and start pushing Microsoft out.
And that kinda makes sense as Microsoft is going the “AI first” route and focusing on productivity. That leaves an opening (if albeit a small one currently) for companies like Valve to pull users into their “Gamers first” SteamOS.
It’s funny, the Steam Machine has a weird identity problem.
We talk about it like it’s a PC, and what a detriment it is to not be able to upgrade the GPU, like why else do you have a PC. But you can’t upgrade console GPU’s either. And it’s still a plug-in-and-play box, no building required.
We also talk about it like it’s a console, and what a detriment it is that a console costs over a thousand dollars and is digital-only. But the next generation consoles are almost certainly going to be as expensive if not more, with no disc drive either.
The SM is a glass half full and a glass half empty. It’s the best of both consoles and PC’s, or the worst of both worlds.
The way I view Steam Machines is just as a delivery system for SteamOS. I don’t know if Valve even thinks Steam Machines will themselves be successful. I’m thinking they are betting on enough users adopting Steam Machines that they will get a foothold with their OS and start pushing Microsoft out.
And that kinda makes sense as Microsoft is going the “AI first” route and focusing on productivity. That leaves an opening (if albeit a small one currently) for companies like Valve to pull users into their “Gamers first” SteamOS.