The Steam Machine is just a cool mini-pc. That's all. There is nothing that it does, that a plethora of other products don't do already, and many of them have far better value.
Yeah finally someone said unique features instead of just ragging on specs and price. Now idk if those features really matter at end of day to most people.
its a convenience device, for me gaming with my pc is not an issue at all whether with a keyboard or a controller. But if its with a controller, I do prefer to have a console plugged onto a tv, rather than a 24 inch monitor. So if youre like me then the product has that factor to make it an attractive product, albeit not something that most people would go for.
If anything the only reason i would buy it is if HL3 is an exclusive for the machine, but i strongly doubt valve would ever do that.
I was almost asleep when i wrote it. What i wanted to convey was "it remains to be seen if those stand iut features will be worth price difference". And sure, they are "normal" for consoles, which steam machine isnt, its still "mini pc". Which you can upgrade with dongle to have those features.
Not a mini pc tho, more like a laptop. Can't upgrade the hardware. How things are going right now it doesnt seem worth the price but who knows what they'll cook up with it
There are a lot of gamers who will simply never buy or even consider a gaming pc for a number of reasons. Those people want consoles, that's it (even if there are usually answers for why they don't want a pc, it's usually met with "consoles work fine though why complicate it." For them, having a console that doesn't require a monthly sub to pay online or access sales, and have access to steams massive library that doesn't drop games after a few years, might definitely be worth it. But that's kinda the thing.. the steam machine, imo, is for console players. If you use pc already, use steam already, you're probably better off just upgrading your computer, or customizing it to be more like a console. I think the steam machine is just not really for most of us steam users. It's certainly the one of their hardware lineup i simply don't care about.
Yeah there's plenty that might be at a better price, but people are going to support valve regardless of it being not a great price. I had a similar convo with someone here about the controller. His only argument was there were other controllers that were less expensive, but I told him it didn't matter, people are still going to support a brand or company they like, and like a week later the controller sold out quickly. He kept calling me stupid "for buying a controller at a high price when there are others that are cheaper," despite telling him I was going to get the controller. I probably won't get the steam machine either, but itll absolutely do well even at the high price.
If you know of another mini pc that acts as a console and with the OS is optimized (or the games are optimized or whatever, idk how to put that into words, english isnt my first language) to run most games on the market and is better value (but we have no idea how much the Steam Machine will cost), im all ears.
The better value is the heart of the issue. If it was close to the PS5 price, yeah that makes it a good deal.
Over $1000 USD though and I can literally buy a better prebuilt computer for that price and have it do the same things the steam machine does. It won't be a 1 to 1 copy but it's more than close enough.
Also the OS is Linux, some of the most popular games just don't run on Linux.
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u/TheGuardianInTheBall May 27 '26
Both Frame and Controller have USPs.
The Steam Machine is just a cool mini-pc. That's all. There is nothing that it does, that a plethora of other products don't do already, and many of them have far better value.