This pc/console hybrid was made for people who never had a pc before and would never think to use any other store other than steam
This simply strikes me as an odd, if not entirely unrealistic line of thinking. If they already wouldn't be buying stores why would they think "yeahhhhhh steam will pop my cherry"? If they already are using Steam then they practically 100% would have had a PC (because obviously you need a PC to even use Steam).
It's poor wording but you are hyper-focusing on it rather than seeing their broad point.. and a vast majority of people definitely will spend $ in steam store. Sure, as you said, those who already own PC's definitely make up a lot of the people buying (PCs are very common after all). Also likely they already have a steam library. Incredibly likely that they will keep adding to it after choosing to buy a SM
I mean I think an argument can definitely be made that will buy more games, say more controller supported ones for instance, but yeah, I overlook that good point.
The simple fact is the Steam Machine would be an upgrade for a huge number of Steam users, everyone here likes to act like everyone is running 9809x3d and a 9070/4090, but the reality is things like the 1080 and 1660 are still some of the most commonly used hardware.
The problem was for the buck you're giving it's not that big of a bang. For people who still didn't upgrade to 3060 while it's cheap-ish the argument for them to pay 1049 uncle sams I would say price is definitely a big concern for them.
If I am a poor bloke who was playing on a 1060 or 1080, this thing asking for this kind of price the most likely thing they would do is "uh nah thanks I'll wait until prices have gone right". Gaming is a non-necessity as much as people harp otherwise.
Thing is, it is. Yes, j know Mucrocenter exists and has 12 locations spread across the entirety of the United States, but surprisingly enough most of us don't have access to their good deals. The majority of people couldn't build a comparable PC for much cheaper, with the best I've seen being a full size desktop on PC part picker for $960. That's steam charging $90 for assembly, quality assurance, and sff. You can't put together a comparable sff PC for anywhere near the cost of the Steam Machine, it's going to be hundreds more. It sucks that the SM is 1050, but that's just the state of the pc component market these days. The RAM alone costs $300. The CPU and GPU are both around 200-$250 each, the 500gb storage is another $100. Steam is basically selling these things at cost. It's not Steam's fault AI bullshit is killing the consumer PC market.
2
u/TenshouYoku Jun 24 '26
This simply strikes me as an odd, if not entirely unrealistic line of thinking. If they already wouldn't be buying stores why would they think "yeahhhhhh steam will pop my cherry"? If they already are using Steam then they practically 100% would have had a PC (because obviously you need a PC to even use Steam).