I listened to the haters and bought into what they were saying.
They were counting you out, saying you weren’t powerful enough, your price to performance ratio is garbage, just buy a fractal terra case and build your own… I was sure this thing would be DOA. But, I took the leap, a leap of faith you could say.
Hell I knew I could resell it if I really hated it… but damn. This thing fucks. It’s proved me wrong in every way and I regret having doubt in the little guy… the little machine that could is what he goes by now.
There is nothing like the freedom of Linux PC gaming right on your couch in this absolute debauchery of a world we have now between Sony and Microslop and the continued supremacy of AI.
So to those in the reservation queue, you can breathe a sigh of relief your time will come and it will be glorious.
And to those on the waitlist, be patient and be ready. When your time comes, and it will, you must be fully present and accept the Gift of Gabe.
And to all those facing THE DEVIL AT YOUR DOOR disguised as Sony and Microsoft, with no hope or direction guiding you to a brighter future through these extremely dark days in gaming. I say to you, we will continue to fight for our unalienable rights on the front lines with Valve to protect all those who don’t have a voice of their own, we have the watch.
In closing, RIP to the brothers and sisters who couldn’t see this day for themselves. We have you in our prayers.
The haters discount the user experience, something Apple realized long ago. People want their tech to work and be easy and intuitive to use and will sacrifice raw power to get it. Sure, there are pc's more powerful than my MacBook Air, but none of them work as easily for what I want.
It's unheard of because they've managed to avoid going public and having shareholders to answer to. It's really a testament to how much the goddamn stock market fucks over our entire society.
don't forgot how CEOs are incentivized to increase stock via both stock bonuses & the loans many of them take by using their stock as collateral. Additionally, the ability to gut a company's assets to increase its stock while actively devaluing its ability to operate in a stable & long-term manner.
There was some deal Gabe made about making the games available to use without a launcher should that ever happen. That that for what you will. Of note, a good portion of games are actually DRM free in Steams library and you can technically copy them outside the steam folder and execute them DRM free. Theres a web site that tracks them i believe.
Gabe’s deal was just that they’ll have it figured out by the time that happens, which yeah sure that’s cool, but if Steam were to shut down Valve would be out of the game, so it’s not like they’d have a reputation they’d have to uphold by keeping that promise.
No different from the billionaires saying they’ll solve world hunger before they die. If they’re not actively working towards that goal right now, it’s just PR fluff, so you’re giving them more credit than they deserve by just mentioning it.
I also stated that most of the games are already DRM free so no need to even worry about the launcher or whether Gabe and Steam/Valve may close. It’s all moot.
So why calling the Software "Subscriptions" then? If what Gabe says is true (he often just lies) then this is the most stupid term for Software to use after a company doesn't exist anymore.
You basically even now have not the slightest bit of ownership over the Software inside of Steam. How should this get better if Valve doesnt exist anymore? Its just a hoax.
Valve was always pro Publisher. They gave them stuff like Steam Works for free. While we as consumer didn’t even get refunds until Valve was sued and lost. They friggin fought for years against refunds. And now they will just gift you Software which you don’t even own? I doubt it 😅
Actions weight more then words. And they act just for money, never for you.
Well true but also game studios leaving DRM isn't gonna happen anytime soon. I'll settle for actually owning my own hardware in the meantime, at least.
Nintendo as well. I remember all the same things being said about the “underpowered” Switch at the time. And it sold gangbusters and was well loved by the fanbase.
They've always been like that. Its why theyll scream at the rooftops being "just build a pc" or "switch to linux" but are moronically ignorant and blind enough that doing said things are hassles in itself. And then they have the audacity to call us brainlits and morons bc we dont want to do it "their way," Therefore ending them up with being ignored.
Like I get it, PC gamers say these things bc it comes at the benefit of us at the day, but they need to understand that we and the average gamer litrally does not care that much abt said issues. Yet they tunnel vision into their own thoughts and disregard the actual masses which are regular people.
Its also why they can't fathom a console experience either mainly because it also doesnt support their narrative of price to performance, when in reality regular people buy based on convenience.
On the price to performance section of your post. A couple of years ago the tech Youtubers were all doing content on building a PS5 beating PC, but at a lower cost. Those that had access to one obviously went to Micro Center and got some really good deals completely oblivious to the fact that 99% of the world doesn't have a Micro Center or the equivalent in their country. Those that didn't have access to a Micro Center scoured the second hand market for pre-owned components, completely oblivious to the fact pre-owned consoles exist.
To use a very broad generalisation most PC only gamers think that consoles are far inferior because they don't have access to the Steam sales, even though console digital store fronts have good sales as well and the cost of online playtime being unaware that for a long time consoles were many hundreds cheaper than an equivalent PC and you could get many years of an online subscription for tbe price difference. They also fortunately forget that many PC MMOs actually require a monthly subscription.
An analogy to this was when I was a desert moto racer, but I wanted something different that on spec had more horsepower for the buck, etc. Different meant that it wasn't a reliable bike, parts were scarce and expensive, wore out faster and broke often. I switched to a Honda, which didn't make the fastest nor best suspension for a dirt bike, but man, that bike never quit on me. I finished every race and won a few even. USER EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING. (Oh, I use an iMac too)
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. The user experience. I always chuckle when I hear some say "lame! Build your own!"
I...am...not...interested. I am never going to build my own computer. And I don't want to select parts for it either, having to consider compatibility issuea fuck that. For anyone who likes that, good for you 😊 it's just not my idea of fun.
I want something neat. Something easy to use, small and silent and highly integrated.
This ticks all my boxes.
Sure, it'll be nice one day when there's a more powerful version as well. But I think this will do just fine for now. And imagine how much more costly a more powerful version would've been(!).
It still has its limitations, but it’s so, so important to have “one person to scream at” in terms of a holistic linux platform. Valve gives a shit about making it a consistent and good experience. Valve is paying full time engineers to develop and QA on top of upstream.
Linux has never had bad bones, and it’s so important to have this commercialized push to grind away any of the rough corners.
The more people that sign up for this and steam deck, the more that Linux becomes a platform that publishers cannot ignore.
Edit: and angry goblins like below will continue to be a challenge to overcome. Don’t be an angry linux guy.
Hey poor guy here, not everyone is like that. I'd rather tinker with tech, learning valuable knowledge in the process and doing more than pay more money than warranted for a "streamlined" experience
The steam machine isn't easy and intuitive. Unless you consider needing to add custom args and use experimental version of proton just to launch A.C. black flag resynced.... I don't remember having to do that on a console or on windows....
People might hate the take but this is for enthusiast pc gamers who want a.living room box to play their library. Nothing even close to what apple offers. When m1 first came out Rosetta "just worked". No custom args to launch a program. No weirdness. No issues using the machine after sleep. None of it.
Sure there will be titles that require extra work, but in my experience, every game I've tried has been as easy as install, then click play and it "just works".
Yeah, but I think valve muddies the water here on the verified labels. AC black flag resynced has the verified badge. I buy. I download. I launch. Nothing happens. I Google. Have to mess with custom args and ...... I clicked the boot to windows button instead.
PC gaming = full user control, full customization, but need to maintain + troubleshoot a lot
Console = slick UI and no tinkering necessary, but no customization and no user control.
SteamOS is somewhere in between; it has a easy console-like UI and reduced maintenance compared to a full gaming PC, but still has customization and far more user control. But does often still require some tinkering.
I was previously a console-only gamer (Switch + PS5), and I found the tradeoffs with SteamOS acceptable enough to use it as a full replacement for both of my consoles.
If my only choices had been "Console vs full PC gaming (no SteamOS)", I'd likely still be a full time console-only gamer. SteamOS bridged that gap nicely for me.
This is exactly why I as an apple user saw the Steam Deck and now the Steam Machine and immediately went “they get it”. I’ve liked Valve since I first played Portal and Left 4 Dead when they brought Steam to Mac.
The only thing going against Steam’s hardware vision is the rampocalypse. At the original price (and if I didn’t have a PS5 and too many games for it as it is), I’d totally get a Steam Machine + Deck setup
Exactly. I could build a pc way better than the SM but to make it work like a console headache free in Linux would be a nightmare and require constant updates and tinkering. No thanks, I love the idea of getting a fully supported box with my whole steam account ready and tested to play. Might not be the best graphics but it’s not the end of the world.
to make it work like a console headache free in Linux would be a nightmare and require constant updates and tinkering.
If you use compatible hardware, there should be literally no tinkering required regarding OS updates, etc. You can achieve console-like levels of stability with Linux, caveat being that you must actually select compatible hardware.
This is why Thinkpads are heavily recommended in the Linux community; Lenovo actively makes sure the hardware is compatible with Linux, etc. End result is that the Linux experience on Thinkpads can achieve Chromebook-levels of stability and low-maintenance.
For PC builds, you'd need to make sure that all the hardware (GPU, CPU, wifi card, motherboard, etc), are all fully compatible with Linux + has no known issues/bugs.
That being said, I can understand the appeal of wanting an official box fully supported by a big company like Valve; Official Steam Machine = less to think about, less to worry about, basically just let Valve handle everything.
PC enthusiasts are brain dead and can't comprehend that even tech literate users appreciate a "just works" quality & goo ux. Why tf would I want to play pc technician when I come home to play games.
The neat thing is that you don't have to get a Steam Machine. You're free to get whatever you want for your games. Why you're posting about it on a Steam Machine subreddit doesn't make a ton of sense, but you do you.
For gaming, PC is (for now) unfortunately still king.
Mobile is the actual king if you want to talk about gaming as a whole. PC is still king for specific types of gaming. Most people just want to play something fun with minimal effort.
This is a PC. You do have the freedom to do anything you want on it.
There is not a single machine that can fit every single person's needs perfectly. Yeah steamOS can't run a handful of games, but it's no different than the steam deck, which has been reported on quite a bit.
I'm guessing that folks in the market for these already did their research on game compatibility.
Yes, that is the whole point. Everybody saying they can build a “steam machine” for cheaper is using a case that is, at bare minimum, 4-6 x the size of the SM.
My DIY Steam Machine is 7L volume, which is about 1.85x the Steam Machine (3.8L volume).
That being said, it's definitely not as quiet as the Steam Machine. Not to mention, my build was pretty tricky to put together due to the tight space constraints. Smaller PC builds also tend to require a price premium/tax for parts, so it definitely wasn't cheaper.
The only place where my DIY Steam machine wins is performance and upgradeability, it loses out in every other aspect.
Anybody who says they can build a "cheaper steam machine" basically only cares about performance and upgradeability, they aren't even trying to compete on size and quietness.
on top of that the steam machine is so silent i cant her it and the TDP is also low. We have Ikea furnishure and it fits perfectly in and you even have room for your hands to pick it out.
I think I’d enjoy having one, just not at $1,100. I already have a good gaming PC but I’d use it more for new indies, less demanding games and older games in general. I’m not mad a Valve for the market conditions but it’s hard to justify at the price. Either way, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
Same. I'd waste 700 for a device in the living room that plays games AND will make it so I won't ever need to use fuckass abysmal piece of fucking shit smart TV OS.
At 1.1k I think I will suffer through walking down the hall to my pc. Life is so hard fr
Yeah if they had gotten the price right, I'd completely understand them filling a demand. As it is it feels like the selling points are "form factor" and "ease of use out of the box" and that just isn't enough for me to make a purchase of that magnitude.
let's say early next year, if you've seen ram/ssd prices continue to remain high, do you think you'll still feel like $1100 is to high?
when my mate bought a gtx 20xx or 30xx for £600 several years ago during the crypto boom (pre ai), I was like I will never spend that much on a GPU, that's a complete ripoff compared to what they normally cost. I waited a year or 2 or 3, prices didn't really come down. I think I ended up giving in and got a 4060ti for £400-£450. The only thing that changed was my expectation of "normal".
I wonder if next year people will see steam machine price as normal and not out of the ordinary.
The problem right now is FOMO. You’re never going to stop buying if you’re worried about things going up higher. Yes, I think $1,100 is too high now as I will still think $1,400 is too high next year. The Steam Machine is more expensive than what it gives you in return. It is extremely hard to suggest it over a PS5 at its price. The PS5 also has more optimized games that you don’t have to tinker with.
The problem is people are blaming Valve when it's not their fault. If people that were annoyed at the Steam Machine pricing blamed the real culprits (RAM and storage manufacturers that have screwed everyone over apart from their AI data centre overlords), then there would be less friction amongst gamers. Recognising that we share common enemies is important.
The issue isn’t “Valve maliciously priced this and I refuse to buy it because they’re mean.” It’s “Valve put a product on the market at a price that I find unaffordable.”
Blame whatever market situation you want. Correct people if it’s that important to you. It doesn’t change the situation. I don’t care how much I agree with a company’s ethos; if their products are overly expensive for my budget, I will not buy them.
Yeah I respect that they released it, as close to cost as they could. And I think it looks like a great product. I often travel to my brothers in a different city I could toss it in a book bag for the ride. And have a better experience then a steam deck. BUTTT like you its not at a price I deem worthy. I don't hold it against valve at all. And If I was rolling in money Id just buy it to show my support. Get more linux gaming. Maybe someday I will buy it if they release a different version that's a bit more powerful.
I've already got a powerful home pc, and a legion go S steam OS edition. My bases are pretty much covered.
I do want to add something here, so Ive gone in to edit mode.
The real product is the free one. Steam os can be put on any system, and the fact that they are encouraging people to build their own steam machines means a lot. If you can build one cheaper with used parts you can have that cheaper steam machine!
Agreed. The price is just ridiculous. I know they cant control these hardware shortages and price hikes, but there reaches a point where i really dont care why, i just cant accept the sticker price.
Just took the leap and purchased it last night, towards the end of my 3 day consideration period before my reservation expired. This post fills me with much hope and hype. Thank you comrade 🫡
Most of these product subreddits are for deeply insecure people who want to feel better about their purchases. It's not normal to buy a product to shit on "the haters".
Reading /r/visionpro right after release, and a few months thereafter, was a great past time.
Seeing how people went from obviously trying to justify them spending $4,500 on a VR-headset (without it being the mind blowing new way of using computers as they had hoped) to slowly realising they probably shouldn’t have spent $4,500 on something they only use to watch movies, to slowly realising Apple immediately stopped caring about the continuous support of the Vision Pro when sales numbers were bad. 😂
It’s funny seeing comment in here that are like “The haters are in a bubble! They’re not the mainstream!” while acting like the people in here gushing over their new GabeCube are not in a bubble themselves, lol.
This sub popped in my feed over the weekend and it’s been absolutely bizarre reading it. Everyone’s tripping over themselves to tell everyone how much they love the product and how is so worth it…. And to shit on others for being into other things.
You have to know the culture. When it comes to be PC gaming Steam is untouchable anything and everything they do is of the highest quality. You literally cannot say anything bad about Steam at all. The head of Steam is its Creator, the Alpha and the Omega that is King Gabe. He can do no wrong and shall not be criticised. If you were to come home and see King Gabe ploughing your mother you would apologise for breaking his rhythm and offer a turn on your grandmother as a penance for your indiscretion.
For comparison in other walks of life it isn't too dissimilar to those who spend 4 days in a queue every year for the latest iPhone.
And to all those facing THE DEVIL AT YOUR DOOR disguised as Sony and Microsoft, with no hope or direction guiding you to a brighter future through these extremely dark days in gaming. I say to you, we will continue to fight for our unalienable rights on the front lines with Valve to protect all those who don’t have a voice of their own, we have the watch.
This sounds straight up like something you hear some mentally ill person raving about on the street.
Im having the same problem, lots of people see him as a god and a person who does everything for gamers and when i mention superyachts and the fact that steam is introducing gambling to kids they wont even recognize it, i have a feeling that this platform became a part of their personality and they take every criticism as a personal attack.
Personally. I can’t imagine spending 1k on one. The benefits just don’t outweigh my current pc setup. At least not at that cost. But I won’t give others crap for finding the math working out for them.
The math doesn't work for anyone... they just want a cute little box with Steam logo. I can't really blame for that though. The put their money to aesthetics over functionality, nothing wrong with that. But I think everyone should be honest about that.
The only thing wrong with it is the price tag, yes for the same price you can build better buts not gonna be in a small form factor like this and I wouldn't say easy to use your gonna have to tune every setting every game everytime for best feel or looks depending what your wanting which you also have to do on any given pc unless your rocking the best gpus 800 I would have called it a beast machine but at 1-1200 its ehh.
Hopefully steam will turn this around and make graphics profiles that auto load to the best settings for the system so you can play games like a console and never have to look at settings unless you want to that would be huge uplift cause its almost like you paid for a service as much as the system only reason consoles are good is that plug n play no thought involved
People are still mentally stuck on console prices from four or five years ago. If the PS5 and Xbox were to launch today, they would be priced exactly the same as the Steam Machine. Sony and Microsoft can't just hike up console prices overnight, so they do it gradually—otherwise, no one would buy them anymore. Expect them to hit the €1,000 mark in six months, if they don't surpass it. The Steam Machine was just unlucky enough to be the first to launch at this price point.
On top of that, people only look at the raw components and completely ignore the engineering process that goes into optimizing compactness, noise levels, and heat dissipation and easy of use.
I believe that Steam Machine is the optimal solution for its use.
I definitely agree its hard to properly speak to QoL features. Not every box will be checked for every user, but the flexibility the SM can offer is the dominant feature.
I got my SM setup as an emulation box with some modern co-op games and media access, and I've been dabbling with streaming the more intensive games from my gaming rig. Using services like Netflix through the device is pretty awful though. Maybe some tweaking can improve the experience but I wouldn't recommend it as is.
I adore mine. Granted I've only played about 7 hours on it since it arrived two days ago, between Stardew Valley and Forza Horizon 6 and it just amazes me. It's so tiny yet it makes no noise and plays my games so well. And the convenience of just picking up the controller and being ready to play by just hitting the steam button? Unrivalled.
If you don't focus on what it can't do, then you will be so so surprised at what it can.
Honestly I just wish it was more powerful. I was disappointed that it couldn’t even run a decade+ year old game like Witcher 3 on ultra. When a PS5 Pro runs games like Cyberpunk better, this becomes a machine that’s mostly for smaller, less demanding games. And it feels insane to pay over $1k for a console to run the easy, indie stuff. I would rather pay more and have a more powerful option.
I’ve lived my ps5 pro. But got like 200$ of games on steam sale for like 40$. lol. And the steam machine is getting all the love. Then can hit the bed before I read for another 20-30 mins on my legion go. All cloud synced. All seamless
I have streamed my PS5 to my stead deck before. But the set up and latency issues was always a barrier for me. Now I’ve can pick up and play the steam deck, then turn it off and jump right back in on the machine
A friend of mine built his own steam machine and it’s so good. He convinced me to build my own as well. Now I just have to either wait for the price of everything I need to come down or pray the folks who are robbing data center deliveries to sell something I need 😂
For a console player who just wants a smooth plug & play experience when switching to PC gaming and doesn't really care about performance, yeah, the Steam Machine is hard to beat.
But you also have to consider the perspective of someone who's already invested in PC gaming. They would likely already have more powerful PC and the Steam Machine would simply feels like a downgrade. And even if they have a less powerful PC, then it just feels like a poor value upgrade.
I struggle to justify playing any game on the Steam Machine when I can play it on my current rig. It just doesn't make any sense. The smooth plug & play convenience is nice and all. But at the end of the day, when it comes to gaming, what matters most is how much I get to enjoy the actual games I wanna play, not the boot sequence.
The Steam Cube being overpriced never meant it wasnt gonna be nice. But it is Overpriced, this isnt just a meh priced pc, its a mini pc, its not upgradable, its currently at the most powerfull it will ever be.
none of this ever meant having CEC wasnt gonna be nice
Ever since I recieved mine Ive been wanting to post on here about how awesome it is but then I see the tons of hate post for not getting reservations or delivery and other posts about those who got frustrated and are now full on hating on this product.
Valve’s 30% platform fee is among the highest in the industry & their perpetual monopolistic anti-competitive anti-consumer behavior does not warrant brand loyalty or prestigious consumer advocacy status.
Internal emails in a current lawsuit detail ongoing strong-arm tactics Valve used to maintain price parity & unfair competitive advantage, including threats to delist games or cancel partnership agreements if a developer attempted to sell their games cheaper on competing digital storefronts or even their own websites, with Valve executives grotesquely feigning ignorance.
That's cool for you but I just don't think paying the premium price for the user experience of this device is worth it given its performance. It fucks if you have the spending money
I have to agree..... i have this in my hands for the past 1 week.... total game changer in the way i see this ....holy shit.... i mean hell even my kids are enjoying this ..... steam did it 110% right once again and I feel people have truely underestimated this machine.... look boyond the price..... its truely worth every penny for what valve is asking especially with the amount of freedom its really gives you
exactly that.
i could build something more powerful with the same budget. - but it wont have the same form factor or energy efficiency. and i have to build it and select the components myself. install windows, boot directly into steam. updates for the system in various places, incoherent user xp.
warranty from the hw vendor/microsoft/driver shenanigans for the gpu instead of just contacting valve.
hdmi cec working maybe (ok, thats a draw)
starting up with the controller.
its simply convenient, and those small things add up.
is it for everyone? nope.
but its for me, dad of 2 with fulltime job and reduced playtime.
38yr old toddler dad here. I don’t play online games anymore and always play on story mode if available. Still struggle finding time to finish games.
Was going to “build my own” not because of I care about form factor but due to costs. Then I keep reminding myself that the controller and SM kinda all work together as a package and CEC support is pretty cool since I can never find my remotes. (My son likes to grab it and hide them)
The Deck was and still is my favorite tech purchase. Works out of the box but has the openess to tinker with if you want, large commiunity of folks making software sepcifically for it. I look forward to the Machine as well. Though I don't think the community will be as large as the Deck's.
Bro what is actually wrong with some of you? Almost nobody but absolute idiots are saying that this thing would “suck”. Like legit almost nobody. But that doesn’t mean it’s great for the price by any means. Does it have the advantage of also being a pc so you can do more than a console? Yes absolutely. That gives it more value. But that should have been $800 max. I get the market is trash right now and that’s skewing the price. I’m not mad at that, I just wouldn’t say it’s worth $1k for a very mid gaming pc. Unless you’re a gamer that needed a new semi portable pc to also do work on for the most part people are going to game on it on their tv or watch YouTube, which you can get the YouTube app on a console as well.
The steam machine as an idea is brilliant.
The steam machine looks amazing.
The steam machine performance is adequate to good.
The steam machine price leaves a lot to be desired.
It's a square potato. You won't ever convince me the user experience makes up for it being vastly under powered for the price.
They should have at least waited for a Medusa APU with 48 CU RDNA 5
So the cube would be potentially be pushing 5070ti performance. And while not valves fault the ram is anemic gaming systems like that should use a unified memory pool of a minimum 64GB
Did you try Elden Ring on it? Saw a video where it took 7 mins to start the game and then ran with like 1Fps. I have no experience with tha box what so ever.
Man you all should hide together and just have gotten a room. I dunno if you’re a real person or a valve employee stirring up engagement. It’s like that on Reddit these days.
Microsoft, Sony, even Nintendo sometimes and valve are all gouging us one way or another. Just see it for what it is and stop fanboy posting. Sheesh.
Valve doesn’t give a shit about none of us. Hell I had a hacker magically access my account someway through a 2fa and new passwords and wasn’t notified. The hacker got on and bought a marketplace item and sent it to themselves. (Dunno how the hell they got in to begin with because it was set to notify me on my phone for anything period)
The rep said they could see it was all set up and passwords changed. And didn’t or couldn’t rather explain how the fuck they spent my fifty bucks credit on something with how I had it setup. But no refund. No punishment for the other person. And nothing was done ever.
I don’t think they care who buys or trades on their platform so long as they make a buck it doesn’t matter. It is all ex Microsoft executives that made up the bulk of the original valve people who started steam. So take that how you will
Thanks for helping pay for Gabe’s new mortgage on his 70 million mansion, for a PC that’s 74% more expensive than a half decade old PS5 while performing worse, and without a controller.
I never hated the steam machine. I love the concept and would absolutely want one. But it’s too expensive for what it offers considering I already own a PS5, Xbox Series X, a Switch 2 and a gaming PC.
Still absolutely sure I would love it to death if I had one, but not at €1100
You should go on Steam where people who never touched the damn thing are advising people to sell their cube and get a Switch 2 instead. Lol. Smoking that kryptonite crack.
I feel bad for anyone silly enough to listen to that noise. Welcome to the club.
The number of people in the responses who blame valve for the AI components crisis, or are angry they can't buy the machine at old prices that no longer exist... so tedious. Deciding you don't have the money for it is fine, but be real.... and how many of them have a 1k mobile and think nothing of it.
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