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[Randall365]

Where is the less than 1 million option?

 

[LordCBH]

I think 3-5 milly.

 

[coffinbirth]

It will probably sell HALF of the Steam Deck lifetime, if even that.
The Deck was a smash hit, relatively to its niche of reference, and that's because it covered a particular gap in the market (affordable handheld PC) which is something that these Steam Machine don't seem to replicate.

Morons keep comparing it to "Nintendo numbers" as if that was the average standard to live by, but they should try to ask to any new hardware producer on the scene if they'd be happy to launch a new device and ending up in the 4-6 million ballpark and then report the answer back.

In four years on razor thin margins? There wouldn't be a company left to make a statement without major outside support.
The ONLY reason that is possible here is bc Valve has fuck you money and this opens the door wider for them to make more money.
Any number sold beyond initial inventory is a success to Valve.
But otherwise, I agree with everything you are saying.

 

[KeplerL2]

Is this a repurposed SoC as well like Aerith? Is that why AMD/TSMC are allowing low volume production?

It's Hawk Point2 with iGPU disabled plus N33 7600M with higher TDP. Basically last gen stuff that AMD couldn't sell anymore

 

[Astray]

Lots of marketing and a price point lower than MS/Sony Systems is guaranteed 5-10 million lifetime sales imo

Valve literally does zero marketing. Have you ever seen a Steam Deck advert?

Also this thing has zero access to like %80 of the biggest service games. Sony and Nintendo will not be bothered by it.

The biggest loser here is Xbox because:

A) This is essentially their chosen concept, they suddenly got turned into the second mover in this equation and have to deliver a UX that matches or exceeds whatever SteamOS will be in 2027.

B) Every consumer that builds a PC with Linux or buys one of these things is a customer that Microsoft cannot upsell on 365 products. The more Windows share erodes the less appetite corporate clients will have for using Windows in the workplace.

 

[darrylgorn]

I think you severely overestimated the tech literacy of the average gamer.

I'm not talking about the average gamer. We're talking about a steam machine here, not a console.

We're not expecting it to compete with Sony or Nintendo in sales.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

We don't know the price.

+ the Steam Deck never sold that much compared to Sony\Nintendo equivalents... They would have dropped out if they had released a machine that sells this bad.

 

[Hector Hall]

It depends a bit on the price, but without full Comercial presence in brick and mortar stores this thing has short legs, just like Steam Deck, a huge success but that has sold like 1/3 of the PS Vita sales.

Most power hungry PC players won't like it, it's a bit weak specs wise. You can't update it, either, it's an APU in a solded die. Maybe some will buy it as a secondary machine.

If it's 299/350 it has a shot at 5+ million.

If it's 500,600 or above, it's nearly DOA, more expensive that PS5 with many disadvantages, and with the PS6 looming in end 2027, no way.

 

[kevboard]

I'm not talking about the average gamer. We're talking about a steam machine here, not a console.

We're not expecting it to compete with Sony or Nintendo in sales.

yeah still. the target audience for this thing will not Dualboot windows and absolutely will see the fact that many popular games don't run on it out of the box as a huge barrier of entry.

 

[Badlucktroll]

i'll probably get the GabeCube but only if it launched with halflife 3

 

[lachesis]

I think it will walk the line of semi-niche status, just like Steam Deck, if not a bit less than that.
PC gamers mostly have higher power gaming PCs, and consoles are cheaper.
So unless the pricing is super competitive to existing consoles - not sure if it's going to make much dent. Slightly less than Steam Deck, around 3-5mil, but wouldn't be surprised if its sold less than that.

 

[darrylgorn]

yeah still. the target audience for this thing will not Dualboot windows and absolutely will see the fact that many popular games don't run on it out of the box as a huge barrier of entry.

The target audience for this is enthusiast, not console gamer.

It's mainly for people who want to bring their steam library to the living room.

No one is expecting this to compete with Sony or Nintendo for sales, so the barrier to entry is irrelevant because it's not intending to enter the market that you think it is.

 

[Sinozen]

It doesn't need to sell, it just exists to support the Steam ecosystem.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Price will factor in considerably for this. I can't imagine many would pay a premium for specs worse than the ps5 and series x.

 

[Games Bookstore]

At least 2 units

 

[kevboard]

The target audience for this is enthusiast, not console gamer.

It's mainly for people who want to bring their steam library to the living room.

No one is expecting this to compete with Sony or Nintendo for sales, so the barrier to entry is irrelevant because it's not intending to enter the market that you think it is.

an enthusiast system with these specs can not cost a cent more than $500. because an enthusiast can just get a better spec PC for 700 bucks, that is more future proof and has better performance than a PS5 Pro...
and that's where we have the biggest issue I see for this thing.

if the price is not really low, enthusiasts have better alternatives. and casuals will run into limitations they probably won't be ok with no matter the price.
so I am not 100% sure this thing will actually have a proper target audience. for casuals it's just a worse PS5, and for enthusiasts its very limiting and has to be cheap to be an attractive alternative to a small $700 PC.

 

[darrylgorn]

Price will factor in considerably for this. I can't imagine many would pay a premium for specs worse than the ps5 and series x.

The fact that they're saying it's 6x the power of steam deck leads me to believe this will be priced much higher than people are expecting. I'm thinking $800-$900 range, easily.

 

[Panajev2001a]

The fact that they're saying it's 6x the power of steam deck leads me to believe this will be priced much higher than people are expecting. I'm thinking $800-$900 range, easily.

Stop with your sacrilegious talk!

…

Seriously though, it is not a battery powered handheld that is not allowed to consumer more than 15 Watts with a screen and it has been three years. We have CPU and GPU architecture migrations, much higher memory bandwidth, more cores, and much faster clocks. I think it will not be uber expensive.

 

[Panajev2001a]

an enthusiast system with these specs can not cost a cent more than $500. because an enthusiast can just get a better spec PC for 700 bucks, that is more future proof and has better performance than a PS5 Pro...
and that's where we have the biggest issue I see for this thing.

if the price is not really low, enthusiasts have better alternatives. and casuals will run into limitations they probably won't be ok with no matter the price.
so I am not 100% sure this thing will actually have a proper target audience. for casuals it's just a worse PS5, and for enthusiasts its very limiting and has to be cheap to be an attractive alternative to a small $700 PC.

I do not think it will be an expensive product, but this is not just parts put together but an official supported Valve product. So SteamOS and Proton will be tested on it and Valve will work on its drivers.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

This is $500 piece.

Valve has gone far too cheap and made too many compromises, I cannot imagine they had any higher price point in mind. For base model.

I do like it, for older games seems useful.

 

[Hector Hall]

Only by retards.

EDIT - to be clear: it's BETTER than a Switch under any possible metric (build quality, specs, price point relative to its power, versatility and possible user cases, etc), but it was NEVER going to sell comparable numbers.

It's not better under these metrics

Exclusive content
Nominal price (price to value is always subjective)

 

[Pimpbaa]

The fact that they're saying it's 6x the power of steam deck leads me to believe this will be priced much higher than people are expecting. I'm thinking $800-$900 range, easily.

That price would make it a more niche product than the steam deck or DOA. I mean you could get a ps5 pro for less.