No, it's not the Steam Machine; it doesn't do upgrades.
I won't try to convince you, I just think Valve designed a flop product, that's my opinion.
Going by some of your Saturn tech spec takes in that thread, I'm gonna cast some doubt on you thinking this is a flop.
Positioning it as a "console-like experience" while also charging more than the consoles you're comparing to while also delivering less performance than those same consoles isn't a solid value proposition in my books. Having the flexibility of an unlocked Linux OS is certainly a terrific feature, but it also costs little to provide - it costs Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft quite a lot to maintain their locked down ecosystems. On the other hand, the Steam Deck is delivering enormous performance for its price point, which everyone - including Microsoft's partner devices from ASUS - has basically failed to match, leaving the Steam Deck as the best-in-class value still. The Steam Deck is an incredible product.
For the GabeCube, why would I buy it for $900 when can't keep up with my XSX when I could wait a year and buy Microsoft's NextBox for $1,000 and have it keep up with high end gaming machines while offering an optional full Windows experience, too? I said it in another thread, but I'll repeat it here: if they price it the same as a PS5, I think this is DOA. If they price it under the current consoles, I think they'll have a terrific product that could find a decent market.
I think some of you are acting as if Xbox still has a brand name value in the market like they had during the peak of 360 or even in the early XBO days. However, much of that goodwill with their brand name is dead. If Steam Machine and Xbox Magnus were within $100 of each other, and both companies put out similar volume of production and marketing, Steam Machine would outsell Xbox Magnus by at least 4:1.
Valve and Steam do not have the years of very real baggage that Microsoft and Xbox have accumulated in the actual gaming & customer space (of course, among the shill and astroturfing networks they'd have you think it's a completely opposite reality), and that matters a lot. Microsoft are arguably in a similar position that SEGA were in when transitioning to the Dreamcast, insofar as the brand name being in the toilet, and that actively worked against Dreamcast so there's no reason that won't work against Xbox Magnus.
It's just going to really come down to what Valve actually decide on pricing but also what type of volume scale in production they're looking to aim for, what levels of distribution to hit and what marketing to push & how. I would argue Valve being more reserved in those three areas is actually the biggest blessing for Microsoft's prospects with Magnus right now, depending on when Magnus launches and when/if Valve scale up efforts of production/distribution/marketing (or even potentially release a more powerful upgraded spec, maybe through OEM partners). The power differential isn't having nearly the impact some of you think and won't have much an impact to the majority of the likely target customer base for Steam Machine, either.
That's good point. Valve not reacting could just mean they are good poker players as they knew whatever they said, Linus would be screaming it to the world.
You know what would be hilarious? Valve had this thing starting at $400 and their silence in response to Linus was "oh shit.....we are pricing this too low"
Gabe's yacht club could do with some diamond-studded boats.
I dunno, I see people complaining about the lack of upgrades, but on the other hand, like the Deck, there's strength in numbers - you can, for the Deck, far more than any other custom PC, find game settings tweaked and videos of performance, because for the most part, there's just one spec, and all Decks perform close to the same.
Good luck finding the same number of game videos on some specific upgraded Dell laptop that's no longer OEM. Sure you can just google whatever GPU you have, but it may not be the exact same RAM, or CPU, or whatever else. And maybe you can often find the pair if you are using high end hardware on new games, but it's unlikely you'll find your exact model of desktop or laptop with some random game from 10 years ago, more than likely you will have to go off something similar.
So anyone who gets this is able to have that same experience, a relatively reliable and easy time of optimizing settings and other's doing it for you.
For the price? I feel like
$299-499: No thought, instant pre-order
$599: Will likely pre-order
$699: Going to think about it
$799+: For 512GB model? Probably not, approaching Go 2 prices here, and I think the Go 2 is probably a better deal than this Steam Machine, at least for me. I think more RAM, possibly a faster CPU? Not even sure, but there's too much competing tech if the base model is going to be $800+ imo.
Great points on the bolded. People are really underselling the benefit of a PC gaming device with a single fixed spec. Plus over time if Valve decide to scale up with higher-performance models, games already optimized for the initial spec automatically get major free performance boosts/uplifts, with no tweaking required by devs.
I think a lot of people are missing the point Linus is trying to make (albeit aticulated badly).
It's not like Machine is a console, Machine is a mini PC in the landscape where $400-$700 (considering what PS5/Xbox you pick) end-user 4K gaming experience exists. With robust library, bundled gamepad, ecosystem, sales, physical media (!) and so on.
Problem with Machine is that it its a very weird middle option kneecapped in all the wrong places, like VRAM or overclocking potential. People with lesser configs will not drop $600-$700 (I'm being optimistic here) for a very middle-of-the road mini PC becase they own those already. For money-concious gamers it's easier to buy a console for AAA and keep the (mostly) second-hand PC as a platform for everything else or jerry-rig something very close to Machine for far less. People looking for a new PC, in my mind, don't consider size as a factor at all, this PC will be monitor-bound in a man-cave 90% of the time and for the same money even with DRAM shortage I'm sure it would be easier to just go with more powerful Midtower built.
So at this point Machine is a strange answer looking for a question, a screenless and a bit more powerful Deck. A toy for already settled PC gamers with deep pockets that are looking for some tinkering and giggles with removablr panels. And some (like Linus) really wanted for Machine to be more affordable and mass-market to finally punch Windows gaming in the gut a little. With current market standing (I think they've confirmed some number to Linus off-the-record) Valve is punching air in the empty room, so to speak.
A lot of you are talking like seasoned PC gaming enthusiasts with 10 years of custom built rigs under your belt, but aren't separating yourselves from the macro market. With all due respect, that type of PC enthusiast is a minority within the PC gaming realm. It's like a PS5 Pro user complaining about games on base PS5 expecting them to be designed from the ground-up for the Pro, as if the Pro is the one with a 70+ million share of the PS5 install base.
Valve have already said that they took consideration of spec configs from their own Steam userbase into account, and that the Steam Machine is more capable than what ~ 70% of Steam users currently use. That's the type of audience they are aiming this device at, not people who built $2K rigs every two years with the latest & greatest GPUs.
People can keep using the "it's not a console!" defense for when this thing costs way too much, but those same people should consider the idea that if Microsoft's next hybrid machine costs the same or less with the same 'it's also a PC and runs Steam!' messaging, this Steam Machine is going to run into a tiny bit of trouble.
It's clear that there is a steam audience for a living room box experience(and I am one of those people), but that decision is not set in stone until we see some pricing on both ends.
If this thing costs only 100 less than Microsoft's upcoming superpowered hybrid, then it's a no brainer that I'm spending that extra 100 and buying the Xbox for next-gen power.
Yeah I'm
really starting to see a pattern here with what fanbase is trying to push the most doomer/FUD on Steam Machine and it's not PlayStation and definitely not Nintendo people
there's no way.
