The Problem With The Steam Machine: Its Current Gen

Correct me if I'm wrong but, you can't even play games like Battlefield 6, COD, or Fortnite on steam os...

As one person already pointed out, awful lot of Valve dick sucking going on around here. :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Correct me if i'm wrong but yout cant even play games like CS, Valorant, WoW, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Dota, Magic Arena or Teamfight tactics on console...

Awful lot of sony, nintendo and microsoft dick sucking going on around here. :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
Time and time again this board shows that it just doesn't get the video game market. NeoGAF is not the general public. People want:

-Fun Games
-Ease of use
-Fair pricing

There is no concern about how "new" or "modern" a chipset is, how much RAM something has. Only a small percentage of people care about that. Now I don't know if this thing will be successful for a number of reasons, but it's not a bad shot at what they are trying to do IMO. I might actually get one depending on the price.
 
Correct me if i'm wrong but yout cant even play games like CS, Valorant, WoW, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Dota, Magic Arena or Teamfight tactics on console...

Awful lot of sony, nintendo and microsoft dick sucking going on around here. :messenger_tears_of_joy:

You forgot Banana.
 
I'm not angry, I'm just calling you out for being just as guilty of lying as he is. You aimed to refute his statement by saying a pc can play..... However, the steam machine as shipped is not like other pcs is it? A macbook is also a pc yet can't play a host of games.
The library of steam OS out of the box is 19k games. And that's just verified ones, much more games will work without further tinkering. So no, it's not comparable to a macbook, the library is bigger than that of consoles by a long shot
 
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People said the same when the Deck was released - and yet I love gaming on it.
A lot of people do, and Valve knows this. They themselves said that the reason they took the machine into serious consideration was because of the amount of Steam Deck users that dock their Deck.

The pricing is rumored and still up in the air, but it's a potentially good option for those that don't have a PC and are curious about the experience. Or those that just want to play their Steam library on a TV in a more console-like setting. Be it Steam Deck users or not. Much like the Steam Deck, it's not for everyone. I feel like the Steam Machine will be no different. It's a tiny PC with SteamOS that allows it to feel very plug and play (like the Steam Deck, just not a handheld, and a bit beefier) allowing for a more console-like experience. But for those that want to treat it more like a standard PC, the option is there. Desktop it, install Windows, etc. It's pretty open ended device, must like the Steam Deck is.

But yeah, power and pricing is extremely important, especially with all of the current pricing fluctuation nowadays.
 
The issue is less what the power is and more what the price will be imo. I think if they sell it at the same price as PS5 it's fine. Higher than that and it starts to become harder to justify.

I would consider PS5 Disc model price for this but I think that would be the upper limit. With a 512GB hard drive realistically you could argue it should be ~$50 less than PS5 Digital.

The price is really doing to be the deciding factor. In my mind, $500 is the ideal starting price. I'm thinking that with 512GB and 2TB versions, the 2TB will be the higher margin version which is pretty typical. So $100 to $150 gap between the two. But if this thing starts out at $600 or higher then I'm not sure what the point is. Folks will just buy a PlayStation.
 
A lot of people do, and Valve knows this. They themselves said that the reason they took the machine into serious consideration was because of the amount of Steam Deck users that dock their Deck.

The pricing is rumored and still up in the air, but it's a potentially good option for those that don't have a PC and are curious about the experience. Or those that just want to play their Steam library on a TV in a more console-like setting. Be it Steam Deck users or not. Much like the Steam Deck, it's not for everyone. I feel like the Steam Machine will be no different. It's a tiny PC with SteamOS that allows it to feel very plug and play (like the Steam Deck, just not a handheld, and a bit beefier) allowing for a more console-like experience. But for those that want to treat it more like a standard PC, the option is there. Desktop it, install Windows, etc. It's pretty open ended device, must like the Steam Deck is.

But yeah, power and pricing is extremely important, especially with all of the current pricing fluctuation nowadays.
I just built a new PC a few weeks ago, but if I had known about the Steam Machine, I would have seriously considered replacing my old i3770 + 1070ti PC with it.

Right now, I don't need the machine, but I think it's really cool.

I've had the Deck since day one, and I think Valve has done a great job making Linux accessible to all gamers - even those who don't want to deal with the operating system.

I can see many people coming from older, weaker hardware just enjoying simple PC gaming with the Machine. Only a small portion of gamers are enthusiasts.


The Steam Machine is weaker and potentially more expensive (!) than its direct competitors.
Which competitors do you mean?
 
Isn't Steam infamous for having abnormal amount of trash games?
Did you include those in the list?
99% of games are trash for both console and PC, it's only fair i include them for both. But steam has a solution that im not sure consoles have. You go to ubisoft on steam, click the gear icon and select ignore this creator and voila 176 less trash games on steam
 
Next gen begins the very next year after this is released.
Are you sure about that?. Even if a new "Next-Gen" console is released, we all know the software is going to lag for about 3-4 years (being optimistic).

Valve´s hardware doesn't have any problem. Valve can play the long game. (unlike Xbox). They only need to release a competent machine and keep iterating for 10+ years. This machine will (hopefully) expedite Xbox/MS´s intentions to be in the hardware space and hopefully compete enough against PlayStation.
 
Correct me if i'm wrong but yout cant even play games like CS, Valorant, WoW, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Dota, Magic Arena or Teamfight tactics on console...

Awful lot of sony, nintendo and microsoft dick sucking going on around here. :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I can because I play on pc.

This thing kind of blows.

And the fact that people responded to my correct me if I'm wrong post with a "well, actually you can," is some total bullshit politician rhetoric. You have to turn it into a windows machine to do that.
 
Are you sure about that?. Even if a new "Next-Gen" console is released, we all know the software is going to lag for about 3-4 years (being optimistic).

Valve´s hardware doesn't have any problem. Valve can play the long game. (unlike Xbox). They only need to release a competent machine and keep iterating for 10+ years. This machine will (hopefully) expedite Xbox/MS´s intentions to be in the hardware space and hopefully compete enough against PlayStation.

If Microsoft expedites Magnus there might be less than a year of a gap after Steam Machine releases.

The downside with the Steam Machine is that it's RT capability is going to be undoubtedly less future proof than the next gen consoles.
 
What an absurdly stupid statement.

You could combine the series x and ps5 library, and add nintendo to it, now multiply it by 100 and you still aren't close to being able to play everything the steam machine can at the same fidelity, let alone higher.

The steam machine is gonna have more 'exclusives' than the other 3 consoles combined non exclusives.

But i guess that statement made sense for someone who only plays the newest cinematic third person games.

Sure man, if you consider games and exclusives absolute abandonware , shovelware, trash, unplayable games from the 80s or 90s in a botched MS Dos mode.

Believe it or not but must people prefer having Mario Kart World, 8 and some legacy great games from last decades that access to utter trash and emulators of Apple 2 or Sinclair Spectrum , old MS Dos games in CGA mode and VGA 90s games that you spend more time fighting with so it actually runs, or Android gacha trash run in PC..
 
I can because I play on pc.

This thing kind of blows.

And the fact that people responded to my correct me if I'm wrong post with a "well, actually you can," is some total bullshit politician rhetoric. You have to turn it into a windows machine to do that.

Out of the box, no you can't play those popular multiplayer games. That's not some almighty gotcha though. Many gamers don't care about any of those games, including enthusiasts on this very forum. But you do have a choice, just like every PC. 1) Play whatever is compatible with Steam OS. 2) Replace Steam OS with Windows. 3) Dual boot both

Whether or not this thing "blows" is going to depend on the price. A bit absurd to make judgement without that information.
 
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Then don't respond to the post. If you're not going to do the minimum and read the argument before responding to it, then don't clog up the thread by derailing it with rebutting arguments that were never made.

Rebutting arguments that were never made? He literally quoted the very same argument that he rebutted lol.

Claim: If you have an XSX or PS5, you can already play everything the Steam Machine will play

Rebuttal: You can't play PC exclusive games on your XSX or PS5, which include a lot of retro games. Steam Machine can.
 
Sure man, if you consider games and exclusives absolute abandonware , shovelware, trash, unplayable games from the 80s or 90s in a botched MS Dos mode.

Believe it or not but must people prefer having Mario Kart World, 8 and some legacy great games from last decades that access to utter trash and emulators of Apple 2 or Sinclair Spectrum , old MS Dos games in CGA mode and VGA 90s games that you spend more time fighting with so it actually runs, or Android gacha trash run in PC..
Mario Kart 8 and those legacy great games are all great in ultrawide 60+fps on PC...
 
Sure man, if you consider games and exclusives absolute abandonware , shovelware, trash, unplayable games from the 80s or 90s in a botched MS Dos mode.

Believe it or not but must people prefer having Mario Kart World, 8 and some legacy great games from last decades that access to utter trash and emulators of Apple 2 or Sinclair Spectrum , old MS Dos games in CGA mode and VGA 90s games that you spend more time fighting with so it actually runs, or Android gacha trash run in PC..
Dude some genres are almost entirely exclusive to PC. It's not just shovelware and trash. Plenty of fucking GREAT strategy games are only on PC. Many of the most popular multiplayer games are only on PC. Wow, Hearthstone, CS, Valorant, Magic Arena, Teamfight tactics, Dota, LoL...

Believe it or not but A LOT of people rather play just LoL for 20k hours than play all the console games in existence combined. Not me, but plenty of people. Same goes for CS, WoW and others.

Consoles have like one multiplayer genre which is FPS and it's subgenres. Oh and the sports games, thanks for mentioning gacha, almost forgot those. Give me a break. If you like anything other than that, thats multiplayer you want a PC.

If your favorite genre is strategy you want a PC. Or simulation games, or survival, or roguelikes, or MMO's, or mobas, or card games, or tactical shooters.

But i understand you only play cinematic third person games. That's fine. But you are not representative of the gaming market, not even close.
 
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The Steam Machine is a PC. That statement is correct. You can play older PC games that were originally made for Windows thanks to Proton.

Or install Windows.
But what is the rumored future Xbox that's a "console" as it will let you play your licensed Xbox consoles games and maybe disks. While allowing you to access games you own on Steam, Epic, etc?

Thunderbolt and OCuLink for the 2 main interfaces, I've checked over the spec on the machine but it doesn't mention anything about Thunderbolt so it might not be compatible T_T

These are the types of questions I want the YT tech guys asking but clearly they don't have an eye for that much detail.
It's Zen4 which means USB4. USB4 fully supports Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 4 is based on USB4 but is a superset with additional requirements.

All that said Thunderbolt 3, 4, and even OccuLink are all limited to PCIe 4x which kneecaps any GPU you connect to it. External GPU docks make zero sense for the majority of people. Once you factor in the size of the GPU and PSU and system you are connecting them to, you could just have a PC for a smaller footprint.

The only reason Thunderbolt ever took off is because people needed to expand their Macs but Apple is an asshole who doesn't let you internally expand hardware you purchased. Thus you can have a mess of crap all across your desk versus going into a slot inside a case.

the Steam Store is much most vast... all kinds of niche games, gems, experiments etc across it. I prefer a lot of that (at actually competitive prices with regular deep sales) over the PS or Xbox stores, no question
And you're not even limited to just the games on Steam, or any store/launcher. People have used external USB floppy and DVD drives to install games on their Decks to play.
 
If Microsoft expedites Magnus there might be less than a year of a gap after Steam Machine releases.
They can't expedite shit. They don't have any lavarege and can't fight external forces like the ongoing increase in RAM prices . I would say that the opposite is more likely; PS6 and NextBox could be "deleayed" a couple of years/18 months

The downside with the Steam Machine is that it's RT capability is going to be undoubtedly less future proof than the next gen consoles.
You are right. This is not a Future Proof system. And I'm not sure valve is even going to market this thing as Sony does with Play Station.
 
You're fair to classify it as such but there's a reason why there's a clear distinction between a mac and a pc in the mind of the general public. They're not seen as the same despite the fact that they can both run the same os.

Of course they are not the same. They have differences. A PS5 is not the same as a Series X, but still, they are consoles.
A Windows PC is not a Mac, but still, they are both PCs. And the steam machine will be a PC in a small form factor that bridges the gap to consoles by incorporating a simple OS that is lightweight, easy to use, plug and play style like a console while retaining the flexibility and usability and option to personify it like a personal computer.
 
Sure man, if you consider games and exclusives absolute abandonware , shovelware, trash, unplayable games from the 80s or 90s in a botched MS Dos mode.

Believe it or not but must people prefer having Mario Kart World, 8 and some legacy great games from last decades that access to utter trash and emulators of Apple 2 or Sinclair Spectrum , old MS Dos games in CGA mode and VGA 90s games that you spend more time fighting with so it actually runs, or Android gacha trash run in PC..

This thread is embarrassing.

 
It's a niche thing to try to expand Steam OS and to give a decent subsidized PC for use with TVs/controllers.

I seriously doubt Valve expects it to approach any sort of console level sales, it's just an option.
 
What do you mean a technicality?
AI because I'm lazy:

The Steam Machine is technically capable of HDMI 2.1 features despite being officially listed as HDMI 2.0, primarily due to licensing restrictions preventing open-source driver support for HDMI 2.1 on Linux-based systems like SteamOS. This means the hardware can support 4K at 120Hz, HDR, FreeSync, and CEC, but it lacks full HDMI 2.1 functionality such as Display Stream Compression (DSC) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) at launch, which prevents it from being marketed as HDMI 2.1.
 
Ah, now we head in the illegall?
Yeah, sure, you own those ganes on Cube etc etc
Of course, though looking at prices each year I keep debating liquidating the collection.

I also own


And the better hardware in the Steam Machine should let it pull of a stable 60fps without framegen.
 
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And the better hardware in the Steam Machine should let it pull of a stable 60fps without framegen.

This is an enthusiast gaming forum, supposedly, and yet so many people have no idea about the wonders of PC gaming. And about how amazing a gaming device something like a Steam Deck really is. It's honestly shocking.
 
Because it opens up access to an entire new library of games, that's why. I'm referring to console players, not people who already game on PC. For the former, buying a Steam Machine opens up the entire PC library of gaming to them -- something they did not have access to earlier, including mods.

It's not always about raw performance. Sometimes it's about the games you can play.


Most gamers don't give a shit about mods, emulation of very old ganes etc etc
 
Agreed. I have zero interest in buying a weak machine in 2026.

They should have made a proper next gen machine that would entice me to upgrade from a PS5 Pro.
 
Lot of optical bros coming unglued this week. They really don't want people putting a USB stick in their Steam machines and walking away for 10 minutes. I wonder if they think it's more difficult than that.
 
If you have an Xbox Series X or PS5, you can already play everything the Steam Machine will play in HIGHER FIDELITY. The Steam Machine is CURRENT GEN but still not as powerful. Why would anyone who owns an XBOX Series X, a gaming PC, or a PS5 buy this? This would have been a contender 5 years ago if priced competitively and people didn't own current gen yet. It is 5 years too late AND will be more expensive than the current gen consoles.

Sure it'll have free multiplayer and the Steam Sales, but will you pay $800-$1000 to buy this thing if you already have a XBX or PS5?

Next gen begins the very next year after this is released. So this won't be able to play next gen unless compromises are made, which means you can play those on PS5 and XBX too. It just doesn't make sense to me for this purchase. Am I missing something here??


When I first heard the announcement for this my first thoughts were "XBOX is cooked" and I was hyped for a new hardware in the console space that can play everything! I have't played pc games since Sim City 2000 30 years ago. I'm strictly a console gamer. Never had a powerful PC. Then I realized, this isn't an option for next gen. This will just play what I already can in lower fidelity. So my hype has pretty much died for this thing.

Is this just for collectors and the few people that don't own any current gen systems? Maybe pc gamers that don't own a console?

You just made a case for the next Xbox. It will do what the Steam box does and be more future proof. If the rumors are true, of course. I'll probably buy it cause I buy everything that resembles a console lol

I'll have this, a PS6, and the Nextbox. Gonna be sweet. I love not being a fanboy. It's tight.
 
Same here. I'd rather play, oh I don't know, Thief 2 over any modern "triple-A third-person cinematic non-interactive experience".

Top 3 played games on Steam are 13, 12 and 8 years old. Not really "new".

And I like the idea of playing, oh, I don't know, an old modded-out Morrowind, New Vegas, or something like that. Can't do that on console.
 
And I like the idea of playing, oh, I don't know, an old modded-out Morrowind, New Vegas, or something like that. Can't do that on console.

I said it in the other thread. The Steam Machine will run OpenMW, making it a far better gaming device than any console currently on the market.
 
Most of us here are enthusiasts. According to this Valve engineer, the Steam Machine is equal or greater to 70% of the stuff Steam users are playing currently. They would know. It appears they're attempting to target the market they think wants a device like the Steam Machine the most. Mostly casuals.

That's exactly why the Steam Machine is seen as underpowered. What's the point of buying one if it's just as powerful (or rather, as outdated) as the PC/laptop you already own.

This is like Sony giving the PS6 the same specs as the PS5 because that's what 70% of all Playstation game on. 🤡
 
Dude some genres are almost entirely exclusive to PC. It's not just shovelware and trash. Plenty of fucking GREAT strategy games are only on PC. Many of the most popular multiplayer games are only on PC. Wow, Hearthstone, CS, Valorant, Magic Arena, Teamfight tactics, Dota, LoL...

Believe it or not but A LOT of people rather play just LoL for 20k hours than play all the console games in existence combined. Not me, but plenty of people. Same goes for CS, WoW and others.

Consoles have like one multiplayer genre which is FPS and it's subgenres. Oh and the sports games, thanks for mentioning gacha, almost forgot those. Give me a break. If you like anything other than that, thats multiplayer you want a PC.

If your favorite genre is strategy you want a PC. Or simulation games, or survival, or roguelikes, or MMO's, or mobas, or card games, or tactical shooters.

But i understand you only play cinematic third person games. That's fine. But you are not representative of the gaming market, not even close.

Yes, I played RTS on PC back on the day. Age of Empires I, II, Mythology, Empire Earth, Rome Total War 1 and 2, Warcraft 3, Starcraft, .. good times long gone. In fact, now most of the current ones are also in consoles.
I have most of those mentioned in CDRom or DVD, and guess that Steam Machine doesn't run them.
 
Steam most popular GPU is 3060 and you are telling me steam box being current gen is a problem.

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"steam's most popular GPU is the 3060"
This is a PROBLEM. 8gb is NOT good for most games and it shows by how many PC gamers are complaining about "unoptimized ports"

PC ports have always been somewhat unoptimized, there's simply more headroom on a computer compared to a console. The difference is that back in 2016, the vast majority of gamers weren't running 512mb gpus. They had better. Now thanks to Nvidia, AMD, and now Valve pushing 8gb trash for so long, PC gamers are getting a short end of the stick since all their gpus are stuck on an outdated VRAM standard that most publishers cannot optimize for.


think most people like myself for grabbing it for classic first person shooters and classic point and click Adventures
Stopped reading there. A PC is able to play most games from the 80s up till today. Good luck playing Thief or Unreal or your PS5.
This would be agreeable if not for the fact this thing is projected to come out at 599. You can buy an optiplex PC for 299, slap a 3050 or so in there and play all the old games you'd need to play.

Again if Valve knows what's good for them they'll charge no more than 450 for the base model. But they will not, they can't eat a cost that big when the Deck already pained them hard.


The best games I played this year are probably Expedition 33, Hollow Knight Silksong, Hades 2, and Dispatch.

All of these games could probably run on last gen systems.
Including the likely far cheaper Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X.
People said the same when the Deck was released - and yet I love gaming on it.
Yeah because the Deck is a portable cheap gaming device. Obviously nobody buying that thing IS going to try and run current gen games on it. For what it did- bringing handheld gaming to the PC space in an elegant and well put together manner- it was fantastic.
The dynamic changes drastically when you remove that portability and make the system stationary. Suddenly power matters a lot more. 6x the power of the deck is still quite weak in a standalone setup.
 
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I have a better chance of finding happiness than Xbox has of recovering from their disaster of a year in terms of being a player in the console arena.*
Their partnership with Asus has produced a record number of handheld pc devices introduced to the market (maybe 300K in units if they are lucky...but good on them for topping those PLAYDATE numbers)

All they want are content consumers. They really do not want to be in the hardware business at this point even this years surface devices were a disaster unless you love underperforming ARM architecture that is.

All that being said...they are going to need to do SOMETHING with all that Ai hardware they have since that shit will age like milk...maybe they will repurpose those chips for their next hardware release.
SUPER CoPilot to the rescue!

Valve already ate their lunch then took their spot in "ThE ConSolE WaRzzzzzZZZ" and the steam machine isn't even out yet.
 
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That's exactly why the Steam Machine is seen as underpowered. What's the point of buying one if it's just as powerful (or rather, as outdated) as the PC/laptop you already own.

This is like Sony giving the PS6 the same specs as the PS5 because that's what 70% of all Playstation game on. 🤡

Because this is the spec that targets the largest userbase. If the SM delivers what users want in a user friendly package at the right price, it's worth a purchase. There is an underlying assumption that PS5 to PS6 allows gamers to play the latest and greatest next gen games. That doesn't apply to people who are still going to be playing DotA, CS:Go, Hades, Stardew Valley, and Escape from Duckov.
 
Agreed. I have zero interest in buying a weak machine in 2026.

They should have made a proper next gen machine that would entice me to upgrade from a PS5 Pro.
It's not for everyone. They made it pretty apparent that their goal wasn't to make a super beefy machine, but instead something that provides an easy to use/plug and play PC experience for a "fair" price and can support the modern library.

Maybe they'll want to do something like that in the future depending on how things go for them. Would be neat to see.
 
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