The new Steam Machines :

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scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The new Steam Machines :

Postby scotland171 » January 11th, 2014, 5:45 pm

Let's flip this on its head.  Valve, unlike say Nintendo, is not manufacturing any consoles, rather they have created a set of specs for other manufacturers to build off, right?  Remind anyone of Trip Hawkins and the 3DO?  The manufacturers need to make profit, and unless they get a reasonable slice of Steam sales, then its going to have to be on the console sale itself, so its hard to imagine any of them budget priced.  If they do manage to sell well, then Valve reaps the benefits of more Steam customers and sales and building market share...if the Steam Machines do not sell well...what has Valve really lost? The controller R&D may have benefits, so not that.  Relationships with manufacturers may be soured, but Valve probably would not be too hard hurt by that.  Not even the consumers who buy these machines will be angry at Valve.  Its not like buying a console, like the 32x, that dies off, and no more games get made -- even if they sell exactly 1 Steam Machine, that single machine will have huge and growing software library for years as its basically a Linux gaming rig.

I am not contradicting our friends that are predicting a lukewarm future for Steam Machines, just asking, from a business case, why shouldn't Valve try this?  

Segatarious1
Posts: 1110
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The new Steam Machines :

Postby Segatarious1 » January 11th, 2014, 7:08 pm

[QUOTE=scotland17]Let's flip this on its head.  Valve, unlike say Nintendo, is not manufacturing any consoles, rather they have created a set of specs for other manufacturers to build off, right?  Remind anyone of Trip Hawkins and the 3DO?  The manufacturers need to make profit, and unless they get a reasonable slice of Steam sales, then its going to have to be on the console sale itself, so its hard to imagine any of them budget priced.  If they do manage to sell well, then Valve reaps the benefits of more Steam customers and sales and building market share...if the Steam Machines do not sell well...what has Valve really lost? The controller R&D may have benefits, so not that.  Relationships with manufacturers may be soured, but Valve probably would not be too hard hurt by that.  Not even the consumers who buy these machines will be angry at Valve.  Its not like buying a console, like the 32x, that dies off, and no more games get made -- even if they sell exactly 1 Steam Machine, that single machine will have huge and growing software library for years as its basically a Linux gaming rig.

I am not contradicting our friends that are predicting a lukewarm future for Steam Machines, just asking, from a business case, why shouldn't Valve try this?  [/QUOTE]

You are right on the console pricing - that's why I think Valve should take the bull by the horns, make their own console, get the lowest price in there, and make a dent into console gaming. Because now you have a relatively low cost living room console with perhaps a very good controller, and cheap PC gaming on it.

You ask what have they lost, I say - they could gain so much!

It is the MS Xbone model, EXCEPT - they are not asking you to pay $60 for retail games, and then losing the ownership of them. You are getting the games at a much more appropriate digital only price. The trap MS, Nintendo and Sony have with DD, is they do not want to undercut their retail prices. Well, Valve has no retail prices and they ALREADY HAVE undercut the prices. So - next step put out a SERIOUS console that is poised to succeed, and NOT just be an oddity or a novelty purchase for a select few.

They are dropping the ball.

This is also the direction I see Nintendo heading, with either retail or DD software, or both, they have to lower prices to reattract the mass market and PLEASE steer the industry away from this dude bro MS model. - Where we se the same games every year for mega bucks, plus advertising, plus subscription costs, plus pay DLC for all of the software you thought you bought.

Valve can undercut all of that - but not with this 3 ring circus model. It's like you see a kid who does not know how to grip a baseball bat properly - please adjust your wrist and your stance so you can DRIVE the ball - Valve just wants to hold the bat and look cool.

Segatarious1
Posts: 1110
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The new Steam Machines :

Postby Segatarious1 » June 5th, 2014, 7:28 am

http://www.cnet.com/news/pc-gaming-at-e3-2014-picking-up-where-consoles-falter/

But, despite the rosy outlook, there's one major PC gaming development that we won't be seeing much of. Steam Machines, also known as Steamboxes, running high-end PC games on Valve's Steam OS, have been much talked-about and demoed in the past year, with a major collection of Steam Machine hardware announced at CES 2014. Besides doing an end-run around the difficulties in hooking your PC gaming rig up to your big-screen TV, the Steam Machine platform also promised a revolutionary new controller, bridging the gap between gamepad and mouse.

Well, it turns out that controller -- notable for its two concave circular control zones -- still needs some work, and according to Valve, the controller, and presumably the hardware platform tied to it, is being pushed back to 2015, making it a candidate for lead PC gaming story from next year's E3.



Interesting. I had heard nothing about the Steam Machines since this topic, and I guess they have been delayed, or at least the controller has.


scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

The new Steam Machines :

Postby scotland171 » March 4th, 2015, 2:42 pm

Valve said they are trying to release Steam Machines this 2015 holiday season. They also announced a PC streaming box called Steam Link as a cheaper alternative.


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