Or, you know, just connect the Steam Deck to the television…
A steam machine with a Radeon 7600 class GPU sold for under $500 would be a surefire hit and it would blow the deck out of the water in terms of performance.
I think the biggest thing would be getting a PC with decent specs for $500. Why would anybody buy a Dell desktop or the like ever again? Like even if you don’t game and need to do office work it’d probably be the best option.
You can almost build something like that for this price. Or you can do it if you buy some second hand stuff. But for an OEM building a few million units it would definitely be doable.
Yeah, but I was thinking more parents buying a console for their kids. Like oh little Jimmy can do his homework on this thing too, great I didn’t have to buy him another computer. Or imagine if Microsoft put windows on Xboxes, every office building would be full of them lol.
And it would be great and would break Microsoft’s hold on the “desktop” for the average user.
These sorts of computers do already exist though. They’re called NUC’s. Valve could basically just take one fo those, use a custom APU from AMD again, and have their own full fledged console. Heck, the XBOX and PS5 is exactly that. A Custom AMD APU in a small box.
They already exist. They’re called mini PCs or NUCs. Just buy one of those and you’re already there. Literally. This whole article and thread is garbage. They already exist. They just aren’t branded Steam.
For the average person, that is impossible. Also, you lose a lot of features compared to SteamOS. Also, the controls are (at least to me) a main selling point and there is no controller on the market that comes close to the capabilities of the Deck.
I recognize thr average person won’t do this, but you can get the same steam deck experience by installing Bazzite.
Now the controller issue I definitely agree with. They need a second gen Steam Controller pronto!
Yeah duh. A real gaming PC you’d want to hook up to your 4k TV would need to have a GPU, not just an APU. Also, having to install everything yourself kind of defeats the purpose. Do you think the Steam Deck would have been successful if it had shipped with Windows?
A lot ship with Linux. And having a full PC you can use is a downside? So you’d rather have a limited box? That’s not even valves philosophy, so I don’t know where you’re getting that BS from.
I didn’t say anything of the kind.
I still have a Steam Link, does that count? Lol
Me too. And a Steam Deck. But I’d still buy one in a heartbeat.
I love the idea of a Steam Deck or the other portable pcs like it, but man I think it would just sit lol. The techie in me just wants it to have. Same with a VR headset. I’d play beatsaber for a bit and it would be dusty.
I mainly use the Deck to play retro titles, and use my desktop rig to play newer or more demanding games. It was worth every penny, thanks to being so easy to set up for the retro games!
Two popups before I can read an article means you don’t get read. Bye.
It’s called a Mini PC or a NUC. They already exist. Go buy one and slap Steam on it. Done.
The people who actually want this have already done it.
Yah. Makes more sense for Valve to spend their time improving Proton or working on their reference handheld device. A reference desktop device is a solution looking for a problem.
Valve’s big advantage here is the same as it was with the steam deck: they can sell at a loss and make it back on software sales.
A lot of the appeal of consoles is a polished experience and that they’re generally less expensive up front compared to a comparable power gaming PC. Many consoles are sold at a loss to hit that price point. Valve could actually make cheap gaming PCs that can compete in price and offer a smooth user experience.
Install steam. Run in big picture mode. Done. That’s a steam machine. I don’t get what you think a dedicated machine is going to do any differently. There is a reason Steam abandoned the idea themselves.
Isn’t big picture only 720p?
I would love to have a Steam Machine. I love my Steam Deck. However… the nature of Steam games, so far, even on the Deck, is that you need to bop “ok” every once in a while, or even enter a username or something for some unwashed-ass game, and that’s a lot harder on a form factor that doesn’t have a touchscreen…
Steamdeck + dock is essentially a Steam machine isn’t it?
The steam controller is amazing for that.
Steam machine? Nah. Just Steam OS would be enough.
They basically already have one. The steam deck with the dock (though you have to provide your own controller.)
They’d certainly gain some performance improvements by building a dedicated steam machine, but it would also split the market for the steam deck, which the article already talked about as being a negative of the first iteration.
Dunno, I probably wouldn’t get a stationary steam machine over a mobile steam deck. Though being able to use Thunderbolt 4 for an eGPU on a steam deck would be a welcome enhancement, but that’s a whole different discussion.
I like the deck and am thinking about the dock for it, but the controller thing is something I’m wondering about. Any idea if it can handle 3-4 of them wirelessly? I mainly want to put it on the tv for local co op or party games, but I usually use ps4 controllers and have found their bluetooth is awful on PC.
It somewhat depends on the game, and the order that you pair things in.
I’ve run my steam deck, docked on the TV, with 2 Nintendo Pro controllers, 1 XBox controller, 1 Stadia controller, all running over bluetooth, and a fifth PS3 controller plugged in via USB. From what I understand the limit is 8 controllers, but I think the built in controller counts as one.
You can go into the settings and tell it which controller is which, but in the end, the game can override things and make it not work as expected. The only way to really know is to check on a game-by-game basis.
I can confirm two in use simultaneously and a total of three connected (2 xbone, 1 PS5) but we were playing a two player only game. I would assume that if the game supports it, the deck would too.
… But that’s an assumption :)
EDIT: to clarify - the wireless connectivity support is from the deck, not the dock.
I just really want a Steam controller tbh. :(
I’d absolutely love a steam controller 2, one that takes after the steam deck controls.
Bring it back as an HTPC like the peeps are saying, low-ball it on the price like 500 bucks or less, maybe even take a hit on it or just a hit on the profit margins, pre-install all the stuff people might need, and then blam, you’ve guaranteed that most people will be casual users who want a lower-end computer and a smart TV/console replacement, and not higher tier hobbyists who want a more powerful machine. Confining your audience to that specific market share basically guarantees they won’t take advantage of the lower or negative margins on the hardware itself, and will probably buy some amount of steam games. They’re also using a device in your ecosystem now but idk what you do as far as that goes to make a good profit while not being a scumbag
Steam is already the biggest fish by far in the digital games market for PC. Only reason for them to do this is if they’re worried about losing that dominance. Basically, is Epic keeping them up at night enough to warrant a major push into a new hardware loss leader?
Steam deck without the screen. And with a controller.
They must be waiting for the Steam Deck 2 so it’ll at least be 1080p natively.
yes, absolutely, as long as we don’t become ignorant to the huge ethical issues with steam like their decade of running an underage gambling surrogate. sorry, i just take issue with the article pointing out flaws of xbox and playstation without counter-balancing those criticisms with something about valve. valve is certainly better than both sony and microsoft in every regard, but they are not innocent at all
