I have a BC-250 and it is so far in the opposite direction of what the Steam Machine is offering. It’s weird to me they’re being compared…
It’s a fun DIY hobby project, but if I ever get the chance at a SM, I’ll buy it because plug and play is valuable to me and this is the exact opposite of that.
GamingOnLinux spotted the first* scalper:
https://mastodon.social/@gamingonlinux/116817671387716292
*first I’ve seen
Full email:
You are on the waitlist for Steam Machine 512GB
When we did the one-time randomization of the list, your place in line ended up beyond the number of units we’ll have in this production run.
As we work our way through the reservation queue, some customers may cancel their reservations. If that happens, you may be moved into the reservation queue, and you’ll be notified via email that you have a reservation after all.
This is the only email you will receive about the results of the randomization. If you ended up with a waitlist spot for one or more models, you’ll be placed on the waitlist for the model that you were closest to the front of.
Just got my email. I’m on the waitlist, no date given.
Glad I got a BC250 to fiddle with. I know it’s not the same, but it still scratches an itch. Kinda worried that the Machine price may still go up in future production runs.
Does Remote Play work for non-Steam games running in Steam?
Sure, with the caveat that everyone’s definition of “playable” is different.
I am using the latest Eden AppImage and a 1.4.2 ROM. I didn’t change anything in Eden besides controller setup and increasing the RAM to 8GB (this has to be done in the game config). This gets you fps in the teens and 20s.
Then I ran the NX Optimizer AppImage. I used the Steam Deck preset and chose the 2nd of the 2 TotK entries on the game menu. The only change I made was the lower shadows to 512x. I don’t know if that did anything… the shadows do look pretty bad. Then I clicked “Apply”. Note that if you have multiple emulators, NX is going to try to figure out which one to apply to. I’d get rid of anything that’s not Eden AND the settings folders that are in ~/.local/share.
NX adds a “mod” entry you can view and turn on and off in the game settings. It also installs something called UltraCam, and you’ll know that because it changes the game opening and adds UI elements. Now I have no clue what any of this stuff is doing. It’s poorly explained… Like is it just modifying emulator settings you could do yourself? Is it doing something to the ROM? No clue. You can make adjustments to UltraCam settings by hitting both triggers combined with left stick click. I changed resolution to 900p, and turned on FSR. But it’s unclear how much that helped.
Anyway, the result is a max, locked 30 fps. It will dip while shaders are caching and when you first use ultrahand and in villages and other areas with fire. It is not smooth by any means but it’s “mostly smooth”. Usually in the open world and in shrines it’s stable. There’s also some banding from what I assume is anti-aliasing, but I don’t see any turned on in any setting I can locate, so who knows.
Like I said, it’s good enough for me. Like you the ergonomics of the Steam Deck are so much better than Switch that I’ll take the compromise here.
Last month I finished up Transiruby, which is a really fun and breezy Metroidvania. The art style and the incredible chiptune soundtrack gave me big Axiom Verge vibes, despite being quite tonally different.
My June project is getting TotK emulation working satisfactorily, which finally happened last night after far too much trial and error. I know Nintendo’s lawyers have made everyone scared but the amount of vagueposting around this subject is maddening. This means I can likely sell my Switch as it was the only game I had left to play. It also means I have to play the first 10 hours of the game again…
I was confused by this news because I buy games cheaper from other retailers all the time, even Steam keys. I assume this about full retail price, but since PC games go on sale so often, it seems like “average retail price” can easily be lower through another store front.
I got a refurbished 512GB for $439 a year ago, that is nuts.
What’s even available that’s competitive? Legion Go 2 prices are absolutely bonkers, maybe the first gen at $849?
MS still had launch MSRP for the ROG Xbox Ally models.
Protecting my deck with my life…
If they’re expecting people to use the Frame with the Machine, then they’d probably want the Machine on the market first. I’m not totally clear on the strategy. They obviously made it “standalone”, but will there be enough content to release it as such?
I certainly plan to buy it specifically to use with the Machine.
I think those were listed specifically as controllers. Here’s the previous “leak” :
After the winter sale and some Christmas gift cards I was kinda paralyzed by choice and just stopped playing.
I’ve been following “Video Game Club” on Mastodon and the March game is Super Mario Galaxy. So getting emulator and controller working for that and getting it going. The game itself seems decent, but has not become a total timesink yet.
I really don’t understand the hand-wringing about the cost. I see comments all the time about how it’s “DOA” at some price or another and it strikes me as someone projecting their own preferences and values, including the “analyst” quoted in the article.
As an outside observer you don’t know a) Valve’s goals; b) almost anyone else’s preferences and values.
I say this as someone who enjoys gaming, won’t ever buy a console and won’t ever build a gaming rig. This product is perfect for me and I’d have to feel like Valve were purposely screwing me to not buy it. I may be a minority but I can’t be alone.
Yeah… having done similar research (and it was less the price and more the waitlist), there really isn’t much that’s comparable, despite what YouTube dudes and commenters will tell you. Their view of “the market” is months old. I put together multiple builds on NewEgg and even using an NVME I already have, I could really only match the price, and there was always at least one additional compromise.
Frankly, the whole exercise with the BC-250 and pricing out ITX builds has only convinced me that the SM is actually the product I want, and a much better “value proposition” than we’d all like to admit. I do enjoy the BC-250 and it’s allowing me to play games I didn’t want to or couldn’t play on Steam Deck, but the downsides are real and effect every play session (waiting 90 seconds for boot-up, can’t play my emulator because I followed some sketchy ass vibe-coded instructions from a YouTube video and broke something, noisy fan on moderately demanding titles, playing at desk vs. living room, etc.) I haven’t turned it on in a week for many of these reasons.