Comment on While we eagerly await the second coming of Steam Machines, it's worth remembering what a gloriously awful mess Valve got itself in over a decade ago

artyom@piefed.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

• silverchase@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Really, how many people cared about or even remember the original? The original program was a flop but that hasn’t tainted the name.

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  • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I remember it, and that memory is why this one kind of has me hopeful.

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    • silverchase@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Same. I don’t have any immediate need for any of the newly announced hardware products, but I’m hopeful they succeed because they indirectly benefit me as a Linux gamer.

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  • artyom@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    how many people cared about or even remember the original

    The people who wrote this article do. And now so does everyone that came across it.

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• ladicius@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  There’s so few people that remember… Nobody cares.

  And Steam Machine is going really hard as a brand and as a device name, really. I bet there’s a lot of salivating at this level of brand recognition in a lot of marketing departments.

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  • vic_rattlehead@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I was holding out for the Steam Engine.

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    • ladicius@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Game engine from Steam? Sounds like a logical next step.

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      • sem@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Get the Steam Engine, from the Source :)

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• Paradox@lemdro.id ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I kind of wish they’d called em steam engines

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• psx_crab@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Does it matter though? You can put it as a failure that got so bad Valve eventually cancel it, or you can put it as a product that got good from countless iteration. Its kinda like glass half empty half full kind of situation which eventually doesn’t really matter.

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  • artyom@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Ask anyone who works in marketing is branding is important.

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    • psx_crab@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It is. “From failed product to global success” will also drum up a positive vibe about this particular hardware. What i meant by it is it doesn’t really matter if the previous iteration is a failure, what people really care and what’s important is the current iteration and what Valve learn from their past mistake, and the marketing team of Valve know exactly that. It’s marketing after all, turning negative vibe to positive one is part of the marketing strategy.

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    • ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Going from YouTube comments on gaming channels that don’t focus on PC gaming or Linux, I don’t think many people remember the first Steam Machines from 10 years ago.

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    • shishka_b0b@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The goal of marketing is to get as many people as possible to be aware that a company’s product exists. These articles are doing just that, for free.

      Initial sales will probably take a hit bc of the negative articles. I don’t think they’re being written bc valve decided to stick with the same name though. The articles are probably being written bc negative headlines get clicks.

      If the new steam machine proves to be a solid product this time around then gamers are going to buy it. If it’s such a solid product that it manages to turn a product line that was once associated with failure and negativity into a product line that’s associated with success and positivity then I really can’t think of anything better the new steam machine could do for valve’s brand. The (hypothetical) articles comparing the huge (hypothetical) success of the new steam machine to the dramatic failure of the past will also be a bit easier to write a headline for. More free marketing.

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