The biggest advantages it has over other PCs is CEC and Wake on USB(controller) enabled out of the box. Those are the two features I miss the most on my HTPC.
Lembot_0005@lemy.lol 1 month ago
Why would anyone want it then? Just install Steam on your machine and use it…
voytrekk@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
snooggums@piefed.world 1 month ago
Other major advantages are the form factor and standardized design making it smaller and most likely more reliable than a comparable PC.
voytrekk@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
Standardized design, sure. I would argue you could get something more powerful at a comparable size for not too much more. My HTPC is about the size of a shoe box yet has a R7 7700X and a RX 6900 XT.
snooggums@piefed.world 1 month ago
Ok
bisby@lemmy.world 1 month ago
“on your machine” requires you to have a machine. This isn’t for people with computers already. This is for people who are already looking for a new machine, and this becomes the “ready out of the box” option.
Glide@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
There are people who exist between “I build, format and otherwise manage my own gaming rig,” and “I don’t need a PC for games.”
My partner is a perfect example. She has my old PC shell, with some $500 of GPU, internal memory, and accessories, hooked up to the TV. She uses it daily, almost exclusively for Steam games and streaming services that she finds more comfortable to navigate with a keyboard and mouse. A smaller, quieter, streamlined, “this more or less will do the things you want to do straight out of the box” product would have saved both her (and I, because that thing has has some troubleshooting) a lot of headache, while looking far more presentable to boot.
Maybe she’s the odd one out and the target audience is more niche than my bias’ recognize, but I guess we’ll see for sure when this thing releases.
gustofwind@lemmy.world 1 month ago
People without gaming rigs that don’t wanna spend almost as much for a console
Lembot_0005@lemy.lol 1 month ago
I don’t understand. Why pay the same for the same power just to get a less maintainable machine that is barely usable outside gaming?
gustofwind@lemmy.world 1 month ago
How is it barely usable outside gaming? Its a fully functional Linux desktop computer
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I used Linux for regular desktop stuff before I installed Steam on it. Steam got me back into gaming.
iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Why is it barely usable outside of gaming?
tal@lemmy.today 1 month ago
I mean, it’s fine to do so, as long as you have PC hardware that meets your needs. Valve would be fine with it too. As long as it can run Steam, all good. For Valve, I expect that the Steam Machine is to provide an easy-to-set-up option a la consoles that let them move into the living room for people who have an issue with that. If you can already use/configure a PC and have one, then that option is gonna work too.
BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 1 month ago
That’s a lot for someone who doesn’t understand computers beyond Windows and MacOS. People also don’t realise that since the PS4 and the Xbox One every console is just a X86-64 machine. So, I think it’s a good move from Valve
superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
If its a decent price I’ll want it. I love the freedom PC gaming allows but sometimes I do miss the convenience of a console. It would be great for my kid as well. No fidling with the display, having the PC not wake properly from sleep, controllers not connecting, etc. It would just work. Our current setup inevitably something doesnt work right first try.
kbal@fedia.io 1 month ago
People do occasionally buy new computers, and this one looks likely to be a better choice than most of what's on the market.
SalamenceFury@lemmy.world 1 month ago
At least for me, a Steam Machine would be the ideal use case for my brother, since the literal ONLY game he plays is CS2. He used to play Fortnite, but he hasn’t done that in years… and even then if he wanted we could just swap places between my current real computer and the Steam Machine. It’s also really small so it wouldn’t occupy much space on the other room of the house.
AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 1 month ago
As it says in the article, it’ll be smaller and quieter, so less offensive for most people’s living rooms than a full-size desktop. It’s not meant to replace your existing PC if you have one, unless it was getting old and you were about to replace it anyway. If you don’t have a PC, or don’t have one in the living room, then it might be a better option than anyone else’s prebuilt.
Ludicrous0251@piefed.zip 1 month ago
And, as with any standardized hardware, it’s a lot easier to ensure games and services (like Proton) perform reliably.
Time will tell if this sells enough, but it could become the new standard for industry benchmarking/testing.
RamRabbit@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Exactly. We are already seeing game companies mention the Steam Deck specifically in patch notes. This will give them a standard item to validate compatibility against. Any game company that wants to make sure they work on the most platforms possible will have a Steam Machine on-hand to QA with.