do you think valve would try to make another console like steam machine?

[Salv8 (sam)]

with the success of the steam deck, deck ui now being able to be used on non-deck systems officially, and valve getting steam os ready for standard desktops.

do you think valve would try again with the steam machine?

i personally think so, they now have a better idea how to make one and how to distribute it. they have the ability to make a custom APU for it so it costs less.

it sounds like a no brainier but i wanna hear what you guys think.

[Jurrunio]

Once the OS is open for desktops, their new hardware will have to directly compete with those in price or special features since raw performance is out of the question. But on the low price side of things, Xbox and PS are strong competitions with experience and well established platform exclusives. That leaves special features to carry the team.... nope I dont see how that's gonna work, it's just more feasible to make these special features work with desktops. That's basically what 1st gen VR did.

[Mark Kaine]

no because steamdeck already is their "steam machine", so no, not anytime soon if ever. 

[thrasher_565]

they tryed making an steam pc didn't they? and it was just that and os that boots in to steam...

 

consoles are dead imo...

Edited November 25, 2022 by thrasher_565

[heli1337]

5 hours ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

with the success of the steam deck, deck ui now being able to be used on non-deck systems officially, and valve getting steam os ready for standard desktops.

do you think valve would try again with the steam machine?

i personally think so, they now have a better idea how to make one and how to distribute it. they have the ability to make a custom APU for it so it costs less.

it sounds like a no brainier but i wanna hear what you guys think.

It would be useless imo, they have a Steam Deck which is enough to count it as their flagship device, and it's doing pretty good job...

[Stahlmann]

They still have Big Picture integrated in their Steam app, which basically makes every PC you want into a console for your steam library (or manually added non-steam games). The big picture UI is specifically made to navigate steam with a controller and it works flawlessly in my case. Just pressing the XBox button when you have steam opened up brings up the UI.

 

Just set steam to auto-launch, boot your PC and press the X-Box button on a controller. Your PC is now a steam console.

 

The steam machine product might have died, but the concept is very much still a reality.

[Needfuldoer]

I don't think they'll push for a whole line of Steam Machines again, like they tried the first time. Consumers are going to compare it to the Xbox and Playstation, and the value proposition for a set-top PC at that price is a tough sell. Just look at how the Alienware Alpha sold.

 

If they do anything, I think it would look like a NUC built around the Steam Deck motherboard (but with better cooling and possibly room for a 2.5" drive). If there's a Steam Deck 2 and they make the motherboard a drop-in replacement for the original, they could release just the case and cooler for DIYers to put their old board into, like Framework did. 

[mapegl]

11 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

I don't think they'll push for a whole line of Steam Machines again, like they tried the first time. Consumers are going to compare it to the Xbox and Playstation, and the value proposition for a set-top PC at that price is a tough sell. Just look at how the Alienware Alpha sold.

 

If they do anything, I think it would look like a NUC built around the Steam Deck motherboard (but with better cooling and possibly room for a 2.5" drive). If there's a Steam Deck 2 and they make the motherboard a drop-in replacement for the original, they could release just the case and cooler for DIYers to put their old board into, like Framework did. 

That.

 

I would love a 300Eur Kit with an SD card slot and just 64GB of storage. 

 

That would be an amazing PC for a lot of casual gamers. The improved cooling would probably even improve performance a bit.

[suicidalfranco]

if they can deliver a more powerful machine than the deck, with the base price coinciding with the deck's middle offering, why not? I'd buy it and retire the steam link at the same time.

I'd also be happy with a next gen deck just being capable to push more power when docked like the switch, but in that case, I'd still keep the link around.

[Imbadatnames]

Both the steam machines and steamdeck are kinda shit hardware wise. I hope they can actually output something good at some point 

[rikitikitavi]

Well, the steam machine doesn't REALLY need a custom machine by Steam, I'd say it is more of a promotion work with other pc manufacturers.

 

SteamDeck's UI is going to be added to Steam clients and regular SteamOS, probably as a replacement to the current BigPictureMode.

 

So, for example Dell will start selling SteamMachines:

a) it is going to be a Windows that loads right into Steam/BigPicture - best compatibility out of the box.

b) SteamOS or other Linux Distro with Steam/BigPicture - I'm not sure if pricing changes due to lack of Windows.

 

And yes, Dell and other manufactures already sell pcs with Linux distros, sometimes you have to do a custom build and choose an OS as an optional add-on.

 

Edit: I wonder if a jailbroken PS4 will make a good SteamMachine...

[TetraSky]

Next would be Valve creating their own Cloud gaming platform on Steam. Because then, they can sell low powered devices for cheap with a subscription.

[igormp]

On 11/25/2022 at 1:20 AM, Jurrunio said:

Once the OS is open for desktops

It already is, it's just their own packagin of arch with steam on top, you can install it in any x86 machine without much issues.

[Coaxialgamer]

Steam machines were pretty much a market failure if I remember things correctly. Valve made a big fuss about them, a few companies made a handful of them, and then they basically vanished. They were basically just prebuilt PCs running steam-OS: what exactly was the value-add compared to buying a prebuilt or DIY-ing it yourself?

 

The steamdeck provides a portable AAA gaming experience in a portable package for a fraction of the cost of its competition. That isn't something you can get anywhere else.

[Sarra]

On 11/24/2022 at 8:55 PM, thrasher_565 said:

consoles are dead imo...

I disgree. Switch, XBox Series, and PS5 are very much alive.

 

As a proud member of the PCMR, I do see the value in consoles. Yong Yeah even made a good statement in a recent video, essentially saying that consoles make more sense, especially when GPU prices are so stupid. You can literally buy a console for less than the cost of a mid-range GPU.

 

Being part of the PCMR, I use game controllers a lot. Being totally honest with myself, most of the games I play could run just as well, or better, on a PS5 or Series X.

 

I don't have a TV, and I don't like the idea of running a console on a computer monitor, but if I really needed to, I could easily fit a PS5 or Series X into my gaming area. That said, I would rather use my Steam Deck with a 1080P 144hz portable monitor for gaming away from home. It's like a laptop, gaming console, and a music player all in one. I actually use my Deck at home as a music player; I run Audacious with my music loaded up on an SD card. Ironic, I use it for this while gaming on my desktop at home. But, when on vacation, it's a power brick and a few cables, and I've got a gaming setup that works wonderfully well and is reasonably portable. Just as portable as a laptop, with a reasonably decent performance. I love it.

[thrasher_565]

3 minutes ago, Sarra said:

I disgree. Switch, XBox Series, and PS5 are very much alive.

 

As a proud member of the PCMR, I do see the value in consoles. Yong Yeah even made a good statement in a recent video, essentially saying that consoles make more sense, especially when GPU prices are so stupid. You can literally buy a console for less than the cost of a mid-range GPU.

 

Being part of the PCMR, I use game controllers a lot. Being totally honest with myself, most of the games I play could run just as well, or better, on a PS5 or Series X.

 

I don't have a TV, and I don't like the idea of running a console on a computer monitor, but if I really needed to, I could easily fit a PS5 or Series X into my gaming area. That said, I would rather use my Steam Deck with a 1080P 144hz portable monitor for gaming away from home. It's like a laptop, gaming console, and a music player all in one. I actually use my Deck at home as a music player; I run Audacious with my music loaded up on an SD card. Ironic, I use it for this while gaming on my desktop at home. But, when on vacation, it's a power brick and a few cables, and I've got a gaming setup that works wonderfully well and is reasonably portable. Just as portable as a laptop, with a reasonably decent performance. I love it.

switch yes doing good. ps5 only because of the exclusives but consoles are still being scalped so no its not cheaper then a pc and when you have to upgrade it in 3 years you still pay as much as a pc anyway...  xbox zero reason to own it... steam deck is like switch or laptop and i think it was reasonable price.

 

switch games are expensive too...

[Sarra]

6 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

switch yes doing good. ps5 only because of the exclusives but consoles are still being scalped so no its not cheaper then a pc and when you have to upgrade it in 3 years you still pay as much as a pc anyway...  xbox zero reason to own it... steam deck is like switch or laptop and i think it was reasonable price.

I don't actually disagree with the XBox thing, I think Microsoft should be ashamed of it.

 

However... I play a game on PC a lot, and it has severe performance problems. I think it's a game engine problem, but my 5950X and 6800XT gets around 60-70FPS in this game, settings absolutely maxed. If I turn the graphics settings down to the absolute minimum, I still get 60-70FPS.

 

Worst part is, every 10 minutes the game autosaves. Every time it does, FPS drops to 30 FPS for 7-10 seconds. It's a known bug, with the devs having ignored it for the past two years. The 'Fix' is to have the game installed on your C: drive. The main problem is that Steam is installed on my D: drive, and the game is on my E: drive. I could move the game to C:, but the problem would persist because Steam isn't also on my C: drive. D:< So stuped.

 

If I grabbed a PS5, and purchased the game for PS5, I could have a solid 60FPS 24/7 on the console, with game mod support, and no problems with autosaving. It's literally a case of a console out-performing a $3,500 gaming PC.

[thrasher_565]

11 hours ago, Sarra said:

I don't actually disagree with the XBox thing, I think Microsoft should be ashamed of it.

 

However... I play a game on PC a lot, and it has severe performance problems. I think it's a game engine problem, but my 5950X and 6800XT gets around 60-70FPS in this game, settings absolutely maxed. If I turn the graphics settings down to the absolute minimum, I still get 60-70FPS.

 

Worst part is, every 10 minutes the game autosaves. Every time it does, FPS drops to 30 FPS for 7-10 seconds. It's a known bug, with the devs having ignored it for the past two years. The 'Fix' is to have the game installed on your C: drive. The main problem is that Steam is installed on my D: drive, and the game is on my E: drive. I could move the game to C:, but the problem would persist because Steam isn't also on my C: drive. D:< So stuped.

 

If I grabbed a PS5, and purchased the game for PS5, I could have a solid 60FPS 24/7 on the console, with game mod support, and no problems with autosaving. It's literally a case of a console out-performing a $3,500 gaming PC.

its well known that having steam and your install game installed on a different hdd causes problems. as the hdd has to spin up witch causes the lag spike. same with pulling video off the cd causes problems as well.  but a 500gb ssd is cheap... so... could just be a game to game thing. some games dont get different fps based on settings but that normally because there optimized. but it could have been a console port. i do agree there way too may settings with pcs and problems but consoles have there problems too...  im also old school and play old games that are not on consoles because new games just sux. i do have consoles myself too and even had a wc xbox 360.  i dont no each have there own opinion.  not only that i dont have to pay to play online and if i do i dont play it... 

 

 

[Avocado Diaboli]

What niche would a hypothetical Steam Machine cover that isn't already covered elsewhere? The Steam Deck serves a unique purpose, which is PC gaming on the go with relatively potent hardware for the price. Sure, you can also use it as a stationary console and hook it up to a monitor, but that's not its primary intended purpose. And while there is some competition in that space, it's not that aggressive right now and Valve has the benefit of making the hardware and earning money through the sale of their digital storefront on said hardware.

 

A Steam Machine meanwhile is just another prebuilt branded PC containing off-the-shelf hardware. They carried the same problems as other bespoke pre-builts for a premium price. Never mind that last time, Valve was just the idea man, they didn't produce anything themselves. The Steam Deck is their product. So would Valve enter the system integrator market according to you? To what end?

[Sarra]

11 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

its well known that having steam and your install game installed on a different hdd causes problems. as the hdd has to spin up witch causes the lag spike. same with pulling video off the cd causes problems as well.  but a 500gb ssd is cheap... so... could just be a game to game thing. some games dont get different fps based on settings but that normally because there optimized. but it could have been a console port. i do agree there way too may settings with pcs and problems but consoles have there problems too...  im also old school and play old games that are not on consoles because new games just sux. i do have consoles myself too and even had a wc xbox 360.  i dont no each have there own opinion.  not only that i dont have to pay to play online and if i do i dont play it... 

 

 

My boot drive is a 2TB NVME Gen4 SSD. Steam is installed on a 2 TB SATA SSD. My game is installed on another, 1TB SATA SSD. The only stuff I have on HDD's are video source files for video editing, and old backups of my music, installers, and misc software. My HDD's don't ever power down, and I have a UPS to prevent unexpected shutdowns, so head parking can be done properly before power is lost to the system.

 

The game in question is a console port. It's having issues other than the framerate performance, though, so I've stopped playing it for now.

[thrasher_565]

4 hours ago, Sarra said:

My boot drive is a 2TB NVME Gen4 SSD. Steam is installed on a 2 TB SATA SSD. My game is installed on another, 1TB SATA SSD. The only stuff I have on HDD's are video source files for video editing, and old backups of my music, installers, and misc software. My HDD's don't ever power down, and I have a UPS to prevent unexpected shutdowns, so head parking can be done properly before power is lost to the system.

 

The game in question is a console port. It's having issues other than the framerate performance, though, so I've stopped playing it for now.

ya i dont no then i no when a hdd gose to sleep and spins up when excised is when you get the spike. on my pc it frezz it for like 5 seconds.

 

kinda like nms and the ships changing color or planet biome changing has put me off playing it.. and thats a day one "bug"... unless its not a bug? wish it was like mindcraft and can install updates when you want...

[Needfuldoer]

On 11/27/2022 at 7:16 PM, rikitikitavi said:

Well, the steam machine doesn't REALLY need a custom machine by Steam, I'd say it is more of a promotion work with other pc manufacturers.

That's how the original attempt at Steam Machines worked. They wished they went over like lead balloons.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(computer)

 

Granted, from a technology standpoint, they're in a much better place now. (Proton wasn't a thing back in 2014, for starters.) The problem with building a "PC Console" is that it would have to compete with the turn-key experience consoles provide, at a console-like price point. The more caveats and finagling with settings you add to the equation, the less likely the average consumer is to remain interested. Conversely, enthusiasts who would be interested are also the types who will DIY a more performant solution for their money. It would have to hit a very attractive price point in comparison to "just build a living room PC from spare parts" to hold their attention.

 

So the question still remains:

 

10 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

What niche would a hypothetical Steam Machine cover that isn't already covered elsewhere?

What value can Valve bring to the table that they couldn't bring with less effort by just officially releasing the Steam Deck's Steam OS distribution for commodity hardware?

[suicidalfranco]

23 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

What value can Valve bring to the table that they couldn't bring with less effort by just officially releasing the Steam Deck's Steam OS distribution for commodity hardware?

Please the people who enjoy trashing on PCs because having options = bad, having settings = bad, following install prompts = bad.

Put the deck experience on a standalone machine that directly boots you to your game library and you've got on your hands an instant shut up juice for this kind of peeps

[Salv8 (sam)]

5 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

Put the deck experience on a standalone machine that directly boots you to your game library and you've got on your hands an instant shut up juice for this kind of peeps

i agree man. there are so many games that would be great on a console but aren't on there because of a number of reasons.

sometimes a game plays better in a console environment (e.g controls, south park the stick of truth isn't great on a keyboard) but can take advantage of the pc's strengths (e.g modding)

plus, imagine playing Portal 2 then exiting to go and play Wind Waker for a bit, natively integrated into the steam interface like how xbox does it. no sega mega drive and genesis classic's or nintendo NES online app bullshit.
that would be fucking awesome.

[suicidalfranco]

4 hours ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

i agree man. there are so many games that would be great on a console but aren't on there because of a number of reasons.

And also opening up the console experience to more than just FPSs and and third person action adventure games with stealth elements.

A console that also give you access to city builders, RTSs, whatever genre is Europa universalis, simulation games, etc etc etc