steam machine
 

thoughts?

The controller seems rather dumb.

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/assets/3506...oller_hero.jpg

The controller still hasn't made a great impression on me from what I have seen. However, i've mentioned before, if people want to use Steam, why not just get a new PC? I guess if people want to use Steam as a console, that's another story. I don't know, i've got mixed opinions about it.

exactly. It'll get rapidbly more affordable as they release systems based entirely on specific user wants but still, seems rather pointless. Valve can afford the consumer market test

Guess there's not too much discussion on this. The only other opinion I have on it is that it's a cool way for Valve to promote Steam more than they are. However, i'm curious if they would still allow for the midweek deals, etc like they do on the PC version.

I'm still really trying to figure out who this is marketed for, because it sure as shit isn't for console gamers, and if you're dedicated enough to PC gaming you're most likely going to build your own, have someone build it for you, or buy one at a high premium. Not only that, but if I really wanted to play my PC on my computer, I could do so with a HDMI cable and an Xbox 360 controller. The only ones that I think are interesting are the CyberPowerPC and iBuyPower ones because they start off at the same price as an Xbox One, however in terms of specifications it's hard to say if they beat the Playstation 4, which is $100 cheaper.

I just can't see Joe Average walking into an electronics retailer with money to get a video game machine, glancing at the established names of Xbox and Playstation, and deciding to walk away with something that says "Steam". Nor can I see someone with the time and dedication to building their own PC picking one up for TV use, when there are so many other, cheaper ways of doing what these boxes are doing. Honestly if Valve stuck to what was originally implied, with these being dedicated streaming machines, wirelessly transmitting my gameplay over to the big screen, I think people would be more open to the idea, but given the hype and speculation surrounding these things, the fact that they're just pre-built gaming PCs that run SteamOS is a little underwhelming.

The one thing that does worry me a little is if these do take off and become a competitor to Sony and Microsoft, what's going to happen to PC ports? I mean the Assassin Creed games already suffer a delay on PC release, and the big games like Grand Theft Auto V haven't even been announced on PC. It's kind of a frighting thought that the big AAA releases could be held hostage because Valve threatens the already fragile as fuck business model of video games.

So yeah, kind of hard to get excited about these things, although I am curious how they are priced so cheap as I have yet to build anything on par or less than the 13 models on PCPartPicker.

As a person with very little understanding of the subject of this thread, I will say I think that's a pretty cool looking controller.

Alienware Steam Machines won't be upgradable - Destructoid

As if I really needed another excuse not to touch anything Alienware related, although it is inspiring to hear that other Steam Box machines will be upgradeable.

When this was first introduced, I thought it was just a way for Valve to make PC gamers console gamers but it just didn't make sense for all the reasons Pete mentioned earlier.

Maybe they are trying to rope in console gamers?