Valve may be working on a new kind of Steam Machine

Quoting: Cyba.CowboyWhy would that change anything? It'd be no different to when Windows XP reached end-of-life, or Windows 7, or Windows 8... People will just move over to Windows 11 or whatever they're up to now, just like the gullible sheep they are.

I don't expect huge amounts of people changing over either, but the big difference is that for all those Windows versions, you usually could just install the new version on your old computer. With Windows 11, the requirements are quite strict, and while you might be able to trick the installer, MS does not promise updates for unsupported system, so this is a dangerous path.

So, the question has changed for many people. It's not "Should I install the new Windows on my old computer?", but "Do I really want to replace my still good enough computer just to install the new Windows?!?" And even if the answer is yes, then they have a spare computer which they might use to check out this Linux thing.

Quoting: Cyba.CowboyValve really need to address this... Most (all?) of the "anti-cheat" systems natively support Linux-based operating systems - but almost all of the developers behind them flat-out refuse to implement their own "anti-cheat" systems for gaming under Linux.

really? valve only did deals with 2 anti cheat providers to support linux, everything else that work just happens to work and not be blocked.

https://areweanticheatyet.com/

Quoting: Craggles086Valve has proved to a mass market that their idea works with the SteamDeck.

Consumers should be a lot less sceptical about what a Steam Console without windows is capable of, Proton has now proven itself capable and has been accepted as such for anything outside the anti-cheat MMO’s.

Now if they can only get the pricing right, as they did on the SteamDeck then we have a gaming computer that can play the majority of PC games, and is priced competitively with building your own PC. Also functions well as a console. Whole different story to the first Steam Machines.

I would say it will only work if Valve are producing the hardware themselves but would love to be proved wrong.

i dont think the issue was the fact that steam machines run on top of linux, playstation run on top of bsd (wich had less games than linux, outside of the console) and yet, no one cared about, because it had games and the marketing of the games noticed the fact that its avaliable on playstation, the marketing of playstation quoted the games you can play on it, and it had exclusives.

no one cares what operating system an hardware have, so longas they know there is content they want there (or the content they want is there)

Quoting: elmapul

Quoting: Craggles086Valve has proved to a mass market that their idea works with the SteamDeck.

Consumers should be a lot less sceptical about what a Steam Console without windows is capable of, Proton has now proven itself capable and has been accepted as such for anything outside the anti-cheat MMO’s.

Now if they can only get the pricing right, as they did on the SteamDeck then we have a gaming computer that can play the majority of PC games, and is priced competitively with building your own PC. Also functions well as a console. Whole different story to the first Steam Machines.

I would say it will only work if Valve are producing the hardware themselves but would love to be proved wrong.

i dont think the issue was the fact that steam machines run on top of linux, playstation run on top of bsd (wich had less games than linux, outside of the console) and yet, no one cared about, because it had games and the marketing of the games noticed the fact that its avaliable on playstation, the marketing of playstation quoted the games you can play on it, and it had exclusives.

no one cares what operating system an hardware have, so longas they know there is content they want there (or the content they want is there)

The "Steam Machines 2" will probably attract the same audience that got the Steam Deck. Many of them got introduced to PC gaming via the Steam Deck. I'll be one of them because, lately, I do not have much use for a full fledged PC under my desk. It's solely used for work and it's supplied by my company. When it comes to gaming, I sit back in my couch and play with my Steam Deck, locally or via Moonlight/Sunshine, depending on the game, because I have no better solution. Hooking my personal full tower gaming PC to my TV is a no go. I'd prefer to have a small dedicated console or an egpu docking station, for the Steam Deck 2 (maybe?), to play in 1080p-60hz (minimum). I'm probably not the only one.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 9 December 2024 at 9:39 pm UTC

Quoting: ElectricPrismI think they will approach the market with this same modesty and probing it will reveal at least millions of sales if the price is able to be competitive.

i dont think so.
the hardware need to be good, and if they cant have the economics of scale that sony and microsoft have, i doubt they can make a competitive hardware for a competitive price.

not to mention, steamdeck had a lot of games that you couldnt play on the go on switch or anywhere else, the same cant be said about an living room device.

Quoting: elmapul

Quoting: ElectricPrismI think they will approach the market with this same modesty and probing it will reveal at least millions of sales if the price is able to be competitive.

i dont think so.
the hardware need to be good, and if they cant have the economics of scale that sony and microsoft have, i doubt they can make a competitive hardware for a competitive price.

not to mention, steamdeck had a lot of games that you couldnt play on the go on switch or anywhere else, the same cant be said about an living room device.

PS5 has 813 games. Foremont + SteamController2 will certainly let you play games you couldn't play on any other console like device, unless you build one yourself. The PC ecosystem has huge advantages over traditional walled garden console ecosystems and console exclusives are less of an issue then ever before.
It could also once again be a device for game developers to target, this time for PCVR performance, which could give PCVR a big boost.
With the SteamDeck, Valve tricked traditional economics of scale by taking the risk of preordering a huge chunk of APUs. That worked damn well for them, so why would they not do it again? My guess is foremont will be a lot cheaper then a Laptop or ready made microPC with similar performance.


Last edited by const on 10 December 2024 at 9:09 am UTC

Quoting: constPS5 has 813 games. Foremont + SteamController2 will certainly let you play games you couldn't play on any other console like device, unless you build one yourself. The PC ecosystem has huge advantages over traditional walled garden console ecosystems and console exclusives are less of an issue then ever before.
It could also once again be a device for game developers to target, this time for PCVR performance, which could give PCVR a big boost.

on paper, the steamdeck is better than the switch on every aspect, it could even emulate switch... in pratice, nintendo sell much more than the deck, so no, being a better product is not enough, it never was.

sure its a bit different on home consoles, because they cant afford to make exclusives anymore, they are porting to pc mostly because the cost of production of games is too expensive to keep then locked to a platform, yet i feel that if sony have to chose between help an competitor or not, they will chose not to, they will delay the port to pc or stop it altogheter and valve already comited to not making exclusives.
it may be sound crazy, but taking an cut of 30% of every game sold on playstation is more profitable than porting their games to pc, and pc was a different market, pc gamers were unlikely to move so it didnt affected playstation sales in the past, it will be different with a home console from valve, not to mention that now that pc gamers know sony exclusives, some of then might like it enough to purchase an playstation in case the game sequels stop coming to pc.

Quoting: constWith the SteamDeck, Valve tricked traditional economics of scale by taking the risk of preordering a huge chunk of APUs. That worked damn well for them, so why would they not do it again? My guess is foremont will be a lot cheaper then a Laptop or ready made microPC with similar performance.

pre ordering,sure, but if they cant sell then, this preorder will be a big loss of revenue for valve.
sony can preorder and keep lowering the cost of production over the generation due to the massive sales, then they can cut the price if nescessary and invest tons of money for the next generation.

valve ould compete with the switch in terms of power, but switch was over 7 years old and never bet in power, i doubt valve can do it again against sony and specially microsoft that can do tons of dumping.

as for the steam console having a big library, for microsoft its not a problem, then can flip a switch and allow windows games to run on xbox, they just dont want to accept other stores, but they can do better deals of revenue split to entice more people to "port" their games, and accept every other store but steam.

not to mention, bigger library didnt translated into sales for the deck over the switch so this might repeat against playstation.

The moment they do this, I’m done buying consoles!

Then again, to be honest, I'm probably done buying consoles anyway. I've bought and used a NES, PS2, WII, PS4 and PS5. I've also played on a few other consoles from friends, like the Atari, MSX, Master System, Mega Drive, N64 and PS1. They were all fun, but I've always also had a thing for PC Games (even from the DOS era), emulators, game modding and more recently Steam.

Given Valve's history, I expect a Steam Console of their design being released this year or the next to check certain boxes that will make it undeniably great (even if not perfect for everyone):

Hardware

• pre-built

i can build my own, but this helps the majority of people who wouldn't even know where to start, not even to order it from a tech store that can build one for them


• compact

more so than a custom-built tower (ballpark PS5-size), probably good-looking design but mainly just more discreet and easier to fit anywhere in vertical and/or horizontal positions


• quiet

not totally silent but really quiet, like the PS5 vs. a traditional PC tower


• cost-effective specs

not the best CPU or GPU there is, but undeniably strong ones at their pricepoint and strong enough for most games in nice image settings with good FPS (likely to be a 60FPS target this time)


• repairable and upgradeable

mostly with standard PC/laptop parts, though i expect not entirely (like pre-built PCs from Dell, HP, etc)... definitely no glued parts, and possibly some open-licensed blueprints

Software

• SteamOS preinstalled

power on, log in, update, play... almost as little fuss as with a traditional console (but there will probably be a couple more papercuts in the UI/UX that will remain in there for a looong time because Valve sure loves some of those)


• Easy OS Unlocking

Same as on the Steam Deck, they're likely to ship a locked system image but with an official, easy and well-documented unlocking path that doesn't void warranty and support... i'd love if they let it follow a traditional linux package updates cycle instead of a monolythic upgrades cycle like android, but pretty sure they'll keed using the current method


• Open Bootloader

Other linux distros and windows 11 will work from day 1, but may be missing OS support for a couple things at that point... these things will eventually find their way into ChimaeraOS and other gaming-oriented distros even before Valve upstreams them (which they will, as they've been doing with the Steam Deck)


• Gaming Mode

available, booting to it by default and delivering a heck of a nice perf boost... this along Steam as a fullscreen-UI is why SteamOS can be seen as a console instead of just a PC in the living-room


• Optimized Perf

better on SteamOS than on windows (and improving over time, as was done with the Steam Deck), not just because of Gaming Mode, but because of their constant thinkering in the Linux Kernel, GPU drivers, shader compilers, Proton, DXVK, etc... it will probably still be better on SteamOS than other linux distros, but not as much a difference as it was with the Deck at launch


• Desktop Mode

same stuff as now, maybe easier to reach and more prominently offered in their default UI, hopefully more complete... it added a WOW factor in the Steam Deck, even though it wasn't easy to navigate with built-in controls in a handheld... and I expect it to make more waves among console gamers who are missing the modding scene from PCs, or want their consoles to double-down as a media center, always-on files/downloads server, etc

ps:
i highly doubt it will sell as much as a PS5 or the newest-gen Xbox... but even 10% of that is already a huge success for linux, for PC gaming, for more open gaming platforms, etc

it will set a second tier of PC-gaming hardware perf targets for most games and will make game devs even more prone to paying attention to linux and SteamOS compatibility, ease of use of PC games with fully-remappable controllers, etc


Last edited by Marlock on 15 December 2024 at 4:42 pm UTC