Because they did the review with console in mind and that's exactly Valve's target.

Valve couldn't have built a console with Windows if the goal is to attract console gamers. This kind of gamer doesn't want to administer a console. He wants to push the power button and play. This is what SteamOS does and does it well.

The missing part is Vulkan and with the list of Vulkan's contributers, I can't imagine how it could fail: Valve, Epic games, Blizzard, EA, AMD, Nvidia, Intel and even Dassault.

For those unfamilliar with Dassault, this is the company behind SolidWorks and Catia, leading CAD softwares.

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Syber Steam Machines are built with standard desktop parts making them easy to upgrade.

Didn't buy one because I don't need one right now, but it would be my #1 choice.

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Just finished The Witcher 2 and Dirt: Showdown. I'm now revisiting Metro 2033. All of them with the Steam Controller and I really like that piece of hardware!

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Quoting: BdMdesigN

Quoting: MohandevirWhen I look at the "Featured Items" in the Steam client I see the Steam Controller, the Steam Link but there's no trace of anything about the Steam Machines (I don't know if it's just my case) . It just feels like Valve knows too that the Steam Machines are not ready for "prime time" but they released it for us, Linux enthousiasts, to be an "open beta tester group".

...

No and for you again: the Steam Machine is not build from Valve and you can't buy the Steam Machines directly in the Steamshop.
They are in the Steam Store only advertised.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/353530/ <-- No "Buy" or "In Shopping Cart" Button.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/353390/ <-- No "Buy" or "In Shopping Cart" Button, only a "Visit Website" Button.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/353420/ <-- No "Buy" or "In Shopping Cart" Button.

You can buy the Steam Machine only over the Manufacturer Shops (Alienware, Syber and Zotc).
The Zotac SM you can buy in other Shops, too. But not in Steam Shop.
Thats the reason why only the Steam Link and the Steam Controller are in the "Featured Items (Topseller)" Tab in Steam Store and not the Steam Machines.

This I already know. Are you from Valve?

Because I understand but it doesn't make sense to me. A link to the Steam Machines page could have been included in the featured items (because there's a page that regroups the 3 models at the same adress). Else, it sends the message that they don't care about them and SteamOS.

Las year, they announced the 10 Steam Machines builders with big fanfare and links everywhere in the Steam client but now that it is really time, a sale for SteamOS games and an ad that lasted for 3 days... For my part, It's really weird and much less convincing.

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When I look at the "Featured Items" in the Steam client I see the Steam Controller, the Steam Link but there's no trace of anything about the Steam Machines (I don't know if it's just my case) . It just feels like Valve knows too that the Steam Machines are not ready for "prime time" but they released it for us, Linux enthousiasts, to be an "open beta tester group".

I'm really curious to see what kind of weight Valve will put behind the official launch of Vulkan. I might be wrong but I think the contrast with the november 10th launch will be striking. With the first game releases that will use Vulkan, I think it will be the starting point where the whole SteamOS ecosystem experience will begin to be relevant for the majority of players. At least that's what Valve is hoping for. After all they said it themselves:

"Unless you are aggressive enough to be shipping a DX12 game this year, I would argue that there is really not much reason to ever create a DX12 back end for your game" -Dan Ginsburg

http://hexus.net/tech/news/software/86726-valve-recommends-developers-choose-vulkan-directx-12/

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Quoting: wvstolzing

Quoting: PsynoKhi0Every review of a Steam Machine should be one line: "Get one, then send an e-mail to the devs of your favorite, currently unsupported gaming asking for a native port. Bonus points if you mention that performance should similar across hardware vendors."

That wouldn't be a 'review', it would be an 'ad'.

I don't see why reviewers are supposed to mobilize people for some corporation's backup plan -- because that's what SteamOS is. And while Valve's 'ecosystem' (when there's a healthy one in place) is not AS closed-off as that of, say, Sony, it IS its own kind of 'walled garden' nevertheless.

Pretty remarkable how a DRM-empire can 'market itself' as the bastion of software freedom.

You are quite right but there's a major diffrence. The Steam client is a walled garden but you can still use it on Fedora, Ubuntu and derivatives, Arch, SteamOS and many other Linux distributions if you prefer. Can you say the same about Sony or M$ propositions?

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Mmm... I would like to see benchmarks of MLL on this console vs others at the same level of details. I don't know if it's still the case, but last time I checked, traditionnal console graphics quality of MLL could not stand agaisnt the PC version.

Has for SteamOS, based on my personnal experience with it and what I read from other platforms, the integration of the Steam Controller and Steam Link seems much less buggy in the SteamOS ecosystem than in any other platforms.

That might not be a game changer but I tought it was worth mentionning.

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That's why I wrote, on another post, that Valve's strategy is based on Vulkan. If Vulkan sends DirectX "out of business", the performance gap will, at least, vanish and ports will be much easier to do.

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Personnaly my rig is built on SteamOS and I don't have all the issues you're talking about. It feels much more seamless.

The only annoyance was in Dirt:Showdown, with the Gyro turned on you have to be carefull with the controller positionning or you get a non-stopping scrolling menu. Once turned off, the experience is awesome.

Edit : I must admit that I have no controller reference because I hated the dual analog stick convention. To me the Steam Controller feels really natural.

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I think Vulkan is the key in Valve's scheme:

A crossplatform api to replace DX12 with better performances will make it easier for game publishers to port their games to SteamOS. Once gamers see the performance gained with it, they will start to convert.

Be carefull, I'm not saying this is going to happen. I think, it's what Valve is hoping for.

Edit : Have you noticed the "Optimized for SteamOS" label on a couple of games? Alien: Isolation being one of them... Interresting marketing strategy.

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