• wvstolzing@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    8 months ago

    Right; a stationary Steam Machine (upgradable, etc.) would be a desktop PC running SteamOS, which should probably remain outside the purview of Valve’s hardware division.

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      on the other hand something as sleek, cheap and ready to go out of the box as consoles, with guaranteed support for a while AND the biggest library of games on release? that could bring a lot of console people over to “PC” if done correctly. or market it more as a streaming server, that would be cool too.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        8 months ago

        It would need to be priced aggressively and have competitive specs to get enough volume of sales to justify building. They’d also need a new controller.

        But if you want that, wouldn’t you just buy a pre built from literally anywhere and install Steam and enable big picture mode? That’s really not that hard, I do it on my laptop for when my kids want to play on the big screen.

        • umbrella@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          i havent looked into them in a while but arent they more expensive? reducing cost is realistic if valve could pull off the same punch as a steamdeck by using similar but better powered SoCs, or be able to sell at a loss as a calculated risk to get people spending on steam. sony and microsoft do it and it works.

          make it convertible as a computer, like the deck is and as upgradable as possible (at least a gpu slot pls!) and you got an easy low cost linux based introduction to the pc ecosystem. with all money going to portables i dunno if they would do it but it would change that part of the game, it would certainly make it more open.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 months ago

            Their SOC makes sense in the Steam Deck because it’s running at a lower resolution. If you try to run at 1080p, you’ll get significantly worse performance, and that’s kind of the bare minimum resolution for a console.

            Valve would need a significantly stronger SOC to run on a home console, and it would likely need to be stronger than what’s in existing consoles because they don’t get the benefit of devs targeting that SOC.

            I’m guessing they’d need to sell for ~$800 for it to make any sense. That’s quite a bit more than existing consoles, but it’s a competitive price for a gaming PC. And I’m guessing the market for a Steam console is a lot smaller than a handheld.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                8 months ago

                Would be nice, but I think it would cost Valve more than Microsoft and Sony because volumes would be a lot lower. I’m guessing a small percentage of existing PC gamers would want a console, because a lot of the point of PC gaming is either using what you have or customizing your rig. I’m also guessing the same is true for console gamers, because they already have a console and probably want to stick with the same ecosystem.

                I could be wrong, but that’s my take. I’m more interested in them refreshing the Steam Link and Steam Controller. I guess they could reuse the same SOC, but that would run really hot, so they’d probably want a check ARM SOC instead.

                But who knows, maybe there’s a big enough market for it.

      • Belgdore@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        8 months ago

        This is what nvidia did with the shield, and they don’t make a mobile version anymore. The set top box was just that successful.