The true next gen consoles are almost upon us

Just 1 month left until steam enters the console arena, with over 1200 games in tow! The first consoles to natively support both mouse and keyboard and a new innovative controller, plug in pick up and play, B/C, free online..

The end is nigh for you peasants, but do not worry, you will ascend and be reborn amoungst the master race.

@killonsight:

Sounds cool,

...so PCs?

Yes, but consoles.

No one is going to buy these fucking things outside of maybe a VERY small demographic of hardcore console gamers.

PC gamers have no interest in this and the majority of the common public doesn't even know what the **** "Valve" or "Steam" even are.

I can see a ton of PC gamers snatching up the controller (I probably will too), but the system itself?

Hell no

I already built a new PC. I'm building another next year, so i'm not bothering with a Steambox.

Lol omg really. Sorry to burst your bubble but it's going to fail like alienware did before it.

It's still just a PC, if I put on a gorilla costume am I now a gorilla?

Yes

Ill buy which ever one can run Star Citizen when its released maybe. Ive always wanted a smaller modern PC.

You see, this. This is what boils my insides.

When People think Steam Machines are consoles. THEY ARE NOT. They are Pre-Built PCs with the Steam OS on them. You can install Windows on them and get the same experience as those that by the parts and build the systems themselves!

They're compact PC's whose sole reason for existence is to help Valve capture some of the console market.

Why the hell would anyone with a relatively high-end PC even be the slightest bit interested?

They're designed to be played in front of your TV in your living room/bedroom.

So essentially...they're suped up consoles.

But the Alienware Alpha is already out at a decent price. Not to mention gaming laptops are essentially consoles these days in terms of size and capabilities. My GT70 is fat, but it's basically the size of my One, and like consoles, is really only useful for heavy gaming when plugged in.

Of course, the laptop has a built in screen, good fans, great processor and graphics card, a huge amount of USB and audio ports, and a KBM built in, but it's essentially a console otherwise, especially with the 360 controller receiver I use for it.

Steam Machines are going to fail hard.

PC gamers are not going to buy it because they already have their gaming PC that can do everything a Steam Machine can do plus more and all for less money. And console gamers are not going to buy it because they are too expensive and Valve already screwed up by releasing too many models which is just going to confuse customers and they will just continue to stick with the simplicity of Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo.

If Valve wanted to have any chance of some success, they should have just produced no more than three models with an easy to understand tiered system: a low-end version that sells for roughly the same price as Xbox One and PS4 for the gamers that want to get into PC gaming for as cheap as possible, a mid-range version for gamers that want good performance without breaking the bank, and a super powerful high-end version that has the specs necessary for virtual reality headsets right out of the box.

Steamboxes are not going to be a huge success.

I don't think so....I could be wrong, for sure. I just don't see a big market for them.

Who the hell is actually going to buy one of these things?

These machines will never outsell ps4 and xbox one.

Yeah I already have a PC, so if I want to buy a new console it'll be a PS4. I'm not buying another box to be able to play the exact same games on a different screen in a different room.

They are, however, interesting. I wonder if they'll cut into the console market share or the Windows platforms market share? Possibly both?

I want one. I have no interest in building a rig, I have a 100+ game steam library and the ps4 and xone haven't been compelling enough to hold my attention.

[copy/paste for what I said on another thread on related to Steam Machine from Games Discussion]

So in other words, buy a $500 PC that can run games on low setting or built a $1,000-1,500- PC that can do games great but can't do basic PC tasks along with not being DX12 compatible. This is such a stupid decision. It'ls like buying a Lambourghini just to listen to music inside it and it not be able to be driven, that's same as Steam PC such a joke. Look most people don't care about Steam Machine. We just want to buy a console, turn it on, and play it. That’s it. If I buy that Steam Machine, can I play DOTA 2, out of the the box? That’s a yes or no question. If the answer is no, then it has failed me. End of story. I don’t care about the history of Linux. I don’t care about how any day now, "Linux on the Desktop is gonna dominate". I don’t care that oh, "linux is being used to millions and it’ll continue to grow". Don’t care. This is about a console, and about video games. Either it can give me what I want, or I’ll use something that does and plays everything.

You know, like a Windows/building a PC yourself, like I did.

@LegatoSkyheart: LOL that is exactly what a console is, a pre built pc with a OS on it. Heck the Xbox does have windows.

Sad really. This will be competing with the Wii U.

Halo 5, he's coming... but only to X1. :P

Steam machines aren't consoles they are PC.

The controller is gonna be a blast , that's for sure.

Steam machines ... don't think so. PC Gamer loves hardware and building a beast so ...

It doesn't seem like an attractive proposal to me. It's like a stronger Xbone without the exclusives.

They seem to be targeting console players more than pc

I think allot of console gamers will.

Honestly the steam machine is about to crash and burn hard. And you can try to call it a "pre made PC" but then the Xbox One and PS4 would be technically pre-made PCs as well (PCs all have electronic parts and an operating system which the consoles have.) I just don't know who these machines appeal to. If you own a console then you don't need it because you have an xbox one, PS4, or Wii U. It certainly won't be bought by people who have a PC hgh end or not. They can use and play most steam games. So who is the audience?

Except they're PCs.

I have my Computer Hooked up to my TV. Heck I'm typing this very comment in this thread on my TV right now.

Does that make my PC a Console now? OF COURSE NOT what a stupid concept.

@Elaisse what the.....no Xbox One does NOT have Windows on it. It has something LIKE Windows, but it's not the same. You can't install Steam or Origin or FireFox or Chrome or Nexus Mod Manager or VLC or etc,etc,etc, on a Xbox One. If you could then sure It can be a PC. At one point a PS3 could have been considered a PC because it had Linux support. But it is not. You have a Web Browser and some Windows 8 interface and that's about it.

As I have said before. Steam Machines are just Pre-built PCs with a fancy name to get people who don't know any better think "Oh it's a new system!" when it fucking ain't. It's just a new way of selling you a Dell.

Valve is so stupid.

They should have made a REAL console.

Why would any normal, healthy, mentally sane person buy this to play Steam games. You have to be mentally ill to buy this. You have to be.

I'm not going to waste my time .. If I wanted pc games id play them on a PC not on a PC disguise as a console that you can't upgrade

Those steam boxes are not consoles. There is no fixed hardware, or semi-custom chipsets.

They are straight up budget PC's with variable hardware and no unique exclusives over what the PC already gets.

Steam boxes will flop harder than the Wii U. There is nothing about them that will attract PC gamers, or PS4/XB1 owners.

@LegatoSkyheart: No shit they're PC's

But that doesn't change the fact that the Steambox was created in order for Valve to capture a piece of the console market.

It's aimed at console gamers who either don't have the knowledge to build a PC or just straight up don't want to, who also prefer to play games from their couch, and want something more powerful than what the rest of the console market currently offers.

How the hell is this even debatable?

Personally i welcome our new console overlords with open arms, this might be the thing that pushes Sony to bring back free online, backwards compatibility and knuckle down on exclusives.

you can dual boot it with windows... essentially it's a PC that's a console...

money would be better spent just having a desktop PC made

Valve has royally fucked up the marketing of their Steam Boxes. Sure it's a streamlined form factor that takes away the configuring decision making, but with something like TWELVE different SKU's, it completely takes away from the simplicity of consoles that is one of its main consumer appeals. Having to wonder which is the right model for them will cause way too much confusion,which is antithesis to the console design.

Then there's the pricing. Not just two price models that were still close in range like with the 7th gen - no from what I heard there's pricing anywhere from $400 all the way up to... $2500???? At anything above $600 one may as well just get a real PC.

Does Valve not realize what console's biggest advantage to PC's is?? Consoles are viable because of their combination of convenience and affordable pricing, which more than 2/3 of the Steam Box models completely negates.

Valve has shot themselves in the foot with this convoluted strategy, trying to appeal to the console market and bring PC gaming to that demographic, without understanding what makes the console market work.

Those things will flop so hard.

Hmm just so you know Valve has absolutely no control nor involvement in the actual specific models that certain companies are pushing to begin with.... Their OS is opensource and so is their controller..

Pretty much this.

Valve should have picked one partner then agreed a hardware spec and price point.

What they have right now is a mess but have Valve really got that much to lose? To me it looks like the manufacturers are taking the risk while Valve look on saying here's an awesome controller and a free Linux based O/S. Designing and producing the controller likely cost them more than anything else.

Since I already have a PC, i'd probably be more interested in getting a Steam Link

^^

Don't worry, when Valve realizes how badly they screwed up with these, they'll release HL3 as an exclusive for them and everyone will buy one.

Seems like an even more tremendous waste of time all the fear mongering they were doing trying to convince the world MS was going to close gaming off Windows 8 and subvert Valve and it was necessary to shift to Linux gaming and they were going to lead the way... yeah, what a bunch of clowns they were, and in the end they couldn't even fully commit because they were being so cheap and wanted to have third parties take all the risk and losses. I'm sure this is also why we never got Half-Life 2 Episode 3 or Half-Life 3, if they wanted people to buy a Steambox they should have made it exclusive to the Steambox somehow.

Yes, but that doesn't excuse the fact that it's still a PC.

How hard is it to just not understand that? This is no way another console to add to the mix of things, it's just Steam telling the untold masses that You can play PCs on TV too. Couch Co-op and whatever bullshit.

It's the mass ignorance that Steam Machines are Consoles that gets my griddles because in the end, they're not. They're prebuilt PCs for you to buy at your own convenience.

You know what Nintendo did with the NES system? They didn't say "IT'S A VIDEO GAMES CONSOLE!" They added ROB and said it was an "ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM" and sold it as a toy. That's right the NES was sold as a Toy. Now today we know better. The NES was nothing BUT a Video Game System. Yeah it had a Toy (ROB) but it was used to play a game on the NES. Does that make it anything less than what it is today? Of course not!

You could sell Xbox 360 controllers with Prebuilt PCs would they then be called "Consoles" because it now has a controller?

What Logic is that?

Isn't a steam machine just a pre-built gaming pc?

This ranks highly on my list of upcoming things not to buy.

@guard12: Yep. Comes pre-loaded with SteamOS and in a really nice, small, form factor.