Steam Machine Prices Range From $499 to $6,000 for First Generation

[lacktheknack]

I still don't understand who is this for..console gamers? Really doubt it because they are glued to their respective consoles (X1,PS4 or WiiU) due to exclusives. PC gamers? They can just hook up their PC to the TV and use Big Picture Mode.

So can someone explain me why these exist? I just don't get it. If you are planning to pay more than 500$ then just buy the parts individually and you can get more bang for your buck and just use Big Picture Mode. If you really want to get the SteamOS just install it instead of Windows? And buy a Steam controller and you are golden.

Congrats, you just built a Steam Machine.

As I said in another thread, I bought an Alienware computer over seven years ago. If 2006 me was transplanted to today while I was looking around, I'd have bought a Steam Machine instantly. As is, I'm interested in building my own. Prebuilt PC is still a market, I don't get why no one accounts for them.

OT: I'm amazed and pleased that they got that many manufacturers on board. The variety will be fun.

 

[Smooth Operator]

The POINT of getting a console is standardization.

That is the point of first party consoles, the point of Steambox was always a reliable gaming package however the hardware manufacturers decide to make that happen.

I do agree that they are still missing the very critical designations or ratings of Steambox Basic / Advanced / Extreme (or something) otherwise you make it no easier on the user to choose their flavour, then they are straight back to the minefield of PC gaming and the extraordinary amounts of knowledge one needs to make a good purchase happen.

 

[JenSeven]

My summary of this all:
Too much choice, too little focus and too expensive.

Get a good HDMI cable (a long one if necessary) plug it into the back of your PC, plug the other end into a TV.
Set up the TV as second screen and make the HDMI cable the audio output and done.
Enable Steam's Big Picture mode.
There you have your Steambox.

It can run Netflix, any browser you like, can send your emails, twitter and whatever else you want.

And if your PC is too far away, get a laptop.
There are plenty of laptops that are cheaper and more powerful than their equivalently priced Steambox. And they are more useful since you can carry them with you and use them on the go.

 

[misg]

I bought pikmin 3 for $45. Sold it for $40. That was a month after release.

Steam games have no refunds, no trade-in value, require online-only (all of them have to be downloaded), encourage geopricing ($90 for Dishonored in Australia? GTFO), and have a habit of breaking when used in conjunction with steam (whereas regular copies are fine).

I really don't see why valve even deserve any modicum of the market with what they've shown. Hate to say "I told you so" to the public but really, I was telling everyone who would listen that these would be expensive because there was no logical way they'd be cheaper than the sum of custom parts.

Anyone that honestly thought the steambox would do well with what they were shown was delusional. You can't compete with a $500-570 console with your $600+ LINUX (GL trying to sell that to anyone that doesn't already build their own PC) box that can only play linux games or play windows games poorly through wine (and if you dual boot then congratulations they ended up buying a windows-installed PC anyway) with less longevity than a console. The x360 came out in 2004 yet still could play AAA games 9 years later. My 2008 PC? Couldn't even run Guild Wars 2 or Crysis 3, even on the lowest settings.

First of all you starting to make stuff up and I'm not sure why you are so upset about this. The xbox 360 came out in Nov 2005, two years after you claimed it did. Also steam doesn't require you to always be online you can go offline all the time, I plan my installs and when I work out of town in the middle of no where with no internet I can still play my games. As for your games that you resold for 90% of the retail value maybe that is true but no retailer is going to give you that much for a used game best I ever got for around 60% for a new game I was done with.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this system and props to you if you can sell your used game for that much, I just don't see that being the norm.

I never said steamboxes will be the answer for everyone, I have 3 computers hooked up to my TV right now and I'm not the target of these systems and it doesn't sound like you are either. The people I would recommend this to is friends with kids that want to control what they buy for their kids without breaking the bank. People who aren't PC savy but want a good easy experience in their home. These systems if done right will be plug and play. Giving an option to those who don't want to have to play $60 for every game they want. You have a system you prefer and that is great and yeah if you want a game now now now, you are going to pay the price for it. Personally I would rather pay the price I feel is reasonable take my time and get to enjoy a large amount of different games. Also these systems will still play many many games for years to come. Maybe not the AAA titles but lots of indie games, plus we also have 20+ years of quality games already out there that even the lowest end steambox shouldn't have an issue playing.

 

[Jamash]

Looking at this from the hypothetical point of view of someone who's relatively uninformed about PC specs and would buy a Steam Box for the simplicity of convince of consoles coupled with the power and value of PCs...

... if I were to buy a $6000 Falcon Northwest Steam Box at 12x the price of the Xbox One, could I expect 12x the experience and performance of a Xbox One?

Would I be able to play AAA games at 12960p and 720FPS on my TV?

I know the full specs haven't been revealed, but with that model, the only thing that looks like it's scaling with the price is the storage, at 12x the HD capacity for 12x the price, but apparently the 500GB in the Xbox One is overpriced compared to what you can buy PC storage for.

Obviously that's the most extreme example and the $6000 Steam Box isn't aimed at uniformed customers, but enthusiast, however it still seems over-priced and contrary to what I though the the point of the Steam Box was (i.e. cheap & simple small form factor PCs that can compete with consoles for convenience and value for money).

 

[lacktheknack]

Looking at this from the hypothetical point of view of someone who's relatively uninformed about PC specs and would buy a Steam Box for the simplicity of convince of consoles coupled with the power and value of PCs...

... if I were to buy a $6000 Falcon Northwest Steam Box at 12x the price of the Xbox One, could I expect 12x the experience and performance of a Xbox One?

Would I be able to play AAA games at 12960p and 720FPS on my TV?

You can have 12960p at 60 FPS, or 1080p at 720FPS. Not both.

That said, no you can't. I have no idea who would buy that one. Be fair and judge the reasonable ones.

 

[loc978]

I wonder if it's just the different pricing that we get for computer components in Estonia, but 500 usd = 366 eur for Intel Core i5, GTX 760, 8gb RAM looks very attractive. I put together a PC with i3, HD 7770 build half a year ago and paid more. The only thing that's a bit small is the HDD. And the case itself doesn't look bad either.

So if I was looking for a new PC and could get my hands on one of those at 500 USD in my country, I would seriously have to consider it. Depends on how upgradable it is though.

Anywhere in the EU you're going to be paying a markup plus VAT. When I was stationed over there it was actually cheaper to have people buy for me at home and pay the shipping costs (this was before newegg could come close to matching OEM wholesalers, for the curious).

Expect to pay more outside of the US or Eastern Asia.

 

[TomWiley]

- So what exactly is a Steam machine?

- It's a console but with swappable PC components!

- So it's basically a PC?

- Yes, but you can hook it up to your TV and play games with your controller!

- But wait, can't I already do that on my PC?

- Yes but it's about it's about twice as expensive, incompatible with most Steam games and it comes in a cheap, fancy-looking plastic shell!

- Wow! This is truly the PC hardware revolution we've been waiting for!

 

[Something Amyss]

Yes, because that's not what every single console manufacturers want as well.

Microsoft and Sony are largely interdependent corporations. Even if you argued just their console branches wanted to, they're doing it horribly by building consoles that use each others' technology.

And Nintendo doesn't seem out to destroy anyone, as they're off in their own world doing their own thing.

Every console manufacturer wants to be #1, but I doubt any of them particularly has a vendetta to drive the others out of business.

I think the major selling point of the Steam Machine is meant to be its Operating System, Steam OS.

The one you can download free and put on any machine? That seems like an odd major selling point for Steam Machines.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Yes, because that's not what every single console manufacturers want as well.

Microsoft and Sony are largely interdependent corporations. Even if you argued just their console branches wanted to, they're doing it horribly by building consoles that use each others' technology.

And Nintendo doesn't seem out to destroy anyone, as they're off in their own world doing their own thing.

Every console manufacturer wants to be #1, but I doubt any of them particularly has a vendetta to drive the others out of business.

I think the major selling point of the Steam Machine is meant to be its Operating System, Steam OS.

The one you can download free and put on any machine? That seems like an odd major selling point for Steam Machines.

Yeah, but consider that most people, even if they own a computer are tech illiterate. Do you really think that newbie Steam OS user is going to know how to run a PC in dual boot mode, or run more than one OS?

 

[DrOswald]

Yes, because that's not what every single console manufacturers want as well.

Microsoft and Sony are largely interdependent corporations. Even if you argued just their console branches wanted to, they're doing it horribly by building consoles that use each others' technology.

And Nintendo doesn't seem out to destroy anyone, as they're off in their own world doing their own thing.

Every console manufacturer wants to be #1, but I doubt any of them particularly has a vendetta to drive the others out of business.

I think the major selling point of the Steam Machine is meant to be its Operating System, Steam OS.

The one you can download free and put on any machine? That seems like an odd major selling point for Steam Machines.

Well, that is because it isn't true. Not exactly. The point of the steam machine is to try to make PC gaming easy enough for anyone to do. The idea is you get all the benefits of Steam/pc gaming while requiring none of the expertise. In other words, if you can build your own machine you are not the target demographic for the steam box.

 

[2HF]

The lack of uniformity is a good thing.
Consoles aren't 'uniform'. They keep trying to 'up' the price by making 'special editions' with 'more GBs'.
Well, Anyone who knows anything.. Knows that a 100GB vs 500GB Console, means absolutely freaking nothing.
They are the same damned console!

Give or take about 400 GBs.

I don't know about anyone else but I'm willing to pay more for a large pizza than for a medium one. That's just me though.

Also what the fuck is with pizza places having large and medium pizzas but no small pizza. Do they not know how the English language works? Words have meanings, and when you put them in lists they must relate to each other. You can have small, medium, and large. You can have small and large. You can not have medium and large. It just doesn't work.

 

[DrOswald]

I still don't understand who is this for..console gamers? Really doubt it because they are glued to their respective consoles (X1,PS4 or WiiU) due to exclusives. PC gamers? They can just hook up their PC to the TV and use Big Picture Mode.

So can someone explain me why these exist? I just don't get it. If you are planning to pay more than 500$ then just buy the parts individually and you can get more bang for your buck and just use Big Picture Mode. If you really want to get the SteamOS just install it instead of Windows? And buy a Steam controller and you are golden.

Congrats, you just built a Steam Machine.

As I said in another thread, I bought an Alienware computer over seven years ago. If 2006 me was transplanted to today while I was looking around, I'd have bought a Steam Machine instantly. As is, I'm interested in building my own. Prebuilt PC is still a market, I don't get why no one accounts for them.

Because most gamers, and generally most people for that matter, are incredibly self centered. It's not so much that they can't see the other point of view, it is that they actively refuse to acknowledge that their could be any valid point of view but their own. And so we get dozens of PC gamers bitching about how the steam box is a stupid and terrible product because they personally don't want one.

 

[Something Amyss]

As is, I'm interested in building my own. Prebuilt PC is still a market, I don't get why no one accounts for them.

I was under the impression prebuilts were on a rather significant decline, though overall PCs were seeing increase. That would be a reason to discount them, as a large chunk would be going to business/home office use.

 

[lacktheknack]

As is, I'm interested in building my own. Prebuilt PC is still a market, I don't get why no one accounts for them.

I was under the impression prebuilts were on a rather significant decline, though overall PCs were seeing increase. That would be a reason to discount them, as a large chunk would be going to business/home office use.

Prebuilt may be on the decline, but I haven't heard of any of the major vanity labels (say, Alienware) going out of business. On the decline doesn't mean gone (or even close to gone).

 

[barbzilla]

I think the major selling point of the Steam Machine is meant to be its Operating System, Steam OS. That will apparently be much more gaming friendly than Windows. Everything else is just window dressing for a gaming PC. It's a computer that does everything your computer already does, but also plays games better.

Except for the fact that the SteamOS is free, and it is Linux based. While Linux based may be fine for Valve, most of your big developers are going to stick with the Tried and True Windows OS. So you may end up getting a really expensive box that will only run a portion of the games on Steam (currently only about 30% of the library on Steam is compatible with Linux as a rough estimate comparing between my two systems). Now they can set up a Windows Emulator to run games inside of Linux, but that is going to eat up even more resources than just running it in Windows to begin with.

In short, the only good thing to come from this will be a free version of Linux that has custom drivers meant to help accelerate the games that are compatible allowing for some cheaper PC builds to be effective (oh, and a rather nifty looking new controller).

 

[Kahani]

Does it still come with your shitty distribution service, Valve? If so, I'm not interested.

You're not interested because it comes with an entirely optional and ignorable bit of software? There are all kinds of reasons I don't think there's anything particularly useful or innovative for giving generic PCs a silly name, but that's certainly not one of them.

Other than the controller which will be available seperatly, there's no difference between one of these and a windows pc.

Except that you can use the controller on a Windows PC as well, so there's actually no difference at all.

The point of the steam machine is to try to make PC gaming easy enough for anyone to do. The idea is you get all the benefits of Steam/pc gaming while requiring none of the expertise. In other words, if you can build your own machine you are not the target demographic for the steam box.

That would only make sense if all PCs currently required you to build them yourself. Since pre-built PCs have existed for as long as PCs have existed, and are still by far the biggest part of the market, that's not a selling point at all. To summarise, here are the points put forward in favour of Steam PCs:
1) Standardised hardware to make PC gaming more reliable and less confusing.
- As seen in this article this simply isn't happening, with 14 manufacturers and a price range greater than a factor of 10.
2) No expertise needed to choose parts and build the thing.
- No different from the vast majority of PCs.
3) Easy to use with TV instead of having to have a separate computer hiding in the corner somewhere.
- Has been easily possible for decades even before Steam brought out their "big picture" mode to do exactly the same.
4) Controller.
- Console controllers have been useable on PCs for years, and the Steam controller is no exception.
5) A new OS.
- The OS is free for use on any PC. You can already buy a PC with Linux instead of Windows, and the same could be true for SteamOS if Valve allow people to sell them, so the fact that many people won't want/know how to install a new OS is irrelevant.

Not a single one of those points is actually in favour of Steam PCs. The first isn't true, and rest are just general points about all PCs. There really is absolutely nothing to see here.

 

[RicoADF]

Except that you can use the controller on a Windows PC as well, so there's actually no difference at all.

Well I did say that it's available separately, so obviously yes you can get them and use it on a Windows PC, I assumed that was clearly stated when I said the hardware is identical to Windows PC's except that it comes with a Steam controller in the box when sold to the consumer.

 

[DrOswald]

The point of the steam machine is to try to make PC gaming easy enough for anyone to do. The idea is you get all the benefits of Steam/pc gaming while requiring none of the expertise. In other words, if you can build your own machine you are not the target demographic for the steam box.

That would only make sense if all PCs currently required you to build them yourself. Since pre-built PCs have existed for as long as PCs have existed, and are still by far the biggest part of the market, that's not a selling point at all. To summarise, here are the points put forward in favour of Steam PCs:
1) Standardised hardware to make PC gaming more reliable and less confusing.
- As seen in this article this simply isn't happening, with 14 manufacturers and a price range greater than a factor of 10.

Standardized hardware was never a selling point of the steam box. A standardized experience was, but that is very different from standardized hardware. In fact, the exact opposite was true. They specifically said that there would be many different types to fit all needs. Did you even read their announcement? lets look at the very first thing they say:

"Finally, a multiple choice answer
Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS."

The selling point is that there is not standardization. You get what fits your needs and you can change or upgrade as you want without making all your old games obsolete.

2) No expertise needed to choose parts and build the thing.
- No different from the vast majority of PCs.

Not true. A computer designed for gaming and nothing else does not exist on the market. Hybrids exist, but that is a different thing.

3) Easy to use with TV instead of having to have a separate computer hiding in the corner somewhere.
- Has been easily possible for decades even before Steam brought out their "big picture" mode to do exactly the same.

This is technically true, but ignoring important details. A normal gaming PC can connect to the tv but they are virtually never designed to do so. The look and work like PC's, they are as large as PC's, etc. This is a deal breaker for the vast majority of users. They will never have a PC tower next to their TV and they don't fit well in entertainment units. This is a PC designed for TV use. This makes a big difference.

4) Controller.
- Console controllers have been useable on PCs for years, and the Steam controller is no exception.

I think you misunderstand about this one as well. The Steam controller is different because it will be designed to work with the PC. Again, there is a big difference between being able to use a controller and being designed to use a controller. Yes, your xbox or PS3 controller can be used with your pc but it requires extra parts or driver installs. And it can't make use of all of it's functions. Without some modifications you can't turn on your PC with a press of the button, for example. Zero setup, zero hassle, everything works correctly right out of the box. That matters a lot for a lot of people.

5) A new OS.
- The OS is free for use on any PC. You can already buy a PC with Linux instead of Windows, and the same could be true for SteamOS if Valve allow people to sell them, so the fact that many people won't want/know how to install a new OS is irrelevant.

This is literally what a steam box is. Any PC that is sold with Steam OS as the default operating system. So if you want Steam OS but you don't want to install it yourself, you buy a steam box.

So, like I said, nothing to see for power users who don't care if they have a mid ATX tower next to their TV and who know how to make a PS3 controller work with a PC. But for other people this is a good product. Just because it is not for you does not make it bad.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yeah, but consider that most people, even if they own a computer are tech illiterate. Do you really think that newbie Steam OS user is going to know how to run a PC in dual boot mode, or run more than one OS?

So why are several of these machines set to run dual boot/multiple OSes? That still doesn't help much with the idea that these are for the "tech illiterate."

Well, that is because it isn't true. Not exactly. The point of the steam machine is to try to make PC gaming easy enough for anyone to do. The idea is you get all the benefits of Steam/pc gaming while requiring none of the expertise. In other words, if you can build your own machine you are not the target demographic for the steam box.

Not really my argument, but....

The fact that it's not really standardised and that they're fundamentally indistinguishable from a line of PCs doesn't exactly help here.

Prebuilt may be on the decline, but I haven't heard of any of the major vanity labels (say, Alienware) going out of business. On the decline doesn't mean gone (or even close to gone).

In a period of pretty noticeable declines (at least ten percent in each of the last four quarters), there's a large difference between people not going out of business and people pushing to expand the business.