People want a console but also:
- A wider game library (Missing on Playstation and Xbox)
- No subscription (missing Playstation and Xbox)
- a working 10 foot UI (missing in windows)
- controller os navigation (missing in windows)
- no bimonthly fullscreen nags to use edge, office365, onedrive, etc. (missing in windows)
- Working ACPI sleep states. (Missing on most cheap mini PCs)
- Backwards compatibility for older titles and not needing to rebuy games when upgrading (Missing on PlayStation)
Microsoft could probably build an XBox that fixes the first problem but would probably fill it with nag screens.
People with technical skills can probably run Bazzite on a minipc but might hit issues with sleep depending on luck while purchasing.
People without technical skills just want a package that works
Well said, I think the library is the biggest point but also a harder sell for someone used to losing a large percentage of their games every generation. They see it as “having to buy their games again” in the short term.
Other than “not seeing the use case” I think the meme is right on. People hate Windows but don’t want to deal with Linux, people hate being trapped in the walled gardens of Microsoft or Sony consoles, but don’t want to deal with a full-on gaming PC. Kinda like how when iPads came out people where like, this is worse than a phone and worse than a laptop, who are these things even for?
Seems like a pretty consistent niche to me. People that want to get away from consoles but aren’t good with Linux/pc and want something that just works. I wouldn’t buy one for myself but I’d consider getting one for my nephew if he wanted to switch from his PlayStation. Anything that takes a bite out of Microsoft’s market share is a plus as far as I’m concerned.
Well what if i want something like a console but hate the big tech and dont enjoy someone spying on me? this is the only option. What if i want a console that i can modify and use as a pc or a server if i damn want to? this is the only option. What if i want a true console like experience but want to play a title that just isnt on any consoles? this once again is the only option. This thing will have so many usecases, just maybe a little specific ones… :D
I mean yes, jack of all trades master of none. But then again a mass produced hardware which will run all modern AAA games (Meaning cheaper), running on Linux (Linux being used mainstream in a user friendly sense is better than not Linux) and still being user friendly is overall a company doing something I like, and adding competition to the console marketplace.
I bought Helldivers and BG3 on PS4 for in total like $150 and I sold my PS5 and now I can’t even play those games anymore. With it being linked to a steam account, this isn’t a problem anymore they can access there paid games on any device, which I like.
Arch with KDE is for people who don’t like Linux?
Yeah, people who like Linux want to spend hours of their life debugging why the Bluetooth service starts up just fine but then crashes the computer when it tries to suspend. People who like arch would prefer if the Bluetooth service didn’t even start correctly, ideally Bluetooth requires a manual kernel module install every time it starts which they fixed with a personal script they got from a random GitHub gist which they got to autorun using a systemd module.
Maybe you weren’t aware, but SteamOS is Arch based and uses the KDE Plasma desktop.
The Steam Machine is the new Commodore 64 or Apple IIe. For one price, it’s going to do almost everything just good enough.
If the price isn’t ludicrous, it will likely be my default recommendation to anyone asking what PC to get for grandma.
Can she check her email?
Yes.
Can we just hook it to her TV?
Yes.
Can it play some kind of cooking simulation party game with the kids?
Yes.
Okay send me a parts list.
No parts list, just buy one and hook it up.
Okay. How often do I have to buy an OS upgrade?
Those are free.
Which game controllers work with it?
Pretty much all of them, but it probably also comes with one.
This is going to be the stupidly easy answer for casual gamers and casual PC users, as long as it doesn’t cost double what either of those would.
Ngl price part mainly depends on how much chatbot girlfriend technology is hoarding up everything.
Hopefully it all will crash by then.
I want to just buy games and have them work on my machine. So a console.
Microsoft is surrendering the console war.
Sony has already put malware in their products and I will not be their customer again.
Nintendo is super locked down.
Valve has always shown me excellent customer service.
Nintendo has made it better to buy a fucking steam deck and pirate their games. I think the steam deck and the GabeCube will splash the market with better performance than other consoles, better use cases and usability, and therefore make other companies make there consoles better.
As a Nintendo fan, Nintendo is like all of our toxic boyfriends. But if Nintendo either a) licensed their games to other devices or b) allowed there devices to run linux/pc games I would step (a lil bit) back on the Nintendo train.
I disagree on what it would take to bring me back to Nintendo, cause… I think its ok for them to make a fancy digital toy with games that change how we play with it.
But I want the fancy digital toy to be worth it first and be fun.
Like the DS was a planner and a doodle pad, and a contact book, and a web browser and a gameboy and a DS. They had a version that let me see games in 3D. They had a console that let me swing swords like the main character in the game that came out just for it. I could play any sport like I was actually doing it right away day 1 and design a character to play as.Now the console does nothing but play the games that dont come with it. And they dont even use a fun game mechanic they added to make the digital toy cool. They lost all passion and it is just a worse locked down version that only plays the game and goes away. Made to have you purchase more on it then use it.
I miss Nintendo.You are actually right, I didn’t think about Nintendo’s past when making that comment but I would appreciate if Nintendo stopped competing with others in the market and did its own thing to a higher extent. I mean the switch 2 is straight up the steam deck but without only Nintendo games.
It doesn’t even matter if it’s linux or otherwise, as long as they are innovating in the gaming area.
This. I am wishfully thinking that even if it doesn’t hit the ground running at launch, over time enough people will convert for it to be a commercial success. The only thing that could make me put another console in my home is my desire for physical media, but even then half of the games released are just glorified download cards. Truthfully there is almost 0 reason for an informed consumer to purchase a console now.
It’s a console for people who like PCs
It’s a PC Console for people who DON’T like PCs.
I want one because I don’t have a modern PC that can run games. I have a PS5, Switch 2, and a MacBook. I hate windows, I don’t want to deal with Linux or assembling a PC from components. I’m missing out on a lot of Steam games that I want to play. I don’t want to sit in my office and play games, I want to relax on my couch in my living room and play them.
This is for people like me. There’s a lot of us. We’re the ones that find piracy too much effort so we keep giving money to streaming services.
And a PC for people who like consoles
Exactly. I have a PC and a Steam Deck but I’ll buy it if the price isn’t completely off-putting. It’s just perfect for the living room.
You’d think those people would already have a PC…
My computer is at least 12 years old by now and according to the Steam hardware survey the majority of people on Steam has a PC that is worse than the Steam Machine. I might get one as my new desktop if the price is not too high.
Not one hooked up to their TV
May I introduce you to Sunshine and Moonlight.
No, I’m not asking you to open your curtains. Long as you have a good connection between your PC and TV, and some small TV device, you can play a lot that way.
This is cool, how do controls work? Do you use a Bluetooth kbm/controller connected to the main PC?
This concern exists regardless of what device is running on the TV.
If you have a wireless keyboard that’s comfortable on the couch, use that. Otherwise, just use a controller and launch in Steam Big Picture mode (now basically looks like Steam Deck’s main screen).
Good launchers (not all of them) also take controller input.
EDIT: But I think to reinterpret your question, yes, the device on the TV generally should have the input connected directly. That can be done with Android TV and I think Apple TVs.
What I’m wondering is whether controls have to be still directly connected to the main PC (ie moonlight is casting the display only), or if moonlight also handles controller communication to the PC.
Assuming its the former, I would imagine using a Bluetooth controller connected to the main PC, which would probably limit the physical range that I could leverage this solution.
EDIT: Rereading your comment, perhaps the remote device can handle controls. I will look into this more later when I can research it better. Thanks for sharing!
They don’t, I set moonlight up on my friends kids switch for streaming from their pc. Super easy, slick as hell
Yeah but its a pita sometimes with controls and stuff.
Why don’t they hook it to their TV then?
It’s in the other room
Why don’t they just merge the rooms then?
Why doesn’t the larger room just eat the smaller room?
That’s a load bearing wall.
Ever heard of an HDMI cable?
Obligatory fuck HDMI, but yeah
You can pretty easily just build an itx system and install linux on it. It might be a bit bigger, yes, but it’d also be easier to fix and upgrade. I believe the only thing you can change in the steam machine is the storage.
Sorry but you can easily do that. The average person cannot. Most people would have to do multiple weeks of research into what different parts of a computer even are to have any hope of building a PC. Lemmy is one of the most out of touch places I’ve ever seen as far as tech literacy goes. The average person likely couldn’t even tell you what an operating system is, let alone know what Linux is.
If you don’t want to build it just buy a prebuilt. It’s not that hard.
Ah, maybe they could make some cool prebuilt with Linux already built in. Hmm and make it small enough to fit under a TV in a small shelf 🤔
And if only that machine could use OEM parts so that people could upgrade and fix it 🤔
I don’t think you could get OEM parts that would actually fit in that space tbh. Also the guaranteed software support from valve, and set spec list allowing devs to optimize for it are some pretty huge bonuses over other prebuilts. I’m not saying building your own comp is a bad idea, but for the average user who just wants to be able to game at medium settings in most games, this has some pretty major advantages.
Unlike your itx system, the steammachine is going to be reference hardware, much like how games got a Steamdeck profile, there will be games with a Steammachine profile.
That’s literally not a selling point imo. Also, I’ve literally never used a “steamdeck” preset on my steam deck.
it’s smaller and comes with a touchpad controller for running desktop/waydroid apps, and it has hdmi cec
Not to mention the OS is way better and easier to use as an HTPC than anything else out there. That won’t be fully out until the steam machines release anyways.
You can just buy a steam controller, hdmi cec is minor feature imo and I’m not really sure what you mean about the OS being so much better than “anything else out there”. Install bazzite and you’re most of the way there.
I’d rather have a machine that’s slightly more incovenient to use but that can be upgraded and is also easier (and cheaper) to repair.
More developers will specifically test on your setup if you have a Steam Machine.
Most developers don’t test on my setup and games have always worked fine. Adjusting game settings is not rocket science. Worst case scenario, you use the low/medium/high presets.
You’re lucky if changing graphics presets is the worst case scenario. Maybe check out the recent Gamers Nexus video on Linux GPU benchmarking to see a variety of performance issues on different cards for different games e.g., frame delay spikes, super low 1% rates and sometimes just overall bad performance.
As someone who’s tried several PC-in-the-livingroom solutions, just try building a PC with good specs at that size and you’ll appreciate the niche that is being filled.
Smug basher: “But it’s not stronger than my galaxy GPU 89,000 that costs four times as much! It can’t even do 14k octovision and 122 fps dynaflax!”
Oh geez, no dynaflax?
The use case is it’s going to introduce gamers to Linux. And it’s going to prove that in PCs, just like consoles, you don’t need Microsoft to game.
I’m not a Linux person, but Microsoft, big corpos and oligopolies generally, are really starting to irritate me. I am looking at more and more ways to get them the fuck outta my life.
And maybe Linux is the way for tech stuff.
There’s a reason people refer to Linux as a rabbit hole. I started in your exact position, but even then I didn’t make the switch for years. But the more I read and learned about the constant, and I mean constant, flow of personal information Microsoft is syphoning from my usage, I made the jump.
These big companies don’t even follow the old rule of law, “If it’s free, you’re paying for it another way”. Windows is a paid product that still insists on extracting as much profit from you as they can, they don’t care anymore because they are the default regardless.
The switch to Linux isn’t bad really, there are plenty of distros aimed at the “I want to switch but don’t want to use the terminal” users that getting your foot in the door is basically painless. The worst of it is when you need to use some windows only software or run spyware disguised as a videogame.
I’m not a Linux evangelist, but I will say that after an initial “what on earth is this” period of learning the basics and doing some distro-hopping, I’ve found that I really like Linux. It can meet all my needs, it’s a comfortable daily driver, and I have no desire to go back to Windows.
I think we are reaching a moment where corporate greed is pushing people towards a tipping point. It feels like people are getting squeezed on everything and are seeking areas where things are still customer friendly.
That seems like a nice start to adopt Linux to the mainstream market. If there are more products, it maybe will be like with Android phones. I’m happy there seems to be more alternatives nowadays. Just installed one of my Steam games on my now semi Linux PC and I find it pretty cool that I can now play on that. Before, with just an emulator, it doesn’t really feel the same.
Price!
We can argue about it all we want, but basically everything hinges on its street price.
If it’s cheap, all those critiques are irrelevant.
Expensive? “It’s cute, I like Steam, I like how it mostly works OOTB,” gets real niche, real quick.
I downvote all these memes because they want to shit over a product that isn’t released yet with no price tag, all so they can feel smug superiority
Glad that helps you feel superior
Regardless of the box cost, there’s no arguing with the price of games in a Steam sale!
I don’t think I’ve paid more than £15 for a game in years and years.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the cash to spend up front. Paying more over time is easier.
Or they just get lured in by a cheap sticker price.
And again, price is still relevant. If this is well over $1K, it starts to negate the Steam storefront cost savings.
Fair enough. If they’re cash poor, grabbing one of those cheap games consoles is a good plan. 😟
People always argue about the price of the machine, but hardly anyone mentions that console people pay to play online. Which is something i can’t even really comprehend
Good point. Steam provides a lot of the same multiplayer services and match making and they’ve never cost me a penny.
Steam provides those services?
For a lot of games, yes. They provide the infrastructure for communication and connection.
Its why you can, for example, send an invite in AOE via the in-game system or the steam system.
Its why so many games show your steam name and avatar in the multiplayer menus.
You surprised to hear this?
And also why most of my multiplayer games are unplayable on Tuesday afternoons 💀
I love you Gabe but please do that shit at like 3am.
I don’t have any multiplayer games that use steam services afaik.
When was this in the office
One of the two terrible seasons after Steve Carell left the show
The Lizard King was a pretty enjoyable character to watch though. Mostly because Spader.
It’s a pretty nice custom designed PC that is guaranteed to work well with Linux. The only downside, really, is that you can’t upgrade it beyond storage and RAM.
EZ
I’m interested in the Steam Machine because I like playing on consoles. Steam’s ecosystem seems interesting because it’s more open than PlayStation’s (what I’m on currently). Additionally, I like Linux. By using SteamOS, I’m hoping bug fixes and improvements will benefit the general Linux ecosystem. I don’t want to install games on my regular computers. I want a dedicated gaming device. I don’t intend to use the Steam Machine as a PC.
