So how are the steam Machines faring in the market these days?.....

[Gunslinger]

For the handful or so people that remember the idea behind these things were to bring PC gaming one step closer to console gaming. Giving you a chance to play your PC game in console like settling AKA bring your PC games into the living room. But I hardly hear about these things anymore..what happened? what went wrong? seems to me it failed to win the console market and people who already own top of the line PC aren't going to spend any money for an overpriced(IMO) consoles such as these. Where do you think the idea of these things went wrong? Obviously ps4 is wiping the floor with these guys heck probably even the wiiU is wiping the floor with these guys.....Even though these things will probably outperform the PS4 maybe at a higher price but seems to me normal casual gaming crowd don't care about higher graphical fidelity or fps....

Thoughts?

 

[Beautiful Ninja]

I doubt anyone but internet forums posters like us know they even exist.

 

[Muzicfreq]

Forgot about them

 

[SlaughterX]

No vr killed it

 

[Weetrick]

These are on the market?

 

[poodaddy]

I'm a PC gamer and I knew it'd be a failure from day one. I think it stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding of demographical differences and what is attractive about PC/console vs console/PC as well as the erroneous belief that console gamers want to be PC gamers and that PC gamers want their PC to be more like a console.

 

[Stimpack]

It was a bad idea from the beginning. If the price had been more appealing, sure, but it wasn't and wouldn't have been. The only thing people should've been interested in is the steam OS.

 

[Gunslinger]

I'm a PC gamer and I knew it'd be a failure from day one. I think it stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding of demographical differences and what is attractive about PC/console vs console/PC as well as the erroneous belief that console gamers want to be PC gamers and that PC gamers want their PC to be more like a console.

I agree with you. Most serious PC gamers probably have their computer already decked out. No point in spending on these things for them. But I thought this would atleast have some effect on the console market. But I think it didn't even put a dent.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

...I didn't even know they were already out

 

[poodaddy]

It was a bad idea from the beginning. If the price had been more appealing, sure, but it wasn't and wouldn't have been. The only thing people should've been interested in is the steam OS.

Nailed it. Man I was really interested in Steam OS; it's a damn shame that it didn't pick up steam.....pun kind of intended.

 

[Inoa_K]

Steam Link happens ? I don't know how popular it is actually but it seems a better option if you already have a computer.

For those who don't, it seems still more expensive than a traditional console.

 

[Gunslinger]

...I didn't even know they were already out

I think they have been out for more than a year now. Could be even 2 years.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

From the very beginning they were never designed as a direct competitor to consoles. Just as an option for those interested in PC gaming on a TV.

The only one that I ever see mentioned or sell (I own one my self) is the windows version of the alienware alpha. Mainly because its tiny, reasonably priced, decent spec and still has full windows. It's own software over the top allows it to play like a console if you desire (I removed that).

It was never going to be a huge hit though. Steam OS is far to limited right now and plays far to few of the big games. Windows gives you so many more options plus you can just have it boot into steam big picture mode and get the console feel if that's what you want.

Small gaming pc's that can plug into the telly, there is a healthy but niche demand for.

Steam OS, not so much.

 

[LewieP]

They make far more sense as a long term strategic safety net for Valve than they do as mass market consumer devices in today's market.

 

[poodaddy]

I agree with you. Most serious PC gamers probably have their computer already decked out. No point in spending on these things for them. But I thought this would atleast have some effect on the console market. But I think it didn't even put a dent.

Yup, I never met anyone who would be willing to trade off their console for mid tier PC performance and to be honest they shouldn't. I have a PS4, Xbone, and Wii U along with a pretty meaty PC(980 ti), and to be honest the types of mid grade cards they were putting in those steam machines just weren't going to justify the price of moving over to PC and they wouldn't provide the GPU horsepower necessary to really blow a console out of the water, so honestly the idea was dead before it ever really took off. Pricing was a mess, solidarity was a mess, consistency was a mess, 3rd party agreements were a mess, it was all such a mess.

 

[Jonm1010]

Marketing, complexity of choices, low is adoption and price factor doomed it in my mind.

Valve should of been more Apple about it. I know that goes against everything they stand for but if not Apple, Android. Make one to three flagship steam boxes that kill it on price, performance and ease of use. Sure let whoever else wants to get in on it do so, but put muscle, marketing and better enticement behind your flagship hardware.

In the end everything came off like a bunch of Alienware PC's with an operating system that couldn't play all the games. No one wants that. And I say that as an X51 owner.

 

[Terbinator]

No vr killed it

I'd say this is probably the biggest factor, especially given Valve have their own headset.

 

[Jonm1010]

I'd say this is probably the biggest factor, especially given Valve have their own headset.

Also true.

Valve would of been much better if they launched steam boxes centered around plug and play VR.

Marketing it as the ultimate experience and then having 1-2 flagship boxes that enticed consumers could buy at a good price with luxury aesthetics to sell it. But also being able to play console games at much better resolutions. A jack of all trades box.

 

[Basileus777]

I expected it to be a niche product, but I'm not sure it has even found that niche. The whole project is weighed down by Linux which has no appeal to consumers. Instead of identifying a hole in the market and making a product, Valve created this to separate themselves from Windows and there's just not much of an audience for it.

 

[border]

The Steam Machine initiative was just a hedge against the paranoid fantasy that Microsoft was going to lock down Windows and cut Valve out of any kind of software distribution platform.

As such, Steam Machines' success entirely depended on Microsoft locking down Windows (or at least looking like they would). Since they never did that, then Steam Machines sputtered out pretty quick.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

As one of the 300 who got a prototype of the Steam Machine, I knew from the day I tried it out that it would be a heavily niche thing that'll never really do well in the market. I mean, back then, I just dropped the controller, added a hard drive with Win 7, and only went back to SteamOS and that awful controller for 20 minutes everyday for testing purposes. I'm glad I was able to help make it better, but the truth is that it's not something that appeals to the mass market because of what it was; a premade desktop with a Linux based OS and a mediocre to bad controller solely designed for the purpose of playing games with dozens of different builds and models ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars by multiple brands with little to no marketing. The whole thing's a mess.

The Steam Machine initiative was just a hedge against the paranoid fantasy that Microsoft was going to lock down Windows and cut Valve out of any kind of software distribution platform.

As such, Steam Machines' success entirely depended on Microsoft locking down Windows (or at least looking like they would). Since they never did that, then Steam Machines sputtered out pretty quick.

That's another thing, the whole project was a result of a paranoid fantasy. When the reality showed it wasn't going to happen, they realized that it was a pointless endeavour and basically gave up, sending the entire concept to die. Now they're focusing on VR, Steam Link, and the Steam Controller, I rarely if ever hear them talk about the SteamOS and the Steam Machine these days.

 

[peaceiscloser]

The only one that I ever see mentioned or sell (I own one my self) is the windows version of the alienware alpha. Mainly because its tiny, reasonably priced, decent spec and still has full windows. It's own software over the top allows it to play like a console if you desire (I removed that).

My Alienware Alpha is my main machine. I got it for about $300 which is NOT bad for a machine of its specs and its size. It practically takes up no space on my desk. I love this thing.

On the other hand, I remember Best Buy used to stock these guys but they're pretty much gone now. It's too bad, because they really are choice PC's for someone looking to set something up as a HTPC. Also it runs practically everything I throw at it decently. Great starter gaming computer.

I feel like a big problem now is that PC requirements are going to skyrocket a ton for what people are going to expect, with VR coming out. Steam Machines are pricier than consoles by far, and most of them are not even close to being powerful enough to do VR. That's what's going to hurt them the most.

 

[Memorabilia]

What's a Steam Machine?

(Love ya Valve. But when I can build my own custom HTPC systems and most games still only run on Windows, the market for a Linux SteamOS box is niche at best)

 

[LilJoka]

They aren't good value for money, they are still PCs at heart, therefore will still have all the issues PCs have that a lot of consolers complain about due to the nature of an open platform.
They didn't achieve much because they didn't do anything new. They are just pre built PCs with steamos installed.

 

[Apt101]

The Steam controller being horrible couldn't have helped.

 

[border]

That's another thing, the whole project was a result of a paranoid fantasy. When the reality showed it wasn't going to happen, they realized that it was a pointless endeavour and basically gave up, sending the entire concept to die. Now they're focusing on VR, Steam Link, and the Steam Controller, I rarely if ever hear them talk about the SteamOS and the Steam Machine these days.

Even when Valve was dedicated to SteamOS it still seemed like kind of a half-assed and hopelessly Quixotic endeavor to move game development over to Linux. Once they realized that Windows was going to remain an open platform, then even that half-hearted effort disappeared.

 

[maquiladora]

These are on the market?

.

 

[Phoenix944]

I wonder who would buy that honestly. If I'm interested in PC gaming, I'd just build my own machine (it's maybe less expensive that way)

 

[Imperfected]

Anecdotally: I have never seen one or met someone who claims to own one out in the wild.

I think this is significant because I attend DigiPen. Basically every student has one or more consoles and/or an enthusiast desktops/laptops. It's not rare to see five or more MSi laptops in a room at any given time. It's basically a fact that every student in some of the programs has a Steam account, and even in the programs where it isn't basically required, the number of people who don't have one is vanishingly small.

If no one here is their market, I'm not sure where their market is.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

This whole SteamOS episode makes Valve and Gabe look incredibly, incredibly incompetent. It's not even that it was badly designed but more the way they handled it. It was like: 'SteamOS is gonna change PC gaming' very quickly turned to 'we can't really be arsed to push this whole thing' and a dramatic back-down in tge face of MS and DX. I was 100% ready to support it and so were many others but if you get the impression that Valve don't give a crap, why should I.

 

[User 479360]

I remember all of the buzz, but didn't realize they'd been released. What happened to the interest?

 

[Palculator]

These are on the market?

Was similarly unaware.

 

[Psychological Intellect]

legit thought these were still a rumor LMAO

holy cow these are out?

 

[Tezzeractor]

The only Steam Machine I'm interested in is the Smach Zero. Kinda skeptical about it actually releasing though, but Steam's Linux library would be enough to satisfy me on one of these.
Non-portable Steam Machines don't seem like a good investment.

 

[weekev]

They are in direct competition with Ouya.

 

[Rembrandt]

A decent amount of posters here didn't know they were out which is a serious problem.

They had potential but I can't even remember any advertising. They should have pushed these more because I can see them appealing to certain groups of people.

Talk about how it compares to the current consoles and talk about the savings in the steam store.


Tbh, I keep forgetting these are out, too.

I'm sure some of these computers could run Vive, so why not have a bundle or use the PCs to advertise it?

 

[ashecitism]

I remember all of the buzz, but didn't realize they'd been released. What happened to the interest?

There was never much interest after Valve officially announced the intiative. The only relative buzz was before it with rumors and speculations and all.

 

[mrklaw]

IMO it was a misguided vanity project by valve. The concept of buying an off the shelf small form factor gaming PC is a good one - the market is right for that I think. But they derailed it themselves by pushing SteamOS which simply wasn't ready to replace Windows (and may never be). And for consumers all it does is save a few dollars as the system builders don't need to pay for a Windows license.

A better option would have been to support the concept of steam machines simply as SFF gaming focused PCs that boot up into steam big picture mode, but still using Windows because that gives you access to the full steam catalogue, and also allows you to help consumers rationalise the cost by thinking 'oh but I can also use it for X or Y because a it's like a proper computer'


The current VR ready PCs and oculus VR bundles are already better steam machines than real steam machines are

 

[bobawesome]

I'd imagine the Alienware Alpha is the only one that's doing at least decent.

As an owner*, I'd say it's pretty good for what it is.

*not technically the Steam Machine since it has Windows but aside from that...

 

[Rivitur]

Well since PCs are steamachines I'd say they're doing just fine.


Also Plz let the smach do what it says it's gnna do.

 

[Lurgan1337]

I guess they ran out of steam!

Ha-ha! Right, guys!... guys?...

 

[HariKari]

SteamOS is an escape hatch for Valve. Steam machines are just small form factor PCs that vendors market as having SteamOS. They aren't expected to be a commercial success and don't need to be.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

Never got the impression there was a market for this.

 

[Dahaka]

do you guys remember how many here proclaimed them steam machines killing off the consoles?

 

[Falk]

They are in direct competition with Ouya.

I was about to contest this, then I realized what you meant.

 

[Alpende]

I actually forgot about them until this topic.

 

[Bedameister]

I didn't even know they're already out

 

[Haunted]

The initiative brought us the Steam controller, so at least it wasn't a total loss for everyone involved, I like that thing.

do you guys remember how many here proclaimed them steam machines killing off the consoles?

Oh yeah, I do remember two or three people or so like that on here.

The initial response both from GAF and the greater market seemed to be tepid at best, and nothing's changed since then.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

do you guys remember how many here proclaimed them steam machines killing off the consoles?

No. I thought most ppl were like "meh, I'd rather buy/build a PC"

 

[mcz117chief]

I guess they ran out of steam!

Ha-ha! Right, guys!... guys?...

Don't beat yourself up, it's a pretty decent joke.