512 GB: $1,049 USD / 1,509 CAD / 1,039 EUR / 879 GBP / 1,609 AUD / 4,389 PLN
2 TB: $1,349 USD / 1,919 CAD / 1,359 EUR / 1,149 GBP / 2,109 AUD / 5,739 PLN
512 GB w/ Controller: $1,128 USD / 1,628 CAD / 1,108 EUR / 938 GBP / 1,728 AUD / 4,698 PLN
2 TB w/ Controller: $1,428 USD / 2,038 CAD / 1,428 EUR / 1,208 GBP / 2,228 AUD / 6,048 PLN
People will talk about how the majority is being priced out of things, but that’s the whole economy. Labourers make no money. Asset holders have all the disposable income. The spending patters of maybe 9 percent of the population hold the entire thing up. Americans are slowly coming to terms with living in a country with Brazil’s class, income and asset profile.
All this to say, I expect this will do well. There are people out there who own one of every console, two Switches and a PC.
I could spend more and do my patriotic duty for the Economy but weed and food are too expensive 😔
is the food good, tho
Yeah, in the popular dialogue here it’s called a ‘two speed economy’ (i.e. subsistence earners v prosperity earners, and the different economic conditions enjoyed by and measures targeted to each)
I think what folks are missing is that this might be the future of gaming. This is mega expensive for what it is…if you measure it by prices a couple of years ago. But PC parts are absolutely fucking ridiculously expensive right now and by today’s prices this is basically on the nose.
I suspect that we’re entering a future where game companies aren’t making as many hyper realistic raytraced eye candy games and are going to have to go back to focusing on things like optimization and gameplay, simply because nobody can afford the hardware to run the beautiful but ultimately soulless games. This will struggle to run the former. It will easily run games that focus on the latter.
This might just be the future of PC gaming and it’s landing like a wet fart because the future is going backwards. The good times are over.
game companies aren’t making as many hyper realistic raytraced eye candy games and are going to have to go back to focusing on things like optimization and gameplay, simply because nobody can afford the hardware to run the beautiful but ultimately soulless games.
this is all ive wanted for games for the past 2 generations. fuck photorealism, let me run a game affordably
Every time I upgrade my computer some nerd somewhere decides all textures for all games need to be 100x the size
That nerd is basing their decision on the amount of ram available for graphics on a Playstation and unfortunately nvidia disagrees that this is the right amount and wants to sell you less.
BRB shipping concrete wall textures larger than a map of the entire known universe.
This. I bought a thinkpad, and ofc it’s not meant for gaming, but capcom’s mtframework games just sing on it. Such a wonderfully optimized engine.
Yeah I think it’s gonna be good for the industry overall. Force companies to make interesting and fun games instead of “waow look at all the pores on this face we raytraced shadows into each one”
I’m gonna be honest, I love ray-traced lighting and reflections, but I’m also a cinematographer and its cool to see games light the way we do. I’m always happier when a game is designed to look good and run great.
focusing on things like optimization and gameplay,
Did someone say microtransactions?
I hope this doesn’t go the way of Steam Machine/Controller 1 and they stop producing these due to failure. Seems they have slow, constant production planned. I’m interested in seeing how this plays out over the next year.
People are saying this will “struggle” with PS6 games, but how much is a PS6 gonna cost? If one ever releases?
Edit: Also, as usual, I hate the Internet being dramatic, and I’m hoping it calms down while this thing is still buyable. Half of YT is saying this thing is a horrible deal, as if we didn’t know its niche appeal before even the specs.
simply because nobody can afford the hardware to run the beautiful but ultimately soulless games
Dark Soulless :kelly:
lol what a piss take, the entire industry is fucked AI is destroying the biggest entertainment industry in the world
Obviously a bit of a dud but I hope it will lead to more game reviews on lower powered PCs.
Unfortunately such a shitty time to be releasing hardware. AI has fucked everything. I wasnt super interested in the hardware, more SteamOS, but even that seems undercooked as a daily driver OS at the moment.
Unfortunately a shitty time to be alive tbh
GN released a home build that was yeah, like 120 bucks cheaper but uses a $30 timebomb/power supply. Computer prices are just insanely jacked up right now and considering the PS5 Pro is 900$, I’m gonna say this is one of the better deals on the market if you’re trying to swap from console to PC. It has drawbacks, obviously, but everything is so fucked up that this is on the lower tier of fucked up.
I was actually surprised with how close the equivalent came out to be through their build. I haven’t priced out a build in years, but it was genuinely surprising to see how expensive a mid-low end build is now. Gone are the days of the $500 console killer.
The problem here continues to remain that I know almost no one that can just shell out $1050 for this device. I get why it is priced as it is, but this is definitely not going to sell to what I imagine their initial target audience was. It’ll just be relegated to enthusiasts with too much disposable income.
That said, it is a good entry into PC gaming, the platform that generally does well and can still play games from >20 years ago on a modern machine. One can’t look past the fact that I can still play the games I bought on Steam in 2008 on the computer I built three years ago in 2023. That is easily the biggest selling point of this device to the average consumer in my opinion.
It’s a little bit cheaper than comparable pre-built gaming PCs I guess? It’s not an awful deal but if you’re interested in PC gaming you might be better off getting a pre-built for a similar price and then changing out parts yourself. Especially since the article says availability is going to be poor. Like it suggests customers might be on a wait list into 2027 and beyond.
The wait alone would dissuade me from buying one. I could get a new PC tomorrow if I wanted, one that’s both cheaper and more powerful
You have to consider that even if PC parts are more expensive, it’s still going to be easier to get replacement or upgrade parts or just get in there and fix things
The biggest missed opportunity is to have consistent hardware for developers to optimise towards like how some games have a steamdeck setting. I don’t think this will catch on in the same way for the same consistency.
It’s planned for the steam frame. I believe it’s not as meaningful for the steam machine because different displays make a big difference.
steam frame.
What the fuck is a ‘steam frame’ and are Valve’s marketers specifically paid to never suggest “Steam Engine”
Please don’t ruin web search even more for us train enjoyers.
This is a non-starter price for a lot of people who are effectively going to be priced out, but for gamers with old Steam accounts with hundreds of games, there’s something to consider here.
So, I have two Macs and an Xbox Series X (and a Switch 1, and a modded 3DS). Never mind the Xbox, consider me about to purchase a PlayStation 5. The thing comes with no games and it’s what, $700 now? $800?
I have the first Steam controller. I have a few Xbox controllers. I also have an 8bitdo SN30 Pro. I have a keyboard and mouse, both of which do Bluetooth. I don’t need their controller. I feel like the 512GB model is kind of a bust. The 2TB might be worth the $300 more. Because once I have this thing, I now have a gaming machine with a few hundred games.
If you’re a brand new gamer with no games, the price stings. You might as well get a PlayStation or a Switch since you’ll have to buy games anyway. Even considering Steam has deeper discounts than anyone, it might not make sense.
I can game on Mac, but it takes some work. I got Fallout 4 for PC (GOG) running on my Mac. You have to disable gore, there’s a mouse fix, and there’s a sound fix. That’s it. Shit runs good. Haven’t tried building huge cities or walking through downtown Boston, but it works. I get like 60FPS in Sanctuary (the starting neighbourhood). I should get at least 30 downtown, but I’m not sure. Bethesda and optimisation are like fire and ice, they’re polar opposites. But since Fallout 4 recently got ported to Switch 2, which I’m assuming is ARM64 like Switch 1, it might make emulation easier. However, it wouldn’t have mod support. Skyrim has been on ARM64 (Switch 1) for about a decade, and still no Mac port. I think the only Bethesda game we got is The Elder Scrolls Online (and Fallout Shelter?) but I wouldn’t touch that with a ten metre barge pole.
$80 gets you like 1 PS5 game or 3 humble bundles full of indie games (mostly steam keys).
$80 can also get you one steam key for a new big budget release, or a stack of second hand playstation discs. The console wars are over, you don’t need to do this.
lol just buy a fuckin PC
They basically are, you can switch to ‘desktop mode’ which runs a custom linux distro and you can use it like a normal PC
But yeah you probably be saving a little money building something with the exact same specs
IMO it’s less about saving money necessarily and more about the modularity of PCs means if something breaks it’s easy to replace, if something new comes out and you wanna upgrade you can (generally). I don’t know anything about the steam machine but the lying machine says basically you can only upgrade the SSD? If it’s a 6 inch cube I imagine it has some weird bespoke motherboard and other stuff that would be hard to replace, both in sourcing components and I imagine it’s more physically difficult to work with like a laptop
Somehow the framework desktop is a thing too. Company built around repairability and then their desktop has CPU and RAM soldered to the mainboard.
