Steam Machine: A worthy System Wars contender?

Do you guys feel like the new Steam Machine will be a next-gen System Wars contender? Will big name developers embrace the Steam console? Or will the SteamOS deter AAA developers who aren't familiar with a Linux software environment? It's a bold move by Valve to push their way into the living room, what do you guy think about it?

Still a PC.

It will have little impact on the console market.

Steam machines are PC's, or devices that stream PC games.

So yeah, it will be a contender in that PC will be the largest "next gen" capable system over the next couple fo years, and will still be where innovation happens years after the consoles have surpassed it in install base.

They will have a Steam controller and SteamOS, and they already have the network infrastructure to deliver games via Steam itself. It sounds as if they want to capture what's left of the PC market and herd them all together. Similar to what Microsoft did with Xbox but with a different approach, while deterring gamers from using DirectX on Windows in favor of OpenGL on Linux. And what is a console anyway if it isn't just a computer that plays games?

Consoles have gimped\customized hardware that you wouldn't find directly elsewhere.

Steam machines will be PC hardware stuck in a tiny box.

A "Steambox" is no different to an Alienware PC. You can run the Steam OS on both and you can use the Steam controller on both.

While I agree that a Steam Machine will be more capable of customization, I still feel that by limiting the operating system to the SteamOS and making Steam the primary source for games, they are essentially converting the PC into a viable console. The choices of hardware are predetermined by Valve and then assembled by one of several vendors. They are trying to standardize system specifications to ease the development of games for a PC, which is one of the primary concerns for studios making and debugging PC games.

Steams already better. So, more betteryer?

@SKaREO: I'll be sticky to game consoles for the most part. Only PC games I'm eager to play in the future are Wasteland 2, EverQuest Next and Star Citizen. So until those come out, I'll be playing 360, PS3, XB1, PS4, PSVita, 3DS and maybe some older Wii games.

I could care less about SteamBox. If you have a powerful enough PC rig, you'll never need SteamBox.

Wrong.

Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot?

Sure.

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/

It's just a PC. A PC running Linux

Personally I can't see much merit in SteamMachines. However, I had similar thoughts about Steam before it launched, and Valve is certainly anything but idiots.

Certainly more-so than the XBone.

Yes

Well this is what I'm implying. Would it be okay to label the Steam Machine as a better console than an Xbox One or a PS4? Or is it simply not a console just because of it's slightly more open-ended hardware and software environment?

Slighty more? Its a PC you dummy. Its no different than a PC built by Cyberpower or Alienware.

So if I reformat my HDD, install steam OS, my PC automatically becomes a console? Some pretty infallible logic there.

@SKaREO: Personally, until we see one in action and what the pricepoint for it will be, I think a lot of people are talking out of their asses because they see it as a threat to all the systems potentially.

Me? I just want to see it. Steam has been an incredible service to me and to bring that to the console arena SHOULD have people shaking in their boots a little bit. This generation could be the "Return of the Core Gamer" and if Steambox is an intelligent kit (aka, good performance at a good price with a major software catalog) then I see a good case for the WiiU to be in trouble for chasing after the tablet market and XBone in a really bad position because of its high price and lack of focus.

ALL OF WHICH is, of course, supposition on my part. But it sure as shit would make me happy to see.

That's clearly one side of the argument, that it is not a console but just another PC. I have a really hard time comparing an Alienware PC which is manufactured by a single vendor to a Steam Machine which comes with it's very own operating system, content delivery network, and custom controller. I understand that you can install the OS, access the content delivery network, and use the controller on any PC build, but does that limit the Steam Machine from being considered a gaming system of it's own?

Seeing one in action is totally irrelevant. There are already heavy duty PCs that kick ass at playing games, that doesn't magically make them consoles or platforms on to themselves, they're still PCs. Just as Steam Machines are.

A $400 Steambox would have a whole lot of System Warriors crying themselves to sleep.

It's also be about as powerful as a netbook and relevant in the PC space for about 5 months

Like I said, its a just a pre-built PC with a Steambox badge on the front. Its for people who want to game on PC but can't afford the masssive upfront costs.

Well, one build has a GTX Titan inside of it. I don't know of too many netbooks that can match the raw power of a Steam Machine.

If you think that build is going to be anywhere near $400 you're not very bright

I think a few people might be underestimating how much Valve is ready to invest in their new systems.

I think a few people are tripping balls if they think Valve are going to be heavily subsidising these machines. They have third party vendors they can't under cut.

Stop thinking with a console mentally here. Valve are not making a console, they are bringing Steam into the living room. They aren't building the machines themselves, they are getting third party vendors to make them.

I dont think that this Steambox will be a very big contender in the console market especially since its an all digital system and the price will probably be too high for most people.

That's like saying a particular alienware PC vs an Xbox One.

It's a damn PC, an HTPC I presume.

Netbooks have integrated graphics and use very entry level cpu's.

Steam Machine is like an HTPC with an m-ITX motherboard.

I don't think you can call a i7+Titan combo an HTPC.

The steam machines are the devices I'm rooting most for this gen. The other companies are stumbling buffoons in clown shoes by comparison.

You are joining the Master Race soon. You don't need a Steambox.

Fine. "Gaming" HTPC.

Can Valve buy hardware at a loss like Sony and Microsoft can?

Is Valve willing to sell Steam machines at a loss like Sony and Microsoft are?

Is Valve going to match Sony first party?

Is Valve going to have a billion dollar advertising campaign?

Sony and Microsoft will keep an eye on Valve, but these machines are not going to take a significant amount of market share away from Playstation or Xbox.

lol forget about Sony and Microsoft's Xbox division. If they start undercutting on PC components Intel, AMD, nVIdia, Lenovo, Fujitsu etc will obliterate them. Valve don't have anywhere near the sort of money to start trying to radically upset the apple cart of world wide PC component prices.

Valve aren't even making these. Its companies like Cyberpower that will be making them and slapping a "Valve Steambox" badge on it.

If successful, I can see PS4 and X1 struggling, so yes to your question.

Kudos to Valve for pushing Linux forward since Windows is going downhill thanks to Windows 8.

Well, they're just PCs.

If they have the right marketing behind them though, they could easily cut into the console marketshare.

It's designed so it can be used like a gaming console, has a controller that 'should' be more than capable of playing console games, and PC-esque titles, and may have a decent price point.

hopefully because wiiu is obviously out of the race and we need a trio.

Yes,the PC is already a SW contender,and since that´s what the steam machines will be then that question is pointless.

It´s all PC.

Currently an entry level PC with a GTX 660 or equivalent will run you around $800. This sets them apart from the consoles because of the high price, despite offering better image quality, they have a bad cost-to-power ratio. The Steam Machines could be competitively priced and offer much better features to the consumer than the PS4 and X1 have, and therefore make a console priced PC that is suitable for gaming on a TV.

That´s all somewhat true but they´re still PC´s,so the point of this thread is moot.

Well, I'll tell you this right now. if the Steam Machine can't be considered a system of it's own that can compete with X1 or PS4, nobody is going to buy it. PC gamers already have PCs, and console fans don't want a complicated personal computer, they just want to plug a disc in and play games. So this Steam Machine is not going to sell at all.

with the money to get one I figure it's probably just better to get a beefier desktop PC, if they can get the cost down then maybe sure it could be a console contender but that's probably not happening soon, and if it's a closed system I wouldn't really consider it a PC then it's a console

People still can't seem to grasp that it is still a PC.

Funny, I don't know ANY personal computers that sell with their own custom designed gamepad and gaming operating system.

I can use any controller (including steam controller) and instal steam OS along with windows, that will make my PC a console or a steam machine?