Steam Machine($500 PC) impact on pc gaming

Hard hitting Expose guyzs!!

How will the PC have an impact on the PC?

Discuss

Xbone user must feel a bit rip off that a 500 dollar small factor PC in 2014 has better hardware than it at the same price.

I like it, but Valve may be late to the party. If they don't offer some great launch deals, or if it doesn't come in a bundle with a bunch of pre-installed great PC games, I'm not sure why would anyone buy this instead of PS4 or even X1.

I hope Valve kicks Microsoft out of the gaming business

Will have no impact sad to say. We have known of steamboxes for months yet console break sale record and are not affected. Developer follow the money and they profit more on console, this is why so many dev treat pc as second class.

I expected GTA5 pc announcement by now but still has not happen. Seem next gen console are even higher priority and they will not announce pc version until they are ready to announce ps4/xbone as well.

So give me one good reason to buy a Steam Machine instead of just a 500$ computer?

1. Valve's gamepad.
2. Small form-factor.

Those are the advantages, in a nutshell. SteamOS is free, and able to be installed on any PC. The parts are also pretty decent.

@Mr-Kutaragi:

Same old stuff your spouting again and rockstar making GTAV for the ps4/xbone is only a speculation and yes please list me all these dev treating pc as second rate citizens. And the steambox releasing can easily have an impact when there are people interested in pc gaming not to mention getting something at a cheap price that has better hardware than next gen console.

find me a $500 pre-built computer other than this steam machine with a R9 270. 1...2...3...GO!

I'll be here waiting for your report.

1. No Windows, but Linux-based SteamOS made exclusively for gaming purposes.

2. Steam Controller.

3. Shitload of great, cheap games.

4. Looks better than a $500 PC.

That's one hell of a price and better than ps4 and xbox one spec wise damn console fanboy must be quaking on their feet hearing that in 2014 pcs for a price of a console get's you something better in hardware than any out there. This is only the beginning in a few years we will see more offering even lower prices that could shit over consoles.

Please do not cry of butthurt. I cannot even list so many dev treating pc badly, no gta5 announcement of biggest game in history, never released RDR. Bad or late port is regular occurance. What kind of spec require to run latest COD lol?

@Mr-Kutaragi:

You mean COD ghost that runs better on PC and the requirements for it isn't really bad they already reduce the ram requirements and the the game on console doesn't run very well so yeah....

If I can play all my Steam games on there I'd happily buy it. I'd much rather play my Steam games on a Console than on a desktop PC as I've never really been a PC gamer of any kind.

@Mr-Kutaragi:

Butthurt about what? Hasn't rock star announce the PC version after console release for GTA for almost 14 years now this isn't new they did the same thing for over 10 years . COD on console doesn't even run that well on console the PC runs it better they already changed the requirement which isn't at all bad or did you forget the fact that it need a patch on PS4 to play SP on 1080p oh yeah real good port there. Yes please list them all since you seem to think its a lot when devs are excited about things like steambox and mantle.

Well I wouldn't look for one pre-built, if you want the Steam Machine to play Steam games odds are you can build your own it's easy, but with that said you could just wait 6 months and find them no problem.

@Puckhog04:

Its not a console especially when your playing games compatible to any other pc.

1. Don't see how that's an advantage unless you're biased against Windows

2. I don't get what's so special about it and I'm willing to bet you could use it on a PC as well.

3. Don't see how that's any diffrent from the PC Steam is Steam

4. Opinion and who cares what it looks like.

Well I wouldn't look for one pre-built, if you want the Steam Machine to play Steam games odds are you can build your own it's easy, but with that said you could just wait 6 months and find them no problem.

Butthurt of my ownage. This is speculation, same argument used for RDR which still does not exist of pc. Ouch. I hope they announce pc version but taking so long. COD ps4 runs 1080p above 60fps according to DF.

Bad port, late or never coming to pc game, dev treating PC badly. Dev follow money and console break sale record and still high demand, obvious that steambox has no effect. Harsh reality.

I only care for the streaming, so a low end steam machine would do me good.

How about a Steam USB for streaming games off your PC?

It's a console in the sense that you play it on an HDTV with a Controller. Really all I care about.

Cool. Don't buy it then. Stop bitchin about it. Problem solved.

I guess that makes my PC a console too then lol

Your PC was built with a Controller and an HDTV in mind rather than a Computer monitor and KB/Mouse? I guess so then.

steam has this thing called big mode you know. Designed to be used with a controller and TV. So yeah I guess you can say so lol.

You missed my point completely...which doesn't surprise me. The Steambox is meant as an entrance for Valve into the Console market. It's being built to have the accessibility of a Console with all of Valve's Steam games as the platform to use and to buy games. That is the purpose of the Steambox. Please think before responding. It's been widely known that the Steambox is Valve's attempt at entering the Console market. They are just doing it in their own way. The fact that you're attempting to be condescending yet really can't grasp or understand where I'm coming from is astoundingly sad.

That wont be possible because it runs on Linux, so only Linux supported games will work on a Steam Box. Fortunately though the micro-ATX form factor is becoming a more viable option for gaming PC builds, so if you want a gaming PC but also want portability and something you can use in the living room then your best option is building your own micro ATX PC, installing Windows onto it and buying a Steam Box controller for it (if they turn out to be any good). You could also dual Boot Steam OS, but I don't really see the point in that to be honest.

I think my next PC build is going to be a Micro ATX. I have a massive Corsiar 800D right now and while it's great to work with it weighs a fucking ton and is a bitch to move around.

@Mr-Kutaragi:

Except it isn't a speculation when I said Rockstar has been releasing and annoucing GTA games after console release for years never said anything on GTA V coming to PC. And should I name some big games that came late to console or never been released to another console.

The PS4 version needed a patch in order to achieve it that's nothing out of the ordinary when the PC had a patch to reduce the requirements which still ran better than the consoles at launch. Also there were issues on other console platforms.

Going ask you again show me the large list

That's a shame. I'll have to look into the micro ATX PC. Didn't realize Steam Box ran on Linux to be honest.

He's not bitching, he's just pointing out how many of your supposed advantages of the Steam Box could just as easily be applied to any other PC. Are we not allowed to share our opinions on things if we're not in favor of them? Or is that only a problem if you don't happen to share their views?

So the current catalog of Steam games won't run on the Steam Box? Would you have to buy the games again on the Steam Box if you already have a pre-existing Steam account? I think I'm missing something here because if it's a Steam OS based on just gaming purposes; wouldn't it just support every Steam game?

dude i know what valve is trying to do with the steambox. You called it a console because you can play it on an HDTV with a controller. I said (and rightfully so) that I can do that right now with steam so does that make my PC a console? Then you responded with was it designed with a controller and an HDTV in mind to that I said well actually yes that is EXACTLY what it was designed for.

No one is arguing what the steambox is supposed to be. I'm just saying your definition of "console" is flawed.

@Mr-Kutaragi:

Talk about bad ports on PC when COD Ghost on PS4 had to have a patch to fix FPS issues.

Most of the games on Steam are Windows only because they require Direct X to run. Direct X is an API (application programming interface) provided by Mircrosoft and is only available on Windows. The Steam Box runs on Linux, which does not have Direct X, so any game that is exclusively Direct X cannot run on Linux. You can view all the Linux supported games in steam now to get an idea of how many games you can expect to run on Steam Box. We can't yet know for sure if they'll all support Steam Box, but you can be pretty sure most of them will.

You won't need to re-purchase any games you have to run them on Steam Box, simply sign into your existing Steam account and all your games will be their, though of course only your Linux supported games will run on Steam Box.

@Puckhog04:

By your logic many pc can be considered a console because they can play on a TV with controller which was one of the reason for Steam Big Picture.

Claims is not speculation, speculates. Also, what? You running out of steam, weak post is weak.

Western reviewer though ps4 version was lower framerate when in fact was running higher unlock(CroidX owned). Pro MS media got caught.

Bad port, late or never coming to pc game, dev treating PC badly. DRM, joke requirement, console getting DLC first. Rockstar, Activision, Ubisoft, EA are biggest dev and treat PC second class unfortunately with these issue. Dev follow money and console break sale record and still high demand, obvious that steambox has no effect.

You don't need a steam machine for streaming, if you have a laptop or something like that, you could always use that. Unless of course you want a dedicated box in your entertainment system.

I think it's pretty easy to make a distinction between a console and a PC and it has nothing to do with controllers or TVs (you can play a console on a PC monitor too, ya'know...).

Essentially, a gaming console is a closed system that cannot have it's hardware upgraded (this doesn't include hard drives, since they are technically peripherals) and runs an operating system which limits its functionality to gaming and some limited multimedia features. The Steam Box is certainly getting close to console territory, for me to consider it a console it would have to limit its functionality to gaming and some multimedia, and not allow you to upgrade hardware or install another operating system.

Just as an example, I'd consider a modded (original) Xbox running some form of Linux a computer. I remember way back in the day my friend had a modded Xbox and it really was a computer more or less - you could even increase the amount of RAM your Xbox had.

@Mr-Kutaragi:

Claim is what? You seem to not comprehend English very well which is obvious from all those grammar issues from your posts.

That still does not changed the fact it had FPS issues at launch there were issues on the other consoles for COD Ghost.

You know Sony and Microsoft pay for DLC first right like MS with BF and GTA4. And did you forget those pc exclusives features for AC4? Also what about online passes that's a form of DRM.

You know other console games had issues at launch

http://www.gamefront.com/dice-apologizes-for-bf4-launch-issues-with-full-week-of-double-xp/

Second class citizen?

www.vg247.com/2013/11/23/ubisoft-pc-optimization-is-a-key-process-for-all-our-games-and-is-an-important-platform/

"That’s why Ubisoft had a team dedicated solely to building the PC version of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, working on everything from the UI to the controls to wide range of settings encountered in PC gaming."

"We are very proud of the PC version of Black Flag: the game runs well on low-end PCs, and lots of additional features were added for higher-end machines, allowing each and every customer to fully enjoy the experience on their PCs. Our partnership with Nvidia that saw our respective engineering teams work together to develop a highly optimized PC version also demonstrates our commitment to the platform."

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/dice-claims-that-15-titles-powered-by-frostbite-will-support-mantle-hints-at-unannounced-games/

Why buy an Xbox One when you can get a more poweful hardware at the price of 399 or 499

Gaming PCs are also increasing.

Pretty believable to me. $180 GPU; probably a 120-140 CPU (I would think FX 6300). Throw in some sub-hundred dollar mobo. 8Gb of RAM, a small form factor PSU, and a 500Gb HD and that about covers the rest of the costs. The main advantage with this is that the OS is free, so they're able to beef up the specs quite a bit.

because people value other things besides power.

My LAN party gaming PC (which is based on Mini-ITX mobo) has R9-290 and it has "fat" PS3 like mobility.

I value TV's too. I can't wait for the Halo tv show exclusively for Xbone.

The irony is unbearable.

@ronvalencia:

Good for you! But Steam Machine isn't really targeting you

@supercowelitist:

The spec for it is better than next gen console.