It's Time to Bring Back the Steam Machine

I'd like the Steam Machine to come back with the addition of being an HTPC. Why? Because Valve is big enough to arm wrestle streaming services into releasing an official app.

I basically want a user customizable, privacy respecting Xbox.

Or, you know, just connect the Steam Deck to the television...

They have. It's called the Steam Deck.

Two popups before I can read an article means you don't get read. Bye.

It's called a Mini PC or a NUC. They already exist. Go buy one and slap Steam on it. Done.

The people who actually want this have already done it.

I still have a Steam Link, does that count? Lol

What value do they have? They were just custom prebuilt PCs running a special version of Linux that weren't that much cheaper than a non-Steam Machine PC. Nothing is stopping you from building a PC and installing the same OS running on the Deck and then calling it a Steam Machine.

I would not even hate this idea. To be honest, I would even think about buying one. I switched to Linux a year ago, while having Windows as dual boot option. I only used Windows for one game, which had a nasty Anti Cheat back then. Nowadays it is working on Linux. So I have no reason to use Windows anymore. And as I love Valve since the early days, I always try to get my hands on their products.

I've seen these mockups for a steam controller that is essentially a steam deck without a screen multiple times now and it looks like absolute dogshit. This would be far from "the perfect controller".

Steam machine? Nah. Just Steam OS would be enough.

I would love to have a Steam Machine. I love my Steam Deck. However... the nature of Steam games, so far, even on the Deck, is that you need to bop "ok" every once in a while, or even enter a username or something for some unwashed-ass game, and that's a lot harder on a form factor that doesn't have a touchscreen...

I just really want a Steam controller tbh. :(

What ever happened to SteamOS? I want to be rid of Microsoft now more than ever.

I wouldn't hate a non-portable steam deck, especially if they can make in-home streaming between the steam machine and the deck seamless

Bring it back as an HTPC like the peeps are saying, low-ball it on the price like 500 bucks or less, maybe even take a hit on it or just a hit on the profit margins, pre-install all the stuff people might need, and then blam, you've guaranteed that most people will be casual users who want a lower-end computer and a smart TV/console replacement, and not higher tier hobbyists who want a more powerful machine. Confining your audience to that specific market share basically guarantees they won't take advantage of the lower or negative margins on the hardware itself, and will probably buy some amount of steam games. They're also using a device in your ecosystem now but idk what you do as far as that goes to make a good profit while not being a scumbag

or just make the steam deck your primary hardware platform and ensure it can connect to everything and use all peripherals. refine it. make it unbeatable.

i think going in on more hardware is not wise.

No I want a steam deck and a dock that lets me also slot in a discrete gpu

The future of pc gaming should be tri upgrade platform

Regular consumer should really only have to worry about upgrading their deck, their connector dock, and their gpu

Hobbyists who like to max out may get into the deck and upgrade that should they wish

I just want to play games on my deck on the go, get home and slot it in so it outputs thru my gpu at 4k60, and literally pick up where I left off when on deck

A triple upgrade platform will allow more consumers to incrementally increase performance without overloading them with info ala pc building

So a kid could start out with the deck, and get a dock, then later get the gpu

During generation upgrades people can decide if they want to get one of the three options for upgrades in the new gen

They basically already have one. The steam deck with the dock (though you have to provide your own controller.)

They'd certainly gain some performance improvements by building a dedicated steam machine, but it would also split the market for the steam deck, which the article already talked about as being a negative of the first iteration.

Dunno, I probably wouldn't get a stationary steam machine over a mobile steam deck. Though being able to use Thunderbolt 4 for an eGPU on a steam deck would be a welcome enhancement, but that's a whole different discussion.

steam machine - daft punk

That controller has some serious Atari Jaguar vibes.

No it's not

Hell yeah brother. Started playing Hades 2 on my custom chimeraOS PC yesterday in the living room. I absolutely love the experience. I've been considering getting that Hx100 PC from minisforum and running bazzite on there to replace my custom PC for a smaller console like footprint. The time is nigh!

Steam deck without the screen. And with a controller.

They must be waiting for the Steam Deck 2 so it'll at least be 1080p natively.

honestly at this point bundle the dock w rechargeable wireless controllers and let me convert the deck I already love into a pseudoconsole.

yes, absolutely, as long as we don’t become ignorant to the huge ethical issues with steam like their decade of running an underage gambling surrogate. sorry, i just take issue with the article pointing out flaws of xbox and playstation without counter-balancing those criticisms with something about valve. valve is certainly better than both sony and microsoft in every regard, but they are not innocent at all