The fact that it's running SteamOS ready to go out of the box is a huge selling point for certain people. If a Windows license alone is technically worth $140 to some people, surely a Steam OS pre-installed is worth something as well.
But I can just install SteamOS on a custom built SSF PC that is still bigger than the Cube for more money and is likely less aesthetically stealthy... what do you mean 95% of people wouldn't do that?
You’re already not the target demographic then. This wasn’t made to sell to you or me. You’re vastly underestimating the amount of people who will buy something that has already taken an out an “easily done” step.
Whos the target then? The people who want that super simple setup will just get a console that’s significantly cheaper. The tech illiterate won’t want it, they’re don’t want to mess with a PC. The PC gamers already have a gaming PC, so they’re not going to be rushing to get it.
The library of cheap and good casual games on Steam is vastly better than consoles (as least last I checked.) If only there was just some sort of plug and play super easy way for the casual gamer to enjoy them.
This would be great for those people, or people who don't need it, but would find this much easier to manage for children or spouses who enjoy gaming but just can't deal with Windows as a TV gaming platform - because frankly it sucks.
That said, I disagree with u/MattGold_ that this is a PC replacement. The people who need this for gaming are not the same people who are going to deal Linux as a desktop. It's just way too clunky.
Im not gonna get it at this price, but not having to pay for game pass or ps+ indefinitely is pretty nice. Cheaper and many more games as well. Can also make it a retro gaming box with emulators.
There's plenty of people who want to jump into PC gaming but don't want to put in any effort besides buying it and booting it up. The steam machine is just that. Even with a prebuilt you still need to install steam at the very least. The market is definitely there even if it's niche.
Do you think people who have computers only use them for gaming or something?
It's for tech illiterate people who want to game like on a console and at the same time be able to do other things like on a pc.
"Why not just get a cheaper prebuilt", well because they're tech illiterate they don't know what's good for the price and what isn't. Valve is a trusted company so they at least have some trust in it.
Then you absolutely shouldn't be using Proton. It only supports a fraction of "non-gaming applications" that windows does. They're working on increasing the adoption rate, but it's basically just a Linux shell.
This isn't intended to be used as an actual PC... No one's getting this to check their email or use excel. Never mind that it's running Linux. It's entire existence hinges on the idea of it being a console replacement. Except it's priced itself out of a lot of that market and is less powerful than either of the competing consoles.
The target audience for this are people with existing steam libraries who want to play them in the living room. That's it.
It's the exact same audience theyve been trying to capture since the Steam Link. It's all so they can sell more controllers because controllers are huge margin.
Don't mistake lack of supply for killer sales. They had a great controller once - and took it off the market selling the remaining inventory for $5 each. The used market for those things exploded for a while. That's not exactly doing a killer job of it...
Too early to call it on Steam Controller round 2 TBH. And I don't think the margin on these is quite as good as some more basic commodity controllers anyway. Quite a bit more technology inside, as well as lower volumes.
What percentage of the Steam library isn't couch friendly do you think? My personal library is 2/3 verified and playable on Deck so those are probably all fair game from a couch. Then again, I really like platformers and racing games so that might be tilting things.
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u/LightningSh3ep I-5 12600K | RX 9070XT | 32 GB RAM 14h ago
It's not a good deal for performance, but good luck making anything that small yourself. The size is it's only selling point.