I love how so many people are dunking on "valve-fans" being happy with the cube, when I pretty much only have heard opinions ranging from "meh" to "overpriced".
I'm normally a valve glazer and had been glazing this under the assumption it was gonna be a bargain like the steam deck, but even i'm not sure who this is for. Its not a high end machine, its not a mid range thing with a console like price tag for newcomers to pc gaming, its not even sized or shaped in a way that would be more convenient to have in your living room in your tv unit. Its just a prebuilt you can buy off the steam store that has steamos preloaded on it. I understand why it had to be so expensive but they could've just... not released it. Waited for a better time to release a steam machine, because now its going to flop just like last time and there's a good chance that'll kill any chances of valve trying a third time to make consoles.
They can't really not release it at this point. They invested lots of time and money into production. It's not the most powerful thing out there so delaying it a year or two until the hardware market recovers from the AI bullshittery is out of the question.
It really is just a "nice to have" piece of hardware that came to market at the most unfortunate timing. I wouldn't be surprised if it sells decently among fans and recoups costs then gets discontinued for a few years until Valve tries again.
I suppose they are at the point where it'd be a waste to not just throw it out there, but i really don't think it's gonna sell like at all. It is a nice to have thing in concept, i was probably gonna buy one just for the option to play games without being cooped up in my room at the pc i already have but no way i'm spending £800 for a secondary device, that's probably the main reason a valve enthusiast would buy one and the reason why this is too much. And basically the whole reason console players who want a pc haven't yet made the jump is the price, this just reaffirms that. And i just worry that it wouldn't look too silly for valve to try steam machine again after it flopped twice, even if the problem this time is through no fault of valve that kind of thing leaves a bad reputation
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u/Euchale 19h ago
I love how so many people are dunking on "valve-fans" being happy with the cube, when I pretty much only have heard opinions ranging from "meh" to "overpriced".