What the world needs right now is Steam boxes. Just build a $500 PC, slap Steam OS on it and you're done. The ecosystem is already there. I really don't understand why nobody has done this.
this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
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Ah yes, the steam machines. Combining the downsides of PC and Consoles since 2015.
Have you been living under a rock for the past three years? Have you heard of the Steam Deck?
Which is a device that combines the downsides of an UMPC and a handheld game console?
I have.
But you've obviously never used one. Maybe you should try to see beyond your preconceived notions.
I have it sucks. What do you want me to say?
It is expensive to buy, it is not especially well built, has a display from 2009, has specs from about 2013, has fans so you cant leave it on a bed turned on, it takes up insane space, honestly more than a laptop because of the stupid shape, needs a case, because it doesn't fold like a laptop or a nintendo DS, the matte screen is only for the top of the line one which is taking the piss.
The software it runs, for better or for worse is linux... Some games work, some don't. There. What should I have missed?
Edit: The battery life is poor.
What are you comparing it with?
Maybe you should approach it with more realistic expectations? It does what it does really well but I guess you can't please everyone.
Edit: Oh and I just checked: they go for pretty high prices on eBay. So if it's so terrible, you can just get rid of it.
Can you build something like that for the same price as a higher end console? These consoles are designed to be loss leaders so it's hard to beat if you just focus on the hardware price.
Yes you can. You can build a PC with a RX7600 CPU for about $600. That's about in the same performance ballpark as a PS5. If you mass produce those and trim down some features, you'll be able to hit $500. And you won't have to pay the Microsoft tax. Sadly, this is also why it's not happening. I'm 100% sure MS are furiously working behind the scenes to prevent anyone from coming out with a system like this.
Though, caveat, the PS5 has been out for a few years. At the time it was introduced, I imagine it would have been more competitive.
Also, I don't think that the term @[email protected] is looking for is "loss leader". I believe that he's referring to the fact that the console is sold at a loss, while the console vendor -- who has monopoly control over the platform -- forces game prices up and extracts some of the money that game developers make. That's a different pricing strategy from use of a "loss leader" albeit with certain similarities; in the "loss leader" strategy, purchase of the sold-below-cost item isn't normally tied directly to sale of other products. I'd call this the razor-and-blades pricing strategy:
googles
Yeah. Wikipedia even uses console video game pricing as an explicit example in the first paragraph, including mentioning the distinction from a loss-leader strategy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_and_blades_model
The razor and blades business model[1] is a business model in which one item is sold at a low price (or given away for free) in order to increase sales of a complementary good, such as consumable supplies. It is different from loss leader marketing and free sample marketing, which do not depend on complementary products or services. Common examples of the razor and blades model include inkjet printers whose ink cartridges are significantly marked up in price, coffee machines that use single-use coffee pods, electric toothbrushes, and video game consoles which require additional purchases to obtain accessories and software not included in the original package.[1]
Personally, I don't really want to play games on my television.
But I'm probably not really representative.
I think that the bigger issue is that a console has to be absolutely idiot-proof. You can't have troubleshooting or tweaking or anything. Put game in, it works, fully and completely. You can't go screw up the system by misconfiguring it.
Windows PCs aren't really there -- if they were, people would use Windows PCs, not consoles. Adding Proton to the mix -- since a lot of Steam games are Windows binaries -- adds another layer of complexity to that.
If you go to ProtonDB and every single game had a Platinum rating, which they do not, that's still not enough. That means that you have something on the level of Windows, which still doesn't meet the bar for a lot of people who use consoles.
EDIT: Well, okay, to be fair, Steam does provide a certain limited amount of best-effort isolation between games when using Proton by having a different WINE prefix for each installed game, so that's arguably one way in which Steam+Proton is closer to the "appliance" model than a simple Windows PC.
I don't mean to say that this is for everyone. But they sold a couple of million Steam Decks and I'd bet there's a market for a couple of tens of millions of these boxes. And I'm not talking Windows here but Steam OS (or some derivative). That's based on Linux but you'll never notice unless you want to. For most people it's just a store and a launcher. While maybe not quite as easy to use as a console, it's certainly doable for the average gamer.
They did try this a while back, steam machines were around at 2015. I could see it getting a rebirth in a similar design to the steam deck in a few years though.
Steam OS and big picture weren't very mature yet at the time. I think now that the Deck has proven the UX, they could definitely revisit this idea. And I pray that they do because it could mean more Steam controllers on the market
Seriously, I ordered a steam controller right before they were discontinued, and got a refund :(
Sad, it really is my favourite media pc controller
Yes, I'm aware of that. But the software just wasn't there at the time. But now it definitely is.
Heard this two generations straight already.
Maybe PCs. IF Microsoft brings out a cheap and form factor PC instead of a Xbox whatever they call it. And that'd be a good thing. Besides, a Xbox Series X and a PC is about the same thing except less configuration on the console, and that's fine... Microsoft still makes games, they just bring it to PC as well as their console. We should applaud that.
But no, Consoles and PCs will be in gaming as long as people buy millions of them, and the good news is they don't buy millions, they buy HUNDREDS of millions.
And Gen Z continue to buy them too. Because GenZ is 22-38. I hate the phrase but I feel like "OK Boomer" is actually appropriate here.
GenZ is 22-38
Um, no?
Gen Z is 12-27.
Millenials are 28-43.
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