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Steam Machine launches today

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Re: Steam Machine launches today

#491
post #488

> Why a randomized reservation order? [...] we wanted to create a system that would be less frustrating and more fair for everyone. A launch that starts at a specific day and time tends to reward bots, people with fast internet connections, talented gaming fingers for quick F5/refresh reactions, and those who can schedule their life around that moment. By accepting reservation signups over the course of a few days, w…

Interesting, as it sounds like a lottery reservation system, which is kinda a neat way to deal with many issues. I'm always supprised that companies don't do a tiered price release, offer it at 200% price, you get it, 150%, you lower down the list and then 100% lottery time, that way they gain from those who can afford to pay more(maybe able to subsidise other sales later and price cuts down the line). Why feed scalp…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition

In governance, sortition is the selection of public officials or jurors at random, i.e., by lottery, in order to obtain a representative sample.[1][2][3]

In ancient Athenian democracy, sortition was the traditional and primary method for appointing political officials, and its use was regarded as a principal characteristic of democracy.[4][5] Sortition is often classified as a method for both direct democracy and deliberative democracy.

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to see a generalized FOSS reservation system that could be used for just about anything that would help address the issues Valve listed. It could be as simple as a short lived deployment (1,3,7,14 days) that writes out the entries to a Google Sheets. I have encountered so many people trying to come up with their own approach to this problem that I think it would be worth solving. Maybe I can find time to…

Seems weird to base a FOSS reservation system on... Google Sheets?

Fair point but I mean it eliminates state and would be familiar to just about anyone that might need something like this.

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#493

> Why a randomized reservation order? [...] we wanted to create a system that would be less frustrating and more fair for everyone. A launch that starts at a specific day and time tends to reward bots, people with fast internet connections, talented gaming fingers for quick F5/refresh reactions, and those who can schedule their life around that moment. By accepting reservation signups over the course of a few days, w…

I am more surprised there's people lining up to buy this when it's genuinely cheaper to get a used PC off a local marketplace. I feel like this is unnecessary as I am pretty sure they'll be able to fill it in one shipment.

It is neither cheaper or easier to get this build?

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to see a generalized FOSS reservation system that could be used for just about anything that would help address the issues Valve listed. It could be as simple as a short lived deployment (1,3,7,14 days) that writes out the entries to a Google Sheets. I have encountered so many people trying to come up with their own approach to this problem that I think it would be worth solving. Maybe I can find time to…

Would love to know if you decide to work on this, or if otherwise, want to collaborate. feel free to email me hello@mannan.is - or maybe I'll begin work on this before you and we can share notes edit: I don't particularly care for Google Sheets, just the idea of solving the underlying problem.

Yeah I regret throwing that in the mix because it seems to have rubbed folks the wrong way for whatever reason. I just think avoiding storing state means it's a much easier project. Doesn't have to be G sheets.

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve gets it. I very much want to support them and vote with my wallet. Unfortunately the Steam machine isn't a good fit for me. I will buy the frame in a heartbeat though. HMD with a FOSS OS? That's in its own class.

One can still be a billionaire and not use shady tactics.

unfortunately, not that straightforward in valve's case.

they created a nasty gambling system with their loot boxes that exists outside controlled casino environments and which impacts young adults a lot.

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#496
post #428

I respect what Valve is doing here and I loved the Steam Deck but a prebuilt desktop PC with 16 GB system memory and 512 GB storage for $1,000+ is insulting. Those are specs that belong on a laptop or a lowend console offering like the Series S. I think this product is going to be hamstrung by its attempts to present as a midpoint between a PC and a console. The way this is being achieved seems to be by selling a dev…

Here, try your hand at assembling one much cheaper at the same performance: https://pcpartpicker.com/

I don't recognized the CPU/GPU and PC building isn't my field so I could way off. But here's my honest attempt at it without paying a premium for the form factor which isn't an important feature for me:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3WkCdq

Price: $1021

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#498
post #319

The pricing is all out of sorts. Close to $500 more expensive than a PS5 for worse performance. I understand this is a PC and you can do other things with it, but if you're buying a gaming device to play games this is a horrible value.

If you have hundreds of Steam games you bought through sales events, then that changes the calculus a bit.

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#499

It's funny how this (imo) almost feels like an inherently inert topic to discuss: Is it dumb of them to do this? Not really, they got unlucky with the timing and they already designed the machines. Selling them below cost to subsidize steam-sales would probably create bad incentives for them. What will this mean for Valve's future? Nothing, they're still a relatively lean company with a money machine. Will this dissu…

>Selling them below cost to subsidize steam-sales would probably create bad incentives for them.

They could have sweetened the deal somehow, though. Maybe owners get a discount on games or something. It was bad timing, but it's not like they can't afford to take a bit of a hit for good will.

Re: Steam Machine launches today

#500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This device does sit between mac-mini-esq lower power devices and compact enthusiast builds and, like the Steam Deck, it's an attempt to build a new segment. That said, if you think paying $1000 for this kind of hardware is some kind of exception, I think you should go take a look at what you can get on the prebuilt gaming PC market. You get a little less because the Steam Machine has a small footprint, but if you're…

No it does not. The Late 2024 M4 Mac mini benchmarks x1.6 faster in ST and 2x in MT. The Mac mini costs $600.

Now play games on it and show me the benchmarks.

I mean that for real: I’ve been impressed by the performance of the M4 Mini I own, but a gaming machine it is not

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