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I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

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Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#101

Post by croon »

foo12bar wrote: post #59
Aurornis wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everywhere I see reviews of it on the internet, Gaming reviews have diverged from reality. Everything is about finding controversy and something to be angry about. Gaming journalism and social media are extremely toxic, but not really indicative of average gamers or consumers any more. > The writing is on the wall. This thing is going to flop. I would bet that it's going to be oversubscribed and sell out.

I bet it sells out, too. But selling out a heavily limited release doesn't mean they are going to make a profit.

They may not recoup R&D costs for a while depending on volume, but they will make a profit per unit. They can't sell them as loss leaders like regular console manufacturers can, since then general computer buyers would get them as a priced down unlocked PC.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#102

Post by happymellon »

libertine wrote: post #95
Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #91

I am flabbergasted by the negativity. It is more expensive of what we hoped for. Is it overpriced? I tried to calculate what a PC would cost NOW and it's exactly the same cost. I have a big Steam Library, a Steam Deck (actually 2), a desktop PC, a very old desktop pc. We are also a family of 4 and both my kids enjoy gaming (they are my kids after all), recently they started showing a lot of interest for games I play…

I don't think the problem is that there aren't people in the market for it, but more that increasingly products that used to be meant for the average middle class are now perks for wealthier individuals - to the point where I think if there's a collapse of the AAA gaming industry is because there's not enough wealthy people time to accommodate for all the titles. Like GTA VI is speculated to release at around 90$, an…

> In the end even Valve had to fall in line with the rest, and it's just sad to witness it.

It's sad that LLMs have hiked prices so high that economical computers don't exist? I would agree, but your phrasing makes it sound like Valve "had to get involved in shady practices because everyone else did" but the truth is that you can't build a computer at the moment for a reasonable cost because tech bros are speed racing us to a global climate catastrophe.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#103

Post by libertine »

happymellon wrote: post #102
libertine wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the problem is that there aren't people in the market for it, but more that increasingly products that used to be meant for the average middle class are now perks for wealthier individuals - to the point where I think if there's a collapse of the AAA gaming industry is because there's not enough wealthy people time to accommodate for all the titles. Like GTA VI is speculated to release at around 90$, an…

> In the end even Valve had to fall in line with the rest, and it's just sad to witness it. It's sad that LLMs have hiked prices so high that economical computers don't exist? I would agree, but your phrasing makes it sound like Valve "had to get involved in shady practices because everyone else did" but the truth is that you can't build a computer at the moment for a reasonable cost because tech bros are speed racin…

Yes my phrasing was deliberately like that because I think that's the general sentiment.

I don't think Valve has high margins with this when you factor in assembly and distribution costs, and I don't think Valve has the business model like some console makers had where they could afford to sell at a loss - it would be sold out anyway.

The way you summed it up as the truth, is spot on.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#104

Post by TonyStr »

St_Alfonzo wrote: post #93
apple4ever wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This is going to be perfect for my kid as he enters his teenage years. I dont want to mess with building one for him.

Let's hope his friends don't try to drag him into any competitive mainstream games. Valorant, Call of Duty, Battlefield, EA Sports FC, … Kernel-level anti-cheat usually doesn't work on Linux.

Let's hope Valorant, Call of Duty, Battlefield, EA Sports FC and others who explicitly deny their anti cheat from working on Linux react to the increasing demand for gaming on Linux, and begin supporting anti cheat on Linux.

Also, if his friends play Halo, CS2, Ark, War Thunder, Arma, Hell let Loose, Splitgate, TF2, DOTA, Overwatch, or The Finals, he'll be fine.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#105

Post by ZiiS »

nekooooo wrote: post #68
ZiiS wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be interested to know which country. In USA and UK for the price it is fairly easily match the specs with new parts. And if you leave them on their default power profile in a larger case you get better performance.

you're paying for form factor, 'it just works', and convenience. how have we been having this same apple debate for 30 years, i feel like i'm on slashdot.

Yes, I wasn't criticising just saying a large company who will also be taking a 30% rake on most software run on it is not passing on any bulk purchasing discounts. For some it will be well work the convenience, for me it is not (but the Deck was).

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#106

Post by casey2 »

slibhb wrote: post #14
everdrive wrote: post #8

"Nothing is safe, nothing is reliable, and I am looking at the extremely real possibility that I am already unemployable if I have to go back on the market." Anyone I know who has needed to look for work has had a hell of a time with it. It's a scary world out there.

In the US, unemployment is at 4.3%.

Meaningless considering gig work counts against unemployment, but has none of the benefits traditionally associated with employment. It's 14.3%-19% if you include full time gig work and %30.7-35.4% if you include part time gig workers.

It's ridiculous to say that the "economy works" or is doing well if 99% of people deliver pizzas. Most of the wealth created doesn't come from pizza delivery if people aren't participating in the industries that generate value then they might as well be outside of the labor market entirely.

It's shocking that people don't understand the history or purpose of the unemployment metric. If someone living in a rural town moves to an industrialized city and they cannot find a job then the industrial machine needs more capital allocated to it. Currently we've built a slave economy were low tiers service high tier people. It's a very easy trap to fall into for obvious reasons, but it stalls growth.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#107

Post by esseph »

foo12bar wrote: post #94
esseph wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve has been working toward this ecosystem for over a decade. This is a single product offering among a growing product line that provides access to their store. To be clear, their competitors are pretty pathetic. > I think you're too cloae to take any criticism I'm not even their target market, nor would I buy one when I can roll my own on my own hardware - even using SteamOS if I wanted. https://www.theverge.com/…

Their competitors are xbox and playstation and the cost is way more than each of these. You admit you won't even buy it because I guess you are too technologically inclined. And yet it's not a flop to you. Why? The fact they've worked on running games on linux for over a decade and still only have a 5% market cap does not bode well for them. This was supposed to be their great moment, and they ruined it with an expen…

I guess time will tell. ;)

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#108

Post by nisegami »

foo12bar wrote: post #79
esseph wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't understand how Steam works, the culture around it, or why people are excited about this. > So what are you saying? They can do this single limited release and then discontinue it and everyone is going to be happy about it? They're selling a gaming console, of which in their case the hardware is the least important part and a means to an end. It is commodity hardware. No integrated memory. No special sauce.…

I think you're too cloae to take any criticism. Any result seems like it'd be a success to you.

I think most of the non-success outcomes involve an objectively bad experience, regardless of the price. Example of that would be a buggy system that feels more like a cut down PC than a console. From reviews, we see that this outcome doesn't seem to be the case.

The other potential failure outcomes involve selling the product at a loss, or tying up too much cash in it and having liquidity issues while stock moves. Valve's cash flow is likely excellent, we know they're not selling it at a loss and we know they aren't producing too many.

So overall, the possible outcomes all seem like different degrees of success.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#109

Post by nisegami »

croon wrote: post #101
foo12bar wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet it sells out, too. But selling out a heavily limited release doesn't mean they are going to make a profit.

They may not recoup R&D costs for a while depending on volume, but they will make a profit per unit. They can't sell them as loss leaders like regular console manufacturers can, since then general computer buyers would get them as a priced down unlocked PC.

And importantly, they have the finances to support that R&D expenditure taking longer than expected to be recouped. The same situation with a small company would be very different than a company with solid income elsewhere.

Re: I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry

#110

Post by pirates »

bigyabai wrote: post #70
nekooooo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you're paying for form factor, 'it just works', and convenience. how have we been having this same apple debate for 30 years, i feel like i'm on slashdot.

People say this about all unjustifiable products. "Why do I want a Juicero? Why do I need a Surface Laptop?" The same form factor, just works, convenience argument. Nobody wants to acknowledge that it's all marketing halo. It takes less time to install SteamOS on the PC that you already own than it takes to buy and unbox a Steam Machine. But that's not "oooh new thing" retail therapy, so everyone waits with bated bre…

Somehow “it just works” is a meme or joke for every company except Valve
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