I am a person who will look at the Steam Machine and cry • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by Npovview » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 7:34 PM UTC

blitzar wrote: post #26

foo12bar wrote: post #18

At this price point they should have never released it, they should have waited. Everywhere I see reviews of it on the internet, come along with forced smiles and talk about how they agree with the philosophy behind it and they should be commended for fighting against Windows. But ultimately no one recommends this to the general public. The writing is on the wall. This thing is going to flop. Only thing they can do n…

> The writing is on the wall. This thing is going to sell out. If prices go back to normal, v2 of this product will be great. This version, at these specs, at this point in time would only be a buy if it was good value (like $500). People will buy them all anyway.

Dave2D covered it very well.

https://youtu.be/Huw11M9aaMk

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

#62

Post by vel0city » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 7:36 PM UTC

topgrain2 wrote: post #54

vel0city wrote: post #5

I'd say if you feel this way and you're not really using the Steam Deck as a handheld you might as well sell it and take the money to buy the Steam Machine. Used 512GB Steam Decks go for >$500, you'll probably get a bit for selling the docking setup you have as well.

... holy shit, why are they so high used, I'd never have guessed?! Thank you for pointing this out, as someone with a Steam Deck I almost never use and a desktop gaming PC running bazzite that I do use, a lot, but wanted to replace with a Steam Machine, I'll probably do exactly his.

> why are they so high used

New ones are $800-950. Other new handhelds that have much less brand caché out there are $1,000 or even more.

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

#63

Post by bryanlarsen » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 7:51 PM UTC

foo12bar wrote: post #53

blitzar wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The writing is on the wall. This thing is going to sell out. If prices go back to normal, v2 of this product will be great. This version, at these specs, at this point in time would only be a buy if it was good value (like $500). People will buy them all anyway.

Selling out doesn't equate to success. They've already said the initial launch will be heavily limited. What matters is if they make a profit throughout the product's lifecycle. Not whether they sell out on initial release.

Steam Deck & Machine appear to be very low margin, so Valve will make very little profit on them whether they sell a lot or a little. So profit isn't the success measure they're aiming for.

They're all just tools to get people to buy more games, which is where the margin is. And the existence of the Steam Machine makes the ecosystem more attractive even if you don't actually buy the Machine.

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

#64

Post by foo12bar » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 7:57 PM UTC

esseph wrote: post #58

foo12bar wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selling out doesn't equate to success. They've already said the initial launch will be heavily limited. What matters is if they make a profit throughout the product's lifecycle. Not whether they sell out on initial release.

> What matters is if they make a profit throughout the product's lifecycle. That may not matter either. In fact, the most likely outcome is that they sell out of inventory, and the next iteration of the device gets GTA6 level hype. The scarcity of the premium product.

It all depends on how well they support the current iteration, though.

If it turns into a Google Glass or an Apple Vision Pro and is left nearly or actually abandoned, then I think people won't be so interested.

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

#65

Post by blitzar » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 7:58 PM UTC

foo12bar wrote: post #53

blitzar wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The writing is on the wall. This thing is going to sell out. If prices go back to normal, v2 of this product will be great. This version, at these specs, at this point in time would only be a buy if it was good value (like $500). People will buy them all anyway.

Selling out doesn't equate to success. They've already said the initial launch will be heavily limited. What matters is if they make a profit throughout the product's lifecycle. Not whether they sell out on initial release.

> Selling out doesn't equate to success

If you have no revenue, you can say you’re pre-revenue... It’s not about how much you earn. It’s about what you’re worth. And who’s worth most? Companies that lose money.

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

#66

Post by esseph » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 8:11 PM UTC

foo12bar wrote: post #64

esseph wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What matters is if they make a profit throughout the product's lifecycle. That may not matter either. In fact, the most likely outcome is that they sell out of inventory, and the next iteration of the device gets GTA6 level hype. The scarcity of the premium product.

It all depends on how well they support the current iteration, though. If it turns into a Google Glass or an Apple Vision Pro and is left nearly or actually abandoned, then I think people won't be so interested.

This doesn't make any sense.

They use the OS in multiple products. Tons of people run it on their own hardware.

They could probably not update a single thing on there and it wouldn't matter, the games themselves are mostly running through an emulation layer anyway and will continue to work.

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

#67

Post by laserDinosaur » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC

foo12bar wrote: post #18

At this price point they should have never released it, they should have waited. Everywhere I see reviews of it on the internet, come along with forced smiles and talk about how they agree with the philosophy behind it and they should be commended for fighting against Windows. But ultimately no one recommends this to the general public. The writing is on the wall. This thing is going to flop. Only thing they can do n…

I'm sure that the steam machine will sell out just because A) it's a small batch B) It's Valve C) It's a neat form factor.

But as someone who was originally going to pick one up (thinking it was going to be a great little gaming PC powerhouse), seeing it come in close to last in most of the GamersNexus benchmarks was pretty disheartening (pulling 20-50FPS at 1080p on most recent games).

I was hoping that they were going to bring a console mindset to PC building to create something that exceeded what a DIY-er could do with off the shelf parts. But the fact you can make a faster DIY machine for cheaper right now feels...eh, what's the point?

My guess is they sell the first few batches, then Steam Machine goes on a small vacation for a few years while they wait for prices to come back down.

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

#68

Post by nekooooo » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 8:33 PM UTC

ZiiS wrote: post #32

phoronixrly wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the cheap gaming PCs off of Craigslist here in the room with us right now? Snark aside, the second hand market is off the rails, too... The Steam Machine is cheaper than any DIY gaming PC I can build right now, even from parts off of OLX... And unlike the one I'd make, the Steam Machine will get the Steam Deck treatment as far as optimisation and certification (as in Runs on the Deck) goes.

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.

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

#69

Post by foo12bar » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 8:37 PM UTC

esseph wrote: post #66

foo12bar wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It all depends on how well they support the current iteration, though. If it turns into a Google Glass or an Apple Vision Pro and is left nearly or actually abandoned, then I think people won't be so interested.

This doesn't make any sense. They use the OS in multiple products. Tons of people run it on their own hardware. They could probably not update a single thing on there and it wouldn't matter, the games themselves are mostly running through an emulation layer anyway and will continue to work.

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? People will just flock to the next version when it comes out and not feel burned by what happened?

Not many people run games on linux, only about 5%, amd of those nearly all keep a windows OS around to handle edge cases and upgrading firmware, etc.

This is what the fight is about. If Steam can't get linux based devices into the hands of enough people continuing to support it will remain a money pit for them for as long as they try.

Releasing the Steam box at this price is not helping their cause. They have to recover from this now.

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

#70

Post by bigyabai » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 8:43 PM UTC

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.

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 breath to see if they can afford the media center equivalent of jewellry. Nobody actually cares about functionality, convenience, or form factor if they're ignoring the most functional, convenient and proximate solution.