Gamers are not interested http://ign.com/articles/2014/01/14/are-gamers-interested-in-the-steam-machine

48% is pretty woeful.

Doesn't matter, really. Many gamers aren't interested in pre-built machines at all, regardless of what OS they come installed with. All that matters is that people are interested in SteamOS, which I'm sure they won't be at first. It will be interesting to see how well Valve supports the platform through its inevitably lean infancy. This is definitely the kind of thing that will be decided well after the official launch...I doubt Valve expects it to be hugely popular until it catches on. I mean, why would it be? Most people don't even understand what it is.

Aside from that, 48% is woeful? For something like this interest from nearly half the community is pretty impressive. I honestly would have expected something closer to 20-30%.

48% is actually pretty huge. If you were to extrapolate that to the entire US gaming market (which you can't since that survey is hardly statistically rigorous), then that'd mean more gamers are interested in it than http://www.gamasutra.com/newspics/screen%20digest_graph_2_big.jpg

As stated, not rigorous or particularly representative. That said, the 52% not interested seems striking. I mean, I was interested in the Xbox 360, along with pretty much every console...but the last one I actually owned (I think) was a NES.

Their controller looks pretty cool.

While that is good in theory, what about console gamers which have built up a considerable callous on their thumbs?

I tried figuring out how much I can feel in that regard, and the answer is: very little. I feel pressure from the actual anolog stick pushing back, but textures? Not so much. I would have to do some pampering on my thumbprints to get that type of sensativity back

I seriously would like to try one of these machines before I actually buy one. The question is, will any stores actually have any for sale with demos like they do Playstations and Xboxs and Nintendos?

These things are aimed at console oriented players, not Valve's current PC fanbase. At least imo. I also think the prevailing cynicism about the whole project is premature to say the least. Let them hit the market and see what happens. Buying a dedicated gaming machine with high specs will appeal to a lot of core gamers, as opposed to doing the funky chicken with Kinect.

Hmm I don't know. Am I the only one that is interested in the Gigabyte Pro?

The Steam Machine is the answer to the question "Can we get mods on the PS or Xbox for games like TES or Fallout? ".... From what I've read, the only catch is that we will have to have a PC to play windows games such as Skyrim or Fallout 3... But I would think even then you wouldn't need a Monsterours Rig to upload to the Steam Machine... So I'm going to wait to buy Fallout 4 and TES VI for my PS4 until things are clearer...

I was interested in the SteamBox. Very, very interested. I would love to get Steam running on my TV and can't have wires trailing round the house to the living room. I'd love a dedicated gaming machine hooked up to my Telly that plays X:AP or Total War. Basically I want a console that plays my Steam games. Then I saw that, actually, I won't be able to play any of those. So what the hell is the point? This Steambox is going to be a huge flop, if that is indeed the case. I can see no reason whatsoever to buy it. I'm tempted to just save up a load of money and upgrade my current machine instead, then find some magical way to hook it up to my TV without my wife taking scissors to the cables.

That question is already answered with a "Yes we can".

The problem with that answer is that Sony, Microsoft, and Bethesda do not like it.


Which begs the question, who is this clearly targeted to?

Can't be console gamers, it's not offering the same quality of the experience they desire of the dedicated machine for the games played on them. If you're talking about Indie titles, Sony has a ton of them on the PSN and as the next-gen movement goes on you'll be able to play more and more of them. There are already a ton of them on PS3, and the great thing about many indie titles is that the hardware of the 7th-gen consoles is more than sufficient to run them.

Can't be PC gamers for the same reason on top of they usually already have a rig setup for gaming.

I just don't see a sound strategy here

Note that Valve is also working with developers/publishers to get more games ported in time for (and after) the official release, so the five hundred-ish games they already have listed for Linux is not necessarily representative of the titles which will be available when Steam Machines hit the streets, and we certainly can't make any conclusions about the long term (though I think it looks fairly positive at this point).

All of Valve's games have already been ported to Linux, as have the X3 games, Paradox Interactive's stuff, and Metro: Last Light. Football Manager 2014 supporting Linux from the get go suggests SEGA has at least a minimal interest in the platform (even though they're just the publisher, they do kinda control the, y'know, publishing of the game ).

True, I hadn't really considered they might be keeping titles back for the release of these machines, and their efforts on getting developers to support linux are to be applauded.

Then there's the possibility (that I hadn't considered until reading this thread) of playing Windows games through an emulator (oh, okay... compatibility layer ). But as far as I'm concerned that's a hassle that I could avoid with a Windows PC or a next-gen console. I still don't see the point, really.

That answer is in turn answered with a "Not legally".

That is more of an additional quip than an answer since that wasn't part of the question. Hence the second line of that post which you decided to exclude.

http://gamerant.com/steam-os-machine-streaming-details/

Eh. It's "current low-end" which is good enough for me but it's Steam so I have little-to-no trust in it... Plus price is meh...

I had heard about the streaming capability but for me (and I suspect many others) it is useless because I would have to fork out for a Steam box and a PC capable of playing the games in the first place - definitely not an option. And I suspect its appeal to current PC gamers would be limited because if they wanted to play with a controller in front of their TV that badly they would be doing it already (and for much less than $500-6000).

I use my tablet to stream my games onto my TV. Total cost of tablet (Nexus 7 v2) $225.00 + sales tax.

I never thought of doing that. I installed some mods for New Vegas and play it at work from my tablet. The case has a keyboard and I have a mouse to connect by USB.

Sure, if you're worried about Linux-compatible launch titles and you aren't planning on taking advantage of the game streaming then it's probably not for you. I'd disagree that anyone that wants to play PC games in their living room is already doing so, though. I still read a lot of, "I'd play on my TV, but I don't want to move my rig," and "I didn't know I could connect my computer to my TV" in gaming forums.

Again, though, a Steam Machine is just a PC running SteamOS, which is a free product. There is nothing special about PCs labeled "Steam Machine" aside from marketing and the included controller. In theory any small form-factor PC should be suitable for use as a streaming client SteamOS box since the client unit would be responsible for very little of the processing. Such machines can be found for under $200 these days. It would also be a great use for an old PC that has been replaced and needs a new purpose.

Also keep in mind that there have been noises from Valve about adding home theater/media streaming capabilities to SteamOS as well, so there are potentially more reasons to give it a shot than just gaming (although that's certainly the focus).

One could potentially manufacture a $50 ($100, tops) box that would be about as big as a Raspberry Pi and be more than capable of being a thin client. All it would need is a minimal x86 CPU, just enough GPU power to display 1080p, and HDMI out, ethernet, maybe one or two USB ports, and whatever wireless tech the controller is going to use.

The $35 Raspberry Pi could probably do it, though it uses an ARM processor (which wouldn't run Steam) and isn't prettified.

Only downside to that at the moment is the software I use on the tablet cost an additional $20.00 (Splashtop software). Still, and even cheaper phone or tablet could achieve the same results.

My wireless controller is still connected to my desktop PC. The range is far enough to use out in the living room. The tablet is basically the device that takes the wireless signal from my desktop and turns it into HDMI out for the TV for audio and video streaming only. Input streaming can get laggy at times.

ARM is not an issue. Steam OS won't be required if you have a decently powerful Android based device with HDMI-out.

They'll pick up steam here when they are the only "consoles" that support mods for Fallout 4 / TES VI I wager.

Bear in mind these have more absolute (over 100 now?) and more quality launch titles than PS4 / Xbox One, whose top-rated games are all multiplats that run better on a PC anyway. The exclusives are either crap (Knack, Ryse), mediocre, bland controller-only FPS (KZSF), run at 20 FPS in 720P (DR3, Ryse), or are $60 games with half the content of the last franchise entry and tons of crap DLC (Forza). They're also the only "consoles" that will be doing VR, and 4K-compatible models will be out before PS5 / Xbox Two are even announced. E3 is going to get these hyped, mark my words.

Library or not, they're still not going to dent into the console market if the price points aren't comparable with matching performance. The libraries for the consoles now will increase over time. By summer, PS4 is going to have A LOT more. They already had 30 at launch, and that number is steadily going up. I play on both PC and console, and I just don't see myself getting a more expensive piece of hardware for at a higher cost when the experience is not all that different. I much rather just use that money and build a new rig.