It's a console for people who like PCs
this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2025
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And a PC for people who like consoles
Exactly. I have a PC and a Steam Deck but I'll buy it if the price isn't completely off-putting. It's just perfect for the living room.
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The use case is it's going to introduce gamers to Linux. And it's going to prove that in PCs, just like consoles, you don't need Microsoft to game.
I'm not a Linux person, but Microsoft, big corpos and oligopolies generally, are really starting to irritate me. I am looking at more and more ways to get them the fuck outta my life.
And maybe Linux is the way for tech stuff.
I’m not a Linux evangelist, but I will say that after an initial “what on earth is this” period of learning the basics and doing some distro-hopping, I’ve found that I really like Linux. It can meet all my needs, it’s a comfortable daily driver, and I have no desire to go back to Windows.
I think we are reaching a moment where corporate greed is pushing people towards a tipping point. It feels like people are getting squeezed on everything and are seeking areas where things are still customer friendly.
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I want to just buy games and have them work on my machine. So a console.
Microsoft is surrendering the console war.
Sony has already put malware in their products and I will not be their customer again.
Nintendo is super locked down.
Valve has always shown me excellent customer service.
This. I am wishfully thinking that even if it doesn't hit the ground running at launch, over time enough people will convert for it to be a commercial success. The only thing that could make me put another console in my home is my desire for physical media, but even then half of the games released are just glorified download cards. Truthfully there is almost 0 reason for an informed consumer to purchase a console now.
The Steam Machine is the new Commodore 64 or Apple IIe. For one price, it's going to do almost everything just good enough.
If the price isn't ludicrous, it will likely be my default recommendation to anyone asking what PC to get for grandma.
Can she check her email?
Yes.
Can we just hook it to her TV?
Yes.
Can it play some kind of cooking simulation party game with the kids?
Yes.
Okay send me a parts list.
No parts list, just buy one and hook it up.
Okay. How often do I have to buy an OS upgrade?
Those are free.
Which game controllers work with it?
Pretty much all of them, but it probably also comes with one.
This is going to be the stupidly easy answer for casual gamers and casual PC users, as long as it doesn't cost double what either of those would.
Ngl price part mainly depends on how much chatbot girlfriend technology is hoarding up everything.
Hopefully it all will crash by then.
EZ
I'm interested in the Steam Machine because I like playing on consoles. Steam's ecosystem seems interesting because it's more open than PlayStation's (what I'm on currently). Additionally, I like Linux. By using SteamOS, I'm hoping bug fixes and improvements will benefit the general Linux ecosystem. I don't want to install games on my regular computers. I want a dedicated gaming device. I don't intend to use the Steam Machine as a PC.
As someone who’s tried several PC-in-the-livingroom solutions, just try building a PC with good specs at that size and you’ll appreciate the niche that is being filled.
Smug basher: "But it's not stronger than my galaxy GPU 89,000 that costs four times as much! It can't even do 14k octovision and 122 fps dynaflax!"
Oh geez, no dynaflax?
It’s a pretty nice custom designed PC that is guaranteed to work well with Linux. The only downside, really, is that you can’t upgrade it beyond storage and RAM.
Price!
We can argue about it all we want, but basically everything hinges on its street price.
If it's cheap, all those critiques are irrelevant.
Expensive? "It's cute, I like Steam, I like how it mostly works OOTB," gets real niche, real quick.
Regardless of the box cost, there's no arguing with the price of games in a Steam sale!
I don't think I've paid more than £15 for a game in years and years.
People always argue about the price of the machine, but hardly anyone mentions that console people pay to play online. Which is something i can't even really comprehend
Good point. Steam provides a lot of the same multiplayer services and match making and they've never cost me a penny.
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I downvote all these memes because they want to shit over a product that isn't released yet with no price tag, all so they can feel smug superiority
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I just like that I can play PC games on my TV, know that I have hardware that games are built to work on, and not have to get up to turn it on.
That last one is the biggest one honestly.
It's for the people who can't afford to build their own PCs these days. Graphics cards went up in price, hard drives went up and now RAM.
This kinda blew up. For the record, there are probably decent use cases. I'm just befuddled by its popularity. The best I've seen is PC games on a TV more easily than moving an entire setup. But the form factor removes a lot of the upgradeability and repairablity that makes PCs so great, it has standard hardware like a console but still traps you in a (admittedly slightly better) ecosystem, it has Linux but masks it so well most people won't notice or care. If it pushes gaming to a more linux-friendly place, great, but it feels like it's packaging it to the point that it won't push the player-base, only devs. It feels like it packages almost all of the limitations of the 3 groups with very few of the best benefits. Truly do hope I'm wrong, I often am.
I thought you were listing all the positives and pretending not to get it. The whole point is that it is a steam console designed for a primary purpose of playing steam games, and also has the full functionality of a PC which other consoles don't.
I plan on getting one in addition to my PC for playing games in my living room that will be more fun in that format.
Steam doesn't trap you into an ecosystem. You can even add non-steam games to to the launcher for convenience!
This. It's an Xbox with access to the Steam library instead of Game pass.
I think there will be some PC folks who get one, but I bet that won't be the biggest audience. Their target audience is console players who are currently putting their cash into Sony and Microsoft.
It answers the (console player's) question: "why can't I just buy a box that let's me play steam games from my couch on my nice big TV?"
Hooking a whole desktop to a TV is intrusive with most desktop form factors.
Most people who want a console don't care about upgradability or repairability, and that's certainly not the main thing that "makes PCs so great."
Most people gaming on PC are equally "trapped in an ecosystem." This has a desktop mode if need be, but hardly anyone does games outside of Steam.
"It has Linux but most users won't notice or care" is a double positive.
"It won't push the player base, only the devs" is a double positive.
The point of a console isn't to make people into more technical proponents of open source projects. It's to play games.
And if it's competing in the console market, especially for people who aren't terribly interested in the "Call of Duty" type AAA titles of today, it seems like a perfect fit.
it has Linux but masks it so well most people won’t notice or care.
That's the best sales pitch for linux I'd ever heard!
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still traps you in a (admittedly slightly better) ecosystem,
That's wrong. It comes with SteamOS which is an Arch based Linux Distro. While it launches into Steam's big screen mode, you can always switch to desktop mode and have all the freedom you want. Install GOG, Epic, Heroic or another launcher? Go for it. Want to install Windows on your Machine or Deck? I don't know why, but you can do.
its a console without the insane locked down interface. its a computer without the need to fiddle with stupid technical stuff that should just work. its linux without the need to learn all the things you think you just always knew about other systems but actually had to learn and aren't willing to anymore.
It's a console for people who don't like being constantly kicked in the balls so they drop their money.
this is the thing.
I want them to build a top of the line gaming pc put into a small box and sell it to me at a huge loss. Why can't they do that?
It's a PC for people who are too afraid or possibly can't afford (depending on price when announced) to build their own.
can’t afford ... to build their own
Soon to be: Everyone
Maybe Valve predicted this would happen... 🤔
Or it will equally harm them by affecting the cost of making the SM.
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I hope Valve can still afford to build it...
Arch with KDE is for people who don’t like Linux?
Yeah, people who like Linux want to spend hours of their life debugging why the Bluetooth service starts up just fine but then crashes the computer when it tries to suspend. People who like arch would prefer if the Bluetooth service didn't even start correctly, ideally Bluetooth requires a manual kernel module install every time it starts which they fixed with a personal script they got from a random GitHub gist which they got to autorun using a systemd module.
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The use case would be for people like me who want a dedicated box to put under the TV instead of having it at a desk. I don't know how easy or affordable it would be to build a computer that powerful and that small (and we don't now the price), so I can't say how useful or not the use case is.
When was this in the office
One of the two terrible seasons after Steve Carell left the show
The Lizard King was a pretty enjoyable character to watch though. Mostly because Spader.
Even with all the tweaking time in the world I don't believe you can get a pc set up so that it can reliably and intuitively be operated with just a controller 100% of the time.
If you want to be technical about it, you pretty much just described any modern video game console. The OS is the only thing actually differentiating modern consoles from PCs (or tablets in Nintendo's case).
Well what if i want something like a console but hate the big tech and dont enjoy someone spying on me? this is the only option. What if i want a console that i can modify and use as a pc or a server if i damn want to? this is the only option. What if i want a true console like experience but want to play a title that just isnt on any consoles? this once again is the only option. This thing will have so many usecases, just maybe a little specific ones.. :D
True. True. True. And yet, that market may exist regardless. We'll see I guess.
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