By now you’ve likely heard all of the buzz surrounding the new Steam Machines. If you haven’t then you probably don’t know what a Steam Machine is, so allow me to enlighten you.
What is a Steam Machine?
The Steam Machines are an attempt on behalf of many PC hardware manufacturers and Steam creators Valve to rival Microsoft and Sony’s dominance of your living room. 13 Steam Machines (you can see all 13 here) are set to be released at the end of this year, developed by huge names in the PC gaming industry such as Alienware and Gigabyte. Each Steam Machine will feature different hardware, meaning that they will each have a different price point. At the time of this writing those price points range from $499 to a whopping $6000 for a high-end system, though you needn’t fork out the big bucks to feel like you’re really getting your money’s worth – even the cheapest Steam Machine is still more powerful than both the PS4 and Xbox One.
Each Steam Machine uses the upcoming Steam OS, providing a digital platform for users to download games. Games released onto the PC’s Steam service are notoriously cheaper than they are on consoles, with Steam also offering daily, weekly and seasonal sales. The Steam Winter Sale last year saw the likes of BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider and XCOM: Enemy Unknown being sold for $9.99, which should give you an idea of just how low those prices go.
Valve has toyed with the idea of bringing Steam to living rooms before with the platform’s Big Picture mode which, with the aid of a HDMI cable, allows you to view a more streamlined version of the Steam UI on your TV, enabling you to navigate it with a controller. However, this method still lacks the ease provided by the PS4 and Xbox One, something which the manufacturers behind the Steam Machines are looking to emulate.
So how are they going to compete with the PS4 and Xbox One?
As the first batch of what will presumably be many Steam Machines will launch at the tail-end of this year, a time when gamers who have yet to pick up a PS4 or Xbox One will likely take the plunge, it is predicated that the new systems will not trouble Sony and Microsoft’s hardware too much.
However, Steam Machines have a clear advantage over both the PS4 and Xbox One in the long run, as their hardware can continue to strengthen (and drop in price) while the core Steam platform will remain the same. Whereas the PS4 and Xbox One are both stuck with the same hardware until Sony and Microsoft unveil their respective successors, the Steam Machines will continue to improve, offering better graphics and performance whilst still allowing players to keep their extensive library of games. So come the inevitable next round of home consoles when you’ll likely put your collection of Xbox One and PS4 games up on eBay due to the Xbox Two and PS5 not offering backwards compatibility, those with Steam Machines won’t have that problem.
Who is the Steam Machine for?
At the moment it can be argued that the first batch of Steam Machines are catering towards a very niche market. Those who have avoided PC gaming thus far are unlikely to be tempted into adopting this new way of gaming so close to the launches of the PS4 and Xbox One, while PC gamers will likely stick with their rigs. With that being said, Valve’s intentions for the Steam Machines are clear – to bring the worlds of console and PC gaming together. One step towards this videogame utopia is with the Steam Machines’ controller, which looks to be a good compromise for those who prefer keyboard and mouse and those who prefer the standard analog configuration.
Featuring two trackpads and buttons which can be easily binded to match the keys most frequently used on PC games, the Steam Controller should be a great improvement upon the Xbox 360 controller that is currently favoured by the PC gaming community. While the dual trackpads may look like they’d be a little complicated to use, particularly for those who are accustomed to analog sticks, its certainly a unique selling point for the Steam Machines.
Are the Steam Machines the future of console gaming?
At this point it is obviously impossible to guarantee whether or not the Steam Machines will prove successful enough to be considered the future of gaming, and whether or not Valve will successfully bring the console and PC gaming community together. With that being said, these new systems already have a few key advantages over both the PS4 and Xbox One, and if the Steam OS’s ecosystem hits the sweet spot, I’d say that the Steam Machines will prove to be a successfully venture for all involved.
At the moment, I’d personally predict that the Steam Machines won’t make waves for another couple of years, at least until Valve brings out its own much-anticipated Steambox. When that time comes, though, I can see a lot of people welcoming these Machines into their homes.
