Comment on Our first look at the Steam Machine, Valve’s ambitious new game console
CobyCat@kbin.earth 20 hours agoThe article says:
When I listen to my interview audio, I find an additional hint from Griffais: “We intend for it to be positioned closer to the entry level of the PC space, but to be very competitive with a PC you could build yourself from parts.”
Poking around the web, I find I could probably assemble a computer with this performance for $800, not including labor. But it could easily consume half the room under my TV. A compact system with a similar GPU can cost $1,000 without storage, memory, operating system, or a gamepad.
Which makes it reasonable to assume it's gonna be at least within that price range. And that is personally way too much for me.
Orygin@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
I would guess lower than 800 for the base model. The steam deck entry price is low and they probably will try to have it affordable. They know no PC gamer that can build their own PC won’t buy it if it’s not competitive.
Since they’re OEM integrating parts, I can guess around 550-650 for the base model but that will also depend on the US tariffs that week.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
Are they even trying to woo the PC gamer crowd? Based on nothing but vibes, I doubt they’ll have anything to offer them
Orygin@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
Well, their customers are PC gamers so it makes sense to target them. Not all gamers build their PC themselves (I’d say most don’t as I have built most of my friends pc). Having a plug and play solution, without risk of hardware/driver/software issues, can be attractive to some. The market for these is not hardcore gamers, but couch gaming.
But if the hardware is more expensive than a pre-built, no one will buy it.