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🚗 Steam Machine - do we need it?
Pre-orders for the new Steam Machine have begun to be accepted in Russia. Prices, as usual, are e@$&!e - almost 200k rubles. But, to be honest, there is not much prospect for Russian retailers. Most likely, everything will be the same as with the Steam Deck: most of the audience will simply buy the…
🚗 Steam Machine - do we need it?
Pre-orders for the new Steam Machine have begun to be accepted in Russia. Prices, as usual, are e*#@$&!e - almost 200k rubles. But, to be honest, there is not much prospect for Russian retailers. Most likely, everything will be the same as with the Steam Deck: most of the audience will simply buy the device through gray imports, marketplaces, or friends from abroad. So the official pre-order is a story rather for the most impatient geeks.
Specs: • Processor: AMD Zen 4 (up to 4800 MHz) • Graphics: discrete AMD RDNA 3 chip (8 GB GDDR6 video memory) • RAM: 16 GB DDR5 (with random number of dies) • OS: SteamOS 💛 Conclusion: baked goods at the level of a dull average gaming bakery
The idea of the Steam Machine itself is, of course, interesting: Valve is again trying to bring Steam into the living room and offer an alternative to classic consoles. But there are still more questions than answers. For example, from the non-obvious - it’s generally not clear how this piece of hardware will support VR. Based on the characteristics, we can assume that the VR experience will be approximately at the level of PlayStation VR2 with PlayStation 5: that is, the basics are okay, but without reserve for heavy PCVR projects. For the hardcore VR community, this is a very dubious piece of hardware.
And here is my main question. Why the hell do we even need a Steam Machine? 🤔
Seriously. Instead of just another TV box, I want something completely different. Valve, please give me a normal Steam Frame - a full-fledged VR/MR headset, which has been rumored for ages. After the success of Steam Deck, it would be more logical to go not to another console form factor, but to where the market is really waiting for a new strong player.
So far the feeling is this: everyone is waiting for one product, and for some reason Valve is bringing another one again 😄