You are clearly NOT the target audience of the gabecube. The steam machine is fricking useful for whoever want a tiny PC and not a fucking tower, a machine that is quite good and that is plug and play
It also targets people who don’t (want to) know about pc building. I have a few friends who just stick to consoles and laptops, because they are to scared of trying a pre-build or building on there own. But they seem to be intrested in this cube
I think people forget to mention the benefit of having standardized hardware. I build my own PCs, but I’m still considering the cube, because I know there will be optimizations targeted directly at it.
I would also be in the target audience I think.
I’m a software engineer, been one for 20+ years. Built my own PCs before.
I’m just not super interested in doing it anymore. A reasonably priced steam box that just works out of the box without any troubleshooting and is a common enough hardware profile for developers to put in the effort to make work so I don’t have to burn the precious hours of my life fixing stupid bullshit to play a video game, yes, take my money.
I’m also a software engineer and am still interested in building my own PCs, but I like the GabeCube anyway because you literally cannot build a PC that small, not even with mini-ITX.
I kinda feel like I’d want a Strix Halo (Ryzen AI MAX+ 395) in that form factor even more, though.
So much this! I have 20+ years in IT as well, and I just want a plug and play box, that has HDMI Arc, and can play my Steam library at 1080p or higher.
Agree.
Steam os is also probably the best usability / stability linux for people who don’t want to know or care what a linux is.
For what it does i think it’s a very intuitive OS; and desktop mode is pretty good too. It’s genuinely terminal free linux, so for all those who cant terminal, then it’s accessible.
Can you install steamos on a regular pc? will it work as well?
If its cheap enough i’ll buy it to replace the USFF pc connected to my tv, just for the controller interface as an alternative to mouse.
It could seriously attract some gamers who are hating windows direction, but scared of linux. TBF stemdeck already does this, so it’s just for sofa+tv gamers really.
Myself as well,
A decade ago I built custom PC’s for my family and for my neighbors, the last ten years, ever since the chrome-books became viable, I’ve suggested just going with a bargain price laptop and GeForce now for gaming, I don’t need people asking me for help fixing issues, I don’t want to chase down bugs in hardware or compatibility,
I’m not proud of losing my interest and letting my abilities be not put to use, but my time and blood pressure is better utilized in other areas. I have a 7 year old Dell laptop, a steam deck, and (until recently) an Xbox S. It’ll be nice to have something that plays my (very large) library at console quality without a subscription service/Internet requirement. I have GeForce now, but I don’t have the latency to run it.
I’m kinda considering. Cause if I’d build a custom PC, it could be a home server of sorts - some webserver or AI machine.
I have only certain amount of time I can spend on personal tech activity and if I could play without spending that energy that would be fantastic. Also that’s decent PC for Godot gamedev right?
This is me. I’ve built enough PCs both for myself and my siblings to recognize the value in hardware that’s been purpose-built and tested by people I trust more than myself. Plus ongoing software and firmware updates I don’t need to manage and a form factor I don’t think I could match.
I have a feeling the RAM shortages are going to fuck us all over on price, which might keep me from buying one right away. But it’s gonna be tempting for sure.
Typical, “it is not for me, therefore I declare it is stupid and not for anyone!”
It’s ok to not be marketed to. It’s good that a product was not designed for you specifically. “I can build the same PC…” Shhhh, shut up. Go do it, let other people like and enjoy their stuff. You don’t have to buy it if you don’t like it.
They didn’t declare anything. OP was just asking what is the point of it when you can build a cheaper PC that does the same thing. It’s a valid question and others have provided answers to it.
EDIT: You all don’t have to argue with me about this. All I’m saying is OP didn’t declare that this product wasn’t for anyone.
Have they even given a potential price yet?
I have no idea.
Yeah people are so dumb. You can go to a scrapyard and build a cheap car yourself. Why anyone would buy a car is beyond me.
This, but unironically
That’s a false equivalent. I am confident that I could coach my mother through building a computer. I think most mechanics would struggle to assemble an entire car.
The point is that it is for people who don’t know or even want to know how to build a PC. The only thing they care about is playing games with minimal effort.
So saying you can build a faster PC is a non-argument that makes no sense.
Did you know that I make a mean risotto? It’s so fire. Like, I use all these high class ingredients, a delicious local cheese that tastes like magic. And I can get it to the perfect consistency, and I can do it for relatively cheap. Because I’m doing it myself, labor is not accounted in, I just pay for the ingredients. Thus I can use more expensive ingredients as well.
You know what I also like to do? I like to go out and eat at fancy restaurants with my friends and family. I also eat risotto when I eat out. Their risotto is also just as good as mine. Sometimes better, sometimes not so much. It is always more expensive than cooking myself of course. But you know what I don’t like to do? I don’t like to cook for dozens of people. It is too much labor. However, I can go with a party of 10 or more people and eat in a restaurant. And they will serve us, because they don’t care that there are too many of us. Because we are paying them to cook. I exchange money, for more convenience and less effort. Ain’t that wild?
So, anyways, I’m not talking about food.
In the time you spend making a risotto, you could probably put together a nice PC, and it will probably last a lot longer than a meal. I’m not sure this is a good analogy
There’s more to building a PC than just the putting it together. Reaseach for parts, ordering, waiting for delivery, etc. I know because I have built almost all the computers I’ve ever own. It’s a hobby, not everyone has the same hobbies we do, and that’s OK.
Lol, risotto takes like 30 min to make. The hardest part about putting a PC together isn’t the assembly, it’s picking out what parts you want and then buying them all.
For me it’s dealing with my indecision of balancing cost and performance and then the obsessive need to find the best deal for every part I picked.
But yeah my main point was I think you’re overestimating how long risotto takes to cook.
This. Last time I built a PC I spent a week researching all sorts of components only to end up with an incompatible motherboard anyway, having to send it back and order something else.
Building the whole thing took around an hour, not a big deal, but everything else that went into it… It’s like having to start your risotto by planting rice.
Yeah those are solid points. My mistake
No worries, my main criticism was mostly cuisine based. But seriously, if you ever want to impress someone with a home cooked meal, risotto is a really easy but flashy meal. I honestly think it’s one of the easiest ways to cook rice.
Brought to you by Valve. “Fuck you. I’m gaming”
Look, I’m not going to buy one because I already have a kickass rig running linux, but if I hadn’t done my recent upgrade I’d hold out for a steam machine. Everything I care about will run on it just fine, and it’s an easy sell for people who want a console but need a pc.
Also fuck microsoft.
There’s a hidden advantage here apart from moving away from Microsoft, or having 1st party controller support.
Game devs will have a precise target to optimize for.
If enough steam machines and steam decks are out there, it simplifies porting software since you have a handful of fixed targets to hit. A studio could easily buy a few of these appliances for testing and development, and know for certain the product will run as intended. It’s a luxury currently enjoyed by consoles, and it really does help their dominance in their respective niches.
This also helps smaller studios since the bare minimum means targeting a known steam platform, rather than pulling machine specs out of thin air and taking their best shot. It’s a much easier problem to solve and takes a lot less time and money.
I think there will always be room for high-end gaming, but as long as you’re “steam machine 2025 compatible” or whatever, you know what you’re going to get.
apart from moving away from Microsoft
Linux.
You’re on Lemmy. I’d appreciate you not using such cuss words
Forgive me father, for I have sinned.
Yep. My friend is an indie game developer and while his studio’s next release is “Windows only” (and consoles) they are testing to make sure it runs well on the Steam Deck via Proton / will be Verified.
The next release is Windows Only. However, it includes consoles and Steam Deck verified…
Did I read that correctly? What are they skipping, the Commodore 64?
Windows only (plus this long list of other hardware.)
Does that mean that I’m left hanging with my Sinclair ZX81? Again?
Windows + major consoles, and Steam Deck verified via Proton.
They are not making a Linux build, but they are making sure the Windows build plays nice with Proton. At least that’s how I read that.
With the diversity of Steam boxes out there, you can’t really optimize anything.
“bUiLD mY oWN Pc”
in this economy???
Get the wood and nails boys. Time to nail up another one.
I can build a better PC for less money
Maybe we should wait until we know the price before making memes about this?
Especially with how RAM and SSD prices are increasing. A huge part of the Steam Deck’s success was because they partnered with AMD to get a great price-to-performance APU in a market where GPU prices were inflated by crypto, and now AI.
Of course if RAM and SSD prices get too high these machines might get bought up and scrapped for parts anyways, but let’s at least see if that happens first.
Is your pc a box though? Boxes are much more stackable, in case you want even more boxes.
I don’t get it. We don’t know how much it will cost so how could anyone claim they can build one cheaper? Have you seen the cost of memory lately?
The difference between the Steam Machine and an off the shelve gamer pc, is that Valve has created a viable pathway to move away from Microsoft’s dominance in the PC gaming market. This is Valve showing to PC hardware makers that a PC gaming market without Windows is possible. Valve just needs to prove that consumers are willing to buy a Linux gaming machine, so the Steam Machine is the litmus test. Microsoft is Valve’s biggest threat to the survival of their business. Since MS’s anti-consumer behavior will push consumers away from PC gaming. Valve wants to create a PC gaming market where MS’s choke hold has been destroyed. Remember this isn’t Valve’s first attempt, the first Steam Machine was released when Win8 was released where MS tried to push the Windows Store as the default way to download software.
I wish i could upvote this more, PREACH!
I would say that investment in Proton and general Linux support was already driven by the strategical consideration that Microsoft might try to lock-down the PC gaming market.
In that light, the Steam Machine is another part of the same strategy.
But you can build a PC with linux. It’s every bit as possible. Upgradable. Repairable. Functional. Powerful.
You are cheering about yet another proprietary box like a console that affects repairability and how much of it you actually “own” it just because it has linux on it. Yet more “dumbing down” of games to conform to a console spec. You’re blind if you don’t think this will affect games developed to be sold on Steam.
I’m all for linux advancing in gaming, becoming more mainstream, and replacing Windows, but cheering for the demise of PC’s in favor of a proprietary box is a bad idea.
E: this is a very interesting discussion, but I can’t keep replying to the same responses. Lemmy criticizes walled gardens, lack of tech knowledge, anything that isn’t F/OSS, anything that limits ownership of the hardware or the OS…yet here we have people advocating for a proprietary box that has potential to steer game development (yes, toward linux, this is good) and confine it to the steambox’s spec. just because linux good and a semi-benevolent dictatorship is offering it. While I’m not against this console, anything that a BigCorp produces that has the potential to be a walled garden and indirectly constrain development should be met with guarded attitudes and absolutely not cheer the expected demise of PC building or use.
E2: pile it on boys. If lemmy is still here in a decade and Steam does some “bullshit” with the ‘Box I’ll read your complaints as the custom PC market shrinks and gets more expensive thanks to the console-ification of gaming. Consoles aren’t for you per-se. They’re to cheapen hardware, OS, and game development costs and make profits. I’m not against its existence, but leave replacing PC gaming out of your cheering for this box. Good luck.
The existence of the Steam Machine does not stop people from building their own Linux gaming box. The Steam Machine just proves that it is possible to do so. Like many people’s first PC was a pre built machine and then their subsequent machines were all custom builds. The Steam Machine can do the same for Linux PCs.
I’ve built cars and motorcycles. It’s far easier to just buy a car or motorcycle.
That isn’t what the context of the discussion is about. Please read my edit and other responses.
The reason you are being piled on is because Steam, the Steam deck, and most likely both the Frame and the Steam machine, are NOT walled gardens. It is not a console. Valve actively encourages people to use the hardware wherever and however you want, install EPIC, install Heroic, install GOG games, do whatever you want. You can buy a Steam Deck and play only and exclusively pirated games, and Valve won’t stop you, they can’t stop you, because it is just a computer. And it is open, and it is yours. This goes completely against all proprietary software and hardware tenets, and it is incompatible with your argument.
It is a big corporation, and it is a benevolent dictatorship. But Valve is not, and it does not try to behave like a monopoly, it is not proprietary (most of the development work on gaming in Linux is done under FOSS licenses), and it is not a walled garden.
Exactly. It’s just a pre-built, nothing more. Really wouldn’t be surprised if someone tries to run MacOS on the thing
Go to anyone who mainly game either on consoles or a non-hand-built computer this. They won’t do it, because it requires they spend a couple dozen hours researching not only parts but also distros, which is something they know they already don’t care about. I think you might be underestimating the expertise you have in this subject by having it as a hobby if you think that’s easy.
yet another proprietary box like a console that affects repairability and how much of it you actually “own” it just because it has linux on it
Even if I assume the steam hardware is as proprietary as any other random piece of hardware (don’t think that’s true), the reality is that I easily trust Valve 2-10x more in this regard than a Sony / Nintendo / whatever prebuilt to actually deliver a product that doesn’t ship my data off to an advertiser and let’s me replace the ssd without hardlocking itself. The Steam Deck has already done a better on this.
Most people hit a wall in their life where they get home from work and they just want whatever entertainment system they have to just work. They do not want a side hobby to get to a video game. Linux as it is now will never be the regular. If steam can make a console like experience that a layman can use, they can save PC gaming for all of the gen Z and A folks who only had a phone or console and refuse to learn windows.
I’m kinda surprised to read this. As much as Lemmings deride people for not wanting to change to linux, not understanding the basics of PC’s, not willing to learn tech, falling into walled gardens…here you are. Rationalizing for people who don’t want to learn tech and accepting yet another potential walled garden.
We are a very niche group. This product will appeal to a lot of people who aren’t here, but also to some who are. In the end, this will be good for PC gaming as a whole, and it will probably either hurt Microsoft or inspire them to make some serious changes. I’m betting that this also makes people a little more curious about their hardware and software. The steam deck proved to me that leaving windows could be pretty simple and not a downgrade. I’ve been looking to build my own steam machine ever since, and now I might not need to depending on the price.
Your response in a comment chain that derides PC gaming, says it would be good to get away from PC gaming, says people don’t have time or interest in building PCs, people don’t want to understand tech, is “this will be good for PC gaming”?
Ok.
Except that no one derided PC gaming. They’re deriding Microsoft.
It is a realization of the populace. If most people wanted the full control that Linux provides, Windows would have died years ago.
Consumer Linux isn’t going to be a thing until it gets packaged neatly as a product to consume.
You’re letting perfect be the enemy of good.
How walled is it really though, it’s literally just a linux PC. SteamOS is the (arch-based) distro, and Valve is just a system integrator selling what are effectively pre built systems. Steam Machines are meant to have competitors selling their own systems with their own hardware choices.
This is no different than buying a gaming PC from Cyberpower, Alienware, Asus, etc except that the OS wouldn’t be windows.
Of course, as it stands there are no other competitors but that’s just because we’re in uncharted territory. If the steam machine sells well, then other integrators will make their own versions (like we saw with the Lenovo Legion & ROG Ally).
The idea that this is a “walled garden” when you can install any software you want, swap the OS, install cracked games, etc. is ridiculous. This kind of thinking is exactly why people think there’s too much infighting in the Linux community. Everyone talks about how they want Linux to become more mainstream and to dethrone windows. But when something like this comes around to actually do that, you all complain about how awful it is
Ok, in the context of the original discussion, there is no need to deride PC gaming if all the steambox is is just another PC and no reason to treat it as anything special other than a cheap-ish PC preloaded with linux.
It’s a reasonably priced gaming pc designed for couch use and pre loaded with a couch friendly os. As someone who prefers to game from her couch I can totally see myself weighing it if I was in a position to not miss the money and to take advantage of it. Especially if I think of when I did my last major pc upgrade.
Who is deriding PC gaming? Nothing in the OP or the first comment you replied to is doing that.
In some distros Linux is already at the “just works” stage for gaming at home, at least for desktop PCs.
We have to start somewhere. People can buy this box that just works and dip there toes into the linux environment and learn how things operate. When they hit the limits of the proprietary box they will be more comfortable upgrading to a PC of their own running a Linux OS. Most people don’t want to deal with all the hangups that come with trying to switch to Linux. The only reason I’m doing it is because the hangups that come from Windows are reaching the tipping point and I’m good with computers.
I imagine it also has conveniences like hdmi cec and turn on by pressing a button on controller. Not gonna get one, but I think there are valid reasons.
correction: it’s a cube with gaben on it
Given what’s happening to memory and nand pricing it may never come out.
VALVE TIME
