People want a console but also:
- A wider game library (Missing on Playstation and Xbox)
- No subscription (missing Playstation and Xbox)
- a working 10 foot UI (missing in windows)
- controller os navigation (missing in windows)
- no bimonthly fullscreen nags to use edge, office365, onedrive, etc. (missing in windows)
- Working ACPI sleep states. (Missing on most cheap mini PCs)
- Backwards compatibility for older titles and not needing to rebuy games when upgrading (Missing on PlayStation)
Microsoft could probably build an XBox that fixes the first problem but would probably fill it with nag screens.
People with technical skills can probably run Bazzite on a minipc but might hit issues with sleep depending on luck while purchasing.
People without technical skills just want a package that works
People WITH technical skills just wany a package that works. I don’t want to fix every single fucking piece of technology I own, constantly - even if I am capable.
Well said, I think the library is the biggest point but also a harder sell for someone used to losing a large percentage of their games every generation. They see it as “having to buy their games again” in the short term.
Exactly, I would add the emulation part. Steam deck and I bet the box, too, are great for emulation of older games.
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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.
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.
Nintendo has made it better to buy a fucking steam deck and pirate their games. I think the steam deck and the GabeCube will splash the market with better performance than other consoles, better use cases and usability, and therefore make other companies make there consoles better.
As a Nintendo fan, Nintendo is like all of our toxic boyfriends. But if Nintendo either a) licensed their games to other devices or b) allowed there devices to run linux/pc games I would step (a lil bit) back on the Nintendo train.
I disagree on what it would take to bring me back to Nintendo, cause… I think its ok for them to make a fancy digital toy with games that change how we play with it.
But I want the fancy digital toy to be worth it first and be fun.
Like the DS was a planner and a doodle pad, and a contact book, and a web browser and a gameboy and a DS. They had a version that let me see games in 3D. They had a console that let me swing swords like the main character in the game that came out just for it. I could play any sport like I was actually doing it right away day 1 and design a character to play as.Now the console does nothing but play the games that dont come with it. And they dont even use a fun game mechanic they added to make the digital toy cool. They lost all passion and it is just a worse locked down version that only plays the game and goes away. Made to have you purchase more on it then use it.
I miss Nintendo.You are actually right, I didn’t think about Nintendo’s past when making that comment but I would appreciate if Nintendo stopped competing with others in the market and did its own thing to a higher extent. I mean the switch 2 is straight up the steam deck but without only Nintendo games.
It doesn’t even matter if it’s linux or otherwise, as long as they are innovating in the gaming area.
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.
I mean yes, jack of all trades master of none. But then again a mass produced hardware which will run all modern AAA games (Meaning cheaper), running on Linux (Linux being used mainstream in a user friendly sense is better than not Linux) and still being user friendly is overall a company doing something I like, and adding competition to the console marketplace.
I bought Helldivers and BG3 on PS4 for in total like $150 and I sold my PS5 and now I can’t even play those games anymore. With it being linked to a steam account, this isn’t a problem anymore they can access there paid games on any device, which I like.
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?
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
Seems like a pretty consistent niche to me. People that want to get away from consoles but aren’t good with Linux/pc and want something that just works. I wouldn’t buy one for myself but I’d consider getting one for my nephew if he wanted to switch from his PlayStation. Anything that takes a bite out of Microsoft’s market share is a plus as far as I’m concerned.
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.
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
Glad that helps you feel superior
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.
Steam provides those services?
For a lot of games, yes. They provide the infrastructure for communication and connection.
Its why you can, for example, send an invite in AOE via the in-game system or the steam system.
Its why so many games show your steam name and avatar in the multiplayer menus.
You surprised to hear this?
And also why most of my multiplayer games are unplayable on Tuesday afternoons 💀
I love you Gabe but please do that shit at like 3am.
I don’t have any multiplayer games that use steam services afaik.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the cash to spend up front. Paying more over time is easier.
Or they just get lured in by a cheap sticker price.
And again, price is still relevant. If this is well over $1K, it starts to negate the Steam storefront cost savings.
Fair enough. If they’re cash poor, grabbing one of those cheap games consoles is a good plan. 😟
Other than “not seeing the use case” I think the meme is right on. People hate Windows but don’t want to deal with Linux, people hate being trapped in the walled gardens of Microsoft or Sony consoles, but don’t want to deal with a full-on gaming PC. Kinda like how when iPads came out people where like, this is worse than a phone and worse than a laptop, who are these things even for?
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.
Maybe you weren’t aware, but SteamOS is Arch based and uses the KDE Plasma desktop.
Yes, but I have confidence valve will cover up the garbage
Got my hands on a steam deck. First thing was installing bazzite.
Bro preach. I’ve been out here doing real linux work on an old panasonic microwave. If you really liked linux, you’d be running it on something with less than 16 MB RAM.
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.
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.
The GabeCube could hit the market at $1000 and still be a major success. Think about the RAM prices and there‘s not really a way to build yourself a cheaper PC that‘s convenient for couch gaming.
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 know the price), so I can’t say how useful or not the use case is.
