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Valve is about to win the console generation (xeiaso.net)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/steam@lemmy.ml
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Today was a big day for gamers as Valve just introduced three products: the Steam Controller, the Steam Machine, and the Steam Frame. When you add this alongside the Steam Deck, I think it's safe to say that Valve is about to win the next console generation.

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[–] 19 points 11 months ago (10 children)

It's smart of them to give it a consumer friendly price and it would track with what they did with the steam deck.

Just like the other big names, steam can sell it at a very low margin since they make their money with the store. I wouldn't be surprised if they even sell it at a lost to quickly gain market share.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (9 children)

    Loss-leading with new hardware has been a de facto standard for about as long as consoles have existed, so I'd be shocked if a company as consumer-attuned as Valve somehow missed this and priced themselves out of the market.

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  • [–] 0 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Especially because they are literally known for creating things that sell at a loss and learning profound lessons from the thing they sell.

    Also, they're the most progressive group to not engage in Patent warfare since Volvo made the 3-point seatbelt.

    Valve knows how to help an ecosystem grow and pays attention to it's user base.

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  • [–] -2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Nobody was talking shit and you still had to come in here and bootlick.

    Steam is the exact same as every other big platform, they grab their 30% like everyone else. Gaben literally has a billion dollars worth of boats. Stop defending billionaires and their money sucking contraptions.

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago

    I forgot that Gaben is literally all of Valve.

    I'm not here to lick Gabe's boots, I'm here to point out that sometimes, companies do good things. There are a lot of people making money and doing development at Valve, almost none of them are Gabe, but I guess fuck the laborers because their CEO consolidates money and fucks around on the Stock Market.

    Yes, Gabe is included in Eat the Rich, but the people that work at Valve shouldn't be held accountable to to his faults. Conflating the Labor with the Owner is a take though.

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  • [–] 0 points 11 months ago (5 children)

    If it's more expensive than a entry-level gaming laptop, then I doubt the average user would buy a Steam Machine, when a laptop is far more flexible.

    It has to be cheaper and more convenient than what's currently available.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    "Flexible" doesn't sell as much as "Easy"

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    I don't doubt that.

    I think familiarity is also important, maybe more so than ease of use.

    A lot of people know Windows and how to use it (at least for the basics.)

    Steam OS is still extremely niche.

    That's why I think the Steam Machine has to have price on its side to push people to consider buying a gaming-focused PC rather than a more general purpose gaming laptop. Particularly when everyone is struggling with rising costs.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    I think you're kind of missing the point. This thing is meant to take a bite out of the much larger console market. It doesn't need to compete with a gaming laptop's pricing if the people it's targeting weren't going to buy a gaming laptop.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 child)

    True, I agree.

    Edit (mid-November): There are rumours that it could be north of 600.

    In my head, unless it's in the 400-600 range, a gaming laptop makes more sense. I suspect generally other prospective buyers would too.

    Steam OS whilst great, still doesn't run as many games as Windows. Particularly certain popular multiplayer ones with kernel-level anti-cheat.

    At the moment all we have is Valve's theory that if the Steam Machine becomes really popular, Devs might update their games to work on Steam OS/linux. But equally they might not.

    In a world where everything is getting more expensive (apart from TVs), I'm not sure the average person has the spare income to buy another single-purpose machine (yes, Steam OS can do more, but it's designed to be used for gaming). A Windows laptop is more flexible.

    I can see this hardware appealing to a lot of people, regardless of price though. Kid's first PC for example.

    I really want this machine to be a success. I would love to ditch Windows completely, as soon as possible.

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