It seems sort of a waste of resources to use a steam deck as a stationary device. However, I don't think there is a really large market for a console-like steam machine.
Right; a stationary Steam Machine (upgradable, etc.) would be a desktop PC running SteamOS, which should probably remain outside the purview of Valve's hardware division.
on the other hand something as sleek, cheap and ready to go out of the box as consoles, with guaranteed support for a while AND the biggest library of games on release? that could bring a lot of console people over to "PC" if done correctly. or market it more as a streaming server, that would be cool too.
It would need to be priced aggressively and have competitive specs to get enough volume of sales to justify building. They'd also need a new controller.
But if you want that, wouldn't you just buy a pre built from literally anywhere and install Steam and enable big picture mode? That's really not that hard, I do it on my laptop for when my kids want to play on the big screen.
i havent looked into them in a while but arent they more expensive? reducing cost is realistic if valve could pull off the same punch as a steamdeck by using similar but better powered SoCs, or be able to sell at a loss as a calculated risk to get people spending on steam. sony and microsoft do it and it works.
make it convertible as a computer, like the deck is and as upgradable as possible (at least a gpu slot pls!) and you got an easy low cost linux based introduction to the pc ecosystem. with all money going to portables i dunno if they would do it but it would change that part of the game, it would certainly make it more open.
Their SOC makes sense in the Steam Deck because it's running at a lower resolution. If you try to run at 1080p, you'll get significantly worse performance, and that's kind of the bare minimum resolution for a console.
Valve would need a significantly stronger SOC to run on a home console, and it would likely need to be stronger than what's in existing consoles because they don't get the benefit of devs targeting that SOC.
I'm guessing they'd need to sell for ~$800 for it to make any sense. That's quite a bit more than existing consoles, but it's a competitive price for a gaming PC. And I'm guessing the market for a Steam console is a lot smaller than a handheld.
Would be nice, but I think it would cost Valve more than Microsoft and Sony because volumes would be a lot lower. I'm guessing a small percentage of existing PC gamers would want a console, because a lot of the point of PC gaming is either using what you have or customizing your rig. I'm also guessing the same is true for console gamers, because they already have a console and probably want to stick with the same ecosystem.
I could be wrong, but that's my take. I'm more interested in them refreshing the Steam Link and Steam Controller. I guess they could reuse the same SOC, but that would run really hot, so they'd probably want a check ARM SOC instead.
But who knows, maybe there's a big enough market for it.
The Steam Deck works so well because it's dedicated hardware.
Lots of other hardware would not work quite so smoothly, without direct support from Valve. It's why there are manufacturers that make money selling Linux laptops. They have to choose specific components that are well supported on Linux. Lots of people experience problems with WiFi, BT, Ethernet, audio, fingerprint readers, etc. etc. on Linux.
Not to mention developers specifically targeting the hardware, some even going so far as to have dedicated presets for Steam Deck.
And not to mention Valve's marketing presence.
And not to mention the lack of any official release of SteamOS.
A small set-top box (essentially a Steam Deck with the screen, controls and batteries removed, and with components that don't have the space restrictions that come with a mobile device) would still be an interesting proposition. Particularly if they partnered with the main video streaming services to port their apps across, and implemented Chromecast/AirPlay support.
I can see a market for it, as a "Chromecast and Apple TV competitor that also plays all your games".
What resolution do you use it at? How do activate FSR on TV resolutions? I've tried it once or twice but my TV is 4K, and that makes the interface and games on the Deck kinda sluggish.
If I'm going to game stationary, something with more than 10W of horsepower would be nice.
I agree that the steam machine was too early. People hadn't been fully disillusioned by the planned obsolescence of their console libraries yet. Today, in a world of $600+ consoles that are impossible to find within 2 years of their release, hardly any worthwhile exclusives, and Nintendo trying to make you repurchase the old games at full price again, a steam console could potentially sweep the industry.
This seems like something people could get working today, and I'd be all about it. Though I believe there are bandwidth limitations that hamstring performance with this setup. And those external enclosures are as expensive as the GPU that goes in it.
I don't know how it could ever start from zero without having to go through a growing stage. I think it was just necessary to have modest expectations, and so far as I can tell, valve partnered with third party vendors and didn't lose $$$ on it.
Moreover, the downstream effect has been to set the foundation for the Steam Deck, which has been a smashing success. It just takes time to build up a mature ecosystem.
Ctrl+F Deckard - 0 results
does author know about the Deckard thing that Valve is supposedly working on?
from what I understand, it will be some kind of Steam Machine with focus on In-Home Streaming.
Well, at this point it is not entirely clear what Dekard will be. There are some details that point to it being a hybrid of both a VR optimised Qualcomm SoC and a SteamDeck like x86 system.
They are probably experimenting with various form factors, one of which could be a belt mounted box with the x86 part that you can alternatively use as a set top box in a more stationary setting.
Makes sense, except for "one model". I think it would be better to have two options.
One low cost, thinking mini pc with integrated gpu (like steamdeck) for casual gamers, 2d gaming, old game(r)s, etc. Would also be perfect as "home office" PC or media consumption device.
Second one would be bigger and stronger with dedicated GPU capable of "real" gaming and running all the modern games. Yes, powerful hardware is expensive, but serious gaming is no cheap thing...
Yep, I would buy steamdeck for that purpose except I'd feel it could be even cheaper as a simple and more convenient small brick without fancy display and controls.
Exciting. Hopefully Steamlink for Quest on Linuz might be working soon.
Having to install a dual boot to windows again after many years has been such a horrible experience. Modern windows is now just openly hostile to the user, fighting you every step of the way, telling you it knows best and "if you would just submit to it, this whole experience would be better for all of us". Like some nightmare monster created by combining an NSA agent, a control-freak abusive ex, and power hungry dictator, all rolled into one operating system...
Did you give ALVR a try? Some people got it working. I basically don't use my Quest with a pc because Windows. Hopefully things will be perfectly working in a few months, things move fast for Linux gaming right now.
Yeh, tried ALVR but ran into to many issues to troubleshoot that I just gave up. Figured it might only be a few months wait until Steam sorted something out, give how much effort they have been giving to improving the linux gaming experience.
I'm in the same boat, of needing to still use Windows.
Check out Windows XLite. Its a highly customized iso that gets rid of all the bullshit. No automatic updates (they're provided as cumulative installers), no windows defender, no edge, no cortana, no store, no Xbox, etc. Those things are all stil available, too. Also, all the telemetry is disabled from registry and gpolicy, and since no auto updates, they won't mess with those entries to "uh oh we turned on our spying again, and didn't tell you."
Its a massive breath of fresh air, feels like going back to XP and 7, when your fresh install has nothing at all. Not even dot.net and vcredist, which are also available.
Never had issues with Dota 2 on Linux. I wasn't using any sandbox, by the way. System's package manager for almost all applications, with the exception of Bottles on Flatpak.
You can also use NVIDIA's Pendulum G-Sync demo in Wine/Proton. Despite the name it does work for any VRR capable display/GPU and I've used it to test VRR on AMD and Intel graphics on Linux. As much as I dislike NVIDIA, it's a pretty decent VRR test tool.
I am on a immutable version of fedora(ublue-main) to be precise. Will the appimages work normally¿? I haven't tried running an appimage since moving to using immutable distros
So yesterday, I tried Bazzite os, and it’s pretty good. Works perfectly with Nvidia GPU. You have to use x11 instead of Wayland. So far, I’ve tested BF1 and Hell Diver 2. Experience is excellent, with no lag whatsoever. It’s the first time I’m giving Linux a proper shot. However, I will need some advice on optimising it. For example, fan control or any other tips/tricks I can get.
(I had app flickering issues, and changing to x11 fixed it)
Dual monitors are working perfectly with 165Ghz refresh rate.
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