Steam Machine: Is It Worth It?
Hello readers! Steam has recently announced their brand new console, the Steam Machine to gamers and fans alike. Now you may be wondering what makes the this such a big deal? Well let me tell you!
Steam announcing this console is a bigger deal than you think. Once its released it’s definitely going to cause a decrease in sales with Nintendo, Xbox and Playstation. With all of this you also have to account for how well liked Valve(Steam’s parent company) is among the internet so this will absolutely increase their sales on release. Along with this announcement they announced the new signature controller for the Steam Machine: The Steam Controller 2. It has a slightly more bulky build than most controllers but that’s not a bad thing. It has all the typical things a controller has: A,B,X,Y,arrowpad,home button,tab out button and menu button. However what differentiates this controller is 2 track pads below the buttons acting as a mouse pad.
Speaking of needing a mouse this console is more than just a normal console, it runs as a compact pc. This opens up a ton of opportunities to play a lot of games that were previously unable to be played on a console. This console will let you install basically any game you want as long as you can install it using Linux. This also means for the first time Team Fortress 2, is playable on a official console. But this console is obviously intended for steam games, able to run any game available in your Steam library. Along with all these advantages it was confirmed by a post on Steam by Valve that the steam machine will run 6 times as fast as the Steam Deck. Keep in mind the Steam Deck already ran really well despite the fact that it was a handheld console. Now you must already be thinking this is pretty cool but it gets even cooler! The Steam Machine has been revealed to be customizable with it’s front plate with new decals referencing different games or themes. The one shown below is the Team Fortress 2 one featuring Heavy’s silhouette in a orange background.
Some fan made designs I found online. Link:https://www.notebookcheck.net/Steam-Machine-Top-community-made-concept-designs-so-far.1163954.0.html
Some of the other themes revealed is a sticker/grafitti theme, TF2 and plant life theme. Along with this there’s also custom fan made plates themed after minecraft, or pc diagnostics or a calender. Of course there’s gonna be a lot of other custom designs made by fans as shown above. However though the Steam Machine is estimated to cost around $700 which is more than the typical console.
Now I know what you’re thinking: “Is this console even worth it for that price?” With all the things I previously mentioned I believe yes, it’s worth the price. This console can run thousands and thousands of games just from steam alone not even including other games outside of that. On top of that it also is going to run everything installed very well. So if you’re planning on getting a new console soon, I recommend waiting until early 2026 when it releases, but if you already have a well running modern generation console, I would recommend just sticking with that instead of spending that much money on a console. Those are just my thoughts on the Steam Machine and all the information that came out about it.