Sean Hollister, writing for The Verge (gift link):
Since the Magnavox Odyssey came out in 1972, game consoles have
been built with the same basic goal: to effortlessly play
proprietary games on a TV screen. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft
have spent decades essentially selling the same product. A few
consoles could do more, but the formula you know and love remains
buy box, plug into TV, insert game, play.The Steam Machine aims to be something bigger. It’s a vision of a
box with fewer restrictions and an almost endless catalog of games — for those willing to spend nearly twice the price of a
PlayStation 5.That’s right. Today, Valve has announced the Steam Machine will
start at $1,049 without a gamepad or $1,128 bundled with one, but
you aren’t getting a significant boost in performance over the
5.5-year-old Sony PS5 you can still buy today. Even after three
price hikes, a vanilla $650 PS5 offers sharper images in
Cyberpunk 2077 and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered in my tests.
So how can Valve possibly charge over a grand, you might ask?It’s because the Steam Machine is, let’s say, a PC-plus. It’s a PC
that acts more like a console than any you’ve used before. It’s
incredibly cool and quiet, so much smaller than a PS5,
surprisingly smooth, and completely navigable with any modern
gamepad you own. You don’t need a mouse, keyboard, or even Valve’s
own touchpad-equipped Steam Controller to download, launch,
or play games. Joysticks do the job.
The price is eye-opening, but that’s the theme across all consumer hardware this year. It’s hard not to root for Steam with its expanding hardware ambitions, but Hollister’s review shows just how far they have to go to achieve “plug it in, insert game, play” simplicity.
