"The Alienware Steam Machine: finally, a gaming PC for the living room"

[JamesD]

http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/15/alienware-steam-machine-review/

[Keatah]

Looks a lot like my mini-itx emulator rig!

[StopDrop&Retro]

These aren't a bad idea. I'd welcome hassle-free PC gaming in the living room. But then I realized Steam OS is still just a modified form of Linux. So any game you want to play must have Linux compatibility, that's a deal killer for me.

Edited October 15, 2015 by StopDrop&Retro

[CPUWIZ]

D.O.A.

[Keatah]

Make it dual-boot.

[JamesD]

However the software comes, you can always modify it.
It's still a PC at heart. The big issue is windows drivers for the hardware.

[Mord]

I may end up getting one of those a couple years down the road. Can't afford'em right now. Hopefully more games will be on steamos by that time.

[leods]

Thank you Gabe N. Now I can finally have a Computer in my living room. I'm glad People like Einstein and Gabe exist, who have These out of the box ideas and revolutionaize the way we see the universe.

 

On the Serious side, I like the fact they're supporting Linux. I dislike they're doing that through their own Distribution and keeping shoving their DRM down our throats. So in the end I'd rather have GOG DRM free games on my Windows PC than having DRM locked games in my Linux Steam library.

 

But that's how things get sold in this world. Just like the "next gen consoles" revolutionized gringing brand new Technologies and ays of using them that the PC Gamers were only able to Access for half a decade.

 

But all that would be fine, if not for the fact These steam machines are overpriced, and you can install SteamOS on any PC. So this is like pretending you're selling super amazing orange Juice that Comes pre cooled, revolutionizing the beverage industry, all that for only twice the Price of your regular orange Juice, that just happens to not only be easy to cool, but often Comes cool to begin with anyways.

 

The cherry on the top is that the only People who could possibly care about this garbage are the People who already own a gaming PC. Did someone say D.O.A?

[JamesD]

My one concern is upgradeability. That's one of the key reasons for PC gaming and you are stuck with whatever expensive option Alienware offers.

[cimerians]

These guys set some of it up, a nice read:

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/10/steams-living-room-hardware-blitz-gets-off-to-a-muddy-start/

[xenomorpher]

My one concern is upgradeability. That's one of the key reasons for PC gaming and you are stuck with whatever expensive option Alienware offers.

This was one of the first things that came to mind. I think people should just spend the time to research and just build a rig. It isn't hard if you take your time and make sure the parts are compatible. They would save a lot of money and have the satisfaction of building it. They wouldn't be stuck with just one case and they'd have way more options for graphic cards, RAM, and everything else.

[Flojomojo]

I think I'll just wait a few years until they can build one that fits in a handheld and doesn't need a giant cooling fan.

 

I'm seriously considering one of those tiny "cloudbook" cheapo Windows laptops just for GOG games. If it has a better screen than my HP Stream that's currently dedicated to that task, I'm on it.

 

If I want to play a modern game on the TV, I've got big-boy machines for that, don't need a toy PC that isn't portable.

[omegadot]

I've hooked up my box with steam in big picture mode a few times with high hopes and a lot of games had undesirable controller support and I had to get up a number of times to handle various direct x type pop-ups and stuff. It was neat and I left it for a while but it was definitely not less of a hassle than PC gaming as it is. There were also far fewer couch coop options.

[Keatah]

This was one of the first things that came to mind. I think people should just spend the time to research and just build a rig. It isn't hard if you take your time and make sure the parts are compatible. They would save a lot of money and have the satisfaction of building it. They wouldn't be stuck with just one case and they'd have way more options for graphic cards, RAM, and everything else.

 

Isn't buying pre-made cheaper these days?

[Algus]

Most people who build their own usually do use part pickers and the like and hunt for deals off the 2-3 major online outlets for parts. It is very cost effective but a bit of trouble. I imagine there will be a market for pre-built gaming machines from people who want to game but don't want to go to the trouble of building their own.

 

I'm not to sure a consolized PC that hooks up to your TV is the way to go though.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Nobody seems clear on the market for this, some will say for those who want to play PC games but with simplicity of consoles but these days there really is no difference with DLC, patches updates etc. Some say this is easier for living room hook up and is marketed that way but really if you use the output of a dedicated GPU, wireless Xbox controller and Steam Big Picture Mode you can do that with any PC. So some argue their PC is not in the living room so this is a better option, well OK I guess but you STILL get a SFF Desktop and configure it and set it up in your living room and do the same. I have always seen it as one of those things that is all hype and marketing. people BELIEVE it is simpler and easier because it is MARKET as such but in reality it really is not anything simpler than what one could put together just as easily or almost as easy but instead since people have allowed themselves to be convinced they will pay a premium for a "Steam Machine" all the while going on and on about how it is an easier / better way to play PC games.

It is like back in the early days of VCR's for a while there was a market for these remote controls that supposedly gave you 1 touch easy timer recording setup for a variety of VCR's, the product was called VCR+ this market was created for people who found it to difficult/frustrating to program their VCR's to schedule recordings but in reality the "setup" and programming of these devices were just as if not more difficult than just setting up your VCR manually, Honestly it really was but because people bought into the marketing and hype they believed it was easier. I see the same thing here, as has been pointed out there will be a large selection and variety of "Steam Machines" to chose from all with different configurations and specs and prices all claiming to do the same thing lol SO MUCH FOR SIMPLICITY. Sure some will buy into it and some will swear up and down it was the best option (as they will justify their decision) but you are getting a SFF PC running LINUX / STEAM OS a dedicated box to play PC games on your big screen TV, nothing more, nothing less and you will pay a premium over a SFF PC with windows.

Edited October 17, 2015 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[Keatah]

Inevitably there's always some sort of tweaking and resolution adjustment with games on the PC platform. Been this way since EGA/VGA and all its variants came into being. Each pc + display combo is different in both gross and subtle ways. Just enough to annoy you. And making things worse is individual game is different, doesn't support all resolutions, or supports ones your hardware doesn't.

 

In simpler terms, lack of consistency and standardization. And what makes things needlessly more complex are these driver "profiles". Soon enough you have profiles to manage profiles ad infinitum. Don't forget controller profiles too.

[xenomorpher]

 

Isn't buying pre-made cheaper these days?

For a lower end rig it probably is and wouldn't be worth it for me in that case. It comes down to what you're going to be using it for and what your needs are. For a simple emulation and media player I'd probably just get a cheap thing that's off lease or a newer version of the Raspberry Pi. When I built my rig a couple years ago I wanted to be able to run most games at the highest settings and not have to worry about upgrading for a awhile. I saved probably $300 getting what I needed from Tigerdirect when there was a special going on. The money I saved I put towards games and a decent pair of headphones.

[leods]

Inevitably there's always some sort of tweaking and resolution adjustment with games on the PC platform. Been this way since EGA/VGA and all its variants came into being. Each pc + display combo is different in both gross and subtle ways. Just enough to annoy you. And making things worse is individual game is different, doesn't support all resolutions, or supports ones your hardware doesn't.

 

In simpler terms, lack of consistency and standardization. And what makes things needlessly more complex are these driver "profiles". Soon enough you have profiles to manage profiles ad infinitum. Don't forget controller profiles too.

But here is exactly where this steam machines actually help. They can see what Hardware you have and automatically set the games to a configuration that runs it properly, and since this is a "living room" machine they can just set Output to 1920x1080 60hz like any console would do and you're set.

 

But even so, changing Screen Resolution on your Windows PC isn't really what I call annoying. You do it once every time you Change your Monitor and it takes what, one Minute?

 

I do recommend though, for all Gamers that want simplicity to just get a 1080p 60hz Monitor, because most games will run on that. If you go over that, or even under, you might run into Trouble with some titles. If what you want is to Play games hassle free it's good to have the most Mainstream Hardware possible. If you want to brag about being ignorant and wasting Money yhou should get all the higest end gear possible. Everybody will respect how you spent 5x more to have a barely even better gaming experience, but sometimes a much worse experience because of all the tweaking required.

 

From my experience it's still cheaper to build a Computer from scratch. And the knowledge required and acquired from it is very nice to have.

[Keatah]

..it's good to have the most Mainstream Hardware possible. If you want to brag about being ignorant and wasting Money yhou should get all the higest end gear possible. Everybody will respect how you spent 5x more to have a barely even better gaming experience, but sometimes a much worse experience because of all the tweaking required.

 

This is good advice for many things tech. Once you go above mainstream, you start paying 2x, 3x, 4x as much for marginal improvements. The sweet spot for cost/performance appears at mainstream or immediately below mainstream.

[omegadot]

One thing I liked a lot about Steam in it's TV mode was pairing it with one of the apps that adds EMU/ROM menus and tiles to steam. As an emulator frontend it was actually very good.

[MrMaddog]

I'm more interested in having something like a Steam Link for in-home streaming as I already have a gaming PC in my office and want to play the Triple-A titles on it on my big screen TV. From what I read in the Ars review, it's ok but not perfect. Valve recommends a wired connection but other streaming solutions work fine with 5Ghz routers. And the Steam Controler? Nice if you want to play mouse-based games in the living room, but an Xbox gamepad is still better...

 

Intel Compute Sticks also work the same way but are more versatile even if they do cost $100 more...

[StopDrop&Retro]

The vibe I'm getting from the input here is that it's not a simple plug and play piece of tech, but it is being advertised as such. I think there's going to be a lot of frustrated kids on Christmas morning. I'll wait for the inevitable fire sale thankyouverymuch.

[leods]

The vibe I'm getting from the input here is that it's not a simple plug and play piece of tech, but it is being advertised as such. I think there's going to be a lot of frustrated kids on Christmas morning. I'll wait for the inevitable fire sale thankyouverymuch.

No modern Videogame is a simple plug and Play System anymore. You Need to configure crap in a menu, you often Need to connect to the Internet, make an account. The time of the "I turn it on and play" slowly died during the last gen. So in that sense there is very Little more that Needs to be done in configuring a steam machine than a PS4. It's pretty much the same. The Problem they don't like to talk about, is that most games on Steam DON'T RUN on Steam OS, so they just won't run on a Steam machine without you installing Windows on it.

 

So People Will Buy their new cool Steam Machine, and when the next big AAA title Comes out People will be left Scratching their heads. "Wait a sec. I just bought a Steam machine but this brand new game on Steam doesn't run on it?"

 

That going to be one of the largest Fails in history.

 

Android boxes are crap. Just get a PC. Even a pre built one will give you so much more...

[Algus]

It'll probably be as plug and play as you can get but there will still be the trouble of logging onto a Steam account and no doubt the frustration of not having access to as many games as you might have on a Windows PC and so on. I think there is a market for this, just a very thin one. People who have heard PC gaming is good/better than console gaming but lack the technical expertise to construct their own machine and are afraid of jumping in.

 

These devices will ultimately be counterproductive though. People who get into it will probably want to build their own on the second go around and people who are disappointed by how it isn't like "real" console gaming will just go back to their Playstationboxes.

 

Most of the PC games I play wouldn't make sense on a TV though. I'm certainly not about to try playing Starcraft II with a controller. The form factor will be fine for some games I suppose but certainly not all.