I’m lucky enough to have disposable income, I could afford to buy one without it hurting. That said, idk just off principle it feels like an insane ask. Especially considering its not doing anything a PC can’t do (as far as I know). For those not in the know, the cheapest edition will be about 1,000 USD and the most pricy will be around 1,500. To my knowledge, consoles themselves aren’t profitable historically. So, do you think even at this price point Valve is taking a hit? Do you think if this sells well it will drastically increase the cost of other consoles (completely independent of the external factor being hardware shortage due to AI). General steam machine discussion post as well, just dont be a dickhead to anyone.
It’s not just the price, it’s the hardware. They could have gone for a slightly more powerful gpu, even in their thermal emvelope, and it’d xonfpunding they didn’t. This way it gets beaten by a PS5, on both price and performance.
Doesn’t mean I’d buy a PS5, but does mean there’s many better options, even if you want small and quiet.
The PS5 is subsidized to get you into the ecosystem. Valve let’s you play anything you like on the Steam Machine, so no incentive for them to sell at a loss.
I imagine they went for the less powerful GPU because hardware prices are insane across the board right now and Valve has no negotiating power with the manufacturers, as they said.