Steam: Living Room; New OS, console and controller

[Anaximander]

On paper it's a great idea, and the steam guys should be applauded for taking up the fight against the console kings.

But realistically I have a hard time seeing how this could be succesful. It competes with the PC that outmuscles it, and can get the exact same games/programmes/whatever and infintely more powerful (and cheaper) upgrades; and it competes against two brand new consoles with huge advertising budgets and moreover guaranteed longevity.

When you buy an xbox or a ps4 on day one, you know it will play games in 4 years time just as well as brand new xbox'es and PS4's will at that time, and you know that almost all games will be developed with that in mind. The lack of hardware upgrades in Nintendo's/Sony's/Microsoft's consoles is not a weakness, it's a huge strength that guarantee the consumer value for money, a steam box will have a hard time offering the same longevity.

I don't see a niche for this steam box at all, sadly.

[Fletcher]

A major selling factor for the Steam Machine, is the high likelihood that the online services will be free, like the current Sony Online. Another bonus is that a lot of 'general' consumers, and trust me there are a lot, don't know much about PC gaming and are too afraid to purchase them for their kids since there are many factors to consider, they'd rather not consider. Hence, console gaming is just that, buy and play. That's what parents want.

The rest of us buy consoles for the games, usually cost but most likely and usually true, because our friends have them but not a good gaming PC, or just prefer gaming consoles.

If Valve can make the hardware 'upgrades' and modules easy to understand, market it very well, and they usually do, they stand a strong chance.

Right now, people seem to prefer the PS4 seems to be the most popular since Microsoft hasn't been dancing the right tune. It's exclusives and fans will chug it along.

Again, free online services for the Steam Machine will be a major selling point. Less bills for the parents, students, anyone is a nice thing.

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