Steam Machines (vs an ordinary PC)

[Anakirob]

I might just slip some information from my upcoming magazine magazine to you, which is I am of the opinion that using a Steam Machine is the most Amiga like gaming experience I have had in 20+ years, excluding the actual Amiga. That was what it seemed to be marketed (to me at least:) as, and it does indeed perform as advertised.

(I could have bumped my own news thread a couple of times now, but I want more general discussion about Steam Machines:)

Playing games on an Amiga was almost as simple as playing games on a console, especially when compared to MS-DOS or Windows. And the Amiga also had a standard controller, and while SteamOS is technically multitasking when running a game executable, as it is made for the purpose of running games and nothing else you don't have a bunch of other desktop system routines and applications competing for CPU and RAM. So games tend to run much better without having to compete with the OS for resources.

Also fullscreen is the standard display for any games, even windowed only games appear as more or less fullscreen in SteamOS.

I am using the Alienware SteamOS machine, I had to go to great trouble to import the model I wanted into Australia, as Dell do not appear to sell it in my country. But if you are living in the United States then they would sell it to you, and you wouldn't have to have one 'bootlegged' in the more traditional sense of the term. Sneaking it past international borders.

No laws prevented me from doing this, but Dell USA and Dell AU do not approve. They both want me to buy the inferior Alienware Alpha model with Windows 10 installed. Which would cost at least $200 more, although it was $400 more when I made my purchase. Perhaps Dell AU have slashed their price for the Alpha because they know it's shit.

A problem that could easily be fixed largely by NOT OFFERING GODDAMN WINDOWS 10 INSTALLED AS STANDARD. If someone really wants Win10 functionality let them set up a VM or dual-boot. The major selling point for me was running SteamOS natively. But that's an issue I need to take up with Dell.

Indeed if you are looking for a machine to run all your Windows games on then just buy a regular 'gaming PC' instead, the Steam Machine is really for people interested in running Linux/SteamOS.

And while buying a high-end gaming console may be beyond the budget of many gamers, a Steam Machine is basically a Linux box with sufficient RAM, a decent GPU, and a Steam Controller. A fast CPU is not required as my Steam Machine actually has a slower CPU than my old laptop, but it runs games MUCH better. And a lot of computer users have a suitable spare machine these days.

Although it is worth noting that both the SteamOS and Steam Controller are very much beta versions of Valve products which still require some work. And improved functionality is being added frequently.