Valve have finally announced plans to bring Steam Machines to the market with them revealing the first models at CES 2014.
The United States based company have revealed 13 hardware partners who are making the products with prices ranging from $499 all the way up to $6000. It was thought the new Machines would rival the next gen consoles, with you being able to play some of the highest quality shoot ‘em ups to the new casino games at Royal Vegas, but critics aren’t so sure.
The machines will run on SteamOS and isn’t expected to be anything mind-blowingly better than a Windows PC. The idea is that SteamOS will become a part of the living room, just as any PlayStation 4 or Xbox One has over the years, but with Steam for Windows offering a similar experience, is it really necessary?
It appears as though it’s gearing up to be extremely popular however. Since October the software has added 10 million new accounts, taking them up to 75 million, over 25 million more than Xbox Live.
Therefore the audience is already there for the future. Valve’s plan is to remove their Greenlight system, making it easier for small studios to get their games on Steam, and is drawing comparisons to that of the App Store, which has enjoyed over 50 billion downloads.
Whilst it is believed the hardware will not be a revolutionary, the Steam Controller also didn’t set the world alight at the Consumer Electronics Show, the large amount of games being added and already available for Windows, the community could grow even further.
It’s unlikely a minimum-$499 machine will take over the PC gaming world, especially when 90% of the Steam library can’t be used with SteamOS, and that could break the brand. Will many people take the plunge and by a Steam Machine that contains so little games? And will developers make games for SteamOS if nobody is buying the hardware?
It looks to be a little tainted from the start, but the truth is, Steam is still very healthy. It would be an impossible task for them to compete with Sony and Microsoft, but what it can do is reboot the PC gaming industry with its 75 million strong community, and increasing number of developers.
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The United States based company have revealed 13 hardware partners who are making the products with prices ranging from $499 all the way up to $6000. It was thought the new Machines would rival the next gen consoles, with you being able to play some of the highest quality shoot ‘em ups to the new casino games at Royal Vegas, but critics aren’t so sure.
The machines will run on SteamOS and isn’t expected to be anything mind-blowingly better than a Windows PC. The idea is that SteamOS will become a part of the living room, just as any PlayStation 4 or Xbox One has over the years, but with Steam for Windows offering a similar experience, is it really necessary?
It appears as though it’s gearing up to be extremely popular however. Since October the software has added 10 million new accounts, taking them up to 75 million, over 25 million more than Xbox Live.
Therefore the audience is already there for the future. Valve’s plan is to remove their Greenlight system, making it easier for small studios to get their games on Steam, and is drawing comparisons to that of the App Store, which has enjoyed over 50 billion downloads.
Whilst it is believed the hardware will not be a revolutionary, the Steam Controller also didn’t set the world alight at the Consumer Electronics Show, the large amount of games being added and already available for Windows, the community could grow even further.
It’s unlikely a minimum-$499 machine will take over the PC gaming world, especially when 90% of the Steam library can’t be used with SteamOS, and that could break the brand. Will many people take the plunge and by a Steam Machine that contains so little games? And will developers make games for SteamOS if nobody is buying the hardware?
It looks to be a little tainted from the start, but the truth is, Steam is still very healthy. It would be an impossible task for them to compete with Sony and Microsoft, but what it can do is reboot the PC gaming industry with its 75 million strong community, and increasing number of developers.
