[00:08] little bit different because today I am here to talk about the Steam Machine. Kind of my own thoughts on it after having been able to sit down and use it for a while. I got it about a week ago. What I plan on using it for and just
[00:21] some other general stuff. But in my case in particular, I think it is a little bit unique because I of course review video games for a living. And so my relationship with the hardware that plays said video games is obviously a
[00:34] tiny bit different than most people's. But I also play mostly on PC and mostly through Steam. And while I do absolutely use other stuff, like I went through a Ubisoft Connect for the recent Assassin's Creed Black Flag launch as
[00:46] something super recent, anything Steam does is certainly of note to me at the very least. which is why when the Steam Machine was initially announced, I was people just kind of seeing what they could manage to do with all of that
[00:59] stuff. But of course, as we know since and just to address the elephant in the room on this one, the price is underwhelming. And by underwhelming, I mean it's high. So given all of that, the fact that I've got it in my hands
[01:11] use it, I just kind of wanted to share some of those thoughts. But I do want to mention at the top of this video before we go in on it, I am not really a hardware reviewer. Those videos have been out for quite some time. If you're
[01:24] looking for like specs and how things are running, etc., there are almost All I am talking about is my own personal experiences, which if that does something for you, great. If not, oh well. And so, let's get started. Uh, why
[01:38] did I buy this thing? Well, for a few different reasons, not least of which bite the bullet and talk a little bit about this myself. Since it's obviously wanted it to be, and since this is my job, it's relatively easy to buy this
[01:53] which is the primary thing I'm going to use it for, and then write that off as a business expense. But on top of that, I do actually also think I'm probably one do actually also think I'm probably one of a few people that has some actual use
[02:07] case for this thing. And a large part of that is because I use Steam so much and I have a very large Steam library. I think it's over like 500 games at this point. A very compact and portable way to easily access and play all of those
[02:20] games in various places on various things like you know of course all the different TVs you can hook it up to etc. while it also still remains a functional PC at the same time is really convenient. And while yes, there are
[02:33] absolutely uh I would say approaches you can take for uh different types of PCs accomplish much of the same thing, the thing is doing that like making a home theater PC these days runs into a few problems. One, RAM is still super
[02:48] of why the Steam machine is so expensive. But there's also form factors, etc. And so as a result of that, one of the things the Steam machine is good for if you have a ton of games through Steam already is that it
[03:02] actually has a lot of conveniences that make that process easier if you're willing to pay that bit extra. So to give an example there, a lot of people great things about Steam OS is that it is focused on playing video games. And
[03:17] unnecessary stuff as far as video games are concerned that other operating systems do, which is why they added it, of course, to things like the Steam Deck and now the Steam Machine. And so just having that pre-installed and not having
[03:30] to mess with it again on a home theater PC is part of that convenience that attractive than trying to build your own PC. Again, not that it can be done, just that it's slightly more convenient this way, which is really what they're
[03:44] if you're a little less techsavvy and you don't necessarily know how to do that to begin with. So, Steam OS, all of the work they've put into that, as well as uh things like even the Steam Deck trackpads, which are really great for uh
[03:58] video games and trying to bring computer games to a controller format as well. And they continued that forward with the Steam controller. I bought the version that came with that as well. And so I'm going to talk a little bit about that.
[04:10] of reiterate my point. After having played around with the Steam Machine, I can definitely say that while the price isn't great, I think if anything justifies paying that price for you, it is really the convenience of having all
[04:23] of those things in one place and taking advantage of all of that stuff that Valve has worked on with uh the Steam Deck previously that they've sort of to speak, to make that extremely playable immediately as opposed to
[04:36] having to fiddle around with a bunch of stuff on your own. And while again you can get there, it's certainly a lot easier to do it this way. But let's talk the big thing about the Steam machine right now is of course how expensive it
[04:50] is. And that is down to RAM. There simply isn't enough RAM available, which is why when the thing technically released on June 25th, uh they put and they've kind of been doing it week by week. My name seems to have gotten
[05:03] drawn uh fairly early there. So I was able to once they contacted me finish paying for it. I bought the base version with the controller as I have ways of concerned about that at all. But outside of course me, um it looks like they are
[05:17] moving uh roughly 12 to 15,000 of these every week. And according to what Valve has already said in various places, the sort of problem there is in fact the RAM. It seems to be their primary bottleneck. And they could theoretically
[05:30] move more of these if RAM was more widely available. And that's to say nothing of the price itself. Like just getting the RAM to make more of them But I'm telling you that specifically
[05:42] interest in the Steam machine. I would imagine at least for a few of the reasons I've already talked about here. And I think if prices ever stabilize, that's going to take or when it will be, something like this could clearly do
[05:56] goes to show for all of that initial thing actually got. But as interesting shocked me the most about playing around with this and the controller was
[06:09] controller. So, if you've hung around the channel much at all, I'm very much a keyboard and mouse purist. I really hate having to use controllers. And yet, because I review video games for a living, I own pretty much a version of
[06:22] all of them. I have a PS5 controller, an Xbox controller, a Nintendo Switch actual controller you can buy. And all of those can hook up to my PC. and they're mostly just for emergencies. Again, I will use keyboard and mouse
[06:36] every chance possible, if it is possible. But there are some games where possible. But there are some games where that experience is so abysmal that, you game, I've got to pick up a controller, which is why I own all of them, and also
[06:49] how I know I don't like using all of them. However, I got to say the Steam story. I guess this probably isn't too much of a surprise when you look at Deck plays and being able to use the controller there with the haptic
[07:02] tracking pads and everything, but having all of that in like a centralized controller feels a lot better than I would say most every other controller that I've used personally. But again, because of my aversion to them, I don't
[07:14] know that my words probably the best persons to take on that particular specifically as somebody who prefers keyboard and mouse at every opportunity, I actually found the Steam controller to
[07:26] be pretty usable. In fact, I was playing Grim Dawn a ton on the Steam machine with this controller specifically, and that experience felt great, actually. So, as interesting as the Steam Machine is for all the things it can do, uh the
[07:39] controller has really been the standout for me so far. But let's talk about some actually do because I've talked a little bit uh generally here thus far, but let's get a little more specific. So, like I mentioned, primary reason I
[07:53] bought it was, of course, for work. Being able to play games on this and, you know, tell people how it runs on them is obviously going to be useful to some degree, but as it is really just a more powerful Steam Deck in a lot of
[08:05] should theoretically run on Steam machine. So, while I will almost going forward, as you know, the difference between uh just power and the might be of note to some people. However, another aspect of the work part
[08:22] able to get out of my computer chair a little more, like, you know, if I want to go into another room or sit on the couch and play some video games, save my Or just, you know, have games that are a little more comfortable to play in that
[08:36] definitely do now that I have it, which is another part of that convenience aspect as opposed to being sort of tied up in my office the entire time. And because it's relatively easy to set up, it's basically just the power cord and
[08:50] the HDMI cable and the small compact form factor of the thing, I can not only easily move it around the entire house, but I can also take it with me elsewhere for me to plug it in and have a little more power than the Steam Deck itself.
[09:04] Again, as far as work goes, that will be useful for me specifically. And on top of that, it should be relatively easy to play specific games with my son on the Steam machine as well, because outside of the Steam controller, you can use
[09:16] basically anything that you can pair with a PC uh controller-wise with it. this thing and have him like quickly connect to it and play sort of couch co-op on individual games without having to like say run through parental control
[09:29] settings and everything is also its own form of convenience for sure. But all of that of course I would say doesn't really uh say much of anything about the performance of the thing. And I didn't want to talk a ton about this because
[09:42] quite some time. But if you are completely unaware, the Steam machine has a graphics card that is roughly equivalent to something like a 3060 GPU, which means it's hardly like top-of-the-line hardware in terms of
[09:56] just like raw power. I think the PS5 Pro is actually uh stronger than it in particular. But as with anything, that is really just going to come down to the you're trying to play them on in terms of like, you know, the screen you're
[10:09] actually using. trying to play something in 4K for instance versus like say 1080 is going to be a vastly different experience for a lot of people. And so while I think the Steam machine is likely going to be strong enough for a
[10:22] lot of people considering how many older games people play, I do absolutely also think that there are going to be games that come out that the Steam Machine is for. And I think really the only thing there is that time is going to tell how
[10:35] important that actually is to that platform itself, especially with the way RAM prices and everything are. People are already kind of feeling the pain trying to keep up with uh games that are a little too far technically ahead of
[10:48] looking games are just very difficult for people to play right now across the board. And that's something that applies to things well beyond the Steam machine. So ultimately, we shall see, I guess. But to sort of start wrapping this up
[11:01] and just hit some bullet points here to share my general thoughts, I would say overall the main thing about the Steam Machine for me specifically is just the convenience of using it with my entire Steam library. It's incredibly
[11:13] lightweight and easy to move everywhere. And that is, I would say, really the main thing you are going to want to pay that extra for if that is something that is important to you. or say you're a video game reviewer who can write this
[11:25] off and also continue to use it for work in the future like I plan to and of course kind of share uh how that is working for things in the future reviews I do. But even then, I'm not sure it really justifies its price to the
[11:38] average user, which is obviously where this thing is going to struggle a bit, I would imagine. On the flip side of that, uh nothing to do necessarily with the which it would potentially come with, is
[11:50] a lot, which is a very big surprise to actually sell those controllers separately. So, if you just wanted to about, you could definitely do that. But if it comes down to actually buying this
[12:04] thing for most people, I think what would probably be the deciding factor is, is the convenience that you're going to get out of it worth paying what it costs? There are other ways to do all of this. And while the Steam Machine makes
[12:17] that stuff much, much easier, like I mentioned, that doesn't really change the fact that it is possible to do more or less the exact same stuff in a different way. But for me in particular, it's just a really convenient way to
[12:29] access most of my PC gaming library without necessarily being rooted to my actual PC and not at the performance and, you know, battery life, etc. of the Steam Deck on top of that. But that is, I would say, pretty much everything I've
[12:43] got to say on this thing right now. Um, in the meantime, like I said, I am going future reviews where I talk about the Steam Deck and everything. So, if there know down in the comment section below, go ahead and feel free to ask or give
[12:58] those suggestions. I can either answer them in the comments, I suppose, or it'll be something I then keep in mind for those future segments in those that's pretty much going to do it. Hope you got something out of this. I suppose
[13:11] this thing now that I finally had it in my hands for a little bit. And so certainly feel free to do the same, which naturally means to like, comment, regardless of any of that, truly just thank you so much for watching. I really
[13:25] do appreciate it. May you wander in wisdom and have an amazing day.