3 ms·

I would love to see Valve partner with hardware companies to sell "Steambooks" which run SteamOS out of the box. I'll bet they could capture a significant frac

I would love to see Valve partner with hardware companies to sell "Steambooks" which run SteamOS out of the box. I'll bet they could capture a significant fraction of the market for gaming laptops, and expand the market for Linux preinstalls. Linux is nicer than Windows for developers and power users; the main issue is hardware compatibility. Preinstalls address that.

michaelt 1y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(computer) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(computer) Valve tried “steam machines”, OEM devices intended to provide a console-like experience. It wasn’t a big success (although that might have been a botched implementation rather than something fundamentally wrong about the concept, IDK)
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y ago
  Fair point. I still think they'd have a shot if they explicitly marketed it as a dual-use work/play device. Here's one way to think about it. The Steam Machine was asking gamers to buy a new device so they can game on their TV. Its failure shows that most Steam users were happy to keep gaming on their PC. But, almost everyone wants to buy a laptop every once in a while. And as long as you're buying a laptop, if you're a gamer, you might as well buy the gaming laptop which is running SteamOS and has really strong gaming compatibility. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
  - BlueTemplar 1y ago
    If you go as far as identify as a "gamer", you will be probably better off with a cheap laptop and a midrange desktop, rather than an expensive laptop that you had to buy all at once, which will age poorly, and which will be heavy and/or thermally limited.
    - 0xDEAFBEAD 1y ago
      That's an argument against gaming laptops more generally. But I understand that gaming laptops are fairly popular: >I've been hearing gaming laptop manufacturers tell me for years that gaming laptops are the future or whatever, but now that a laptop GPU is sitting securely at the top of the Steam Hardware Survey, I'm actually starting to believe it. https://www.ign.com/articles/gaming-laptops-are-apparently-more-popular-than-ever https://www.ign.com/articles/gaming-laptops-are-apparently-m...
      - BlueTemplar 1y ago
        Interesting. It's a shame they stopped there and didn't try to compile numbers across models... And I can believe them when a discrete mid-range card being announced for $350 is "relatively cheap": https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/amds-radeon-rx-9060-xt-wants-to-be-the-cheapest-16gb-gpu-on-the-market https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/amds-radeon-rx-9060-xt-want.... But on the other hand 3D-heavy games coming out right now seem to be a combination of poorly optimized and very badly looking on low-end hardware, making ~new gaming laptops less viable too...
- gpderetta 1y ago
  The OS and software support just wasn't there. Steam OS is much more refined now and with proton there is significantly better compatibility. I would be definitely interested on a Steam Deck consolle-like appliance. Of course you can just connect the steam deck to the TV, but it seems wasteful, you could have a better CPU/GPU while not need battery and screen. Also we need a new version of the steam controller! Maybe one day.

michaelt 1y ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(computer) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(computer) Valve tried “steam machines”, OEM devices intended to provide a console-like experience. It wasn’t a big success (although that might have been a botched implementation rather than something fundamentally wrong about the concept, IDK)

0xDEAFBEAD 1y ago
Fair point. I still think they'd have a shot if they explicitly marketed it as a dual-use work/play device. Here's one way to think about it. The Steam Machine was asking gamers to buy a new device so they can game on their TV. Its failure shows that most Steam users were happy to keep gaming on their PC. But, almost everyone wants to buy a laptop every once in a while. And as long as you're buying a laptop, if you're a gamer, you might as well buy the gaming laptop which is running SteamOS and has really strong gaming compatibility. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
- BlueTemplar 1y ago
  If you go as far as identify as a "gamer", you will be probably better off with a cheap laptop and a midrange desktop, rather than an expensive laptop that you had to buy all at once, which will age poorly, and which will be heavy and/or thermally limited.
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 1y ago
    That's an argument against gaming laptops more generally. But I understand that gaming laptops are fairly popular: >I've been hearing gaming laptop manufacturers tell me for years that gaming laptops are the future or whatever, but now that a laptop GPU is sitting securely at the top of the Steam Hardware Survey, I'm actually starting to believe it. https://www.ign.com/articles/gaming-laptops-are-apparently-more-popular-than-ever https://www.ign.com/articles/gaming-laptops-are-apparently-m...
    - BlueTemplar 1y ago
      Interesting. It's a shame they stopped there and didn't try to compile numbers across models... And I can believe them when a discrete mid-range card being announced for $350 is "relatively cheap": https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/amds-radeon-rx-9060-xt-wants-to-be-the-cheapest-16gb-gpu-on-the-market https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/amds-radeon-rx-9060-xt-want.... But on the other hand 3D-heavy games coming out right now seem to be a combination of poorly optimized and very badly looking on low-end hardware, making ~new gaming laptops less viable too...
gpderetta 1y ago
The OS and software support just wasn't there. Steam OS is much more refined now and with proton there is significantly better compatibility. I would be definitely interested on a Steam Deck consolle-like appliance. Of course you can just connect the steam deck to the TV, but it seems wasteful, you could have a better CPU/GPU while not need battery and screen. Also we need a new version of the steam controller! Maybe one day.