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That doesn't necessarily change the economics so much. As time goes on a console manufacturer can drop the price of it's console and make up the difference usin
by jiggy2011 13y ago
That doesn't necessarily change the economics so much. As time goes on a console manufacturer can drop the price of it's console and make up the difference using it's massive economies of scale and by selling more games (since it gets a cut of every title sold).
OTOH a hypothetical steambox manufacturer must still make a profit on every box sold. Since roughly the same pile of hardware can be sold as either a "steambox" or a "PC" (which can have steam installed) the margins on the two will have to be roughly the same.
Bare in mind that margins on most PCs are already pretty slim.
- dageshi 13y agoBear in mind this is additional demand. People were never going to buy the equivalent "cheap pc gaming rig" because it didn't look and act like a console. Whereas steambox will, so effectively existing PC manufacturers will suddenly get access to a potentially huge new market which was off limits to them previously. Given that the new console generation lifecycle will be about a decade, in 3-5 years SteamBox will be a no brainer in terms of price/performance. I actually think what comes next is a "battle of the stores", where Steam will come installed on every Steambox but manufacturers will probably get paid to install other stores as well.
- chongli 13y agoHowever, a "steambox builder" has more leverage for changing parts suppliers in order to cut costs; a console is absolutely stuck with the choices it made at the outset.