Don't worry, if it doesnt, some other much worse *-pocalypse will make it all moot!

Does Remote Play work for non-Steam games running in Steam?

Before the comments just become another pricing argument, I want to say I'm still hyped. These look like really cool products.

I really don't understand the hand-wringing about the cost. I see comments all the time about how it's "DOA" at some price or another and it strikes me as someone projecting their own preferences and values, including the "analyst" quoted in the article.

As an outside observer you don't know a) Valve's goals; b) almost anyone else's preferences and values.

I say this as someone who enjoys gaming, won't ever buy a console and won't ever build a gaming rig. This product is perfect for me and I'd have to feel like Valve were purposely screwing me to not buy it. I may be a minority but I can't be alone.

If they're expecting people to use the Frame with the Machine, then they'd probably want the Machine on the market first. I'm not totally clear on the strategy. They obviously made it "standalone", but will there be enough content to release it as such?

I certainly plan to buy it specifically to use with the Machine.

Linux DESTROYS Windows with FACTS and LOGIC

I got a refurbished 512GB for $439 a year ago, that is nuts.

What's even available that's competitive? Legion Go 2 prices are absolutely bonkers, maybe the first gen at $849?

MS still had launch MSRP for the ROG Xbox Ally models.

Protecting my deck with my life...

I think those were listed specifically as controllers. Here's the previous "leak" :

https://sopuli.xyz/post/44131731

I think anyone with a fairly basic understanding of economics (and that is admittedly a declining number in many places) understands the idea that "salaries and benefits are expensive".

What he doesn't explain that would actually be helpful is why teams are so big. Like what are all the departments that work on AAA titles, what do they do, how many people on staff relative to other departments, what does a 3D modeler make vs. a gameplay programmer?

He also doesn't talk about anything outside of staffing, like marketing, cinematics, voice acting, localization, bribing Geoff Keighley...

This would all be more useful than the baby math lesson provided.

See point a. Everyone is so capitalism-brained they assume every company's goal is to sell the maximum amount of product and anything less is abject failure. (Ok that's a bit of hyperbole.) But Valve is a weird company and we just don't know what their criteria for success is.

If they're aiming for a market the same size or larger than the Steam Deck, they will probably struggle at higher price points. But if they're look at 1-2M units? That could be doable with people like me. That's a relatively small portion of the gaming market, but might be enough for them to be worth it.

I don't think Valve is trying to convert console players. I think (and they've implied) that they're trying to offer what a lot of Steam Deck buyers have been asking for: a more powerful Steam Deck that plays more of their library. That they took a lot of cues from consoles in terms of packaging and design is really more about "the living room" than that specific customer they're targeting.

I could have consoles, and I choose not to because I have a large Steam library and, as OP said, they've earned my trust.

You're assuming there is an author...

I was confused by this news because I buy games cheaper from other retailers all the time, even Steam keys. I assume this about full retail price, but since PC games go on sale so often, it seems like "average retail price" can easily be lower through another store front.

Yeah I think that was my point about feeling like Valve is purposely screwing me. Microsoft showed with the Xbox Ally X that their appetite for hardware subsidies is waning (perhaps even their appetite for hardware at all).

Valve has a lot of goodwill with Steam Deck owners and I think if they price it at a number higher than any one person's expectations, that person is less likely to think it's Valve's fault, than if Sony were to do the same.

Makes sense.

Don't announce a price and see every single comment section devolve into pricing discourse.

I share your skepticism, because Valve is definitely in a damned if you do/don't situation. But...

The only people who could justify an absurdly high price for a Steam Machine are the people who NEED a plug-and-play console-like system and can afford a high price. And that is just not a big market.

I'm not sure it was ever a large market. Like I don't think based on Valve's comments during the launch that they were thinking "bigger than the Steam Deck". It really felt like "for the subset of Deck users who want this too, and maybe it'll surprise us." The commentary around price has ALWAYS been "it's going to be too expensive", from the second it was announced, so it's hard to know how much the price will actually impact sales, because so many people want to talk about how they'd buy a thing if not for this one factor who were never ever going to buy the thing.

The pricing is definitely going to be a problem now, there is no way around that. But because I'm the person you are describing, I will say... I'm just over building PCs and the inherent compromises (nevermind that the component prices are crushing that market too). The guy who did the video a few months back was a) in Canada, b) buying shit in parking lots from FB marketplace, c) doing this 6 months ago, before the war. I'm not convinced it could be done reasonably today at some remarkably lower price than whatever you or I think the Steam Machine will cost.

I don't want the ecosystem lock-in of consoles, I already own tons of PC games. I want exactly what Valve is cooking, and not really anything else. Even if it's an alleged better value.

Valve probably needs to implement their waitlist system for all hardware at this point.

But the point remains, if it's "not worth it", who are scalpers gonna sell it to?

Valve hardware is niche. They have (as of 2024) less than 400 people working there, and surely most of them of Steam and... maybe some games.

I really heard nothing in their presentations and interviews to suggest they have grand aspirations of shifting 10s of millions of units. The Deck I think is considered a success, and still only moved in a few years what the Switch did in a few months.

I think their target demographic is PC gamers who are just not super enthusiastic about the endless hardware grind.

After the winter sale and some Christmas gift cards I was kinda paralyzed by choice and just stopped playing.

I've been following "Video Game Club" on Mastodon and the March game is Super Mario Galaxy. So getting emulator and controller working for that and getting it going. The game itself seems decent, but has not become a total timesink yet.