Are Steam Machine Game Consoles Worth it?

Steam Machines are finally here, and we're ready for dat sweet Steam experience in the living room. But is it everything we had hoped for?...

Intro Screen Music Credit:
Title: Laszlo - Supernova

[larockwns]

Excellent review. I was worried when the video started out that the box was given to you by Dell, that you hold back the negative comments but you pulled no punches. That's awesome

[heyitsbakky]

coming back to this after his early impressions of the steam deck. valve REALLY did a fantastic job with the deck, it seems. super excited for it, and very happy to see they're not making the same mistakes they did with these weird-ass hybrids.

[ChriSaito]

God, I remember buying the windows version of the Alpha back in 2014/2015. I had just started my new post high school job at Walmart and was getting way more hours. I saw this little machine at my store for $400 or so, and went with my girlfriend at the time to spend my whole check on it. My parents were out of town so I she was staying at my house and I remember her falling asleep on the couch while I was playing with my first ever gaming capable PC. That weekend and beyond facilitated a lot of PC gaming fun, and I held onto that thing for years. It was so compact I could take it anywhere with a screen (and frequently did) and I even had my first VR experiences on it (luckily low frame rates don't make me motion sick). I had so many good memories with this thing. It kills me that I sold it to help pay for my current build. I wish I had kept that little box of memories. It wasn't just an underpowered gaming PC to me, it represents some of the best memories I have to this day. I'll never forget you Alienware Alpha.

[tim_goll]

What a great time to watch those old videos again

[xersys]

If you're seeing this in 2018 or later; the "steam machines" come with windows. It's called an Alienware Alpha. No more trying to find linux compatible games.

[EposVox]

"His presence on Earth raises many questions" - Dare I ask?

[krushangangurde]

at 8:07 "buy me FO4 for sex"

[CM-izny]

so basically they took the shittyest aspects of the PC and made it into an overpriced console..

[SirCrest]

2:20. Woah what happened.


Edit: Probably the best review you guys have done.

[FinnishDude]

never been this quick to watch ltt video, life complete :)

[BeefIngot]

Essentially the same conclusion everyone sensible has said from the start. The concept is flawed. I dont even know why they green lit it.

[ProtoMario]

The volume issue is a complete bullshit, I not only used one of these but checked some other viewers videos.

If you run this thing under a serious load and play demanding games it sounds like a fucking Jet engine.

That is not good.

[ajaybharadwaj]

linus looks like a young micheal bolton

[FATFATTYBY]

I listened to this video once while tired at my desk, fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the Siberian wilderness, bare chested, and fighting seventeen grizzly bears, I actually won the fight and earned the grizzly's respect, we are now all very good friends, shoot pool and drink vodka together regularly, videos can be a powerful influence, thanks Linus!

[DisappointedScrosh]

I bought an i3 alpha in 2015 for $399 from Walmart. It was my first “gaming pc” and was actually a pretty great way to get into pc gaming. I have since built a much more powerful pc, but still appreciate the alpha for making it easy for me to get into pc gaming

[jean-marcfueri]

I can change the color of the Alienware logo? Wow I'm sold.

[sibenikkk]

It's like saying whats the point in recycling ? It's harder to do, why bother doing it?
Valve knows what it's doing and why, microsoft had one too many bad decisions so they wanted independence in a way. It would be nice if you, as a channel with a quite a number of followers, would at least mention it or support opensource and valve's linux leap at least in that fashion. Guess it's too much to ask

[Nightstalkercod]

The limitations when it comes to non-gaming functions is an interesting, and often forgotten, point. Gaming consoles are used for much more than just gaming nowadays; they are essentially all in one entertainment systems. Frankly the fact that Steam OS doesn't support apps such as Netflix is a major detractor, especially if it's trying to compete with Sony or Microsoft.

[dka]

Inb4 linus just wanted more exposure on these old videos

[PyroBlock]

there aren't enough people justifying linux to linus in the comments