Personally, I don't care much for them. They're an interesting idea, but I think actual games systems tend to work better for TV gaming, and those titles only on PC can be played on a TV through the right cable setup and a PC.
It's a great idea, but buying a prebuilt system is just wasting money, and designed for people who don't have the time or ability to make their own. You can put together your own steam machine for less. From what I've heard Valve's controller sucks too. As for console games working better then PC's for playing through the TV, it really depends on the game and your set up. Obviously, it can be annoying to play a game that requires a mouse and keyboard when you're on the couch or something, and you'd likely need to invest in a comfier setup, but there's really nothing that makes consoles 'better' for use with a TV, and a great deal of games are playable with controller. Streaming the games from your desktop to your TV means you can enjoy the improved graphics that high end computers tend to have when compared to consoles, and adding to that the ease of (or in most cases, mere existence of) modding, and PC games are great for TV play. A TV is literally just a giant monitor. I'd say it's really personal preference between the plug and play nature of consoles, and the slightly less plug and play, but usually wider options of PC gaming.
The idea is great but...... yeah they are way to pricey and hard to say if they would ever come down in price. Most likely be cheaper to build your own.
The idea is great but...... yeah they are way to pricey and hard to say if they would ever come down in price. Most likely be cheaper to build your own.
When the hardware gets older the prices will plummet, but even by that time the components are way cheaper when purchased elsewhere so there's that. Overall Steam Machines just have the con's of PC's and consoles in one, so I honestly can't see any point in them at all. Sure the idea is good, but since nobody can sell them cheap enough to be sensible, you're just losing all the good sides of a PC by essentially turning it into a crippled console.
