Post #3482843

2026-06-22 17:36 UTC

I imagine most of the more tech savvy people on Lemmy would scoff at this and say “Might as well build a PC” (me included, which I already did), but this is aimed at the consumers who do not have that skill set and are willing to pay that price point for a Steam gaming system /shrug

Replies (7)

@bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 2026-06-23 00:45

I was hoping for a miracle that I could recommend it to a friend’s son as a good entry into PC gaming. But they’re on a tight budget and I guess they could do better for the same money.

Open ##3482842
@snooggums@piefed.world 2026-06-22 17:57

I wanted the tiny box format for playing my steam library on the TV without needing to run a cable from the PC. Wasn’t sure I could build one this small so I waited to see how much this was. Around $800 for the 2TB model was my hope when it was announced. Stupid AI data centers screwing over memory prices.

Open ##3483059
@someguy3@lemmy.world 2026-06-22 18:23

With today’s prices how much cheaper would you get building similar yourself?

Open ##3483335
@PonyOfWar@pawb.social 2026-06-22 17:48

I wonder how many people there are that fall in that category but who wouldn’t just buy a much cheaper console instead though.

Open ##3483971
@mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-06-22 20:47

It’s also a fundamentally different user experience. Sure you could load SteamOS onto a machine you built. But the point is that this targets the couch players, instead of the desktop players. And very few PC players will build a new PC just for their couch. I love my Steam Deck, because it has caused my wife’s complaints about gaming to dry up almost completely. When I’m at my computer desk, she can’t snuggle with me. But by moving to the couch, we can snuggle while I play. Her complaints weren’t really about my gaming; they were about my physical unavailability. And the Steam Deck allows me to access the vast majority of my PC games on the couch, so we can both be happy.

Open ##3491542
@phx@lemmy.world 2026-06-23 06:44

I have the skill, but no longer the willingness to maintain said PC for the enjoyment of everyone else who is less technical. Updates on Steam Deck has been dead easy, and compatibility fairly straightforward. I’ll still muck around with my own bigger gaming rig, but for the “this goes on the living room” device the SM seems like a good balance.

Open ##3499183
@slaacaa@lemmy.world 2026-06-23 07:45

It is aimed at people like me, but it’s too expensive for what it is. I have a PS5, would be happy to buy this to play PC only games, but it just doesn’t make sense for this price, given the performance benchmarks

Open ##3503018