{"data":{"items":[{"id":"05a186c7-da18-4963-bb33-752b3d252e96","excerpt":"Steam Machine's curious newcomer's FAQ -//- What is it? What can it do? What *can't* it do? — # Availability //\n\n### - how much?\nhaha, that's the \\[insert Steam Machine price here\\] \\[insert currency here\\] question my friend!\n\n### - when?\nLemme look into my crystal ball 👉🔮\n\n# Performance //\n\n### - what should I expect","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/steammachine/comments/1sq206z/steam_machines_curious_newcomers_faq_what_is_it/","role":"demand","weight":1.1340083,"occurredAt":"2026-04-19T19:07:30.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"steammachine","intent":"alternative_search","painScore":0.39,"sentiment":0.3617021,"confidence":0.81583333,"matchedPatterns":["doesnt_work","switching_from","solution:software"],"statement":"It's a PC so yes, it can handle multiple control methods seamlessly, you can switch from M/KB to controller whenever and edit control schemes however you want via Steam Input # Software // ### - what can I expect to run?","title":"Steam Machine's curious newcomer's FAQ -//- What is it? What can it do? What *can't* it do?","body":"# Availability //\n\n### - how much?\nhaha, that's the \\[insert Steam Machine price here\\] \\[insert currency here\\] question my friend!\n\n### - when?\nLemme look into my crystal ball 👉🔮\n\n# Performance //\n\n### - what should I expect?\n**Short version -- \"horsepower\"-wise, expect a PS5.**\n\nLong version -- [Steam Machine - a comprehensive hardware breakdown](https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/steam-machine-a-comprehensive-hardware-breakdown.343136/#post-5625135) (section 2 & 3)\n\n# Hardware //\n\n### - what exactly is under the hood?\n**Short version -- AMD-issued laptop-grade parts & other laptop standardized components, you can only change the RAM (laptop 'SODIMM' DDR5) & storage (NVMe M.2)**\n\nLong version -- [Steam Machine - a comprehensive hardware breakdown](https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/steam-machine-a-comprehensive-hardware-breakdown.343136/#post-5625135) (section 1)\n\nNote : the Steam Machine has NOT been designed to be a powerhouse, it's goal is to allow players the most straightforward access to gaming technologically achievable AND (although Valve didn't say it outloud) designate a hardware target for game studios to hit as the least powerful PC they should optimize for-- the very same way the SteamDeck became an incentive for many to optimize a game to run on it because of the huge market On-The-Go gaming became because of it.\n\n### - can I use mouse/keyboard?\nIt's a PC so yes, it can handle multiple control methods seamlessly, you can switch from M/KB to controller whenever and edit control schemes however you want via Steam Input\n\n# Software //\n\n### - what can I expect to run?\n**Short version -- Everything a SteamDeck can launch, it's running SteamOS too**\n\nLong version -- it's a PC (the Deck too but that's a whole other rambling) so everything a PC can BUT, \\_**out of the box\\_**, it's not your regular computer running Windows (even though you could install it instead if you wanted), \\_**SteamOS is based on Linux\\_**, so here's in details what you should expect :\n* not 100% of all games ever are guaranteed to run on Linux: a huge share of them straight up do not have a Linux version, but we can still play on Linux thanks to a little thing called WINE, that Valve picked up, made their version (doing that is commonly called a \"fork\") optimized for gaming they called Proton, which takes the Windows version of games, operate some software-level black magic that you don't really need to care about and through this, lets you run games on Linux! BUT, as software is never perfect, there is obviously some incompatibilities that either won't let you launch a game at all or some quirks causing issues at various levels of your gaming experience // **Check out** [**ProtonDB**](https://www.protondb.com/) **to check the playability of games on Linux via a rating system & user reviews that often includes community fixes where necessary + Games will have a SteamDeck/SteamOS compatibility rating on their store pages for your convenience! This rating is dependent on Valve testing so it may take longer to show there than on ProtonDB but it's also a form of official validation**\n* no games with kernel-level anti-cheat, *unless explicitly stated by the game studio*\\-- that includes CoD games (since at least 2019), Battlefield games (since at least BF2042), Escape From Tarkov (sortof), Destiny 2, Marathon... // **Check out** [**AreWeAntiCheatYet**](https://areweanticheatyet.com/) **for the full up-to-date list of games with Linux-enabled anti-cheats (and obviously those that don't too)**\n* software available under the form of a \"Flatpak\"-- Linux allows you to install whatever you want but since it's also just as easy to just f\\*\\*k it up and botch the system, Valve set it up to be immutable: you can't modify it without switching off the safety on it (you can do whatever you want but if you want it to stay stable and retain official support, leave that as is) However, you can install software on it the same way you install apps from the app store on your phone: it goes for browsers, office software, creative software, etc... if there's a Flatpak version of it, you can install it via \"Discover\" (the \"app store\" that ships with it) // **Check out** [**AlternativeTo**](https://alternativeto.net/browse/all/?platform=linux%2Cflatpak) *(I've already applied the \"Flatpak\" filter on that link)* **to parse through software you're likely to find in Discover to install.**\n* Not all softwares you know and are familiar with on Windows have a Flatpak version, let alone a Linux build-- if you *really* need something from Windows, not all hope is lost: through the same methods Valve made the Deck & now the Machine/Frame run Windows-only games, there exist ways to run Windows software but this is not a guarantee either, Linux compatibility went a loooooong way over the years, non-game software is quite volatile so while new support is introduced regularly, subvert your expectations, look up if something can be run and how well it will run // **Check out** [**Bottles**](https://usebottles.com) **or** [**this video guide**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyOGtPQ644) **from** [**their docs**](https://docs.usebottles.com/getting-started/first-run) **to learn the basics**\n* There's use cases where megacorps either don't see the point of supporting Linux or straight up don't play nice intentionally (whether or not reasons behind are legitimate may vary) such as streaming services for DRM (aka content protection) reasons, mostly niche stuff (such as Blu-Ray playing & Dolby 7.1-- from what I heard) but can be inconvenient at time when you encounter those...\n\n### - can I mod my games?\nIt's... hit or miss. Most of the answer around this will be available [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/steammachine/comments/1suvxpc/how_easy_will_modding_be/)\n\n### - can it run VR?\nWhile the Steam Frame has been designed to run as a standalone device, Valve has of course also worked on PCVR tandem between the two, it will absolutely work for VR regardless of the VR brand, as long as the headset supports Steam Link/SteamVR or the manufacturer's streamer app has a SteamOS/Linux compatible version.\n\n# Alternative //\n\n### - can I make my own Steam Machine?\n**Short version -- Of course, you absolutely can, I made my own, a bunch of others did too!**  \nHOWEVER: SteamOS offers no Nvidia GPU support, unless you have literally anything else, it won't work. // **Doesn't stop you from the next best options -both of which have Nvidia support- like** [**Bazzite**](https://bazzite.gg/) **(Deck/Machine-like experience) or** [**CachyOS**](https://cachyos.org/) **(PC-like experience)** *(there's other flavors of Linux but the most popular & reliable for gaming are those two)*\n\nLong version -- [The GeekCube // a DIY \"we have GabeCube at home\" project](https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/the-geekcube-a-diy-we-have-gabecube-at-home-project.344131/#post-5640623) (section 1)\n\n# Other //\n\n### - my question/worries/expectations are not answered by the above!\nreply down here, I'll try to convince the mods to pin this at the top of the sub as I update this post with more answers further down the line!","offTopic":true},{"id":"ca1641b4-f234-43cf-b239-8db0c8349454","excerpt":"I'm the \"unscientific testing\" guy. Here's my thoughts on the steam machine after 9 days. — I'm guessing many here saw my previous posts. I've tried well over 60 games from a variety of genres on this device. I have a bunch of unorganized, profanity filled thoughts after over a week of using it. For context, I have a h","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/steammachine/comments/1us4bk8/im_the_unscientific_testing_guy_heres_my_thoughts/","role":"request","weight":1.0209333,"occurredAt":"2026-07-09T21:53:52.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"steammachine","intent":"problem_report","painScore":0.24,"sentiment":0.25714287,"confidence":0.8233333,"matchedPatterns":["frustrating","praise"],"statement":"* It's annoying when games cloud sync graphics settings from another device, and not just game progress.","title":"I'm the \"unscientific testing\" guy. Here's my thoughts on the steam machine after 9 days.","body":"I'm guessing many here saw my previous posts. I've tried well over 60 games from a variety of genres on this device. I have a bunch of unorganized, profanity filled thoughts after over a week of using it. For context, I have a high end desktop with a 5090, and also a Steam Deck OLED which I've used both docked and handheld. Some of these bullet points will be directed towards people with little PC experience (like console players).\n\n* I truly admire Valve's crusade to unshackle pc gaming from desk/mouse/kb gaming. Look at everything they've developed over the last decade+ and you'll see software they've developed like steam big picture, steam input (for controller compatibility/remapping), remote play, proton/steamOS, steam VR, etc which make devices like the steam machine, controller, deck and frame possible. No other players in the pc space are even attempting anything like this, except maybe xbox with their recent full screen experience thing. \n* SteamOS fucking rules. It's genuinely impressive how simple and console-like the UI is, while still offering plenty of power user functionality. The way it's designed with gaming mode and desktop mode was a brilliant move by valve. My wife has been using the steam machine (and previously a docked steam deck) to play her cozy games. She's not exactly a tech nerd and it still gets her stamp of approval for simplicity.\n* SteamOS is slightly buggy. I've had some very minor issues that are always resolved by a reboot. Steam Machine has been in the wild for like a week and updates are constantly rolling out so I would not put much weight on this.\n* 3rd party launchers are the fucking worst. Every time I launch a game from EA or whatever and have to sign into their launcher overlay, it really interrupts the console-like simplicity of this. It's really really nice having the steam controller trackpads to use a mouse cursor to navigate these launcher screens.\n* Gamescope is so nice. For those unfamiliar, gamescope essentially runs games in a fullscreen container so you never have a mouse cursor on your screen or a visible taskbar at the bottom or whatever. This is one of the biggest things that contributes to console-like simplicity.\n* Games run fine off the SD card. I have a sandisk extreme card, and while I haven't actually timed loading speeds, there's not a significant enough difference between that and the SSD to be noticeable. I may compare with a really slow loading game like RDR2.\n* Steam machine is as quiet and small as all the reviews have said. I literally cannot hear fan noise when playing it, and as you can see, it fits well behind my TV.\n* 4k is suuuuuuper overrated. At normal TV viewing distances, I can *barely* tell the difference between 4k, or something lower like 1440p, 1620p or 1800p. Unless you're playing a lighter game that can easily run at 4k, it's way better to put more power towards higher settings or framerate than trying to push 4k.\n* If your main device is a steam deck, you will love this thing. Most new AAA games are too demanding to run at acceptable levels on Deck, and steam machine will make all those games playable for you.\n* Use a VRR screen if possible. For those unfamiliar, variable refresh rate screens will match the refresh rate to the framerate the steam machine is rendering at. On a non-VRR screen, fps dips are much more noticeable, where on VRR if the fps has some slight dips into the 50's or whatever you really can't tell.\n* SteamOS has some incredibly powerful functionality. Game recording, local network transfers, remote play together, and especially steam input. Steam will manage the compatibility with virtually any controller you want, with full remapping capabilities. Steam input remapping is quite the rabbit hole, and it's possible to remap simple stuff like repeat key presses (ie so you don't have to mash A to sprint in GTA), or even map the mouse/kb controls of a strategy game to the controller.\n* Despite being accustomed to a top end PC, I'm still happy with the performance of the vast majority of games. The main game I'm playing right now is RE4 remake on both my desktop and steam machine, and I'm never ever feeling like it's a compromised experience on the steam machine. Despite the lower settings/resolution, it would be tough for me to tell which was which unless I was comparing side by side. I've really only found 2 games that are unoptimized to the point that I couldn't get an experience I was happy with (borderlands 4, jedi survivor).\n* That said, the biggest weakness of this device for a non-techy person is that you have to spend time fine tuning graphics settings in a lot of games to get a good experience. Whether that's something older like Mirror's Edge which defaults to 600x800 resolution, or whether it's a new demanding game that default settings give you like 20fps, the defaults are almost never ideal.\n* Hopefully this improves as more devs can set appropriate default settings.\n* Game compatibility is very good. Early steam deck days, many games just didn't work via proton. Nowadays, I haven't found a single incompatible game aside from the handful of multiplayer games with unsupported anticheat (marathon, apex, cod, etc). This isn't a factor for me, especially since I have my desktop running windows, but this may be a dealbreaker for some.\n* General system UI is more responsive than on steam deck.\n* The steam controller is awesome. I have an xbox elite 2, dualsense edge, 8bitdo ultimate, and a bunch of other controllers and the SC has become my go-to. It's very comfortable, lasts forever, has grip buttons (MUST HAVE), and gyro/gripsense is more useful than I expected. The trackpads are great for aiming in certain games, but also make cursor based games playable (ie strategy, city builders), are useful for UI navigation like launcher login screens, desktop mode, desktop applications (discord, browesr, etc), and also for in-game mapping like virtual menus. Very underrated feature.\n* It works with basically any peripherals you want. Bluetooth headphones, controllers, mice, keyboards, storage devices, etc.\n* There are weird quirks that you can tell steamOS was originally designed for deck. For example, the default hostname is steamdeck when connecting to your network. Also a few games (no rest for the wicked) think it's a steam deck and force steam deck settings.\n* Every game needs FSR 4. older versions of FSR are trash. It's nice when you can use proton experimental to upgrade it to FSR 4, but having to use optiscaler in other cases isn't ideal.\n* It's annoying when games cloud sync graphics settings from another device, and not just game progress. I do NOT want my steam machine to default to the graphics settings used on either my desktop or my steam deck as all 3 devices have drastically different performance capabilities. I think steam should tackle this and detect the game progress files and settings/config files separately to prevent this.\n* I'm happy with my purchase. Yeah it's more expensive than it should have been, but it's a well designed device that fits my use case.\n* Fuck sam altman for many reasons, but particularly for destroying the consumer electronics market.","offTopic":true},{"id":"5dd3e268-278f-4736-9a11-642bfe82cc05","excerpt":"I think we can reasonably guess when HLX will be announced. — Much has been said and disseminated about HLX's likely announcement & release, and this subreddit is currently littered with failed predictions and unfounded spectulation. Valve's own public statements and history gives us everything we need to make a reason","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/1pisd9x/i_think_we_can_reasonably_guess_when_hlx_will_be/","role":"request","weight":0.9916667,"occurredAt":"2025-12-10T03:39:22.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"HalfLife","intent":"feature_request","painScore":0.36,"sentiment":0.4,"confidence":0.7291667,"matchedPatterns":["missing_feature"],"statement":"**We're missing the point.** * The announcement of the Steam Hardware family is not a coincidence, it is likely the product HLX is supposed to advertise.","title":"I think we can reasonably guess when HLX will be announced.","body":"Much has been said and disseminated about HLX's likely announcement & release, and this subreddit is currently littered with failed predictions and unfounded spectulation. Valve's own public statements and history gives us everything we need to make a reasonable guess.\n\n**We're missing the point.**\n\n* The announcement of the Steam Hardware family is not a coincidence, it is likely the product HLX is supposed to advertise. After all, GabeN has said:\n   * [\"When Miyamoto is sitting down and thinking about the next version of Zelda or Mario, he's thinking what is the controller going to look like, what sort of graphics and other capabilities. He can introduce new capabilities like motion input because he controls both of those things. And he can make the hardware look as good as possible because he's designing the software at the same time that's really going to take advantage of it. So that is something we've been jealous of, and that's something that you'll see us taking advantage of subsequently.\"](https://www.pcgamer.com/gabe-newell-hooray-valves-going-to-start-shipping-games-again/)\n* This is precisely what Valve has always used Half-Life for, demonstrating their newest technology to pressure adoption. [Let's not forget that Half-Life 2 was the first game to require customers to use Steam in order to play it.](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/11/how-half-life-2-helped-sell-steam-to-a-skeptical-pc-gaming-market/) They paid a price for this with the community, but you have to remember that Valve doesn't think in quarterly cycles, they think in terms of decades, they saw digital distribution was the future and they are now the dominant digital distributor of PC games in the world. To that point, here is GabeN giving a talk titled \"[Linux is the Future of Gaming](https://youtu.be/yeCuasjxsWk)\" ***all the way back in 2013***. To put this in perspective, Proton wouldn't even start development for another 5 years, the original Steam Machine wouldn't launch for two more years, the Deck not for another nine.\n* Now, to be clear, I'm not claiming that Valve is going to make HLX a Steam Machine exclusive, as that would be counter-productive towards their actual goal with the Steam Machine: solving the chicken & egg problem with gaming on Linux. They have all the software infrastructure now to support gaming on Linux at essentially the standard PC Gamers expect, Valve just needs the wider gaming development community to start accepting Linux as a commercially viable gaming market. [This has been a primary goal of Valve since the launch of Windows 8](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18996377).\n\n1. **It's about the Price**\n   * Okay, so why not announce HLX already? The Machine is already announced. Valve has a history of announcing it's platform first, and it's product second. Steam predated Half-Life 2 by a year, as did the Index to Half-Life Alyx.\n   * I believe Valve intends to offer complimentary copies of HLX with the purchase of a Steam Machine, as an advertising tool, a platform incentive, and a value proposition for the [potentially high price of the hardware.](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/valve-coder-confirms-the-steam-machine-will-be-priced-like-a-pc-albeit-at-a-good-deal-if-you-build-a-pc-from-parts-and-get-to-basically-the-same-level-of-performance-thats-the-general-price-window-that-we-aim-to-be-at/) This is not without precedent, as the same strategy with the Valve Index [was extremely profitable for them and led to wider platform adoption.](https://www.pcgamer.com/valves-index-vr-headset-sold-out-in-stores-following-the-half-life-alyx-reveal/)\n   * The Steam Machine's price is still in limbo, it's likely not even Valve knows what the final price is going to be as the RAM market continues to deteriorate. Valve likely wants to announce HLX as free with a Steam Machine in it's reveal, but need to be able to be able to quote a price for the Steam Machine beforehand. Doing one without the other will derail the discussions of both products as pricing discussions will dominate.\n2. ***Enough reading already, just tell me when!***\n   * It seems extremely likely that HLX will be announced and listed on steam for pre-order when the Steam Hardware does the same, that way, Valve doesn't have to process HLX refunds for people who pre-order before it's announced as free with the Steam Machine. Additionally, Valve likely wants their optimized hardware to be a main discussion point in the media circuit so it can be marketed as a strong entry point for the wider gaming audience. HLX as a Steam Machine launch title would also be a golden opportunity for the Steam Machine to post impressive benchmarks showing SteamOS outperforming windows on a 'Half-Life 3'-sized stage.\n3. **Alright for real, when it is it coming out?**\n   * In Valve's own words, [\"Early 2026\"](https://store.steampowered.com/hardware/)\n\n**Further Reading**\n\nValves History of Bundling Software with Hardware:\n\n[Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, Deathmatch](https://web.archive.org/web/20080415004850/http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/05/30/valve-gives-free-games-to-ati-radeon-owners)\n\n[Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Peggle Extreme, and the first eleven levels of Portal](https://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/free_portal_to_all_nvidia_geforce_owners/1/)\n\nValves Mindset about Software Releases:\n\n[Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361700/HalfLife_Alyx__Final_Hours/)\n\n[\"Valve only wants to make new Half-Life games if they push the medium forward\"](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/valve-only-wants-to-make-half-life-games-if-they-push-the-medium-forward-but-what-could-it-push-forward-next/)","offTopic":true},{"id":"686be7a6-2ff5-4fd4-ab8d-424bfed3a184","excerpt":"WAY better than people are speculating... — Here's some of the points I think folks are missing (this isn't comprehensive):\n\nSteamOS:\n\nMeta's Horizon OS is built to turn you into a product, to be sold, to companies.  It's job (no matter how poorly it does it today) is to collect as much advertising data on you as possi","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveDeckard/comments/1owo71r/way_better_than_people_are_speculating/","role":"request","weight":0.96106666,"occurredAt":"2025-11-14T05:32:54.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"ValveDeckard","intent":"feature_request","painScore":0.36,"sentiment":0.33333334,"confidence":0.70666665,"matchedPatterns":["missing_feature"],"statement":"Here's some of the points I think folks are missing (this isn't comprehensive): SteamOS: Meta's Horizon OS is built to turn you into a product, to be sold, to companies.","title":"WAY better than people are speculating...","body":"Here's some of the points I think folks are missing (this isn't comprehensive):\n\nSteamOS:\n\nMeta's Horizon OS is built to turn you into a product, to be sold, to companies.  It's job (no matter how poorly it does it today) is to collect as much advertising data on you as possible.  People are actually scanning their homes and uploading it to Meta's servers.  Cool tech until you connect the AI dots, the advertising dots, the social media dots.  That sports memorabilia you have on your wall?  Definitely going in your profile, to be sold to whoeverthefuck they want, again, maybe not today, but they have the tech.\n\n\nIn contrast, SteamOS is lean and mean.  It's built to deliver you content from Valve's marketplace.  If there's an ad, it's for a game, maybe even a game you might like.  They do not have a motivation to build an internal profile on you based on what you view on social media, or even post about in Steam's own forums.  They are simply not incentivized to do this.  This could arguably change in the future, but today, I just don't see it.\n\n\nHell, just having any other OS for these devices is HUGE!  It makes me want to scream \"WAKE UP PEOPLE!\"\n\n\nSnapdragon 8 Gen 3:\n\nJust on raw benchmarks alone, this chip is about 30% faster than XR2 Gen 2.  30% faster than Quest 3.  And since Valve chose to stick with mid-res displays, this means this performance overhead isn't needed to drive more pixels.  Looking at SteamOS VS Windows on Deck, they are also outperforming Windows by up to 30% in some games.  Now I'm not dumb enough to think this leads to a 60% faster headset than Quest 3, but it's enough to make me think it's really gonna outperform Quest 3 by a good margin.  And that's not even considering devs that support Foviated Rendering!\n\n\nWhat does this mean for your games?  You will be able to APKs on Steam!  I think if devs bring their standalone game APKs to Frame, you'll see noticeably better framerates.  This might be a bold claim, but if you run at 72hz on Quest 3, you're getting 90hz on Frame, if your game does 90 on Quest 3, you might be getting up to 120 on Frame.  Smooth.\n\n\nThe FOViating:\n\nEye tracking is not a cheap feature to add to your hardware, but BOY does it open some doors.  First of all, foviated rendering, an instant performance uplift for your game for devs that choose to implement it.  It's not nothin' to implement it in Unity, but it doesnt take months, either.  Add to that the fact that more devs now have a reason to implement eye tracking, which I'm guessing Unity and Unreal will just add it to their base VR character objects, we should see even better avatars in games.  I've used it in VR Chat, and it really does add something (that goes all the way back to Half Life 2 innovations).  I think this is really cool, and will eventually become something that's taken for granted.\n\n\nFoviated Streaming is pretty exciting as well.  Anything to make wireless PCVR better is great.  I've had good experiences on Quest 3 with the DLink VR Air Bridge (even running it in trade show environments) in the past, but there's unquestionably room for improvement.  This sounds really slick, and those videos reviews we've all watched seem to indicate it's not noticable at all.\n\n\nPCIe Gen [checks notes] FOUR?!\n\n\"It's a bold strategy, Cotton.  Let's see if it pays off for 'em\".  Holy hell, this is rad.  This ain't no gimped USB port, this is HOT!  Years ago, I met some devs from Leap Motion at I/ITSEC showing off their hand tracking.  I wasn't impressed by it, but it sure was cool.  One of the guys admitted USB 2.0 was little limiting, and it made sense to me at the time.  Having a PCIe 4 connection point is insane to me, but this makes me think that REALLY high speed things can be hooked up to this.  Massive improvement, which leads me to...\n\n\nHacking the Frame:\n\nThis will hands down be the most hackable headset we've seen yet.  Get some PLA and prep your printer for launch, we're going for a wild ride!  This thing is gonna home brew like that dude I met at King Gizzard concert.  This is hands down the most hackable VR device we've ever seen.\n\nI see a lot of people talking about the low res displays and MY biggest bummer was that the Optics, Screens, and Compute are all one unit.  I was high on hopium thinking this would be a super modular design.  Still, that PCIe port, and some of the design cues make me think this is gonna get weird, and I  truly hope it does.  There's a lot that can be done here, and I know you don't buy hardware on \"future promises\", but I'm optimistic.\n\n\nUltimately, I think this will bring actual GAMERS into the fold, which Apple, Meta, and Samesung seem to be ignoring because software sales are, admittedly, weak.  Still, this looks like a device made BY gamers, FOR gamers.  That's gonna hook people.  I've seen a lot of talk about \"I already have a Quest 3\", then you're already in.  I think this device is to hook those who aren't.  Price point will matter a lot, but I think this will be a better first headset for millions of people, just like the Steam Deck is a better handheld than the ROG XBox Ally X.  And I'm already sold, \"SteamOS on a headset\", sheeit ...that's all you gots to say!","offTopic":true},{"id":"1111554b-13ee-4866-8417-b5d157372cf4","excerpt":"Steam Machine 1 Month Later (Review) — **-Why the Steam Machine?-**  \n\tIt has been super interesting to see everyone's reasons as to why they got a steam machine, for me it was simple; I’m done spending 30m getting a steam deck set up onto the tv. \n\nI LOVE the my steam deck, to the point where I made basically everyone","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/steammachine/comments/1vuhrn2/steam_machine_1_month_later_review/","role":"request","weight":0.86961794,"occurredAt":"2026-08-21T14:22:32.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"steammachine","intent":"feature_request","painScore":0.135,"sentiment":0.3846154,"confidence":0.7661832,"matchedPatterns":["please_add","praise"],"statement":"For me the #1 use case wasn't the wireless charging (although that is AMAZING) its the instant pair without having to do a sync routine or plug anything in; So for me having a pug that you can tap to pair OR wireless charge kinda defeats t…","title":"Steam Machine 1 Month Later (Review)","body":"**-Why the Steam Machine?-**  \n\tIt has been super interesting to see everyone's reasons as to why they got a steam machine, for me it was simple; I’m done spending 30m getting a steam deck set up onto the tv. \n\nI LOVE the my steam deck, to the point where I made basically everyone I know get one, *but* because of this when we all get together and someone wants to play one the tv, it meant I was the one to get it there, then if that person was done and someone else wanted to play it again meant that I’d be helping facilitate it; which for the most part was *fine* but there was always a procedure you had to do (it could have been due to the tv idk), like you’d have to unplug the power, *then* plug in the hdmi and dock, then wait for it to connect, *then* wait for it to show up, *then* plug the power back in *then* the screen would go back before finally stabilizing and it should work, but you’d better hope that you already have a controller paired, if not then you have the fun of figuring out which one is paired to which steam deck, or just re-pair a controller, which meant having to go into the settings forget that *every* ps5 controller in the bluetooth settings then go through the ps5s egregious pairing sequence, and god forbid you want to play a 4 player game, cause then you will be doing that 3 more times and every once and a while a controller will just *REFUSE* to connect (which usually means tracking down everyones settings and forgetting that device). \n\nI realize this use case is a bit niche, but I personally LOVE it when during the holidays everyone will be sitting around the living room all playing the new games they got during the winter sale, while someone plays a singleplayer game on the tv in the background; to me, that's gaming at its peak! So when the steam machine was announced I was thrilled!\n\n**-Love!-**  \n\t**-Utility-**  \nI absolutely love the fact that this is opening up a whole new utility for people; like imagine world where people could use their ps5’s as a computer; where all the sudden the console that they got for christmas, now has access to endless creative tools and they don't have to spend another $1-2k on a laptop or pc so they can try out video editing, music production, blender, etc. Now I realize that vision isn't quite a reality (which is why I was SUPER bummed about the price) but now that the steam machine exists, it made me realize how much it sucks that console manufacturers just end up making essentially a waste when a new console comes out; like you cant do anything on the ps4 (not easly, possibly with heavy modding but that's too much of a pain), and at the end of the day it's just a computer that is now just laying to waste  \n\\-**Portability-**  \n\tIts so cool how I can just pick up the whole console (and even the controller with it), and bring it to my room to use in a desktop environment; This portability makes setting things up (like emudeck) desktop mode *WAY* easier and will make it so that when I have to leave for an extended period of time I have a way of bringing a complete desktop environment with me with no hassle (its also so crazy to think about bringing around a whole pc in a caring case, like my pc would barely fit in a luggage bag)  \n\t\\-**The Controller-**  \nI know this has been a talking point that has been beaten into the ground but I *love* that I can just grab the controller an one button press later everything is on and working *and* that I can just hit steam + control stick up/down and not have to open up the roku app on my phone just to adjust the volume\n\n**-Tinker Box-**  \nIt's awesome how many cool things have been made for this! It seems like every day there's a new post of someone doing something *insanely cool!* And every time I think I’ve decided what the best looking plate is, there will be another design that comes around that makes me have to reconsider! (I got to make myself one of those question mark block plates!)\n\n**-Disappointed by-**  \n\\-**Price-**  \n\tObviously, but it’s brutal. Like everyone else I’m begging for pc prices to go down so that adoption rate of steam os can grow, but for now we’ll just have to wait and see  \n**-Crashing-**  \nI have to be honest, it crashes more than I would like, as someone who was most looking forward to not having to be the *get my steam deck on the tv guy*, I’ve still been called upon to debug something, but I will say fixing it has always been WAY easier to fix then the steam deck  \n**-Fidelity-**  \nI’m not really a fidelity or frame rate snob, I understand if that's what you care for but I'm not super picky (heck I played elden ring and hogwarts legacy on my steam deck), but I even I was disappointed by how some games looked; specifically, Spider Man 2; This was a great example for me because I actually already owned it on ps5, and have for like 3 years now, but I was hesitant to play it because I didn't want to get super far into a save file, only to be locked into playstation hardware for the rest of my life, then it finally came to pc (at full price mind you after it had been out for 2 years), but I still didn't play it because I wanted a slightly better experience then the steam deck, so when I finally got the steam machine that was the first triple a game I played, which was *rough*, I’m not really one who goes into the settings to tweak stuff, but I spent a good 20m trying to get the textures to look decent, but for whatever reason even if I set them to ultra high, it would still have close ups of like a book or a map that wasnt even slightly legible, which confused me. I ultimately stopped caring and just played the game. It was interesting, the game would oscillate between wow that looks really good! To eeee, that’s less then ideal; For me this isnt a deal breaker because I play 90% indie games anyways, and I’m hopeful that steam could have like a community graphics presets api, similar to the community conrtoller mappings, but I dont know if thats even possible  \n\\-**Controller-**  \nThis is one I’m surprised people aren't talking about more. I knew that the steam machine came with a controller puck, but I was kinda disappointed that it was internal. For me the #1 use case wasn't the wireless charging (although that is AMAZING) its the instant pair without having to do a sync routine or plug anything in; So for me having a pug that you can tap to pair OR wireless charge kinda defeats the purpose, I realize for a lot of people their controller will stay fixed to JUST the machine, but for me I definitely want another puck, which is another bummer because you can't buy them separately\n\n**-Updates I would like to see-**  \n**-Pins on the user level-**  \nI have younger siblings and I want them to be able to use the machine, but I don't want them accidentally buying stuff on my account or messing with my saves, atm you can only add a pin on the system level, so it boots up and asks for a my pin, and that's it, but it would be nice if it only asks for a pin when switching into your account  \n**-Boot to Desktop Mode-**   \nThis has been mentioned before but a way to boot directly to desktop mode  \n**-The option to buy the pucks separately-**  \nif I could have one always on my desk and the other one always on my steam machine it would remove the pairing pain forever!  \n\\-**Community graphics settings presets-**  \n\tI already mentioned this, and I dont know if its possible but I would love a community graphics settings ui similar to the community controller mappings","offTopic":true}],"breakdown":[{"sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","count":5}],"total":5}}