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SteamOS 3.5.5 rolls out to all Steam Deck owners, plus new Steam Client update
(www.gamingonlinux.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2023
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They did try that for a bit, but it didn't take off as well.
https://www.polygon.com/a/pc-buying-guide/steam-box
The set of people who are interested in PC gaming but don't have a gaming PC, or the people interested in couch/console gaming who don't have one is pretty small.
I'm surprised there isnt more of a market for that stuff. Similarly, I could see a set top nintendo switch doing well, I haven't undocked mine in ages. Kinda silly to have all that extra hardware going unused. And the price point could be very attractive to non handheld users... But yeah, the steam box flopped
To be fair, Valve didn't put a ton of resources toward Steam machines, they kind of expected other companies to take the risk for them.
But the real problem is that people will expect much better performance from a Steam machine vs a Switch because PC gaming is often more focused on performance and Nintendo demographics instead expect a unique gaming experience. So the Switch can get away with simpler games at a lower resolution, but I really don't think Steam can.
Anything Steam releases would need to at least match XBox and PS5 in terms of performance, and probably beat it to be compelling (otherwise why not just buy an XBox/PS5?). The reason the Deck works is because it offers a new way to play games that just don't exist elsewhere, so the competition is a lot lower than a set-top box would be. They have way better hardware than Nintendo, they can be cheaper than handheld PC products because they can expect a cut of digital sales, and they have the talent to tune such a device (they are a game studio, after all).