It’s been a long time coming, but the first Steam Machines are finally here: compact computers that give you the quality of PC gaming with the living room convenience of consoles. Too bad most of them cost an arm and a leg. Here’s how to build your own for less.
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will do their damnest to sell you on PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii. But maybe, you’ll have already spent your money on an alternative game console: a Steam Machine. Today, you can pre-order the fabled Steam Controller, the Steam Link streamer, and one of two different Linux-based gaming PCs.
When I heard Valve wanted to take over the living room, I didn't believe it. When the rumors came true, I didn't think it could be done. When Valve failed to deliver Steam Machines last fall, I felt vindicated. Now, a year later, it's happening. I've tried them. I'm about to eat my words.
Been waiting for an officially endorsed Steam Machine? Well, here it is, sort of—the Valve Steam Link. It's a tiny, $50 micro-PC that seems to do absolutely nothing but pipe PC games in over a local network via Steam-in-home-streaming.
There's nothing quite like the Alienware Alpha. For just $500, it's a competent Windows gaming PC. But it should have been the flagship Steam Machine. The Alpha was designed to be a Linux game console with a gamepad good enough to replace a mouse and keyboard. As easy to use as PlayStation or Xbox, but with more…
One year ago, at CES 2014, Valve introduced a new kind of gaming PC, a Linux game console with a gamepad designed to be good enough to replace a mouse and keyboard. 14 PC manufacturers were on board, each creating a Steam Machine in its own image. And then... crickets. What the heck happened?
The Alienware Alpha is smaller and more powerful than an Xbox One or PS4, but the $549 Windows-powered game console shipped a little half-baked. Not to worry, says Alienware: updates are on the way! “We’re in the alpha phase of Alpha,” admits the company.
The Alienware Alpha sounds awesome. It’s smaller and more powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One. It doubles as an actual Windows PC! But be warned: it’s not as easy to use as a game console, not as foolproof. It’s not nearly the slam dunk I was hoping it would be.
It feels like everyone has a Steam Machine these days, and Alienware is no exception. But not all Steam Machines happen to look like an evil TiVo from the future like the Alienware X51 does. Alienware's been selling computers with Steam pre-installed for years, but they go whole-hog with this bad boy late 2014.
Valve's first Steam Machine—the one they'll be sending out to 300 beta users later this year—will be a super-high-end machine. And the specs are crazy impressive.
