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Question: Will You Buy Any Steam Hardware?

Discussion & Analysis Steam

Preorders for the Steam Hardware have begun. While the launch of these products is a while off, the question is, do you have any use for it?

Question: Will You Buy Any Steam Hardware?

While getting something like a Steam Machine is a pretty big investment (especially if you want the high end builds) something like the Controller and the Link are more affordable. Both are priced at 50 Dollars (USD) and both launch on October 16th. All part of Valve’s big push to get PC Gaming and Steam into the living room.

The Controller with it’s little track-pad and singular analog stick has potential, control schemes can be configured for individual games and typing on it let’s you use both the track-pads to pick keys. I see some games benefiting from the use of the controller and I like how ambitious Valve are being with what it can play, like showing off Cities: Skylines being played on the controller. 

The Link, which gives you a better connection between your Gaming PC and your television could come in handy, too. I know I’d like to be able to relax on the couch playing Postal 2 on the big screen instead of my 800 by 600 CRT monitor. But, that’s just me. This article is about you.

Are you sold on any of the Steam Hardware? Will you wield the Steam Controller and connect it to your Steam Link which for some reason is unnecessarily hooked to your Steam Machine?

Or, will you stick with good old keyboard and mouse and keep your games right where they are?

 

7 Comments

  1. I don’t see the point in getting a Steam Machine. I mean, SteamOS can’t play half as many games as Alienware Alpha can, and its more expensive, too. However, I can see getting a Steam Controller and Steam Link.

  2. Uh, I should definitely one day get a new desktop. This one is like 6 years old and I had to replace the graphic card since the fan decided to go on strike and I couldn’t use that computer more than 5 minutes due to thermal shutdown. I got the cheapest crappy nvidia gpu on the market just to save the machine; 33 bucks. And no, this computer is so old that I did not have any other way to get a video output apart from the broken gpu.

    I’m actually starting to think that building myself a machine might be a win on the long term. This machine has a horrible case and cable management and I am starting to think that I would do a better job myself.
    I just do not need a thug computer with lights blinking everywhere… That is also a reason. 🙂

    About the controller, one day I will need to get one just for coop games with friends. But for sure, the day I will compare controllers, I will include the Steam one as well as the Logitech one. I am more worrying about compatibility with my current setup (you may have guessed I am a Linux guy) than the actual feel in the hands.
    I’m gonna wait for reviews to come before making any decisions anyway.

    • I’d say if there are any hesitations just wait for the inevitable second version of the controller.

      As for your GPU, you using VGA too?

      • A 2nd version? Sounds to be a good idea for me if the delay is short (the same argument could be used with the soon to happen VR headsets). If this controller is definitely superior than anything on the market, a 2nd version is not a priority to make I guess. I will currently just wait and see.

        About my old dusty computer, I replaced my dead Nvidia GT 130 with a Nvidia 210 (from evga – I told you it was some dirty cheap stuff, it even uses the legacy nvidia 340xx drivers!). The nice thing is that I will not have any fan issue with this one since it does not have any. It was also a really small card, so easy to fit in with this awful mess of cables.
        I’m using the DVI output on this thing on my 1080 screen. For the rest of the config, it is an unimpressive core 2 quad (2.5ghz) with 4Go of RAM. Buying this cheap gpu was just meant to save the machine from getting in the trash and let me get the time to think about the next investment.
        Trust me, I can run source games decently (I guess I cannot max all visual settings though).

        But, do not worry, I do have my beloved laptop (Thinkpad T430 – ivy bridge i7 2.9ghz with 8Go of RAM and HD4000 + nvidia NVS 5400M) that I upgraded with a SSD (Crucial MX100 512Go). So the day I need more horsepower, I just need to swap machines and continue what I am doing on my laptop.

  3. I want that damn controller, finally ill be able to play all of my 300+ games i have

  4. I’m definitely planning on getting the controller. A lot of games I’ve gotten into the ease of sitting back in a comfortable position to play with a controller, but games that need k+m I need to sit hunched over my computer. Since the steam controller allegedly offers a wider variety of games I can use it with, it will be a welcome addition.

    Link and machine, not so much. I don’t have a TV.

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