I love GDC and it’s yearly glimpse into the future. Granted I have to view it through my browser with the rest of us commoners but still, it never fails to impress. From virtual reality to graphics cards with 4 times as much RAM as the average laptop this year’s affair showed some completely new mediums and possibilities for developers to take advantage of. If they actually do that, when, and to what extent still remain to be seen of course. While VR is intriguing and I cannot wait to get my hands on either an Occulus or Vive there is another seemingly less talked about product that made it’s own medium sized splash in it’s return at GDC and that’s Valve’s Steam Machine.
I’m not going to go into a thousand word breakdown of what Steam Machine is or why people should consider buying one at some point. There are numerous articles already published online that cover the intricacies of the system and it’s software. What I’m more interested in is what Valve can do for console gaming as a whole and not just what Steam Machine(SM) can do for the consumer. What we are being promised here is an open platform for console gaming. This is something that has never happened before. It is also something that, if it catches on, will put the pressure on Microsoft and Sony to implement some of SM’s features into their own products. I personally think it will catch on for a few reasons. One being that it has a lot of money behind it. This isn’t the type of venture a company takes on unless they know they are going to succeed. While intention and success are not always one and the same Valve does have a great track record and have experienced phenomenal success breaking new ground before with the Steam client. The 2nd reason to believe it will succeed is SM isn’t restricted to a 5-10 year lifespan like consoles are. Meaning this holiday we will get the first wave of Steam Machines and the following year, 2016, we will get newer Steam Machines with that year’s wave of hardware inside of them. So every year when a new wave of SM releases it will drive down the price of the previous versions. Considering Valve and the individual SM manufacturers themselves will want to get these things in people’s homes it is reasonable to guess that there will be some hefty price cuts between the first couple years like there are with any new console. Which means that in 3 or 4 years from now, when you’re not as awestruck by your Ps4 or Xbox One anymore, you can go and get a 1st or 2nd wave SM that will put out better resolution, effects, and have a whole new library of games for probably around a couple hundred bucks. This will be pretty tempting when we will still likely be looking at another 4 years from that point before new Xbox’s and PlayStation’s release.
Maybe that’s all wishful thinking. I am, admittedly, an avid fan of all things GabeN and the Valve corporation. There is so much to be wishful for though. For decades consoles have been very similar to iPhone. iPhone is great and people love it but there is also Android for those who want something a little different. SM is essentially trying to fill that android role. Instead of one device per generation, like iPhone, the SM OS is available to several manufacturers who are using it on a wide range of configurations in different price ranges. Instead of locking you to a set of peripheral devices SM will work with any controller or device you can plug into it and find drivers for. Even the operating system itself is free to be changed if you would prefer to run Windows and use the desktop Steam client instead of running SteamOS exclusively. Steam Workshop means mods will be available with easy one click installation and management. Yes, you will be able to mod Skyrim and run it on your TV with relative ease. Steam’s consumer friendly pricing and insane sales are another major benefit. You are probably starting to see some of the upside here. So does Sony and Microsoft I’m sure.
The smell of change is in the wind. The average gamer is in their 30s now. Their love for gaming may never die but their taste for being treated like a child is beginning to wane. Read enough online and you will see a fair share of complaining about over-promising triple A games, games bogged with DLC and underwhelming hardware performance. If SM catches on it can effectively force the hand of MS and Sony to loosen up on some of their policies and pricing. Not everyone will be interested in what SM is offering at the onset anyway. Most gamers want to “just put the disc in and play” and while SM is making PC gaming very user friendly and as “just play” as possible it is still a new system and many will not want to learn how to use it or even like it if they did. But even if you are the sort who couldn’t care less about ever playing a Steam Machine you should still be rooting for them. Competition is always good for the consumer.
