Xi3 Explains Why Piston Isn't a Steam Machine

[exfileme]

Xi3 wants to support EA's Origin too.

Xi3 Explains Why Piston Isn't a Steam Machine : Read more

 

[Gunbuster]

More like it has a weak laptop video card that can barely play games at low settings and still costs $1400.The real steam machines absolutely destroy their little cube…

 

[vmem]

@Gunbusteryes, but the so called 'real steam machines' are really just fancy boutique PCs running a free OS from Steam so that the OEM doesn't have to pay Microsoft $50 per license sold... those of us hanging out here at Tom's are still better off just installing Steam OS onto something we already have

 

[realibrad]

The computer is actually $999, not $1,400. Also, there is not a set "steam machine." You could load any computer with the steam OS, and play games. I think the only issue is how big of a market is for this PC. PS4 is cheaper, and can probably output the same performance but at a much lower price. If you need a small computer that can do some gaming, then this is for you, but if you just want a gaming machine, then I think a new console would better serve you at a lower price point.

 

[xomm]

My view is that there isn't much of a market for this kind of PC. Sure it's tiny, and can play games, but do people need anything *that* small? A HTPC or mini-ITX case doesn't take up that much more space, and is a much better bang-for-your-buck deal.

 

[Saljen]

Did he say "custom UI" on top of Windows? NNNNNNOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Saljen]

Did he say "custom UI" on top of Windows? NNNNNNOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[WithoutWeakness]

My view is that there isn't much of a market for this kind of PC. Sure it's tiny, and can play games, but do people need anything *that* small? A HTPC or mini-ITX case doesn't take up that much more space, and is a much better bang-for-your-buck deal.

Intel's NUC and Gigabyte's BRIX, alongside many other designs, are in a similar or smaller form factor to the Piston machine. There absolutely is a market for machines this small. I plan on buying a NUC or BRIX to hook up to my TV in my living room once Valve introduces the streaming feature to Steam and SteamOS. The small 4"x4" footprint in my media console is worth the extra money to me even when compared to small mITX enclosures. I know that the smaller form factor sacrifices some of the ability to use off-the-shelf parts to upgrade it in the future but for a stream-only device I don't need room to put in a dedicated Radeon or GeForce card. Intel's on-die Haswell HD graphics are more than enough for LAN streaming. Buying the right device will serve me well for years without needing an upgrade.

 

[boytitan2]

A custom U.I. see that sounds interesting and the modular design sounds like a way better idea than the steam machines Valve and Piston shot them selves in the foot if they had one of these things for 500,700, and 1000 bucks Let steam O.S. develop more released this around September and you would have had a real console competitor.

 

[alextheblue]

"We believe that if you can play it on a computer you should be able to play it on a Piston—and that's our whole viewpoint," Politis adds.

I still won't be buying one, because I don't buy form factors I can build myself. However, Xi3 does win a lot of respect from me with this statement. I'm somewhat stunned they had the balls to stand up to Valve and say that they didn't want to limit themselves to Steam, especially in light of their working relationship prior to this.

Don't get me wrong, I use Steam a lot. But I don't want to be tied to ONLY Steam. One nice thing about having a Windows box is that I can integrate Steam, but I also have access to other marketplaces. For Valve, cutting out access to other marketplaces is the whole point of SteamOS. They get a cut from every sale, and so they want you to own and use a machine that only offers their marketplace. Over time Valve has become less focused on PC gaming, and more interested in competing with the console makers.

 

[xomm]

Intel's NUC and Gigabyte's BRIX, alongside many other designs, are in a similar or smaller form factor to the Piston machine. There absolutely is a market for machines this small. I plan on buying a NUC or BRIX to hook up to my TV in my living room once Valve introduces the streaming feature to Steam and SteamOS. The small 4"x4" footprint in my media console is worth the extra money to me even when compared to small mITX enclosures. I know that the smaller form factor sacrifices some of the ability to use off-the-shelf parts to upgrade it in the future but for a stream-only device I don't need room to put in a dedicated Radeon or GeForce card. Intel's on-die Haswell HD graphics are more than enough for LAN streaming. Buying the right device will serve me well for years without needing an upgrade.

I understand having a cheap/low-power PC for streaming, planning on getting one myself.

I take issue with the Piston specifically because there's a lot of misleading advertising around it, and the fact that it costs $1000. It very clearly advertises itself as a "powerful gaming machine" on their website:

Displays x 3:
With native triple monitor support, the PISTON Console gaming computer offers a truly immersive experience. Surround yourself with vivid visuals supported by 384 graphics cores that deliver stunningly smooth gameplay and uninterrupted gaming action.

If 384 VILW4 shaders can provide smooth triple-monitor gameplay on modern titles, I'll eat my own hat.

There's an emphasis on modularity, but no meaningful upgrades can be made to the components that are user-servicable (8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, I/O), and the only external module they have is a 1TB HDD. There's also the claim that it somehow uses 10% of the power of a similarly equipped PC, which IMO is complete bollocks.

I'm only mad because I've had a couple friends who almost gave into the marketing hype.

 

[Monochrome_Night]

$1,000 for something that's not even fit to play at 720p? What were they thinking??

 

[photonboy]

GAMING PERFORMANCE of the $1000 version has already been tested and it's horrible, horrible, horrible. It also sucks.I forget the numbers now but I believe it was something like 7FPS versus what you could build for the same price and get 60FPS. Yep.

 

[cypeq]

GAMING PERFORMANCE of the $1000 version has already been tested and it's horrible, horrible, horrible. It also sucks.I forget the numbers now but I believe it was something like 7FPS versus what you could build for the same price and get 60FPS. Yep.

I also don't get it that's why I'm not in the market for mico PC. If it doesn't fit 10"+ GPU it's not gaming pc.

 

[back_by_demand]

Hilarious, every gaming PC released this year has had ridiculous journalism dubbing them "Steam Machines", as if pretty much every PC created couldn't install it, when here is a PC that is fully capable of installing SteamOS and suddenly it isn't a Steam Machine?Seriously, make your minds up.