For most of my life, I’ve been a console gamer. From the moment I got a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as a combination birthday and Christmas present at the tail end of 1986, I became absolutely glued to the TV. In the years since, I’ve had every generation of Nintendo console, every PlayStation, and even every Xbox, save for the Series X. But back in 2020, as the pandemic gave me lots of free time, I built my first gaming PC with the help of a few excellent friends and the way I played video games changed.
Since then, Windows PC has become my primary method of gaming. And, while I use a Switch 2 for gaming on the go, my PlayStation 5 has largely been collecting dust since not long after I bought it. I’ve largely become a PC gamer, with most of the gaming I do happening at my desk. However, that looks to be changing now that the Steam Machine has shown its pretty little face.
Not only is Valve’s upcoming PC-console hybrid an answer for those who want to dip their toe in PC gaming without actually getting a PC, but it’s also a game changer for players like me. At the drop of a hat, my Steam library will be available in the living room. And sure, that’s possible with workarounds like the Steam Link app, but those are not the hassle-free solution that the Steam Machine could be.
I’ve never had an experience with Steam Link that wasn’t spotty, at best. It streams games from your PC to another device, and the quality hasn’t been worth the hassle. I could also buy a Steam Deck and dock it to my TV to function like a console. The problem is, I know how I use my devices and I rarely dock handhelds. In fact, I can count the number of times I’ve played my Switch 2 while docked on a single hand. What’s more, the Steam Deck isn’t as powerful as the Steam Machine — which Valve claims has “six times the horsepower” as the handheld — making it a rather easy option to pass on.
That I’ll be able to install Steam games locally to a dedicated, stationary console, rather than streaming them or relying on a less-powerful handheld, is a powerful motivator. And that I’ll be able to play some of them on the couch with my partner is an even bigger one. While gaming online with friends can be a great community experience, something is lost when you’re not sitting next to the person you’re playing with.
It could be argued that if couch co-op was that important to me, I would use my PS5 or Switch 2 for that purpose. But neither offers access to the game libraries on my PC, which is a dealbreaker.
The Steam Machine theoretically makes sense for how I want to game. I get to bring all of my PC games with me and play on whichever screen I like. And if it’s anything like the Steam Deck, I should be able to modify it rather easily to access not just my Steam library, but also services like Game Pass and the Epic Games Store.
While it won’t be any more powerful than the PS5 sitting next to it, I have no doubts that it will get far more use so long as it works reliably. Besides, I can’t play Left 4 Dead or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on PS5 (unless we finally get that long-delayed KOTOR remake), but I have them both installed via Steam right now.
There’s only one last hurdle the Steam Machine has to clear in my mind: pricing. So long as it’s priced competitively against the current generation of consoles, catch me stuck in a virtual queue waiting for Valve to put these bad boys on sale.
