Actually, ignore my last post.
There is a huge rea$$on that I forgot. Currently, the Xbox Windows App and the Microsoft Store take a much lower revenue share from third-party releases. Since 2021, it's only 12%, compared to the 30% they get on Xbox (the industry standard). So they do actually have a motive to push Xbox versions of the games instead.
Of course, they could also simply change that revenue split at any moment, but I assume that wouldn’t g...
Yeah, I'm with you on that.
Technically, it shouldn’t be hard to make Xbox games run on PC. But there’s just not enough rea$$$on for them to do it.
I don’t know if I would use the word “accessible” to describe the Frame. Sure, the fact that it works standalone and is wireless should make it easier to use, but it also has a lot of features for power users and, at the end of the day, it’s still a Linux device. Plus, price-wise, I fully expect it to be more expensive than something like the Quest 3, probably in the $600 to $800 range.
So, in terms of ease of use, I don’t think it will be better than Meta’s devices. Those ...
Valve has two major issues with their hardware distribution channels. First, their hardware is not officially available in the vast majority of the world. Those places rely on third-party importers, which often makes their products rare and prohibitively expensive. Second, in the countries where they do offer their hardware, it’s basically sold exclusively through their own website or a partner’s website, which means that only people already using Steam or following internet gaming even know ...
Well, for people like you they already have a option as well. It's the HORI Steam Controller.
Indie means independent in both development and publishing. If you have a third party handling the latter, you’re not indie, no matter the size of that third party or if they market themselve as "independent".
It’s the only broad game category that’s absurdly easy to understand and doesn’t require insider knowledge to classify. But the sorting that TGA and other publications do simply muddles the waters and hurts actual indie developers. It makes the whole thing ...
If I had bought it exclusively for the PS5, I’d completely agree it was a waste of money. There are definitely some highlights, but modded Beat Saber alone has seen more play on my PC than every single VR game I own on the PS5. That’s why I actually think it ended up being a pretty good purchase. I grabbed it during that “burn it” sale for around 300 USD, and it’s basically lived on my PC ever since I finished RE8.
I’d really like it if Sony actually developed more stuff f...
I see they still can't freaking understand the meaning of "Indie".
We all have access to the Steam Hardware Survey, so we know it’s true. My only complaint is that the data is heavily tilted toward regions where PC gaming is strong but purchasing power isn’t, like South America, China, Russia and South Asia, where the Steam Deck (and any Valve hardware, for that matter) isn’t officially sold.
It looks like the child of the Xbox Duke and the Atari Jaguar controller.
But as long as it’s as comfortable as the Steam Deck and the tech works as advertised (again, like the Steam Deck), it’ll probably end up being my main controller.
I mean, if we’re talking exclusively about the Xbox Ally top model, you’re probably not that far off. According to the article, Asus expected between $96 million and $160 million USD in revenue for the quarter.
If we consider that they have five SKUs, and assume the ROG Xbox model will sell more since it’s the newer one, each model would be expected to sell between 22k and 38k units, with the older models likely selling closer to 16k each this quarter.
F...
The Steam Machines will take off as PCs, not consoles, no matter how online publications try to spin it. Just like the Steam Deck, they are not meant to sell in console numbers. Valve does not even have the logistical network for that, especially since whole regions that are served by Nintendo and Sony are still almost completely disconnected from Valve’s hardware ecosystem. So I really doubt that is part of their expectations.
About Sony’s situation, this report is based o...
Yes, Mini ITX is the smallest form factor you can find for a consumer-grade x86 device. And SteamOS, while not officially available, can be run on pretty much any x86 PC as long as it’s fully AMD (CPU and GPU). There are some builds with support for Intel and Nvidia, but the overall experience is not as good.
But what people have to understand is that Mini ITX itself has a huge range of sizes in terms of the final build. The motherboard is standardized, but the cases are no...
I think the issue with this list is actually pointed out in the article itself: the price doesn’t include the SteamOS operating system (which is free), peripherals, a microSD card, or the optimization and ultra-compact form factor that the Steam Machine offers.
If you’re not even trying to match the footprint, you’re not really making anything equivalent. The small size is a core selling point of the Steam Machine. The smallest case chosen in this list, the Node 304, is abo...
Either way, whether the Steam Machine’s hardware is good or bad is honestly pretty complex, because it depends on two main factors: how you see the device itself, and the price Valve ends up asking for it.
If you look at it as a PC, the value proposition can actually be pretty strong if the price is right. For the size and power it’s offering, there’s not a lot of competition. You can find machines like the AtomMan G7 PT with similar specs in a comparable footprint, but tha...
@crazyCoconuts
If, and that’s a big if, they sell these things in brick and mortar stores, or at least don’t require a Steam account to buy the hardware, and also offer it without an OS for integrators, and it actually lands in that price range, I can see a lot of potential for it in the corporate market.
But I really doubt Valve is going down that route.
I’m still unsure about it, to be honest. Part of me is really tempted because the form factor is great. My living room setup is an ITX build, but it’s on the bigger side of that category since I’m using a Corsair 2000D. Performance-wise, it ends up pretty close to what Valve is offering with this new machine, since I’m running a Ryzen 5600X and an RTX 3060 Ti. So when I really think about it, it doesn’t feel like a meaningful upgrade, even though I genuinely love the design.
@crazyCoconuts
Yeah, I agree, but from my experience with the SD you only really get that kind of issue if you go out of your way and try to be a “power user”, basically a normal PC gamer. Secondary launchers are mostly being phased out in favor of silent clients that just use your Steam credentials or that need a single log in, which is exactly how it work on some console games as well. And games mostly set themselves to the correct preset for the SD, and I believe that wi...
I hope people give this remaster a change. Both titles are a pretty fun time, really PS2 style in terms of gameplay and substance and for the price they are asking, it's a no-brainer in my eyes.
I agree that Blue Prince should have been nominated for GOTY. I'm not so sure it should have taken DK’s spot, though, instead, I think it should have replaced DS2. I'm 99% sure that one was only nominated because of who made it.
As for Arc Riders, I honestly don't even know if I’d put it in the Best Multiplayer category. Don’t get me wrong, the game is good, but not because of its multiplayer component. It’s hard to explain, one of those cases where the whole is...