The point of a “box” like this is an out-the-door experience that anyone can jump into.

The idea is not “get rid of all Steam Machines with ram/sdd and sell only the barebone ones”.

The idea is “add a selling option”; then let buyers, with their money to decide if they want to pay premium for the “out-the-door” thing, or they are looking for something to mess with.

Both kind of clients.

…at the same time (some may want to buy 2 mismatched Steam Machines: one with and one without).

As per “shifting” infrastructure or whatnot. We’re talking pre orders here. “Worst” case scenario no one buys the barebone one or just few: in this case you get little efforts in telling those “extra clients” to wait a bit longer (patient gamers are happy if they get to pay less and have better bugfixed systems).

On the other side, if the volume of the barebone match or surpasses the “premium” one… well, Valve got the answer they need to get rid of the ram cartel.

Valve is not making you paying “premium price” on ram because Gabe need a new Yatch. Valve is making paying “premium price” on ram because the ram cartel need a new Yatch.

source

GPU: Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3 28CUs, 2.45GHz max sustained clock, 110W TDP
RAM: 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
Power: Internal power supply, AC power 110-240V
Storage: Two Steam Machine models:
 512GB NVMe SSD
 2TB NVMe SSD

Wi-Fi: 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.3 dedicated antenna
Steam Controller: Integrated 2.4 GHz Steam Controller wireless adapter
Displays:

DisplayPort 1.4
Up to 4K @ 240Hz or 8K@60Hz
Supports HDR, FreeSync, and daisy-chaining
HDMI 2.0
Up to 4K @ 120Hz
Supports HDR, FreeSync, and CEC

USB:
 Two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports in the front 
 Two USB-A 2.0 High speed ports in the back
 One USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port in the back

Networking: Gigabit ethernet
LED Strip: 17 individually addressable RGB LEDs for system status and customizability
Size: 152 mm tall (148 mm without feet), 162.4 mm deep, 156 mm wide
Weight: 2.6 kg
Operating System: SteamOS 3 (Arch-based)
Desktop: KDE Plasma```

That would be up to the customer to choose. The purpose of any product is to be sold/not sold, everything else is just PR and advertisement.

If ram/ssd suppliers force your product to lose its purpose (due the price being too high), there’s no purpose to defeat since there are no sales at all (aside for scalpers that buy everything for speculative hopes/purposes)

My guess is… all of them. Looks like they got speculative money to waste, so heading in random foreign market shouldn’t too complicated to them.

Are these pre-orders for PC: because it’s even offtopic if not (among other things)

Once again, this is an opinion piece that (willfully?)

You don’t get paid as CEO because you make “happy mistakes”. Usually there’s the concept of the benefit of the doubt but, again, if you’re paid for this exact job (lobbying for third party interest: half-truths and open lies)…

This argument was discussed already: subscription had, and has, it’s own market in which is a finite resource of customers willing to endlessly pay.

The problem was for products that were “surprise subscription” : a customer buying Crew1 on the shelves of the single player category… then, after some random number of month discover it was, indeed, a “surprise subscription” which ended whenever Ubisoft felt like to do so.

You just note down the company who delivered the idiotic product: next time your options for purchase are narrower, but it narrow the chance to buy products badly designed.

Just because some companies sells USB butplugs it doesn’t mean USB standard is necessarily a pain in the ass overall.

The popularity of joystick was strongly tied to arcade machine; they are associated with fighting games because fighting games were the latest great thing Arcades had at their time to die out: home consoles such as DreamCast and N64 couldn’t give you the thrilling experience of beat “on the street” a random kid (as per “one quarter per virtual beating”). We talk about Tekken being an arcade experience before the world transitioned toward the triangular bosom of Lara at home (for those who were kids at that time). Arcade was the "mythical gaming”, the one all the kids knew they couldn’t have at home. Joystick, as such, was the ultimate “mythical” gaming device… to bad it was shit. Yeah, you could get the hang of “the moves”, the “feeling to push with your whole forearm if needed” just… not for too long. Not for pick a dialogue option, not for command trops, not for “dogeroll then attack”…or basically anything which wasn’t whatever arcade game was designed around that dumb, red clown-nose, big lever.

Nostalgia makes remember some things correctly: “yes, you had fun” but forget the fine details “the 35th side scrolling beat 'em up of this year… Cool!”

Joystick (emphasis on “joy”), Joypad… then a “joy-less” but more tame name as “controller” with added “thumb stick” if you need details… now everything seems to turn in touch, and maybe haptic… or probabily “let’s just wait for the AI reach the end of it” kind of controller device

Sony: PC doesn’t make us money.

That’s quite correct, PC does not, indeed, make their Playstation’s money. Once customers realize they can be treated with respect, it’s unlikely they’ll return to the PlayStation’s walled garden to be constantly bi**h slapped and forced to pay for everything (for example, even just to play online).

I don’t think there’s need for “continental purity”; it only need to be open source, even better if llm runs on Vulkan like llama.cpp. Cuda is a more troublesome presence in the llm space, it’s not even about reliance on US tech, but the restricted club of Stargate/Palantir wich is openely involved in affair of war crimes (US gov. opposition to ICC) and genocide (…and whatever Netanyahu is up today).

I think Godot got all is needed by the democratic wotld; Europe etc.

As side note, Unity was founded in Copenhagen.

Also, Godot, started in Latin America, I bet due its global nature has most European people working on a world-wide popular Game Engine in the world already.

Jeff Lew started the franchise in 1996 with “Killer Bean: The Interrogation” web short.

If you think it’s some sort of parody for “Kill Bill”… considered the movie was released in 2003

So… you’re gonna lower the price, right?

Right?

I do agree that monthly voluntary surveys is not an exceptional way for the general audience to have a clear idea on things are going on, but my point is less about the general audience and the responsibility weight Valve itself sit onto.

We can endlessly speculate on the secret/true data Valve is hiding from the general public, but in fact, only the actual public data affect their business: that’s where publisher and developers make the strategic choices on which platform (OS) and hardware (VR HMD, highend GPU…) to support. Any incorrect or nonfactual data would lead to less sales, and less happy developer/publisher/customers.

Yes, of course Valve does have it’s own “secret recipient data” they don’t share… but I think the secret data is used more as sort of control on those who try to cheat the stats.

Sometime simplified Chinese language goes on top, resulting English language as secondary for the whole platform… quite often Valve fix those stats, no doubt by cross referencing their secret sauce.

That’s how most modern anticheat in videogames works: the data is keep secret, until one special day you get one big wave that flush all them at once (if you throw constantly daily updated data on which kind of cheater you caught… the cheater got a precious feedback they can play onto)

I’m getting pretty tired of seeing these posts every five minutes from the same couple of sites.

Statistics have variance, especially when they’re recorded from voluntary surveys, please get over it.

Currently Valve is the only billion dollar company who invest in Linux gaming industry.

…incidentally is basically the only billion dollar PC company who invest in PC gaming and don’t have any kind of conflict of interest with Console (Microsoft’s Xbox? any major AAA game company who also publish/make exclusives to console? Epic Games’s Fortinite earning is 48% Playstation, 27% Xbox and remaining 18% for Nintendo Switch/Android/PC)

So, yeah, the earning on the only billion dollar company who is 100% all in in the PC gaming industry matter: those stats matter for Valve, at the very least.

So, PRC want to be sure the guy won’t talk about anything… with anybody… for ever; mmmh, I wonder why…

PRC does business with everyone, criminals like Putin included, as EU does business with criminals like Netanyahu. Difference between neither Putin or Netanyahu can set foot in Europe, since they are wanted criminals by International Criminal Court.

Or at least they are not allies as we mean it

Of course not, Putin does the war crimes, PRC does the business with said criminal. It’s just business, you see.

…in league with war crimes but still, just, business.

As not being lap dog of someone like?

USA: lapdog for billionaire

Russia/China being lapdog for each other as one wage war and the other profit from it?

There’s no need for nationalism: Europe can do well with other decent countries, which are not Russia, USA, China and closeted allies (such Israel/India). Australia, Canada, Japan… basically any country of this planet which is not a dictatorship and,at very last, adhere to the International Criminal Court.

Like fueling, ICC’s wanted criminal war, Putin’s economy as he wages war on eastern Europe?