Gaming Wednesdays 1: Steam Machines

I've decided to start a section called Gaming Wednesdays, where I fondly write about games and gaming. And today I want to talk about the Steambox. In the works for a while, a Steambox is somewhat of a cross between a game console and a personal computer in the sense that it runs a proprietary version of Linux and its main purpose is to play games purchased through Valve's highly overrated online distribution platform known as Steam. Techradar, Digital Trends, and other places have raved about these machines at length. They are put together by third party companies and sold at prices ranging from $500.00 to almost $2,00.00. I don't intend to make announcements, or even rank the different boxes in any order. Instead, I want to raise a question: who, exactly, is the target audience for these pieces of hardware?

I hate the term "gamer", so instead I'll say that people have one of two major preferences for playing digital games. They either play on consoles or on the PC. Now, individuals who play games on their PCs already have a PC that can run most contemporary games. Furthermore, it is a common argument that they prefer PC games over console games because of their versatility and the ability of being able to play with keyboard and mouse. They already have their 'steambox', so they would not be inclined to purchase one. On the other hand, there are people who play on their consoles. They prefer playing the physical copies of their games while sitting in their couch holding a controller. Many of these have already purchased their next console, either a PS 4 or an X-1. If the Steamboxes had been released a year earlier, or maybe even a few months earlier, it may have been a contender that would have swayed many console gamers over to the PC camp. However, it came out after all the major consoles were released, which puts it as a disadvantage. Players who already have a PS 4 or an X-1 are unlikely to buy a Steambox, and people who haven't moved on and still play on their PS 3s or X Box 360s are likely to upgrade to a console. This leaves as a possible audience people who do not own either PCs or gaming consoles and are looking to get into gaming, but they are better off just getting an older console. 

However, that's something we can talk about next Wednesday.