00:00:00
- Valve is an $8 billion company
00:00:02
and they've made some really
successful video games.
00:00:04
However, that wealth and
success did not translate
00:00:07
to the Steam Machine.
00:00:08
But why?
00:00:10
(upbeat music)
00:00:13
Hey, everyone. How are you all doing?
00:00:14
If you're new here, welcome.
00:00:15
My name is Krazy Ken,
00:00:16
and we're gonna talk about games today.
00:00:18
I remember when Steam
first came to the Mac
00:00:20
and I fell in love with
"Portal" and "Half-Life,"
00:00:24
and I have a lot of good
memories playing those games,
00:00:26
and, of course, watching
the Garry's Mod machinima.
00:00:28
But there was a time when
Valve decided to try their hand
00:00:30
at not just making games,
00:00:32
but making new hardware
to play those games on
00:00:35
called Steam Machines.
00:00:37
So, let's see what happened.
00:00:38
Valve was founded on August 24th, 1996,
00:00:41
by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington.
00:00:43
Gabe and Mike used to work at Microsoft
00:00:45
and Gabe worked on the team
00:00:46
that developed the first three
major releases of Windows.
00:00:50
He also played a key role
00:00:51
in porting id Software's
legendary "Doom" game
00:00:53
to Windows 95.
00:00:55
On November 19th, 1998, Valve
launched their first game,
00:00:58
the insanely successful
first-person shooter, "Half-Life,"
00:01:02
which was built with a
heavily modified version
00:01:04
of id Software's Quake engine.
00:01:06
The point of view never
leaves the player's eyes
00:01:08
and there's no camera cuts,
00:01:10
which helps create an
immersive environment.
00:01:12
Combine that with great storytelling,
00:01:14
comprehensive AI, lip sync, and physics,
00:01:16
"Half-Life" went on to
revolutionize the game industry
00:01:19
and it's still played today.
00:01:20
In addition, "Half-Life's"
modability allowed Valve
00:01:23
to create other games,
00:01:24
like "Team Fortress Classic,"
00:01:26
and it enabled the community
to make their own mods too.
00:01:29
In short, Valve had a
huge hit on their hands.
00:01:32
It's not often you see a
company knock it out of the park
00:01:34
with their first release.
00:01:36
In 2003, Valve relocated their offices
00:01:38
to Bellevue, Washington,
00:01:39
and they reincorporated
00:01:40
under the name we know them
by today, Valve Corporation.
00:01:44
And that brings us to an
important software release, Steam.
00:01:49
Okay, so maybe not everyone
loved this software
00:01:51
when it first came out,
00:01:52
but Steam went on to play a major role
00:01:55
in changing the game industry.
00:01:56
Steam was originally an online
updater for Valve's games.
00:02:00
It also offered IM features
and an SDK for developers.
00:02:03
Users could download Valve's
existing games digitally too,
00:02:06
and the first new Valve game
00:02:08
to launch on the Steam platform
00:02:10
was "Counter-Strike: Condition Zero,"
00:02:12
if you even remember that.
00:02:14
The first big game to launch
on Steam was "Half-Life 2"
00:02:17
on November 16th, 2004,
00:02:19
and this game actually
required Steam for playing.
00:02:22
It was not optional.
00:02:24
- [G-Man] Rather than offer you
the illusion of free choice,
00:02:27
I will take the liberty
of choosing for you.
00:02:31
- And in 2005, Steam was opened up
00:02:33
to third-party developers.
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This was a huge move
00:02:36
because now everybody could publish games
00:02:39
on this up-and-coming
platform, not just Valve.
00:02:41
But Valve was still making new games too.
00:02:44
Briefly fast-forwarding to 2014,
00:02:46
there are now 75 million
registered Steam users
00:02:50
and most of Valve's revenue was generated
00:02:52
by the Steam platform,
00:02:54
which made up over 70%
00:02:56
of all internet downloaded
games on Windows.
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As you can see, Valve
was wildly successful
00:03:01
on the software side of things,
00:03:03
but now maybe it's time
00:03:05
to try to venture into the hardware side.
00:03:09
People who are really
serious about software
00:03:12
should make their own hardware.
00:03:14
In March, 2012, rumors of
a Steam Box were brewing.
00:03:18
This alleged hardware
00:03:19
could potentially be
Valve's new game console.
00:03:22
Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi
00:03:24
hinted at the possibility of new hardware,
00:03:26
but he didn't confirm
anything at the time.
00:03:29
He did confirm, however,
00:03:30
that Valve was working
on a new user interface
00:03:33
for Steam users who want
to game in the living room.
00:03:35
Targeting TVs and the
living room makes sense
00:03:38
because at this time,
video game console sales
00:03:40
were in the hundreds of millions.
00:03:42
PlayStation 1 and 2 alone
hit 257.4 million unit sales
00:03:47
by March 31st, 2012.
00:03:49
And these consoles are made
for couches, TVs, living rooms,
00:03:53
settings that are generally
a little more laid-back
00:03:55
and comfortable for playing games
00:03:56
as opposed to sitting at a computer desk.
00:04:00
Moving on to July 25th,
00:04:01
Gabe spoke at Casual
Connect about open platforms
00:04:04
and he said a way to guarantee
that open platforms survive
00:04:08
is to make sure Linux thrives.
00:04:10
Quick rundown, Linux is a kernel
00:04:12
that many operating
systems or distros run on,
00:04:15
and many of these are
free and open source.
00:04:17
For example, Ubuntu or Mint.
00:04:20
These are alternative operating systems
00:04:22
to Windows or macOS, for example.
00:04:24
Linux has many uses,
especially for web servers,
00:04:27
and it's even the kernel
used in Android and ChromeOS.
00:04:30
But in terms of PC home usage,
00:04:33
it's a small slice of the
market compared to Windows.
00:04:36
Gabe stated that one of the
things holding Linux back
00:04:38
was the lack of games.
00:04:40
So, Valve was going to invest in Linux
00:04:42
and get Steam on Linux,
00:04:44
which means they can bring a
whole bunch of games with them.
00:04:47
So, Linux was going to
be a critical component
00:04:49
to this soon to be Steam Machine product,
00:04:52
but we're not quite there yet.
00:04:54
There's still a lot of other
work that has to be done
00:04:55
before we launch.
00:04:56
In September, Valve released a beta
00:04:58
of a new Steam UI named Big Picture mode.
00:05:01
The interface featured
large thumbnails and menus
00:05:03
and it was compatible
with game controllers
00:05:05
while still working
with keyboard and mouse.
00:05:08
This new UI allowed gamers
to navigate Steam on their TV
00:05:11
in the comfort of their living room.
00:05:13
And that all sounds amazing,
00:05:14
but to reap these benefits,
00:05:15
you have to move your computer
into your living room,
00:05:19
which I guess if you had a laptop,
00:05:21
that would be pretty easy,
00:05:22
but not so much for a desktop tower.
00:05:24
At this time, it seemed like Valve had
00:05:26
some great software solutions in place,
00:05:29
but the hardware piece of
the puzzle was still missing.
00:05:32
But Valve's Greg Coomer
hinted at the future.
00:05:35
While discussing Big Picture
mode and the living room,
00:05:38
he also said, "If it's getting involved
00:05:40
in shipping some kind of hardware,
00:05:42
then we will get involved in
doing that if we need to."
00:05:45
At the 2012 Video Game Awards,
00:05:47
Kotaku's Jason Schreier
briefly spoke with Gabe Newell
00:05:50
and Gabe said the reaction
to Big Picture mode
00:05:53
was stronger than expected.
00:05:55
He also said the next step
00:05:56
is to get the Linux version
of Steam out of beta
00:05:59
and that companies would also
start selling TV-ready PCs
00:06:03
with Steam pre-installed next year.
00:06:06
Gabe also said these
upcoming PCs would run Linux,
00:06:09
but users could still install
Windows if they want to.
00:06:12
Now, what specific Linux operating system
00:06:15
would they be running?
00:06:17
We don't know yet, but
maybe we'll find out soon.
00:06:20
But at this point, we still haven't seen
00:06:22
what any of these Steam Machines
would actually look like.
00:06:25
But we didn't have to wait much longer.
00:06:28
On January 7th, 2013, at CES,
00:06:30
modular mini-PC maker
Xi3 revealed the Piston,
00:06:35
a tiny gaming computer
specifically designed
00:06:37
to support Steam and Big Picture mode.
00:06:40
I love unconventional PC design,
00:06:42
so this tiny curvy case
is really appealing to me.
00:06:45
And Xi3 focused on
function, not just form.
00:06:49
So, their modular
computer line could attach
00:06:51
to other modules and accessories.
00:06:52
They could also attach
to computer monitors
00:06:54
and connect together into a server.
00:06:57
And instead of using a single motherboard,
00:06:59
Xi3 uses three separate
boards for their components,
00:07:03
which allowed for swapping and upgrading.
00:07:05
Unfortunately, I couldn't get
my hands on an actual Piston
00:07:07
because they are rare,
00:07:09
but I do have other Xi3 computers
00:07:11
which the Piston was based on.
00:07:13
This is a Jade green Xi3 X5A
00:07:15
with a SLID3 storage expander,
00:07:17
and thanks to Bringus, I have an X7A too,
00:07:20
which is more identical to
the Piston in terms of specs.
00:07:23
Honestly, if we just desaturate
the color a little bit
00:07:26
and add the Piston logo to the front,
00:07:28
it basically looks the same, right?
00:07:29
Back in September 2012,
00:07:31
Xi3 actually used Kickstarter
00:07:33
to try and fund their new X7A
and X3A modular computers,
00:07:38
which would join their existing X5A.
00:07:40
Unfortunately, they
didn't meet their goal,
00:07:42
but thanks to an investment from Valve,
00:07:45
they ended up getting
enough funding in the end.
00:07:47
Thank you, Gabe.
00:07:48
The Piston had up to one
terabyte of SSD storage,
00:07:52
a 3.2 gigahertz AMD Trinity quad-core CPU,
00:07:55
eight gigabytes of RAM,
00:07:56
a Radeon 7000-series GPU
with triple-display support,
00:08:00
and a crap-ton of I/O.
00:08:02
The Piston was made available
for limited pre-orders
00:08:05
at South by Southwest for $999
00:08:08
and they would ship on November 29th.
00:08:10
However, before the launch,
00:08:11
some misinformation
needed to be cleared up.
00:08:15
Valve's Doug Lombardi stated to Eurogamer
00:08:17
that Valve was distancing
themselves from the Piston.
00:08:20
Doug didn't say why, at least
in this particular article,
00:08:24
but the answers might lie
00:08:26
inside of Xi3's response to the situation.
00:08:30
Xi3 published a press release
talking about this separation.
00:08:34
They confirmed that they did receive
00:08:35
an investment from Valve in the past,
00:08:37
but they also debunked misinformation
00:08:39
about the Piston being a Steam Box
00:08:42
because neither Valve or Xi3
has referred to it as such.
00:08:46
Anyway, the main reasons for
the separation in my opinion
00:08:50
have to do with Valve's and
Xi3's visions not aligning.
00:08:54
Xi3 positioned the
Piston to be a Windows PC
00:08:57
with support from
multiple gaming platforms,
00:09:00
whereas Valve wanted to
focus on Linux and Steam.
00:09:03
After the Xi3 separation,
00:09:05
there wasn't much talk
about the Steam Box at all,
00:09:08
maybe a little bit,
00:09:09
but to the public, there wasn't
much progress being made.
00:09:12
Doug confirmed to Polygon
00:09:14
that Valve was tinkering with
other prototype hardware,
00:09:17
but that's about it.
00:09:19
For now.
00:09:20
We'll talk about what happened
next right after this.
00:09:23
So, let's say you want to expand
00:09:24
the storage of your Steam Deck
or your smartphone perhaps,
00:09:27
maybe add some extra
battery to them as well.
00:09:30
SHARGE has the solutions for you.
00:09:32
With the Shargeek 170
and the SHARGE Disk Plus,
00:09:35
you can bring extra storage
and battery with you on the go
00:09:38
and it will be ready for when you need it.
00:09:40
I've always loved SHARGE's clear tech
00:09:42
and the 170 also looks stunning.
00:09:44
It's like something out of
a Pink Floyd album cover.
00:09:47
With two USB-C ports and one USB-A port,
00:09:50
you can fast charge three devices at once
00:09:52
thanks to the 170-watt max output
00:09:54
and you can recharge the
power bank super fast,
00:09:57
up to 50% in only 20 minutes
00:10:00
thanks to the 140-watt max input.
00:10:02
And the total capacity
is 24,000 milliamp hours,
00:10:05
so you have plenty of juice
to share with your devices.
00:10:08
You'll also know the status of your 170
00:10:10
thanks to the built-in display.
00:10:12
And yes, it is airline safe.
00:10:14
And here's the SHARGE Disk Plus,
00:10:16
a slim aluminum SSD enclosure
with a built-in USBC cable.
00:10:20
All you have to do is pop in your own SSD
00:10:22
up to four terabytes
00:10:23
and you're good to go.
00:10:25
And here's the fun part.
00:10:26
You can adhere the optional
magnetic pad to the back
00:10:29
and now the SSD can attach
to any magnetic surface,
00:10:32
like the back of an iPhone.
00:10:33
And if your device doesn't
have a magnetic back,
00:10:36
like the Steam Deck,
00:10:37
you can take one of the magnet rings,
00:10:39
attach it to the back,
00:10:40
and now your SSD can
attach to your Steam Deck.
00:10:43
And you can also charge your devices
00:10:44
while the SHARGE Disk Plus is attached.
00:10:47
So, click the link in the description
00:10:48
to get your own Shargeek
170 and SHARGE Disk Plus.
00:10:51
And when you do that,
00:10:52
you're also supporting the Computer Clan.
00:10:54
So, thank you very much.
00:10:56
All right, so Valve was tinkering
00:10:58
with other prototype hardware, right?
00:11:00
But other than that,
00:11:01
there wasn't much Steam Box
news available to the public
00:11:05
until September 2013.
00:11:08
Valve had three major announcements.
00:11:10
Number one, SteamOS.
00:11:13
SteamOS 1.0, codenamed Alchemist,
00:11:15
is an operating system
based on Debian 7.1 Wheezy,
00:11:19
a Linux distro.
00:11:20
It came with Steam pre-installed
00:11:22
and was primarily intended to
be used with Big Picture mode.
00:11:25
However, users could exit Steam
00:11:27
and enter the GNOME desktop environment
00:11:29
to use other applications.
00:11:31
We'll talk more about SteamOS in a moment
00:11:33
because there is two
other versions to cover,
00:11:35
but first we need to talk about
Valve's second announcement,
00:11:39
Steam Machines.
00:11:40
Holy ship, Valve said it.
00:11:43
They officially said the name
00:11:44
of this new product line, Steam Machine.
00:11:47
There were three main
criteria for Steam Machines.
00:11:50
One, different manufacturers
can make them how they want
00:11:54
with different parts,
00:11:55
two, they must ship with SteamOS,
00:11:58
and C, no exclusive games.
00:12:01
At this time, Valve didn't
show any real photos
00:12:04
of what these Steam
Machines would look like,
00:12:06
but soon, 300 lucky people
were gonna receive a prototype
00:12:10
and it was gonna be a prototype
00:12:12
of Valve's very own Steam Machine.
00:12:14
And I was not one of the
lucky ones that received one
00:12:19
because I didn't enter the drawing,
00:12:20
but I can try to find one.
00:12:22
Pixel Peeper 3000.
00:12:24
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] Hi, Ken.
00:12:24
How can I help you?
00:12:25
- Track down a prototype
Valve Steam Machine
00:12:28
and ship it to me, please.
00:12:29
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] I found a unit
00:12:30
owned by an obscure indie YouTube channel.
00:12:33
- Which one?
00:12:34
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] Linus Tech Tips.
00:12:36
- Huh, they must be new.
00:12:38
Anyway, DM them and ask them
if we can borrow their unit.
00:12:41
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] Already on it.
00:12:43
- Cool.
00:12:44
While Pixel Peeper contacts LTT,
00:12:46
we must talk about Valve's
third big announcement.
00:12:49
- "Ricochet 2!!!!"
00:12:51
- The Steam Controller.
00:12:53
Valve went through many iterations
00:12:55
of the controller's design
00:12:56
and they manufactured it with
their own automated factory
00:12:59
in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
00:13:01
It was designed to be compatible
with every game on Steam,
00:13:04
including old games.
00:13:05
This controller would be
included with Steam Machines
00:13:08
and the initial version they showed
00:13:09
had two circular high-fidelity touch pads,
00:13:12
which were also clickable.
00:13:14
It also had a touchscreen,
four action buttons,
00:13:17
two bumpers, two triggers,
and built-in haptics.
00:13:20
On November 4th, Valve said to IGN
00:13:22
that they would be revealing
the Steam Machine partners
00:13:24
and their designs at CES 2014,
00:13:28
but perhaps some of those partners
00:13:30
were getting a little impatient.
00:13:32
They wanted to beat Valve to the punch.
00:13:34
iBUYPOWER and Digital Storm
00:13:35
revealed their Steam Machines early
00:13:38
and the Digital Storm
unit was liquid cooled.
00:13:41
Pretty neat.
00:13:42
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] Good news, Ken.
00:13:43
Your Steam Machine prototype has shipped.
00:13:46
- Thanks. What's the ETA?
00:13:47
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] Three seconds.
00:13:49
- Whoa.
00:13:51
How did you do that?
00:13:53
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] I'm an AI, Ken.
00:13:54
I can do anything... except draw hands.
00:13:58
- True. Maybe leave art to the humans.
00:14:02
- [Pixel Peeper 3000] Good idea.
00:14:02
- Great.
00:14:04
So, let's take a look at this
rare Steam Machine prototype.
00:14:07
On December 13th, Valve
shipped these units
00:14:09
to 300 testers in the US
00:14:12
and it arrives in this
pretty beefy wooden box.
00:14:15
The prototype itself is a black box
00:14:17
measuring 12 inches
wide, 12.4 inches long,
00:14:19
and 2.9 inches high.
00:14:21
And I'll admit it's quite a
bit heavier than I thought.
00:14:24
It's 12.6 pounds, which doesn't
sound like a lot on paper,
00:14:29
but for a computer of this size,
00:14:31
yeah, that's pretty dense.
00:14:34
The chassis is made of
metal with a brushed texture
00:14:37
and the removable shell
is quite thick too.
00:14:40
And on the front is this
oversized power button
00:14:42
with a white glowing ring,
which I absolutely love.
00:14:45
There's also tons of I/O on the back,
00:14:48
including USB, display port,
00:14:50
and even a PS2 keyboard port.
00:14:52
Looks like they're covering
all bases for testing.
00:14:55
There's also two USB ports on the front.
00:14:57
Now let's take a look at the inside.
00:14:59
With one screw, we can
remove the outer shell.
00:15:01
For specs, the prototype is equipped
00:15:03
with an Intel Core i3,
i5, or i7 processor,
00:15:07
one of various Nvidia GPUs,
00:15:09
16 gigabytes of RAM,
00:15:11
a solid-state hybrid drive
00:15:12
with one terabyte of mechanical storage
00:15:14
and eight gigabytes of
solid state storage,
00:15:17
and a 450-watt power supply.
00:15:19
The controller that
came with this prototype
00:15:21
doesn't have the touchscreen
00:15:22
like we saw in those other press photos.
00:15:24
Instead it has four physical
buttons in the middle,
00:15:27
and it's not wireless yet.
00:15:29
It's wired with USB.
00:15:32
But to be fair, Valve did
disclose that ahead of time.
00:15:35
Another shout-out to Bringus
00:15:36
for loaning me this
prototype Steam Controller.
00:15:38
I got to unwrap it from its condom unit
00:15:40
and touch it before he
did. (laughs maniacally)
00:15:43
But here's my favorite part
about these prototype units.
00:15:46
On the top here, there's 300 holes
00:15:49
and Valve shipped 300 units,
00:15:52
and one of them is a
shiny countersunk hole.
00:15:56
The theory for this hole
is it's a unique identifier
00:15:59
for this specific unit.
00:16:00
Assuming the numerical
order follows left to right,
00:16:03
top to bottom,
00:16:04
this is unit number 78 of 300.
00:16:07
I love prototype stuff,
00:16:08
so big shout-out to Linus Media Group
00:16:10
for letting me borrow this
00:16:11
because they are really hard to find.
00:16:13
On the same day of this prototype launch,
00:16:15
Valve released SteamOS 1.0 to
the public as a free download.
00:16:19
Now we arrive at CES 2014.
00:16:22
At the show, Valve revealed
the third-party partners
00:16:25
for Steam Machines.
00:16:26
Are you ready?
00:16:27
Alienware, Alternate, CyberPowerPC,
00:16:30
Digital Storm, Falcon Northwest, Gigabyte,
00:16:32
iBUYPOWER, Maingear, Materiel.net,
00:16:34
NEXT, Origin PC, Scan
Computers, Webhallen, and ZOTAC.
00:16:39
(deep inhale) Holy crap.
00:16:40
I certainly hope all these choices
00:16:43
don't make it challenging for a consumer
00:16:45
to decide what they want to buy.
00:16:49
Hmm.
00:16:50
Steam Machines had Intel
and AMD CPU options,
00:16:54
Nvidia AMD and Intel GPU options,
00:16:57
and the RAM configurations
ranged up to 16 gigabytes
00:17:00
and storage was generally
up to one terabyte.
00:17:03
Some went higher.
00:17:05
On the lower end, prices were $500,
00:17:07
and on the higher end,
00:17:08
like with the Falcon Northwest
Steam Machine, $6,000.
00:17:12
(duck quacks)
00:17:13
I've never spent $6,000
on a computer in my life,
00:17:17
and I'm a Mac user.
00:17:18
That's saying something.
00:17:20
Apple charges $700 for freaking wheels.
00:17:23
On January 15th, Valve
discussed more details
00:17:26
at Steam Dev Days,
00:17:27
which was closed off to the press.
00:17:29
On the same day, Alienware
announced the release month
00:17:32
for their own Steam
Machine, September 2014,
00:17:36
and although they were
pretty vague with the specs,
00:17:40
I don't have to be.
00:17:41
I've been to the future.
00:17:43
I know what happens.
00:17:44
Alienware will soon offer
four configurations,
00:17:47
which start at $409.99.
00:17:51
All models come with an
Nvidia GeForce GTX video card
00:17:54
with two gigabytes of video memory
00:17:56
and the system can be maxed out
00:17:57
with a one terabyte 7,200 RPM hard drive,
00:18:01
eight gigabytes of RAM,
00:18:02
and a 4th Generation
Intel Core i7 processor.
00:18:05
This Steam Machine also has
two USB two ports on the front,
00:18:08
and on the back, HDMI in and out,
00:18:11
optical audio out, ethernet,
00:18:13
and two USB three ports.
00:18:15
And might I add,
00:18:16
the design of this Steam
Machine is really slick.
00:18:19
Everything from the glowing Steam logo
00:18:21
to the alien head which
pulsates during sleep mode,
00:18:25
it's just a sexy computer.
00:18:27
And yes, the Alienware
logo is the power button,
00:18:31
and I think it's the most iconic
00:18:33
out of all the Steam Machines.
00:18:35
In March 2014, Valve
revealed an updated design
00:18:38
for the Steam Controller,
00:18:40
which replaced the center touchscreen
00:18:41
with two physical buttons
00:18:43
and a Steam button in between.
00:18:45
The D-pad and action
buttons were also relocated
00:18:47
below the touch pads.
00:18:49
We're still not at the production version
00:18:51
of the controller yet.
00:18:52
They're getting there,
00:18:53
but all of these refinements and tweaking
00:18:56
were starting to cause a couple problems.
00:19:00
Late is temporary. Suck is forever.
00:19:04
On May 27th, Valve
product designer Eric Hope
00:19:07
posted an announcement to
the Steam Universe group
00:19:10
stating that the
controller still needs work
00:19:12
and they were looking at a
2015 release instead of 2014.
00:19:16
I think that's the right thing to do.
00:19:18
I'd rather have a good product arrive late
00:19:20
than get a crappy product early.
00:19:22
However, Valve wasn't the
only one on this ship.
00:19:25
There were a bunch of third-party partners
00:19:27
getting ready to launch their hardware,
00:19:29
but the whole Steam Machine
line and brand couldn't launch
00:19:33
until Valve was ready.
00:19:34
But the partners were
getting kind of eager.
00:19:36
And what did some of
these eager partners do?
00:19:39
They stripped the Steam out of the machine
00:19:41
and just repackaged their
hardware with Windows.
00:19:44
Alienware and iBUYPOWER
released their systems early
00:19:47
with Windows 8.1 instead of SteamOS.
00:19:50
I'm still infinitely amused
00:19:51
by the non-Steam Alienware computer
00:19:54
because the triangle where
the Steam logo usually goes
00:19:57
is still there.
00:19:58
It's just empty.
00:20:00
Despite the shift to Windows,
00:20:02
the computers were still
shipped with Steam pre-installed
00:20:04
and it automatically loaded
00:20:06
into Big Picture mode on startup.
00:20:07
Okay, so we have those two computers out,
00:20:10
but unfortunately not much
else was happening for a while.
00:20:14
So, we must fast-forward to GDC 2015.
00:20:17
(air whooshes)
00:20:18
On March 3rd at the Game
Developers Conference,
00:20:20
Valve announced the release month
00:20:22
for Steam Machines, November 2015.
00:20:25
The final design of the Steam
Controller was also revealed,
00:20:28
along with a retail price of $50.
00:20:31
Compared to the last
controller we examined,
00:20:33
there's some small refinements,
00:20:34
but the biggest change is the
removal of the separate DPAD,
00:20:38
which was replaced with an analog stick.
00:20:41
The D-pad functionality was now combined
00:20:43
with the left touchpad.
00:20:44
The Steam Controller is wireless
00:20:45
and it features haptics,
a gyroscope/accelerometer,
00:20:48
and up to 80 hours of
battery life with two AAs.
00:20:51
Also at GDC, Valve announced
their new Source 2 engine
00:20:55
and a brand-new hardware
product, Steam Link.
00:20:59
For 50 bucks, users could
connect Steam Link to their TV
00:21:02
and stream a video game from
their PC or Steam Machine
00:21:05
up to 1080p resolution
00:21:07
and 60 frames per second with low latency.
00:21:10
And it was cheap because it
was just a streaming box,
00:21:12
not a full-featured computer.
00:21:14
Wait a minute.
00:21:16
Okay, I don't have a crystal ball with me,
00:21:19
well, I used to,
00:21:20
but I sold it to be able
to pay for a surgery
00:21:21
to make my head smaller.
00:21:23
It clearly didn't work.
00:21:24
But I think the Steam Link
00:21:26
could cannibalize Steam Machine sales.
00:21:28
You can now get the Steam
experience on your TV
00:21:31
for 50 to a hundred bucks
00:21:33
as opposed to 500 to $6,000
00:21:37
if you were okay with the
possibility of some latency
00:21:40
maybe once in a while.
00:21:41
That's just me editorializing,
00:21:43
but we'll see what happens.
00:21:46
June 4th, 2015.
00:21:48
After more than two years
of blood, sweat, and tears
00:21:52
and more blood,
00:21:53
Valve finally announced the
release date for Steam Machines,
00:21:57
including the controller and Link.
00:21:59
Everything would come out
on November 10th, 2015.
00:22:03
The first brands to launch Steam Machines
00:22:05
were Cyber, ZOTAC, and,
of course, Alienware,
00:22:10
SteamOS 2 also launched,
codenamed Brewmaster.
00:22:13
SteamOS 1 received updates
through its development,
00:22:16
but it was more or less a beta.
00:22:18
2.0 was much more refined under the hood.
00:22:21
I installed it effortlessly
on my Alienware Steam Machine,
00:22:24
but I could only use the built-in
GNOME desktop environment.
00:22:27
Getting Steam to work was a [KENSORED!].
00:22:29
I could tell it was trying
00:22:31
to auto load Big Picture mode,
00:22:32
but all I got was a black
screen with a cursor.
00:22:35
To be fair, it was kind
of unrealistic of me
00:22:37
to try to shove a 2024 Steam client
00:22:41
onto an operating system
that was based on Debian 8,
00:22:45
which came out nine years prior.
00:22:47
So, I tried interrupting
the auto update process
00:22:50
to see if an older version
of Steam would work,
00:22:52
but every time I did that,
00:22:53
I just got caught in
this fatal error screen.
00:22:56
But I don't give up. Usually.
00:23:00
Thanks to the positive
responses from my community
00:23:03
and Brainiac Brent's brain,
00:23:05
I learned a few Linux tricks
to load a new GNOME session,
00:23:08
update all the software on the system,
00:23:10
and enable namespaces so
Steam could launch, and voila.
00:23:14
The UI is a bit laggy,
00:23:15
but the games perform at a
steady 60 frames per second.
00:23:18
Cool, so, finally, Steam
Machines were off to the races
00:23:22
and they sold... okay?
00:23:28
Seven months after the launch,
00:23:29
Valve announced they sold over
500,000 Steam Controllers,
00:23:33
including controllers
packaged with Steam Machines.
00:23:36
And since every Steam Machine was required
00:23:39
to be bundled with a Steam Controller,
00:23:41
we can estimate about 500,000
Steam Machines were sold.
00:23:45
But the controller was
still sold separately.
00:23:48
So, if we factor in
individual retail sales
00:23:51
of the controller,
00:23:52
this estimate could actually
be lower than 500,000,
00:23:55
which is not terrible for a first try,
00:23:58
but compared to PS4 and Xbox One sales
00:24:01
in their first seven months,
00:24:02
which was 15.7 million,
00:24:05
it's a small number.
00:24:06
And to make things even worse,
00:24:08
only a handful of the manufacturers
00:24:10
actually released their
own Steam Machines.
00:24:13
A lot of them didn't follow through.
00:24:15
Things weren't looking too
good for the Steam Machine,
00:24:18
but I promise, I promise you
there was a silver lining.
00:24:23
But before we get there,
we need to examine why.
00:24:27
Why did the Steam Machines fail?
00:24:29
I believe there's three big reasons.
00:24:32
Number one, too many options.
00:24:34
On paper, more choices
may seem like a good idea
00:24:37
to offer your customers,
00:24:39
but in reality, if a consumer is faced
00:24:41
with too many different buying options,
00:24:43
it can be confusing
00:24:44
and that can be detrimental
to your business.
00:24:46
In short, "If you confuse,
you'll lose." Donald Miller.
00:24:51
I've studied this guy before.
00:24:52
He's a smart dude.
00:24:53
Microsoft and Sony kept it easy.
00:24:55
They offered two, give or take,
versions of their consoles
00:24:59
and that was it.
00:25:00
It was simple.
00:25:01
And on top of these problems,
some people speculated
00:25:04
that the more affordable Steam Link
00:25:06
killed some of the Steam
Machine's momentum.
00:25:08
I guess my theory wasn't
too crazy after all.
00:25:11
Problem number two, lack
of software support.
00:25:14
Again, SteamOS is a Linux distro
00:25:16
and game support was lacking.
00:25:18
At the time of launch,
00:25:19
only 21.5% of Steam's entire catalog
00:25:22
was compatible with SteamOS.
00:25:24
So, there's not much of a benefit there.
00:25:26
You pay the money to get the hardware
00:25:29
to get into the Steam universe,
00:25:31
but when you arrive,
00:25:32
you realize you only
get access to 1/5 of it
00:25:35
and it's just because of
a software limitation.
00:25:37
You throw Windows on there,
00:25:38
boom, you now have access to all of it.
00:25:42
Just didn't seem that practical.
00:25:44
And it got worse.
00:25:46
SteamOS had some performance
problems compared to Windows,
00:25:49
and I know performance can vary
depending on your hardware,
00:25:52
your game settings,
00:25:53
and what you're playing,
00:25:54
so, take this with a grain of salt,
00:25:55
but Ars Technica did a
pretty thorough analysis
00:25:59
and Windows came out on top.
00:26:02
And problem number three,
no killer features.
00:26:06
While I think some of the Steam Machines
00:26:07
looked absolutely cool,
00:26:09
there wasn't anything special
00:26:11
about the hardware or features.
00:26:13
And while I think it was noble of Valve
00:26:15
to encourage no exclusives for SteamOS,
00:26:18
that move further killed
00:26:20
the Steam Machine's value proposition
00:26:22
because now consumers
have even less of a reason
00:26:24
to buy them.
00:26:25
Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand,
00:26:27
had exclusive titles on their consoles.
00:26:30
As time passed, unfortunately,
the Steam Machine line
00:26:33
was, well, losing steam.
00:26:37
Some manufacturers like
Alienware continued
00:26:39
making Steam Machines into 2017,
00:26:42
but most companies completely dropped out
00:26:45
or switched to Windows.
00:26:46
SteamOS was still getting updated
00:26:48
and more Steam games were
gaining Linux support,
00:26:51
but it was just too little too late.
00:26:54
Then in mid-April 2019,
00:26:57
Valve quietly de-listed the
Steam Machines from its website
00:27:01
and the Steam Link was discontinued
00:27:03
in November of the same year.
00:27:05
It was replaced with a
Steam Link app instead,
00:27:08
which was originally released in May 2018.
00:27:11
Lastly, the Steam
Controller continued to sell
00:27:14
until December 3rd, 2019,
00:27:16
when Valve ran out of
stock and discontinued it.
00:27:21
And thus marks the official
death of the Steam Machine.
00:27:25
(somber music)
00:27:27
Hang on.
00:27:29
I said there was a silver
lining to all this, right?
00:27:32
I won't leave you hanging.
00:27:34
In life, it's important
to always be improving,
00:27:36
even if it's just one small thing a day.
00:27:39
Think about it, after a whole year,
00:27:40
you just learned 365
new things you can use
00:27:44
to improve your product, your business,
00:27:47
your mission, yourself.
00:27:50
But it's also important to
know when to let something go
00:27:53
if it's not working
00:27:54
and try something else.
00:27:56
But even when you do let that thing go,
00:27:58
you can take the lessons with you.
00:28:01
In Valve's case, they let
the Steam Machines go,
00:28:04
but the lessons would remain with them.
00:28:07
Much like how a young
Krazy Ken didn't give up
00:28:09
trying to get SteamOS working,
00:28:11
Valve didn't give up on hardware.
00:28:14
They launched their own
VR headset, Valve Index,
00:28:17
on June 28th, 2019,
00:28:19
and their wildly successful
VR title, "Half-Life: Alyx,"
00:28:23
which leveraged the new hardware.
00:28:24
But more importantly,
00:28:25
Valve was about to launch
an all-new hardware product
00:28:29
with a new form factor
they've never released before
00:28:31
and I believe this new
product was the culmination
00:28:35
of all the lessons they learned
00:28:36
from the failed Steam Machine
line and the Steam Controller,
00:28:40
Steam Deck.
00:28:42
Announced on July 15th, 2021,
00:28:44
the Steam Deck was Valve's foray
00:28:46
into the portable gaming space.
00:28:48
Steam Deck features a
thin rectangular design
00:28:51
with grips on both sides
00:28:52
and a seven-inch 1280-by-800 touchscreen
00:28:55
with a 60 hertz refresh rate.
00:28:57
And unlike the Steam Controller,
00:28:59
Steam Deck has not one
but two analog sticks
00:29:02
along with dual trackpads, ABXY buttons,
00:29:05
four grip buttons, two
triggers, two bumpers,
00:29:07
a gyroscope, micro SD card slot,
00:29:09
headphone jack, microphones,
00:29:10
and USB-C with HDMI and ethernet support,
00:29:13
and a dedicated D-pad which
the Steam Controller lacked.
00:29:17
Basically, Steam Deck was
ready for almost any game
00:29:20
you could throw at it.
00:29:21
Inside is an AMD APU with
a quad-core Zen 2 CPU
00:29:25
and RDNA 2 graphics,
plus 16 gigabytes of RAM.
00:29:29
And for SSD storage,
00:29:31
the low end offered 64 gigabytes for $399
00:29:34
and 512 gigabytes on the higher end
00:29:36
with faster NVMe storage for $649.
00:29:40
And the built-in 40-watt-hour battery
00:29:42
could run lighter tasks like web browsing
00:29:44
for about seven to eight hours
00:29:45
and games like Portal 2 for about four.
00:29:48
Now, for software, Valve
is still betting on Linux.
00:29:51
Introducing SteamOS 3, codenamed Holo.
00:29:55
Version 3 was a major release.
00:29:57
It's now based on Arch
Linux instead of Debian
00:30:00
and it uses the KDE
Plasma desktop environment
00:30:02
instead of GNOME.
00:30:03
Just like prior releases,
00:30:05
users could use Steam Big Picture mode,
00:30:07
but they can also exit Steam,
00:30:09
load a full desktop,
00:30:10
and use Steam Deck like a portable PC,
00:30:12
or even connect it to a
keyboard, mouse, and display
00:30:14
and use it like a desktop.
00:30:16
This is made possible with the USB-C port.
00:30:18
But the docking station,
00:30:19
which came out seven months later,
00:30:21
also makes it easier to
use your deck as a PC
00:30:24
or a game console on your TV.
00:30:26
Steam Deck and SteamOS 3 will run
00:30:28
any Linux/SteamOS compatible game.
00:30:31
But for Windows games
that don't run natively,
00:30:33
they will run in a compatibility
layer named Proton.
00:30:36
Not every game will work 100% off the bat,
00:30:39
so, Valve has a simple webpage
00:30:41
which summarizes your
library's compatibility,
00:30:43
and they offer in-depth
details for individual games.
00:30:46
Now, with SteamOS 1 and 2,
00:30:48
anybody could download those systems
00:30:50
and install them on their PC,
00:30:52
but Valve has not released
SteamOS 3 to the public.
00:30:55
They only use it for the Steam Deck.
00:30:57
But that's where the community stepped in.
00:30:59
Just like how fans mod Valve's games,
00:31:02
they also mod Valve's operating system.
00:31:05
This 2021 Atari VCS belongs to
my friend, Delicious Damian.
00:31:09
Don't worry, you'll meet
him in a future episode.
00:31:12
Anyway, he installed HoloISO
on this $200 computer
00:31:15
and it works very smoothly.
00:31:17
You can use Steam in Big Picture mode
00:31:19
or switch to desktop mode with KDE Plasma
00:31:21
and it works pretty much the same way
00:31:23
as it would on a Steam Deck.
00:31:26
The Steam Deck released
on February 25th, 2022,
00:31:29
and it was a huge hit.
00:31:31
Valve still sells the system today,
00:31:33
including a new OLED model.
00:31:35
Reports estimated 1.62
million sales in 2022 alone.
00:31:40
Valve even made a cake to celebrate.
00:31:42
Huh, I guess the cake
wasn't a lie after all.
00:31:45
And in November 2023,
00:31:47
Valve announced they sold
multiple millions of Steam Decks.
00:31:51
And I don't think the Steam Deck
00:31:52
would've thrived the way it did
00:31:54
if it weren't for the
lessons Valve learned
00:31:56
through the Steam Machine journey.
00:31:57
So, although that line
failed in comparison,
00:32:00
it helped forge a new product
that millions of people love.
00:32:04
And I can't wait to see
what Valve does next.
00:32:08
So, I wanted to show you one more thing.
00:32:11
The holidays are coming up, right?
00:32:12
And I think this could
be a cool gift for you
00:32:15
or for someone else who's a
tech enthusiast in your life.
00:32:17
But I'm launching a photo
calendar for the year 2025.
00:32:21
Each month features a
beautiful photo I shot.
00:32:23
I also autograph all calendars
00:32:25
and each calendar will come
00:32:26
with a free wallpaper mega pack download.
00:32:28
So, go ahead and pre-order today.
00:32:30
And for every dollar spent,
00:32:31
I will personally donate a dollar
00:32:33
to hurricane relief efforts.
00:32:34
You can pre-order with
the link in my description
00:32:36
or visit my Etsy store.
00:32:38
I hope you enjoy.
00:32:39
Thanks for sticking with me.
00:32:40
Catch the crazy and pass it on.
00:32:42
(upbeat music)
00:32:48
Oh, I forgot to mention, I emailed Valve
00:32:50
asking when Half-Life 3
would finally come out
00:32:53
and they replied.
00:32:55
They said the official release
date for Half-Life 3 is
