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posted by CoolHand on Friday June 05 2015, @05:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the been-waiting-patiently dept.

Valve has finally announced a release date for Steam Machines, Steam Link, and the Steam Controller: November 10th. Some "early bird" customers will get the hardware on October 16th.

First and foremost, let's start with the Steam Controller. The final version of Valve's controller is pretty much identical to what we saw at GDC 2015, featuring what has become the controller's signature touchpads, along with an analog stick, motion controls, haptics (vibration), and what Valve is calling dual-stage triggers, all communicating with host systems over Bluetooth. Though ultimately lacking the touchscreens of Valve's original design, the final controller retains the touchpads and the same goals Valve had held to since the start: making more traditional mouse-driven PC games playable on the couch with a controller. [...] When not part of a Steam Machine bundle, Valve will be selling the Steam Controller stand-alone for $49.

Meanwhile as far as performance and costs go, the initial wave of Machines run the gauntlet from low-powered, console-like computers to high-end machines that are meant to take a stab at 4K rendering. The cheapest machines start at $449, such as the Alienware in its low-end, Core-i3 powered configuration, and also the iBuyPower SBX. Meanwhile at the middle of the pack are machines like the Zotac SN970 at $999, and finally at the high-end the sky's the limit. [...] As one might expect, all of the Steam Machines are shipping with one Steam Controller, with additional controllers available from Valve for $49. Meanwhile the very first Steam Machines from Alienware and Syber are already available for pre-order from GameStop and Syber respectively, while the rest are slated to be available in November.

Finally, we have the Steam Link, Valve's in-home streaming receiver for Steam. Intended to be used with Steam's existing, built-in streaming technology, the Link is designed to allow playing Steam games in other locations away from the host PC/Machines, be it things like spare bedrooms or locating the host in said spare bedroom and putting the Link in the living room. The Link features a 2x2 802.11ac for wireless connectivity, or a 100Mbit Ethernet port for wired fallback, along with a trio of USB 2.0 ports and of course the necessary HDMI port. Valve will be selling the Link on its own for $49, while a package with the controller will be $99, and somewhat surprisingly for a consumer device these days, Valve's even throwing in HDMI and Ethernet cables. As with the Steam Machines, the Link is available for pre-order through Valve or at GameStop, with a limited number of the devices shipping on October 16th.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by gman003 on Friday June 05 2015, @07:16PM

    by gman003 (4155) on Friday June 05 2015, @07:16PM (#192635)

    $50 is actually quite high for a controller

    Are you sure about that?

    Xbox One controller - $49.48, on sale from $59.99 [amazon.com]

    Dualshock 4 - $58.15, on sale from $59.99 [amazon.com]

    Xbox 360 Controller with PC adapter - $42.57, on sale from $59.95 [amazon.com]. Yes, the wired model [amazon.com] is cheaper, at $27.99 (reduced from $39.95), but we're comparing it to a dual-mode controller so wireless is the fairest comparison.

    True, you can find cheap USB gamepads [amazon.com], some of which are actually decent, but you're giving up some functionality with them. The Xbox controllers (the 360 gamepad is considered the de facto standard on PC) have rumble, and anything north of $40 is wireless. The Steam Controller has wireless, rumble, dual-stage triggers (like the old Gamecube pads!) and touchpads, and can emulate either a traditional gamepad or a mouse+keyboard setup for compatibility. $50 is actually quite a reasonable price for this level of quality. Had they wanted to "soak the fans", they would have made it exclusive to Steam Machines (at least for initial release), or priced it at $60-$70.

    For what it's worth, the reception within the gaming community has been "wow, that's actually cheaper than I expected", with the exception of a few foreign markets getting shafted on exchange rates.

    I've ordered one myself. If it has the same build quality as official console controllers, and if the touchpads live up to the hype, I might have to get another one for co-op. Then again, I've dropped $600 (not a typo) on flight-sim controllers, so my perspective may differ from yours.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by jimshatt on Friday June 05 2015, @07:38PM

    by jimshatt (978) on Friday June 05 2015, @07:38PM (#192648) Journal
    Flight-sim fans are the weirdest. Except maybe for air-traffic-controller-sim fans :)
    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Friday June 05 2015, @08:48PM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 05 2015, @08:48PM (#192674)
      Sticker-shock might lead you to believe that. But consider that one investment will work on virtually (all?) of the games they are passionate playing. Having dropped near that amount on game consoles and video cards, it's hard for me to be too smug about it.
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈