Remember Steam machines? Those things that were supposed to bring Steam to your living room in a convenient user friendly setup? Well, Valve has finally given some information on what exactly is coming, and when.

Their plans include the Steam Link, which will be a game streaming box that uses your computer to stream games straight to your TV. Not a brand new idea by any means, but not a terribly expensive one either. You can pre-order the device directly on Steam for $50 without the controller, or $100 with it. Of course, other places will have the item available for pre-order as well.

The Steam Link is slated to launch November 2015, although they've stated that they'll ship out a limited number of units October 16th allowing some users to be the first wave of Steam Link users.

Steam Machines as we all know will vary in hardware and price, but the starting price point seems to be approximately $450 depending on your choice of manufacturer. All Steam Machines will come with the controller. Steam Machines seem to be slated to launch at that October 16th date given for early Steam Link shipping.

You can find more information about specific Steam Machines available at the Steam hardware page.

As for the controller itself, well, I'll just give an excerpt from the store page:
"The Steam Controller features dual trackpads, HD haptic feedback, dual-stage triggers, back grip buttons, and fully-customizable control schemes."

Basically, it helps to blend the difference in experience between mouse and keyboard gaming and controller gaming. It's hard to say if this will be an ideal solution as of now, but it seems fairly interesting as far as gamepads go. The standalone controller will launch alongside the Steam Link and Steam Machines at $50 but as mentioned, it will be bundled with Steam Machines and optionally bundled with the Steam Link.

For more savvy PC gamers here, I know the Steam Machines here may not be the most appealing thing around, but does any of this catch your eye? Do any of you feel you'll be adding a new gamepad to your collection? Is the Steam Link something you'd want to really take advantage of?

Steam Store Hardware Page

 

[Obveron]

Steam link looks cool if it works for all windows apps and not just steam. A decent wireless HDMI streamer with low input lag would be awesome for all sorts of things but I'm not interested if it only works with SteamOS or Steam apps. It would need to offer the same compatibility of a simple HDMI cable if it's going replace one in my living room.

Edit: So steam link will work in Windows but only with Steam apps. Seems like such a waste it can't work with the Windows UI and all apps. I'm not going to disconnect my HDMI cable and put my PC in another room if I can't stream all video-out to the TV. I guess I need to wait for Nvidia/AMD to do proper wireless HDMI.

The controller looks brutal. Touch screen virtual thumbsticks for smartphone/tablets are just the worst, and this looks only slightly better. I've always felt that a mouse with some sort of analog thumbstick with multiple triggers for your left hand (like Wii nunchuck) would be best for PC games. I love the mouse but a keyboard has always been a weak point in my opinion when compared to an analog thumbstick. I never understood why left hand thumbsticks are not marketed for PC gamers.



Does the steam controller really use the Xbox button letters/colors? Seems a bit strange not to come up with something unique.

 

[cracker]

Just this.

With people having even aged graphics cards and TVs that support VGA/DVI and/or HDMI the only people who will want/need one will be those that will want to play across their house. The system load will be even more and streaming might cause a lot of headaches.

 

[Foxi4]

It has an analog stick, if that's what floats your boat.

I just realized that that little baby nub is indeed a stick, fair enough. Funky d-pad is there too, well, well, well.

 

[pdensco]

looks good will buy soon

 

[Hells Malice]

Well since it was pre-ordered through EBgames, I bit the bullet and pre-ordered the controller since I had a $50 gift card thats been sitting in my wallet for months.

 

[RevPokemon]

Steam controller
Ehh looks awful kinda make me think of a wupc and 360 controller in this a laptop touch pad

Steam link
Seems good for the price

Steam machines
A total waste to be honest. Just build a PC or even something like those custom PC sites where they build it for you are a better deal

 

[Qtis]

@Obveron it should be able to stream from windows, not just steam. But as is, I think the Nvidia Shield Android TV could be more value as it can stream as well as work as a standalone hub. 4K streaming at 60Hz doesn't hurt either.

On the other hand, $50 is a hard price point to beat if the stream doesn't get downgraded at 1080p60. The RPI2 should already do well with limelight and the price is $35, but IIRC the quality of the stream does have a few issues with artifacts in the video. I only have the 512mb model b, which does sorry of decent with 720p60 but 1080p60 is clearly pushing it.

 

[ProtoKun7]

I actually like the look of the Steam Controller in a way; I decided to go ahead and order it a few days ago.