The Steam Machine Is Coming

     After all of the rumors and our personal hopes, the long awaited Valve Steam Machine has finally opened itself to pre-orders. However, this is only for a small group of Steam Machines, which is a console-like gaming computer which will run on the company's Linux-based Steam OS(Operating System). According to Polygon the pre-order will be available through the Steam store and Gamestop, along with the Steam Machine you will also be able to pre-order the Steam Link which will allow PC gaming to take place on any room in the house with a streaming service from the Steam device (as long as the devices are on the same home network). The steam link is said to support up to 1080p resolution "with low latency" according to Valve.

      The Steam Link as shown to the left will only cost $49.99 and will feature the same Steam Controller that has been released which will also be available by November. On the Steam Website, Valve tells us that the Steam Link is "designed to take advantage of the PC horsepower you already have in your home, with In-Home Steaming". Valve also tells us that it will be easy to setup and use, simply by hooking it up to your television and home network.

     As for the Steam Machine, Alienware and CyberPower have already begun designing their takes on what they want the Steam Machine to be. As you can see to the right Alienware's version of the Steam Machine seems extremely sleek and well to be honest console-like. As of today Alienware and CyberPower are both taking pre-orders on the Steam Machine with a scheduled November release. Apparently anyone can make a Steam Machine and this is what is so tantalizing about the product as two of the large PC companies have already taken on the challenge; we are excited to see who else will enter the race and what special customization each company will bring to the Steam Machine.
     As the Steam Machine is simply just a PC running the Steam OS, it will be extremely interesting to see how each game that Steam has to offer transfers to the new Steam Controller which has a very unique look with 2 touch-type pads on each side along with a joystick and traditional 4-button control on the front.

     The Steam Machine is Valve's attempt at making their already massively successful Online Game Platform into a couch-friendly version and with over 3,700 games being offered it will have the largest library of games especially in comparison to the newest generation of consoles PS4 and Xbox One which are extremely lacking in game options.

     There is one factor that we believe could cause issues and that is the fact that the OS will only run Linux games. Still, Valve is trying to push for between 1,000 - 1,200 games to be supported by its launch date in November and that includes working with the new Steam Controller.

    We at TechEv0lution are extremely excited for the release of the Steam Machine and its equally impressive counter-part Steam Link which will both be coming to us in November of this year!