Fubarberry
Steam HardwareValve updated their article about when the Steam Machine/Controller/Frame will ship.
Previous message:
We hope to ship in 2026, but as we shared recently, memory and storage shortages have created challenges for us. We’ll share updates publicly when we finalize our plans!
New message:
We shared recently that there have been challenges with memory and storage shortages, but we will be shipping all three products this year. More updates will be shared as we finalize our plans.
I'm a bit surprised that the Steam Controller might end up released later too. It does not have a builtin memory (or maybe to save settings?) and is not that expensive and big, therefore easier to produce and send in mass. Also releasing it early might also free up some production space and work for later when the Machine and Frame are released.
Oh come on, they could just open up preorders and trickle them out. Charge a bit more at first to cover the cost while promising to lower the price as RAM gets cheaper.
I want my Frame :(
How to pre-order, if Valve even does not know what price the machine will end up? At the time of sending the machines, the price could go up for Valve very high and people have pre-ordered for wrong price. That means everyone who pre-ordered would get a price hike and in general a bad publicity. Pre-ordering anything is a bad thing if you don't know the end product well. And combine it at these high prices in uncertainty times like these...
Valve should not make any promises or pre-orders right now. It would be the wrong thing to do.
They must already have stock in their warehouse, so they can just set the right price.
And for the next batch they set the price again.
So I meant less pre-order and more let people order in batches with adjusted price.
I don't think Valve has stock in warehouse already, I doubt that. They need to figure out pricing before committing. This is not a situation like Nintendo Switch, where they need to have millions at launch and more and be sure to sell them all. Also other companies get better deals and probably Valve needs to wait, or pay more to have higher priority to build them.
Bring me the head of Sam Altman.
Or better yet, show me a picture shooting that head out of a Canon against a huge roach in a data center.
What good will be the release if it's unbearably expensive?
Not a lot of good options at this point:
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Wait for RAM to come back down to hit a more competitive price point. Could take years, during which the hardware performance is aging and losing competitive edge.
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Release this year at a higher price point, and risk the price killing adoption rates, potentially dooming the hardware.
At least with option #2 we will get the steam controller sooner, since it's price probably won't be negatively impacted by RAM.
If I was Valve, at this point I'd probably scrap the project and develop a new console with a planned release in late 2027 or so. Hopefully the prices will get back to normal until then and they could use actually good hardware instead of relying on a 8GB FSR3 GPU.
Reviewers have already stated their fear that it might be dead on arrival when the price is not as competitively set as the Steam Deck's and this was long before the RAM price increases. So I don't really see a chance for a successful product launch in the current market.
They probably already have way too much hardware to just scrap the Frame and Machine.
They might just do a limited release thought. I guess that's what I would do.
Just gimme the controllers (I want the Frame controllers as well) and I'll be happy.
Controllers but not the Frame itself? I want a modern VR headset that runs without a tether and ISN'T produced by an evil cloud/social-media company
Yeah, that as well. But that will probably be over my budget.
I would love to buy the Frame, but I really hope the controllers will be available soon.
I don't think you can do a whole lot with the Frame controllers without the Frame though.
As far as I recall they did say that you can use them with the Steam Machine.
I just want a good controller where the hands aren't forced to be together. The Switch ones are too small for me.
Do you recall where you saw that? I can't find that statement. Would be cool if true though. Wasn't possible for Index Controllers.
Probably one of the early videos when they were announced.
Wouldn't the controller just work with Steam on their own? I imagine they might not work on a console, but they should work with Steam.
If they work like the Index controllers, no, they won't connect without Steam VR running and the HMD connected. But maybe they're different.
The HMD served as a Bluetooth (or related protocol) hub for the peripherals. Also wondering if the Frame will use lighthouses Pl like Index does or have the tracking from the HMD like Oculus and newer HTC's do. I'm hoping for that with accurate hand/finger tracking
One vague rumor suggested the memory pricing hill might be leveling off; sadly Valve might be paying upfront for it still, but at least it won’t get worse.
One vague rumor suggested
No source? Who is that person? So nobody needs to listen to it. It's a rumor, vague, from a single source and just a suggestion (sounds like an opinion rather than deep analysis). My point is, nobody knows and nobody can make predictions what will happen. Everyone has their opinion.
they're trying to beat the age verification laws to market because they know afterwards will be a shit show.
they know customers won't be spending money on hardware that is ID nerfed.
if valve gets the hardware to market now, along with the software it's more likely that people will buy the hardware later and flash older firmware later that doesn't require ID verification.
What "ID nerfed"? The laws are not about ID verification, so I am not sure what you are talking about.
In this economy?
Fuck off Polygon, we said 2026
I want to see the price on that Steam Machine. The size of it is great and it’ll come with a controller. Be great for the living room
