Steam Machines are finally out in the wild, following the mass release alongside the Steam Controller and Steam Link on Tuesday. In a way, Steam Machines have been out for ages – compact PC machines that look more like consoles than big, towering PC cases. What sets them apart is Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS – which is shipping on most Steam Machines. Not all though.
Origin is just one manufacturer building a set of Steam Machines, but they’re the first to admit that SteamOS isn’t exactly great for their hardware. Instead of shipping their devices with the Linux OS, Origin have instead opted for Windows – which will boot straight into Steam’s Big Picture Mode is you want it to. That’s almost exactly what SteamOS looks like anyway, so it’s not the biggest difference visually.
It is a massive one in other respects though. Part of the reason why Origin chose Windows over SteamOS was because of compatibility. Under 22% of all Steam hosted titles run on Linux right now, and although Valve has a keen interest to support the operating system far more now there’s still a lot of work to reduce that deficit. Origin is well aware of that, and doesn’t want it to affect their customers.
“We decided that we will not offer Steam OS because we believe that a system that boots directly into Steam Big Picture mode coupled with an available Steam Controller already offers a seamless Steam experience within Windows. We are confident this allows users to take full advantage of all the power and features that ORIGIN PC systems have to offer. We have also made this option available through all of our product lines with no charge for the Big Picture Mode toggle.”
It’s only one manufacturer out of over a dozen, so it’s nothing Valve should probably be getting worried about yet. But SteamOS might just be too early for its own good. People actually buying into Steam Machines want the power of Steam’s platform without the hassle. So having four fifth’s of their games locked out isn’t exactly great.
Last Updated: November 12, 2015
HairyEwok
November 12, 2015 at 14:38
Let me guess, the Steam machine they make runs on a Nvidia GPU and a Intel CPU? No love for the red ones.
Bob of the Khundelar
November 12, 2015 at 14:42
If that gets the best performance for the price of the Steam Machine then why not? It’s not like you can opt for any changes in the hardware with other consoles.
b1nd3r
November 12, 2015 at 14:53
The Red ones have no love for top performance 😉 no point in putting them in 😛
Bob of the Khundelar
November 12, 2015 at 15:01
It’s not really about red vs green. I presume Origin and or Steam would have selected their hardware based on a set budget and looked at benchmarks that would optimise performance and cost. Given that team red are definitely the more cost effective approach they could have easily gone that route. I haven’t seen the specs so it’s difficult to try figure out their thought processes for the machine.
Dutch Matrix
November 12, 2015 at 14:38
Origin? Steam?
Maxiviper117
November 12, 2015 at 15:09
“Origin PC” builds custom PC’s, not affiliated with EA Origin (EA online game store)
Kromas untamed
November 12, 2015 at 15:23
Or EA’s Origin.The extinct game dev that brought us Wing Commander
WitWolfy
November 12, 2015 at 14:39
Knew this was going to happen.
Hammersteyn
November 12, 2015 at 14:40
Looks like a UPS
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 12, 2015 at 14:45
What is that funny looking slot device thing there at the top?
HairyEwok
November 12, 2015 at 14:48
It’s a forgotten and almost lost technology. I believe they call it the floppy? Doesn’t seem floppy to me though.
Dutch Matrix
November 12, 2015 at 14:52
“Doesn’t seem floppy to me though.” NOT what she said.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 12, 2015 at 14:53
Double negative, so floppy then?
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 12, 2015 at 15:19
NO retort, must have hit a nerve
o_O
Dutch Matrix
November 12, 2015 at 16:04
My happy pills is also my floppy pills. Which I don’t get. They are supposed to make you all happy and what not, but they murder your sex drive Jason Voorhees style.
I guess it’s the pills just doing their job. Makes you so happy you just do not give a fuck.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 13, 2015 at 07:10
O_O
Hammersteyn
November 12, 2015 at 14:51
Dunno, you people download everything these days.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 12, 2015 at 14:52
A place for a beer it seems.
[mandatory WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU PEOPLE comment]
David Weatherhead
November 12, 2015 at 15:52
A beer holder!
WitWolfy
November 12, 2015 at 16:09
Legend has it if you dont have a credit card you can pay Steam directly with cash slots (doesnt accept coins). Must be it…
WitWolfy
November 12, 2015 at 16:05
Looks like a waste of money to me.
Hammersteyn
November 12, 2015 at 16:05
lol
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 12, 2015 at 14:53
Linux. Yuck. I feel filthy & unshaven just thinking about it. If someone buys a Steam machine do they get a complimentary flannel shirt and pair of crocs?
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 12, 2015 at 14:53
And cheesy poofs and mountain dew?
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 12, 2015 at 14:54
No, it’s only mimicking a console.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 12, 2015 at 14:55
Ah
Hammersteyn
November 12, 2015 at 14:57
At a higher price
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 12, 2015 at 14:58
Of course, no one buys cheesy poofs & mountain dew if they can afford better.
Hammersteyn
November 12, 2015 at 14:59
gg
Roger Hess
November 17, 2015 at 13:29
Do you know that the PS4 runs BSD which is a even geekier system than Linux, BSD users look down on Linux users because they are “too main stream” lol. But no one seems too care because no one knows that about the PS4 but when the Steam Machine uses Linux its suddenly a huge issue.
Raptor Rants
November 12, 2015 at 15:38
Gee. Linux not the best gaming OS around? No!?!?! Really!??!!? You don’t say!!!!
http://allthingsd.com/files/2012/02/YOU_DONT_SAY.png
Raptor Rants
November 12, 2015 at 15:43
No, seriously. I still don’t understand the reason behind all this. I still cannot fathom why you would sell a gamin machine that runs an OS that cannot run the latest releases.
Witcher 3? Nope. Arkham Knight? Nope (well let’s be fair no PC can run it in its current state), ANY OTHER AAA GAME OUT? Pretty much minimal support.
Well done guys. *slow clap* your smartness knows no bounds
Dutch Matrix
November 12, 2015 at 16:05
But Gabe is God! He can do no wrong!
Master Race Fail!
WitWolfy
November 12, 2015 at 16:11
All because they couldnt license the x86 and x64 architecture… LOL
Britt Yazel
November 14, 2015 at 01:54
lol what?
WitWolfy
November 14, 2015 at 11:00
Oh sorry does the x86 or x64 geek talk confuse you
Britt Yazel
November 14, 2015 at 11:04
No, you are just wrong. Are you implying that there isn’t an x86 or x64 version of Linux?
Britt Yazel
November 14, 2015 at 11:16
lol sure, we’ll go with that
Britt Yazel
November 14, 2015 at 01:58
Its called forward thinking and vision. Any competition in the PC gaming market is a good thing. Why are you actively dismissing other options?
Unless you really believe that the existence of something is only valid if it is 100% the best. In which case, AMD shouldn’t exist, Firefox shouldn’t exist, we should only have Comcast, and the only beer that should exist in the whole world is PBR, as it is unquestionably the best beer /endsarcasm.
Raptor Rants
November 18, 2015 at 12:01
As far as options go Unix is probably the worst idea for gaming due to support. Games aren’t developed with Unix in mind on PC.
Until there is proper support and proper API’s for said platforms, this remains a bad idea. YOu are marketing an expensive gaming device (More expensive than a similiar spec machine) and are hoping it will sell?
This isn’t like a Mac being more expensive kind of argument. At least a mac is good at what it does. These steam machines are terrible at their primary purpose. Gaming for gamers.
Bad idea. Bad implementation.
WitWolfy
November 12, 2015 at 16:10
It’s probably worse than IOS.
Pieter Kruger
November 14, 2015 at 07:23
Isn’t Linux just a fancy Toyota……..?
BakedBagel
November 12, 2015 at 16:04
So finally something new in terms of a gaming “console” that isint MS or Sony
And all people care about is the OS.
Yall need Jesus
Pieter Kruger
November 14, 2015 at 07:19
Doesn’t SteamOS gimp the frame rate of games, especially the newer games?