Listen, I would pay good money for an off the shelf console first computer that runs SteamOS, has as primary input a controller and an ARM architecture or any other small form factor x86, that fits under the TV. Freaking SteamMachines were a top notch idea, and Gabe should go for it again.
Wouldn’t ARM cause a lot of compatibility issues? I’d imagine we’d need to stick to small form factor x64 for now.
Sounds like you want a steam deck with a dock, or does that not fit under your TV?
That setup lets you connect controllers via bluetooth.
I had a random 3rd party usb dongle with hdmi and a port for power laying around. Gave it a shot, and it worked great.
Pleasantly surprised. The only issue was that I had to use the deck specific buttons to do a few things.
I did the same with the dongle that came with my Huawei laptop. There’s even an USB-C port that supports charging.
And with the steam controller, no button issues!
I think it’s worth checking out some diy alternatives that get the job done. I built my own “steam box” with some cheap Ali Express parts (Elsa 5700xt and Erying motherboard with core I9 equivalent engineering sample) to great success. The OS is key. I’ve found two that work very well:
https://chimeraos.org/ (requires AMD GPU) https://github.com/ublue-os/bazzite/ (Works with Nvidia but it’s unstable using steam full screen at times)
I’ve had a great level of success with ChimeraOS so far.
I have thought about trying a minisforum with the built in 6600m but I haven’t given it a go yet.
Would love a new Steam Machine and could actually be good this time. Proton didn’t exist when they released the original Steam Machines which limited you to linux ports of games. I had bought two but wiped & did clean installs of Windows 7 so we could play all the games wanted to.
Before Proton, gaming on linux relied on native ports or WINE. Native ports were rare & not always better. WINE took some learning to make work well but I dunno, never got any good at it.
I have a suspicion that they are making something. In an interview about the steam deck refresh one of the engineers mentioned how they couldn’t find an AMD apu that was efficient and powerful enough to warrant making a steam deck 2, he said not in this chassis anyway. Insinuating they know of one for a different chassis. Pinch of salt.
I mean that is what he is asking for, but with the added benefit of doing whatever the hell we want with it too. Personally I’d be down for that too
Steam Machines were the solution, but no one fucking bought any of them so the market decided OPs desire was a waste of time and money.
