Valve's Steam Machines, Steam Controller, And Steam Link Now Widely Available
It's been a long wait for Valve's Steam Hardware, but the day is finally here. You can now get your hands on the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and a variety of Steam Machines to bring PC gaming to your TV screen.
Last month, Valve released a limited run of Steam hardware to early adopters that jumped on the first pre-orders of the hardware. We recently published an early hands-on report about the Alienware Steam Machine and Steam Controller, which was based on the hardware that early adopters would have received. Today, you can pick up the hardware for yourself.
Valve's Steam Controller is a gamepad with a very unique layout that Valve said is better for PC games than a traditional dual-stick gamepad. The controllers are available for $49.99 and can be ordered from the Steam store and on Amazon, or you can pick one up in person at GameStop, GAME UK and EB Games stores. Valve has partnered with these retailers to have dedicated Steam sections where the hardware will be sold. These stores will also carry Steam prepaid cards that can be used for game purchases.
Steam Link devices use Steam's In-Home Streaming feature to play PC games on the TV without moving your gaming system to where the TV is. These devices are also priced at $49.99 and can be found at the same retailers as the Steam Controllers.
Steam Machines are also available today from a handful of computer manufacturers. These systems are designed to be used as a game console and run on Valve's SteamOS operating system. The company said that over 1,500 titles will natively run on the Steam Machine platform, but they are also capable of leveraging In-Home Streaming to play any game from a gaming PC on the same local network.
Steam Machines are available now from Alienware, Zotac, Cyperpower, Maingear and other PC manufactures and boutique shops. Steam Machines will be available for as little as $449.99, but there will be more expensive options. The devices will vary in price and performance, with some offering larger hard drives, better processors and higher-end graphics solutions.
Follow Kevin Carbotte @pumcypuhoy. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.
-
dstarr3 At least the Steam gear looks cleaner in this article than it did in the last one Tom's posted.Reply -
polyformist Hope they support the hardware better than STEAM systems.Reply
Eagerly awaiting the fall out if not! -
kcarbotte Reply16926236 said:At least the Steam gear looks cleaner in this article than it did in the last one Tom's posted.
Those images were updated. This is actually an updated image from that article. -
photonboy polyformist,Reply
What do you mean? These are Steam systems...
Anyway, I'm sure you're talking about things that are fixed in SOFTWARE such as controller support. SteamOS will continue to get updated and prioritize the worst of the issues.
The Steam Controller reviews are pretty luke warm though. I'd use an XBOX controller unless the game really demands the Steam Controller (i.e. it's mouse/keyboard designed). -
DrakeFS ReplyThe Steam Controller reviews are pretty luke warm though. I'd use an XBOX controller unless the game really demands the Steam Controller (i.e. it's mouse/keyboard designed).
XBOne controller vs Steam Controller.... sigh, I need a new wireless controller but I am not sure which would better suit me. I highly doubt I would play M\K games on my TV. Hell I would be happy if nVidia opened up the shield controller to work wirelessly. -
beshonk If you want the best device for this + media streaming, get the nvidia shield. It comes with a controller and $30 android play credit, streams any games that have controller support (and those that don't if you use xpadder to map the keyboard keys) and comes with a controller that is much more standard to use at the television.Reply -
penn919 I almost wish I had a reason to buy one. I want to support the cause, but I don't think it's reason enough. Maybe I should get one as a gift for somebody? Anybody here would like a gift?Reply -
penn919 I almost wish I had a reason to buy one. I want to support the cause, but I don't think it's reason enough. Maybe I should get one as a gift for somebody? Anybody here would like a gift?Reply -
Bloob ReplyThe Steam Controller reviews are pretty luke warm though. I'd use an XBOX controller unless the game really demands the Steam Controller (i.e. it's mouse/keyboard designed).
XBOne controller vs Steam Controller.... sigh, I need a new wireless controller but I am not sure which would better suit me. I highly doubt I would play M\K games on my TV. Hell I would be happy if nVidia opened up the shield controller to work wirelessly.
I haven't seen any announcement that Microsoft has released the wireless -dongle for the XOne-controller. -
DrakeFS ReplyI haven't seen any announcement that Microsoft has released the wireless -dongle for the XOne-controller.
XBOne Wireless Dongle