Valve has recently put up listings on the Steam Store for Steam related hardware, the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and Steam Machines all have their prices on the Steam Store. However, except for SteamVR, it currently has its own Steam Universe page but is not listed in the store.
Steam Machines
There are currently 15 different Steam Machines listed; these are:
- Alienware Steam Machine
- Alternate Steam Machine
- Asus ROG GR8S
- Digital Storm Eclipse Steam Machine
- Falcon Northwest Tiki Steam Machine
- Gigabyte BRIX Pro
- iBuyPower SBX
- Maingear DRIFT
- Materiel.net Steam Machine
- NextBox
- ORIGIN OMEGA Steam Machine
- Scan 3XS ST Steam Machine
- Syber Steam Machine
- Webhallen S15-01
- ZOTAC Steam Machine SN970
The listed prices range from a reasonable $460 to a staggering and maybe a bit excessive $5,000 (yes, five thousand). Some are listed as customizable; want to add a second GPU? A few Steam Machines will allow you to do that. Origin’s offering has support for up 3-way SLI for the Nvidia Geforce GTX 980, which is a hefty card.
Steam Controller, Steam Link, SteamVR
TheSteam Controller and Steam Link are listed as being $49.99 each. However, SteamVR has yet to be priced.
The Steam Controller is trying to blend the precision of mouse aiming, with the 360-degree movement that controllers offer.
Steam Link is Valves own Chromecast-style streaming device, it will allow you to stream any Steam game to it via the In-Home Streaming system. You can connect via an Ethernet cable or use the built-in WiFi (supporting up to the 802.11ac standard) and supports up to 1080p and 60FPS.
One of the coolest features of this device is that it will automatically detect any computers on the same network that are logged into Steam. It has USB ports so the possibility for 4-player couch co-op is there (if the Steam Link can handle the use of a USB hub).
SteamVR is Valves entry into the VR space; it’s called the Vive. The biggest selling point is the spatial tracking system it uses, the system was created by the company Lighthouse, and can very accurately work out where in the room the user is at almost a 1:1 ratio. This means that movement in the real world is applied to the virtual one. Having such precision helps the Vive almost entirely remove the motion sickness effect experienced by competitors, such as the Oculus Rift or Sony Morpheus.
The SteamVR API is free for everyone, and there is even an alternative version of the API called OpenVR API which comes with Steam, so if you want to create a game but not use the Steam platform or any technologies the Steam platforms offers (such as Steam Guard or the Steam DRM system) then you can. Finally, there is also the option to have 2 single hand controllers, which will use the same trackpads as the Steam Controller, and the same positional tracking system as the headset itself.
Expect to see most of this hardware in November of 2015.
How does this hardware get to you?
My best guess is that as Steam stores your billing address, they will simply send it to you via the postal company of your country, so USPS for the US, Royal Mail for the UK, or La Poste for France.
What do you think of the hardware Steam are now offering? And do you think it will improve the PC platform?
