This is not meant to be a Master Race circle-jerk.

I own both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and loved them both for a long time. But, the lackluster launch lineup and the various problems with both consoles (PS4's lack of media streaming, MS jerking us around on DRM, required Kinect, etc.) have prevented me from buying either one (just yet). If the "Steam Machine" turns out to be pretty decent (early signs are good, and Valve has an excellent track record), I think I might just buy one and kiss this gen of consoles goodbye for the near future.

Fair warning; I will probably end up buying an Xbone at some point in the future, if for no other reason than for Halo 5 (assuming it turns out better than Halo 4 did), but that's a long way off yet. Also, Sony has hinted at some form of EverQuest Next being released on the PS4, so that may tempt me, too, at a much later date, assuming that it can't be played on the Steam Machine.

What say ye, men and women of r/steambox? Can the Steam Machine replace the PS4 and the Xbox One in our hearts and minds?

I received a shiny new Alienware Steam Machine for Christmas last year. I had never even heard of these things before, and was fascinated. So I hooked it up, and was quickly dismayed to realize that I could only use it to play a small fraction of my total Steam library. Eventually I discovered that it was basically a PC internally, and that I could install Windows 10 on it. So I did that, which wasn't a super smooth or easy process. It was difficult to hunt down all the drivers and get them working. But once I finally did, wow! This thing runs Windows 10 like a champ, and lets me run most games on their highest settings. I hook it up to my tv with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard and an xbox controller, and I have this amazing PC/console hybrid with a lot of power and incredible portability. I did run into an issue once where it wouldn't power on (the 5 blinking lights problem), but disassembling the thing and disconnecting the CMOS corrected it. So my point is, it isn't the most user friendly machine, but if you're willing to put some work into it you will end up with something very nice at a great price. I use mine every day for games, coding, audio production, media, etc. and am super happy with it.

We are so back baby!

I figure there aren't many of these, but there are a lot of negative posts. Here's a bit of contrast:

My Background:

1. I've been using Linux since '99.

2. I've never actually used Steam on Windows, so I don't really have any comparison in that regard.

3. I own a Wii U, xbox one, and a playstation 3. Some I purchased, some I acquired when I got married.

4. I'm really more of a casual gamer. I don't play the newest games (except in some cases, like Fallout 4 or Zelda). I'll play for a few hours a week, sometimes more if I find a game I can't put down.

5. I will happily play on low settings for most games. I don't get too worked up about the framerate and whatnot. As long as I can play it without visual stuttering, I'm fine.

6. My favorite type of game is an open world RPG. Things like Oblivion, Skyrim, Dragon Age, Baulder's Gate, etc.

7. Some of my current favorite games from other platforms are:

• AC Black Flag (this was my first AC game, and it blew me away. It's like 8 games in one, and they are all fun).

• The Witcher 3

• Dragon Age 3

• Zelda

• Fallout 4

The Box Itself

I got the Alienware i7 machine. When I first fired it up and started setting up my account, I eventually rebooted it, and got presented with a screen that had nothing but the steam logo and a progressbar. There was no description of what was happening, and it was taking forever, so I hard rebooted it.

Turns out it was updating itself, and I had soft-bricked it. It wouldn't boot up at all. Cool thing is, it's super easy to restore it to factory settings, as there is a recovery partition.

However, before I found this recovery partition, I found it very difficult to figure out who to contact for support. Do I contact Dell? Valve? I never did find an acceptable place. I imagine if I hadn't figured it out on my own, I would have been super unhappy. I'm a little worried about what will happen when it really does break.

Other than that, everything has worked as expected. I really only have three complaints, in order of importance for me:

• No guest accounts for protecting your savegames from your kids, or other visitors. If you wanna do that, you better create a steam account for them.

• It's hard to browse for games, both in the local library and in the store.

• You can purchase games in the store that don't run on SteamOS, from the steam machine. Seems counter-intuitive if you ask me. I purchased Jamestown, and then later found out it wouldn't work on this box. It was only a couple bucks, though, so NBD. I didn't ask for a refund.

Everything else seems to work just fine. All the games I've tried to play have worked and between my xbox 360 controller and the steam controller, I haven't found a game I couldn't operate without one or the other. I'm sure there in there, but I haven't come across any quite yet.

The Games

I went through the steam machine sale and bought all the games that looked interesting. Here is a bit of a review for the ones I've played so far:

1. Shadow of Mordor: I friggin love this game. Couldn't sleep this morning, so I got up at 5 and played that until it was time to go to work at 8. This is the kind of hooked I am. I was a little worried that I was going to miss some Assassin's Creed on the Steam Machine, but Shadow of Mordor is basically Assassin's Creed with a better fighting system and a middle earth setting.

2. Fez: I dig voxel games. I really like this one, the puzzles are very fun and the idea is pretty unique.

3. Sword and Sorcery EP: This is a strange game, but also very unique and fun.

4. Don't starve: This game is hard. I haven't gotten very far yet, and it's been frustrating to die and lose everything a few times. I'll probably give it another try once I beat Shadow of Mordor.

5. Transistor: I've played Bastion before, and this is very similar, except, IMHO, it's way more fun. The battle system is awesome. I'm a bit worried I'm close to beating this one already.

6. The Binding of Isaac: What the actual fuck is this game? I played a bit and beat 2 or 3 rooms, but then gave up. It's just so weird. I know people LOVE this one so I'll probably give it a try again sometime, but right now it's just odd.

There were a few others in the sale, and I just haven't gotten around to trying them out yet (like Witcher 2, CIV 5, Metro, Alien Isolation, Super Meat Boy, Psychonaughts, Torchlight 2, Teslagrad, the Amnesia sequels (I played the first one when it came out on Humble Bundle and liked it a lot), Pillars of Eternity, XCOM.

Overall, I'm fairly impressed with the Steam Controller, and the whole experience. I've had a Steam account for years, but haven't really used it much because I'm more of a couch gamer.

I hope the idea works out and keeps going. I know it's caused me to give Valve way more money than I ever have in the past.

TL;DR: Games are fun to play on the steam machine.