If last week was all about GTA V, this week was lorded over by Gabe Newell. Valve’s trio of announcements definitely stole our attention all week long, which makes it no surprise that we’re leading off the recap with them.

A trio of scenarios for Valve’s trio of announcements

My biggest conundrum with Valve’s SteamOS, Steam Machine, and Steam Controller announcements are that i’ve got no idea who the objective market is for these products. It’s clear we do not know much about any of this stuff, but after the fanfare of per week of announcements, it wasn’t unreasonable for us to expect a piece more clarity.

I’ve tried to examine how different people might encounter a Steam Machine. What’s that purchase process like? How do the economics of the goods work? Who really benefits from everything we’ve learned this week. Let’s discover…

Act I: The Casual Gamer Retail Experience
Imagine your average gamers. These are people that have a number of favorite franchises (that could or will not be Call of Duty, Madden, Assassin’s Creed, or the Arkham series). They do not buy many games per annum, but thoroughly benefit from the ones they buy. They self-identify as those that like games, but maybe not the style the typical daily Game Informer reader does. They’ve held out on buying an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 into 2014. It’s finally time to select one, so John and Jane head to the shop.

There, they engage in conversation with the clerk and inquire concerning the two options. The clerk brings up a 3rd choice: a Steam Machine. 

John and Jane have an interest, in order that they ask a straightforward question, “How much does it cost?” The solution surprises them. “It depends,” the clerk says. “There are different models.” After a couple of minutes of attempting to understand the 3 or four options just available at retail (not to mention those available online from manufacturers), John and Jane quit. They would like to stroll out with something today, and that they do not feel pleased with all the different options and value points.

“Forget it. Let’s just focus on an Xbox One or PS4,” they are saying.

Too much choice isn’t a superb thing. It causes people to feel overwhelmed. It’s called the anomaly of choice, and was fully examined by psychologist Barry Schwartz in his 2004 book The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. We know that there are going to be a variety of versions of Steam Machines available next year, from different retailers. It isn’t unreasonable to expect that these types of can be available alongside Microsoft and Sony products. Giving consumers too many options which can be similar isn’t going to entice new consumers, it’ll scare them away.

There’s hope, though. Valve could take an Apple solution to selling its hardware. Should you go into an Apple Store, there are preconfigured versions of all in their hardware. With a purpose to make changes though, you have to log on. This can be a good balance that enables less informed consumers to select a product from a slim slate of decisions which are easily narrowed down, but allows more savvy consumers to access the choices they need.

Act II: Same Dollar, More Choices
Bob decided to purchase a Steam Machine. Or, rather, he built one. Why spend the cash on having somebody else build it when he’s perfectly capable.

Bob’s a computer gamer, and while he’s got accounts with GoG and Origin, nearly all of his library is on Steam. He’s partial to the sales and SteamOS makes sense. His couch is more well-off, and he already has an Xbox 360 controller he uses together with his PC.

His homemade Steam Machine is ideal for enjoying a number of indie games natively, but better for streaming AAA titles over his home network from his PC. There are still some games which can be better in front of his monitor, but SteamOS and his large flatscreen are ideal for Dishonored, Tomb Raider, and Watch Dogs.

The better part is that Bob doesn’t should spend a dime greater than he already was. All of his games are either available without charge on SteamOS (via SteamPlay) or streaming from his PC. SteamOS and the Steam Machine are ideal for Bob, but not so great for Valve or publishers. Bob is reaping each of the benefits without adding anything to the coffers. Publishers were working to port their titles to SteamOS, spending money, and Bob and his friends are those who’re playing them.

Certainly Bob doesn’t represent everything of SteamOS’ early user base, but it’s hard to not see the announcements of this week mainly as a triumph for those who already game on PC. For those folks which might be drawn to joining the computer gaming community for the primary time, limited dollars aren’t prone to purchase both a computer and a Steam Machine. Given the relatively small size of the Linux library, it kind of feels silly to decide on SteamOS over PC (and dual booting currently offers no benefits that we all know of).

Act III: Show and Tell versus Touch and Feel
The tricky thing about controller innovation is that nobody really desires to make a metamorphosis. The PlayStation Vita’s back touch pad? Nobody liked it, but developers have found creative the way to use it. The PlayStation 4’s Dual Shock 4 controller has one, too. I’ve used it and it really works rather well (and it is usually a button that clicks in). The Xbox One controller improves at the Xbox 360 gamepad in small ways, but it is so familiar that nobody really questions it. Heck, even the Wii U Gamepad isn’t an odd design (though aren’t getting me started at the Pro Controller’s button placement to the lower left of the thumbstick). 

But irrespective of which of those new controllers you’re talking about, they have got things in common that cause them to familiar, like thumbsticks and button array. The Steam Controller might turn out to be working okay, and i am curious to aim it. However, introducing it as an image with out a hands-on time granted to major outlets was a large mistake.

We are as confused as our readership. We won’t let you know how the Steam Controller performs. We are not capable of let you know that it aptly mimics a mouse and keyboard as Valve promises. We just have the images to head on, and this input mechanism is so different, eschewing the elemental laws of geometry that make thumbsticks a staple of up to date controllers, that it’s totally difficult to believe that it’s going to work as promised.

The trackpads look more just like the terrible virtual thumbdiscs found on iPad shooters (that never work like developers think they ought to). The button placement across the center trackpad (I do like the trackpad) is so foreign that it’s hard to believe it will become easy to evolve to. The form doesn’t look as comfortable because the Dual Shock controllers we’ve been using for the past 15 years. Unfortunately, all we need to go on are visuals. It’ll behoove Valve to provide media access to those for you to share impressions and focus on how they work and never just what they appear to be. Thankfully, Tommy Refenes of Team Meat did get hands on and he did Valve more good than the corporate even offered themselves: he wrote about it. That’s right, there are hands-on impressions of the Steam Controller. 

Here is a rundown of all of our Valve coverage from this week:

Coverage from the October 2013 Call of Duty Cover Story

Quick Hits

Previews and Reviews

Announcements and Release Dates