[kryllic]

This does give us an unfortunate glimpse into the Steam Machine's potential price point. I can't imagine those would be any cheaper than this hardware, which is a real shame. I do not envy the position Valve is in, personal PC hardware pricing is becoming exponentially expensive for the average person. The Steam Machine, I would imagine, was Valve trying to create a sort of entry-mid level PC to get users hooked into the Steam ecosystem, but I don't see that being the case anymore.

[frenchie4111]

Agreed - They are definitely doing this price change ahead of the Steam Machine on purpose, to anchor that price better.

That said there is hope for the Steam Machine to at least be similarly priced. I'd expect the COGS to come in cheaper than the deck because it doesn't have a screen, battery, joysticks etc and it's likely easier to assemble in general