[vinkelhake]

Console manufacturers have been able to sell hardware at a loss knowing that any game running on the machine is going to come through them. The Steam Machines, on the other hand, are just PC's and it doesn't sound like they'll be locked down to only allow SteamOS and its games to run on it.

Look at the specs we're discussing. Even the low-end version is decidedly non-casual.

[benologist]

I think most of the content is going to go through Steam - alternatives (especially anything the manufacturers will shit out) aren't going to measure up where it matters with content. This would be similar to Android where the biggest store, Play, has more than an order of magnitude more of everything than the second biggest, Amazon.

Those specs are high end but that also means the device will be compatible with games for the rest of the decade.