Zarf Updates

I have no hot take, but I did post this last year:

Another Valve hardware announcement: the Steam Machine is back. I am immediately and predictably on board for it.

-- me, November 2025

So I owe you a followup post, which is, TLDR: "too rich for my blood."

I would guess that, back in the Devonian epoch of 2025, Valve was aiming this product at $600-$800, which would be an insta-buy for me. But obviously that's not the 2026 we're living in. In this 2026, I am quite sure that Valve has priced the new Steam Machine at break-even. They'll sell a tiny number and be thankful the damage wasn't any worse.

I like that they've made SteamOS available. That will be good for the hardcore hardware crowd, but I'm just not in that ecosystem. If I tried to homebrew a Steam Machine from parts, I'd undoubtedly spend $2500 and be lucky if it ever booted up.

Maybe things will ease up in 2027, in which case Valve (and Apple and a lot of other companies) will undo their price hikes. That would be nice. No bets right now.

Could I afford $1400 for a new toy? Enh. I have that much in my bank account. I have what passes for a stable job in this economy. But that's the hitch: in this economy. Nothing is safe, nothing is reliable, and I am looking at the extremely real possibility that I am already unemployable if I have to go back on the market.

Given that, big impulse purchases don't feel super-good.

(Don't worry, small impulse purchases are still on the menu.)

So what now? The short answer is that I have (a) a nice couch; (b) a big TV; (c) a Steam Deck that I never use. I even have a dock for the Deck. So I should hook them all together and try out some games.

The Steam Deck (first-gen) is not what you'd call a high-power machine. That's why I was hoping to replace it with a cube! But, hey, I play a lot of low-power games. I just finished The Red Pearls of Borneo (review coming soon!) and might work on EMUUROM some more. If the setup doesn't serve me on the next fancy-ass immersive adventure game, it'll still do plenty of puzzle games.

I tried this plan last year; it didn't work because last year's TV was antique and inadequate. I have since gotten a better TV -- not an impulse purchase; I spent two months thinking about it! -- so the plan needs another shot.

But first I need (d) a Steam Controller. That's the affordable part of Valve's current bundle and it definitely looks worthwhile.