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Playdate: Trying out Steam Machines and Valve's new controller
For years, Valve's been teasing us with the promise of a new kind of gaming device: a PC that lives in your entertainment center, outperforms traditional consoles and has more games available for it than you can count. Now it's finally here: I have a Steam Machine in my house, and I'm going to share it with you. Join me and Tim Seppala as we put the Alienware Steam Machine, its Linux-based SteamOS and the Valve Steam Controller through their paces. The fun starts right here in this post, on Twitch.tv/joystiq and on the Engadget gaming homepage at 6PM ET (3PM PT).
Alienware Steam Machine review: A gaming PC for your living room
I laughed when the rumors started back in 2012: "Valve is building a PC-based game console for living rooms." Sure it is, I thought. Imagine my shock when "Steam Machines" turned out to be real. The project promised a bizarre, revolutionary controller, a Linux-based operating system designed specifically to play PC games and in-home game streaming for titles that required Windows to run properly. The proposal was unbelievable, but it's finally here; it's real. As of today, I have an Alienware Steam Machine nestled in my entertainment center that delivers on almost everything those original rumors promised. Let's talk about that.
Engadget Daily: Alienware Alpha, what to expect from Sony at CES, and more
Interested in Alienware's Alpha Steam Machine? We reviewed it. Wondering what Sony has up its sleeve for CES 2015? We have that too. In fact, we rounded up a whole bunch of today's news highlights in the gallery below, including the latest on Nintendo's Amiibo figurines, Seagate's uber-cheap hard drive and a wearable that shoots fireballs. Enjoy.
Alienware Alpha review: almost the Steam Machine you're looking for
It's hard to describe the Alienware Alpha. On the surface, it's a small-form gaming PC, custom-built from laptop components to fit in your entertainment center. But it was supposed to be a frontrunner in a new category of gaming devices. It isn't. Valve's Steam Machine initiative was delayed past its original launch window, leaving manufacturers like Dell to fend for themselves in a market that doesn't exist yet. It's a weird, awkward place to be in, but here we are, testing the Alienware Alpha: a Steam Machine before its time. The question is: Can one of the biggest names in PC gaming succeed where others have failed?
Alienware's Alpha game console is ready to invade your living room
Eager to get a truly TV-oriented gaming PC without waiting until the official Steam Machine launch in 2015? Alienware is more than happy to oblige: at long last, it's shipping the Alpha console. You can now shell out $549 or more to get a living room-friendly Windows PC with a custom interface designed to work with an included Xbox 360 gamepad. Don't expect an ideal Far Cry 4 machine out of the box, however. Every system can play some modern titles thanks to GeForce GTX 860M graphics, but that base system comes with a modest Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive; you'll have to pay $699 if you want more memory and storage, and at least $799 if you want a faster CPU. This doesn't include a mouse and keyboard, either. Nonetheless, the Alpha could be a solid pick if a PS4 or Xbox One just won't cut it.
Alienware's 'Alpha' is a half-step toward Steam Machines
When PC gaming juggernaut Valve announced its Steam Machines initiative in Fall 2013, it was unveiled as such: "Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS."
Alienware's Steam Machine starts at $549 and launches this holiday season
Alienware is no slouch when it comes to cranking out high-end gaming PCs, but its approach to Valve's Steam Machine project is a bit different. The company is looking to deliver a high-quality PC gaming experience to the living room, but the execution doesn't sound much different from the experience that's already available for other machines running Valve's made-for-TV Big Picture Mode (BPM). The rub of the Alienware Alpha series is that the diminutive PC boots directly into BPM automatically after hitting the rig's power button. The problem with that is two-fold: Big Picture Mode doesn't do the best job of identifying which games are fully controller supported, and because Valve recently delayed its in-house designed controller (which essentially is a stand-in for a mouse), OEMs not delaying hardware of their own need to come up with work arounds.
