14 DAY TRIAL // Valve announced last year that it was working to release a new type of hybrid console and the project's name was Steam Machines. There has been exactly zero information on the subject, so we're left with a single question. Did Steam Machines just become vaporware?
Some of the Linux gamers might have heard about Steam Machines, a Valve initiative that would incorporate dedicated hardware and software (SteamOS) in a single device that would act as a console. The main differences would be the low cost of the machines, basically the same as a PC, interchangeable parts, a free OS based on Linux, and much more computing power than that of the present generation of consoles.
In the first months of 2014, a few hundred lucky people even got Steam Machines samples to help the company build upon the infrastructure. This control group would help them improve the experience. At the same time, Valve has also worked on SteamOS, a new Linux operating system based on Debian that powers the Steam Machines.
To make things even more interesting, a number of companies, including Alienware, presented some early models that definitely got the interest of the community.
And nothing has been heard about them ever since
All of these events happened almost a year ago, and there has been complete silence since then. The only project that remained visible and that continued to gather updates and users was SteamOS. You can download and install it right now, so at least this is not vaporware. On the Steam Machines front there is not a single peep. We don't really know what happened with those 300 consoles, and a year has passed, making them quite old.
So, where are all the Steam Machines? What happened with all the promises? What happened with that cool and interesting gamepad that was supposed to revolutionize the way we play RTS and FPS games on the console? Where is Half-Life 3?
The last part has nothing to do with the rest, but it's just as vaporware as all the other ones. Valve has had this type of behavior for a very long time and they don't have any intention of changing it. They announce stuff that takes a forever to complete or they don't do it at all (Half-Life Episode 3 is a good example of that).
It's even stranger because none of the thirteen companies having expressed the intention to build Steam Machines has ever uttered a word since then and they would have the most to gain by building the anticipation towards this new console that would change the life of gamers completely.
A while back I talked about how SteamOS might just be a scarecrow for Microsoft and its store, but the project is too advanced and too many people are involved for it to be a simple marketing ploy. In any case, it remains to be seen what will happen with the Steam Machines and whether we'll ever see a Linux-powered console take on giants like Xbox One or PlayStation 4.
Editor’s note: The term vaporware refers to some piece of technology or hardware that has been announced and teased, but its makers have yet to provide any hard evidence that it even exists.
