bruh/a1ba@a1ba@suya.place
one might think that they are not "The Hardware" company to refresh their line up every year or two but I should remind you it's not their first time making it: they already produced steam deck oled, the original lcd version, valve index and even OG steam controller a decade ago. htc vive I think should be included in this list as well, even though it was a joint effort with htc
bruh/a1ba@a1ba@suya.place
valve time or rather their perfectionism is actively working against their hardware

they took a lot of time working on steam machine and steam frame and now steam machine not only feels a bit dated, also thanks to memory crisis the price is just straight up unacceptable.

steam frame was in development for years and now except for the few VR enthusiasts out there it doesn't look very promising

valve also actively refused to make an upgraded version of steam deck but now because of the crisis who knows when it will come out and whether it could hit the same price target as the original steam deck at all

people seem to blame valve for the high prices of their hardware despite the culprit of the whole situation is obvious. but I personally think the main problem here is that the time of actually affordable electronic components was just wasted for god knows what.
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also lnkr@lnkr

Replying to @⁨a1ba@suya.place⁩

@a1ba I'm not sure. It seems to me that if it weren't for the ram crisis (and now the issues with the other components as well), Valve hardware might have performed well, or at least met Valve's own expectations.
I don't really see any serious plans to take over the world right here and now in their hardware, latest wave included. These are still experiments and intermediate steps that they're occasionally trying to reality-check and refine into a finished product. This *is* the hardware for enthusiasts, with a glimpse of hope of reaching beyond that audience (steam deck).
Of course, that doesn't make up for the current blunder. I can only hope that it won't cause them to abandon this course of action.

also lnkr@lnkr
edited

Replying to @⁨a1ba@suya.place⁩

@a1ba Okay, "for enthusiasts" is probably a stretch. I’m willing to give it up, but not to the point of "for the modern consumer", more like something in between. The Quest 3 is a product for the modern consumer. The difference between it and the Frame is enormous, specifically in R&D. Valve won’t be able to make much money off the Frame post-purchase, they don’t have anything noteworthy in terms of (upcoming/actively supported) VR games. This is either a massive fuckup and oversight from the very idea of it, even setting the crisis aside, or an intermediate step aimed at engaging with a community that is willing to put up with some inconveniences in exchange for the freedom to customize and explore unplanned uses.

also lnkr@lnkr

Replying to @⁨a1ba@suya.place⁩

@a1ba I think I understand, but I find it kinda hard to even call this waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting kinda implies competition, but they basically gave up on the past generations of VR and handed it over to facebook years ago, while presumably trailblazing in some other, distinctly different direction.
Whether it's actually different enough to create a new kind of interest instead of trying to revive the beaten horse I do not know. Maybe I'm just reading too much into things, and they indeed just fucked up. I'm biased there since the Frame is a product for me and I consider myself an enthusiast enough.

bruh/a1ba@a1ba@suya.place
edited

Replying to @⁨lnkr⁩

@lnkr same honestly. I do specifically wait for the Frame because I would like to have standalone VR on a system that's not locked down like Quest or Pico version of Android.

and getting back into the VR in general, my Vive/Index setup is collecting dust for years now.

I don't know if it's fair to call it "waiting" too, but I mean deckard has been rumored since 2021. What went into these five years? I might sound very stupid but... for the same timespan both Meta and that TikTok company was able to ship multiple headsets. Competition aside, other companies are still able to iterate much faster, so why Valve couldn't? The answer to this question is the answer is to why Steam Machine and Steam Frame and eventual Deck 2 are or going to be unaffordable.
Maestra Fénix@maestrafenix@chaos.social

Replying to @⁨a1ba@suya.place⁩

@a1ba the Deck has already been upgraded a couple of times, especially with the OLED version. A Deck 2 isn't coming anytime soon because there's no revolutionary tech to justify a big step yet

The Machine was nice with the actual specs and price that was supposed to have. A more powerful thingy than the Deck, for anyone who wanted an easy to use PC. But the AI apocalypse ruined it all

As for the Frame... this is the 2nd time they tried to revive VR, only to be thwarted by external factors...

bruh/a1ba@a1ba@suya.place
edited

Replying to @⁨maestrafenix@chaos.social⁩

@maestrafenix ergonomics is not something impossible to work on regardless of the tech.

As for hardware performance competitors aren't really that worse in terms of the battery life, as the original Deck isn't that good either. The personal best was letting it run for 6 hours, but that was me reading visual novel on the engine that doesn't render at screen refresh rate. For action 3D games of past decade it's always been around 3 hours, right now it's more 2, but sure, mine is just slowly aging.

In terms of pricing, alternatives don't have the whole Steam behind them, but this point doesn't make sense in 2026 because everything costs a lot and who knows when it's gonna normalize, if not become a new norm.

As I said in another reply my point is that they let themselves to wait too much, and here we are, with very limited options.