Steam now boasts an extensive selection of Steam Machines that range in price from a current-gen game console to more than the value of my car. They're not actually up for sale just yet—that's not happening until November—but you can browse to your heart's content and sign up to receive news and announcements about any or all of them.
There are 15 individual manufacturers currently listed, most of them offering a variety of hardware configurations. Some, like the Webhallen, offer detailed specifications, while others are relatively vague: The Asus machines, for instance, come with Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs and GeForce 9-series GPUs, but detailed configs presumably won't be revealed until they can actually be ordered. In the meantime, feel free to go window shopping.
- Alienware Steam Machine
- Alternate Steam Machine
- Asus ROG GR8S
- Digital Storm Eclipse Steam Machine
- Falcon Northwest Tiki Steam Machine
- Gigabyte BRIX Pro
- iBuyPower SBX
- Maingear Drift
- Material.net Steam Machine
- NextBox
- Origin Omega Steam Machine
- Scan 3XS ST Steam Machine
- Syber Steam Machine
- Webhallen S15-01
- Zotac Steam Machine SN970
The Steam Machines were revealed as part of a larger Valve announcement that "PC gaming is expanding" on a hub site that also includes information about the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and SteamVR. "This November, we're bringing everything that makes the PC great—the best games, the biggest communities, and the most exciting technologies—to new destinations," it states.
I was initially doubtful about the viability of Steam Machines—they're just premade PCs, after all—and I think it's still way too early to call any of these units, individually, a clear winner. But the way Valve appears to have integrated them into a more holistic, and apparently very determined, push into the living room has me thinking that it might actually pay off.
