$500+ is not an experiment; it's an investment. 

And just what exactly is your opinion about the steam machines ? 

Dude if you are a Nintendo gamer then you should probably avoid the "next gen twins" for sure and since you aren't a fan of tinkering with settings and customizing your gaming setup then any type of PC gaming is out of the picture as well. As far as Steam machines go, I would wait on that until futher developement and such. Stick to Wii U for now. Many great games are coming to Wii U this year and next year anyways. In 2015, then start looking into the Steam machines as they will be passed the beta and alpha stages and have actual affordable systems and the software to go with them. 

He don't want to broaden his horizion, and I don't neither.  Doing something crazy isn't good advice either.  Let him go about his buisness and you go about yours.

The OS is not nearly ready for  anyone who's not willing to get their hands dirty.

And even if you like getting your hands dirty then it's still debatable.

Well this thread is a fucking cluster fuck now isn't it.

Tho it looks like you have mostly made your decision by now I might as well clarify some things.

So SteamMachines is an initiative from Valve to give Steam users PCs ready for the living room. Which may sound like what you want in theory, but it comes with a lot of caveats. As others have stated as they by default will run Valve's SteamOS which is a modified version of Linux. And the trouble with that is right now there is very little support for Linux in terms of games right now. There are however some signs that is changing a bit. Valve are putting quite a lot of resources into getting developers to support the platform, including providing tools for porting etc. Many of the major 3rd party game engines are adding support for Linux including Cryengine and Unreal Engine 4 as well as Valve's own Source Engine and the ubiquitous in indie circles Unity.

Now this doesn't mean that games will automatically come over but it will make it easier for especially smaller developers to bring there games over. As for the larger publishers they have mostly been cautious so far, and in terms of AAA games there haven't been any major announcements so far. However there have been some smaller announcements from major publishers for example Warner Interactive announced their new Gauntlet game will support SteamOS, Deep Silver put out Metro: Last Light on Linux. These are baby steps tho and it remains to be seen how much steam (pun intended) it picks up in the big publisher space.

SteamMachines and SteamOS are both long term bets for Valve and they will be evolving their strategy over time. Valve don't operate like the big three, they pride themselves on being adaptive and forward thinking. It remains to be seen how it pans out but it will be more like Steam's launch and gradual evolution than a traditional platform launch. And honestly I can't see it being a good consumer friendly major platform in the next couple years. And it's worth keeping in mind that SteamMachines are still PCs, you will likely have to do some tweaking to get it working how you want anyway. And you will still be running PC games, some of which may require a little tweaking to get running just right.

Now the option of just getting a suitable PC with a living room friendly case is one worth considering IMO. I know you are pretty set against it as it will require a little bit of effort (it's not that hard, but does require a bit of time) to get it set up. But if you were willing to put in the effort you would most likely be able to get it to work how you want it too. And if you are running on Windows you will have access to the full library of games. Setting it up to boot straight into Steam big picture (Which is the same gamepad compatible interface as SteamOS it's just part of the client which can run on Windows or Mac) is perfectly possible. This article explains how to set that up http://lifehacker.com/how-to-roll-your-own-steam-machine-with-windows-and-big-1510663145 as you can see it's not terribly complicated.

There are some drawbacks, mostly in terms of cost if you want a decent system in a good compact case prebuilt, tho the SteamMachine looks like it might actually help in that regard as it is pushing vendors to develop good compact systems and I am sure they will offer the option of just getting it with Windows which you can then configure to run Steam Big Picture natively. And of course you will probably have to do a little tweaking of settings on some games to get them to run optimally but you would have to do that on SteamOS as well, again it's not that hard especialy these days most games will work fine out of the box or with just a couple minutes or less.

I like the Steam Machines, I may end up buying one.

Library of games is limited yet, but less limited in my opinion than many new platforms.
And as said in the previous post, Source Engine, Unity, UE4 and CryEngine are all ported to Linux. Why would the games using these engine not be ported to Linux? It will come!

The main selling point of the Steam Machine over a console, for me, is the price of the games. Steam sales are crazy. Another point is that the hardware is already better than NG consoles, and it's upgradable (with the money you saved on games :) ). My advice would be to avoid any non upgradable Steam Machine.


The main selling point over a regular PC running Steam Big Picture Mode is the form factor and the controller. That kind of cases and controller would raise the price of a regular PC to what it is for an equivalent Steam Machine.

Being a linux enthusiast, windows is not an option for me and I know I'll be able to do so much more with a Steam Machine plugged to my TV than with a console or a windows PC.

So yet I'm actually quite excited about the iBuyPower SBX.

Build a PC

Run Nintendo games on it

Amen.

However, I would say that, at least for me, while I have a PC perfectly capable of running many multiplat ports, AND a Steam account, I still hardly buy/download anything for it. If something major that I just have to have comes along? I'll certainly consider it. But really, I've always preferred console gaming, and considering that I simply am not into a good deal of the "AAA" franchises, such as Halo, or CoD, or GTA, or Battlefield, or God of War, or Uncharted, etc. etc. etc., there isn't much draw for me to buy another next gen console other than Wii U. Wii U is going to provide me with two things that I know for a fact I like: Nintendo franchise games, and bad ass indie games (of which the list just continues to grow on a literally weekly basis). Between Nintendo games, and indie games on eShop? I'm already more than covered this gen. IF the Wii U (hopefully) starts getting more third party games again, or some more cool third party exclusives? That's just an awesome bonus.

But really, it would take several games and a massive price drop for me to ever get a PS4, and I would never bother with the Xbox brand because it's just never appealed to me. I own a PS2 and PS3, but for me to bother investing in a PS4 down the road, it would take:

1. The Last Guardian FINALLY actually coming out (though I'd rather it had just been a goddamn PS3 game like it was supposed to have been).

2. Elder Scrolls VI coming out, and actually being as good (if not hopefully better) than Skyrim.

3. Silicon Studio actually bothering to make another ingenious game along the lines of 3D Dot Game Heroes, and it being PS4 exclusive.

4. If Vanillaware makes another game that only comes out on PS consoles. (Still hoping their next big project will be a Wii U game, but hey, one can dream).

5. If they ever bother making an actual Crash Bandicoot or Jak & Daxter game that is actually worth a shit.

6. Tekken x Street Fighter, whenever the hell that comes out, IF it's good, and if it doesn't get a Wii U port (which it honestly should).

7. Some other amazing surprise exclusive/multiplat that Wii U doesn't get, that I can't really imagine right now.

Meaning, I'm certainly not going to buy a console for one or two games only. So in a few years time, IF they've built up a list similar to the one above, and the price has come down below $200, then yeah, I'd consider getting a PS4. But for now? I'm perfectly content with Wii U, and very much look forward to many upcoming games for it (announced and as-yet-officially-announced).