The Steam Machine is the start of an even more expensive future for game consoles
The Steam Machine is the start of an even more expensive future for game consoles
Steam Machine 的推出，预示着游戏主机未来将变得更加昂贵
It’s no secret that just about every aspect of video games is getting more expensive. Game consoles are getting regular price hikes, PC components are spiking in cost, and the golden age of affordable handhelds is over, all largely due to the global RAM shortage, which has had a similarly costly impact on PC gaming, including portable devices like the Steam Deck. This all led to some trepidation around the Steam Machine, Valve’s latest attempt to bring the breadth and openness of PC gaming into a form factor designed for your living room. The fact that the device was delayed in February due specifically to the memory crisis only exacerbated this feeling. Now, Valve has finally revealed the Steam Machine’s price tag. And while it may not be quite as expensive as some feared, it’s definitely not cheap, pointing to an increasingly costly future for the console space.
电子游戏行业的各个方面都在变得越来越昂贵，这已不是什么秘密。游戏主机价格频繁上涨，PC 组件成本飙升，平价掌机的黄金时代也已终结。这一切在很大程度上归咎于全球内存（RAM）短缺，这对包括 Steam Deck 在内的 PC 游戏及便携设备造成了沉重的成本压力。这些因素让人们对 Steam Machine 感到担忧——这是 Valve 将 PC 游戏的广度和开放性带入客厅形态的最新尝试。由于内存危机，该设备在二月份被迫推迟发布，这进一步加剧了人们的焦虑。如今，Valve 终于公布了 Steam Machine 的售价。虽然它可能没有某些人担心的那么昂贵，但也绝对称不上便宜，这预示着游戏主机领域正走向一个日益昂贵的未来。
First, here are the details. The most basic Steam Machine, with 512GB of memory, costs $1,049, and bundled with a Steam Controller that price jumps to $1,128. If you want the 2TB version it’ll cost you $1,349, or $1,428 with a controller. That’s not necessarily egregious by PC gaming standards, but the Steam Machine isn’t just competing with other gaming PCs. It’s a device specifically designed to create a console-like experience, and even in the increasingly expensive world of gaming consoles, the Steam Machine costs quite a bit more than its closest competition, up through the higher-end options. A 2TB Xbox Series X now costs $729.99, while a PS5 Pro is $899.99. The cheapest of the bunch, a Switch 2, will be $499.99 starting in September.
首先，让我们看看具体细节。最基础款的 Steam Machine 配备 512GB 内存，售价为 1,049 美元；如果捆绑 Steam 手柄，价格则升至 1,128 美元。如果你想要 2TB 版本，价格为 1,349 美元，含手柄则为 1,428 美元。以 PC 游戏标准来看，这未必算离谱，但 Steam Machine 不仅仅是在与其他游戏 PC 竞争。它是一款专门为创造“主机般体验”而设计的设备，即便在日益昂贵的游戏主机市场中，Steam Machine 的价格也远高于其最直接的竞争对手，甚至超过了高端机型。目前 2TB 版 Xbox Series X 售价为 729.99 美元，PS5 Pro 为 899.99 美元。其中最便宜的 Switch 2 将于 9 月起售，价格为 499.99 美元。
Of course, there are benefits to buying a Steam Machine over consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, not least of which is because it includes access to Steam’s absolutely gigantic library of games. That’s a big bonus. But some of the other advantages over a traditional console aren’t quite as obvious, particularly if you’re looking for a pick-up-and-play experience. In fact, performance-wise, the Steam Machine is pretty comparable to a PS5. As my colleague Sean Hollister explained in his Steam Machine review: “you aren’t getting a significant boost in performance over the 5.5-year-old Sony PS5 you can still buy today.” This, despite being nearly twice the price.
当然，购买 Steam Machine 相比索尼、微软和任天堂的主机确实有优势，其中最重要的一点就是可以访问 Steam 庞大无比的游戏库。这是一个巨大的加分项。但与其他传统主机相比，它的一些其他优势并不那么明显，尤其是如果你追求的是“即拿即玩”的体验。事实上，在性能方面，Steam Machine 与 PS5 相当。正如我的同事 Sean Hollister 在 Steam Machine 评测中所述：“与你今天仍能买到的、已经发布 5.5 年的索尼 PS5 相比，它的性能并没有显著提升。”尽管它的价格几乎是后者的两倍。
It’s hard to fault Valve for the price situation around the Steam Machine. Even Apple, a company worth a few trillion dollars, is planning to raise prices due to the “unsustainable” situation around RAM prices. In a blog post, Valve explained that one of the reasons for the current price is because it’s not using a typical console pricing model. “We think of Steam Machine as an extension of PC gaming, not as a console,” the company says. “The traditional console model is to sell hardware at a loss and make up the revenue with subscription services or by selling games that are locked-in to the hardware. We think this can make sense for a single business in the short term but that open ecosystems are better for customers over the long term.”
很难因为 Steam Machine 的定价而责怪 Valve。即便是市值数万亿美元的苹果公司，也因内存价格“不可持续”的现状而计划涨价。Valve 在一篇博客文章中解释说，当前定价的原因之一是它没有采用典型的主机定价模式。“我们将 Steam Machine 视为 PC 游戏的延伸，而非一台主机，”该公司表示。“传统主机模式是亏本销售硬件，然后通过订阅服务或销售锁定在硬件上的游戏来弥补收入。我们认为这在短期内对单一企业可能行得通，但从长远来看，开放的生态系统对消费者更有利。”
But even if Valve says it doesn’t view the Steam Machine as a console, the price tag is another sign that the future of video game consoles is looking increasingly niche. Already, the price increases for the current generation of hardware have had a huge impact. In May, Sony announced that PS5 sales were down 46 percent year over year, following the price of a base PS5 jumping to $649.99, making it $150 more than it was at launch in 2020. Now imagine how things could look if a PS6 launched at $1,000 or more. That seems to be where we’re headed, given that parts continue to get more expensive and platform holders seem less willing or able to subsidize those prices.
即便 Valve 声称不将 Steam Machine 视为游戏主机，但其价格标签再次表明，游戏主机的未来正变得越来越小众。当前一代硬件的价格上涨已经产生了巨大影响。今年 5 月，索尼宣布 PS5 销量同比下降 46%，此前基础版 PS5 的价格跳涨至 649.99 美元，比 2020 年发布时贵了 150 美元。试想一下，如果 PS6 以 1,000 美元或更高的价格发布，情况会怎样。考虑到零部件成本持续上涨，且平台持有者似乎越来越不愿意或无力补贴价格，这似乎正是我们前进的方向。
The big question is what happens next — and the answer is increasingly unclear. Amid the chaos that is currently consuming Xbox, the company has been slowly teasing details of its next Xbox, codenamed “Project Helix.” But despite initially being pitched as a “premium” device that sits somewhere between a console and PC, it now seems like plans have changed due largely to pricing concerns. “I think we’ve reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation, and so I think we will start to see radically different business models that we never expected start to come into orbit later this year,” Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently said. Sony, meanwhile, hasn’t said much about the PS6 since hinting at some new GPU tech last year, which, presumably, will be pretty costly to implement now.
接下来的问题是未来会怎样——而答案正变得越来越模糊。在目前困扰 Xbox 的混乱局面中，该公司一直在缓慢透露其代号为“Project Helix”的下一代 Xbox 的细节。尽管最初将其定位为介于主机和 PC 之间的“高端”设备，但由于价格方面的担忧，计划似乎已经发生了改变。Xbox 首席执行官 Asha Sharma 最近表示：“我认为我们已经到了一个阶段，很难想象大众消费者能负担得起数千美元的单代主机支出，因此我认为今年晚些时候，我们将开始看到一些我们从未预料到的、截然不同的商业模式出现。”与此同时，索尼自去年暗示了一些新的 GPU 技术后，对 PS6 的消息守口如瓶，而这些技术在当前环境下实施起来想必成本不菲。
If you asked me a year ago what the next generation of game consoles was going to look like, I probably would’ve said something like the Steam Machine: devices that straddle the line between a PC and a home console. But now I’m not so sure — and it’s entirely down to the price. The Steam Deck is a largely beloved device, but also one that remains comparably niche, even if it was priced relatively affordably at launch (now, not so much). I imagine the Steam Machine will find a similar trajectory. But historically the biggest game consoles have not been niche in the same way; the Switch, for instance, has sold more than 150 million units.
如果一年前你问我下一代游戏主机是什么样子，我可能会说就像 Steam Machine 那样：介于 PC 和家用主机之间的设备。但现在我不确定了——这完全是因为价格。Steam Deck 是一款深受喜爱的设备，但它依然相对小众，尽管它在发布时定价相对亲民（现在则不然）。我想 Steam Machine 也会走上类似的轨迹。但从历史上看，最成功的主机从来不是这样小众的；例如，Switch 的销量已经超过了 1.5 亿台。