Steam Rising

This year's CES has been all about PC gaming. Where normally games and gaming tech would take a backseat to televisions and other technologically relevant announcements, this year gaming's most underrated platform has been able to steal a bit of the limelight. We've seen Valve show the extent of their hand, a future pointed towards last year with the triple announcement of Steam Machines, SteamOS and the Steam Controller. 

But last week's revelations were more than just a Valve sideshow. We were also been shown Razer's vision for the future, Project Christine. A modular PC system that promises a future where we'll be able to quickly and easily upgrade our rigs thanks to compartmentalised systems. Memory's a bit low? That'll be easy to fix. Too many games? Add a new hard drive. Not enough textures? Slot in a new GPU. It sounds too good to be true.

The system itself looks great (see below), and it's easy to imagine that rig sitting next to my desk in the years to come - that's if it ever makes it over to these shores. For someone like me, who sits somewhere between techhead and techdunce, an upgradeable system would be very tempting; knowing that you could easily tart up your gaming rig in stages once the initial outlay has been made would ensure a constantly state-of-the-art experience. But only if your budget stretches that far, an area of concern that widens when you consider that Razer will be in complete control of the pricing of any upgrades to hit the market.

In theory it's a fantastic idea. I'm not sure it'll pick up though, not to the extent that the elegantly designed system probably deserves. Razer's tech tends to lean on the high-end side of the market, both in terms of components and cost, and as such I think Christine and her many modules will remain out of reach to many gamers. However, that's not been the biggest headline to come out of the event.

A lot has been made of the reveal of the Steam Machines at this year's show. With 13 different variations on display at the Las Vegas tech event, it's easy to get swept up in all the resultant excitement, just as it is easy to dismiss it away as hype. 

Some people are heralding it as the future of PC gaming, others are dismissing it entirely. I'm sitting somewhere in the middle. I see potential in Valve's vision for the platform, although I think it might take a few years to really grow into something to rival the console market. 

There are some who question the wisdom of releasing the living-room rigs without a standard - Steam Machines range from $500 to $6000 and the quality of internal components is equally variable - but where some see weakness I see consumer choice. There's going to be Machines for all price brackets (except for very, very cheap options), the only difference being the PC manufactures can't sell their wares at a loss as they won't be getting a cut of future software sales, like the big three are able to do. This restriction on pricing means that manufacturers are going to have to play it careful, and not put their prices too low, while keeping an eye on their competition (which includes other Steam Machines AND next-gen consoles). This should keep costs as low as possible, but will they be competitive with Xbox One and PlayStation 4? Probably not for a couple of years. It may be that Steam Machines only really blossom once prices are more comparable to those of the consoles they're now competing with.

I think the main thing that Steam Machines are going to have working in their favour is time; I don't see this being a flash in the pan, I envisage a landscape where variously priced Steam Machines will be available to buy for years to come. It's not like the consoles, where the user-base will be locked into their purchase for the duration; the PC ecosystem is ever evolving. As before the platform will continue to improve, changing with the times. It already has a few advantages. There's already a decent catalogue of titles available for SteamOS, and that number is going to rise steadily, and we should be able to stream those games not already optimised for the Linux-based operating system. Simply put, it's a launch line-up that puts the consoles to shame.

There are some that wonder if there's going to be a market for Steam Machines, questioning whether PC gamers already wedded to their home rigs will be interested in buying a complete package, but I think the variable specs mentioned earlier will give enough options for gamers to have plenty of choice if and when they upgrade their rig. It's also worth noting that some PC gamers like to choose the components that go into their computers, but have zero interest in actually building them themselves, and for these kind of potential customers, Steam Machines offer a ready made solution that offers different technical specifications - choice - alongside elegant design and a warranty.

There are concerns though, and most of mine stem from the confusing array of specifications and options. Maybe Valve are already planning on banding these consoles together (low, mid and high-speed options), so that potential customers can see what they're buying. At the moment there's too much uncertainty. Gamers will want to know what their machine is capable of, without having to buy the thing and benchmark it themselves. For it to be a success I think we're going to need some sort of tier system, that explains roughly what games will look like on different systems. If I drop a few hundred quid on a system that can only run Far Cry 3 or Total War: Rome II on mid-range settings, and I was expecting a better performance, I'm going to feel burned by Valve's vision. What's missing is transparency.

Perhaps the thing that I'm most excited about isn't the computers themselves, but instead the input device being launched with the Steam Machines; Valve's new controller. I've yet to get my grubby mitts on the thing, but I can't wait to see how it feels in the hand, and how it works with the different games in my collection (including genres such as strategy titles and MMOs) that usually require a greater range of complicated inputs beyond that which the console pads are capable of providing. 

If there's one thing that pro-Steam Machiners and naysayers can agree on, the controller is a potential gamechanger. Even if I don't buy a new PC for my living room, I'll most certainly be buying a controller (possibly even two), because if Valve has created a new device capable of making all my PC games accessible on a screen bigger than my monitor, they may well have struck gold.

I will also be downloading SteamOS to the family laptop so I can stream gameplay to the living room TV. In the future, when it's time to upgrade, maybe I'll even splash out on a Steam Machine if I use the set up with enough regularity for it to be worthwhile. But it's the possibility of an input device that makes my strategy games and my point 'n' click adventures accessible on the big screen that's really grabbed my interest, and the main reason that I can't wait to see where Valve are headed.

There's a lot of change coming to the PC landscape in the coming months and years. I don't think it's going to be seismic, but more of the same gradual evolution that the platform's enjoyed over time, accelerated by an injection of hardware designed to bring our game collections to the living room. We're going to need to see more of the individual Steam Machines before we're able to draw any solid conclusions, and while there's so many question marks it's going to be impossible to make informed buying decisions.

From a personal perspective, the future would most exciting if there were a marriage between the two concepts detailed above: a modular PC system that was easy to upgrade (like Project Christine), but that was focussed on Steam and built for the living room. Nobody's talking about anything like that at the moment, but maybe something of that nature is looming on the horizon. We'll have to see what the future holds.

All we can do is wait. Wait until the manufacturers tell us more about their hardware. Wait until Valve reveals the full extent of SteamOS's functionality and it can be stress-tested. Wait until the Steam Machines are out in the wild, plugged into televisions and playing people's games. It's a risky time to be a PC gamer, but also an exciting one, and I for one can't wait to see what the next year is going to throw at us.