Smach Zero: a portable Steam Machine

[Kong Wen]

This got lost in the chat, so I thought I'd make a thread to help keep track of updates and discussion.

The SteamBoy is a portable Steam Machine in the works for potential release in 2015. The concept for the body/form factor looks amazing, with Steampads & buttons on the front as well as large triggers on the back, and a nice big Vita-like screen. There's a guess at the specs in the article.

This would be an awesome point of entry into the Steam library for most of the non-PC people out there, and I can see PC gamers getting a lot of benefit from finally having a legit way to play their sizable collections on the go.

Is anyone else excited to see how this project develops?

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Portable CivV!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6qi393Z7L8

[A Beta Fu7ure]

I don't know what 'Steam Pads' are but looking at them gives me horrible nightmares about this thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tOAAqpBPak

[Kong Wen]

I don't know what 'Steam Pads' are but looking at them gives me horrible nightmares about this thing:

The pads are basically textured, pressable trackpads that can accommodate mouse/pointer movement and directional button presses.



I'm not sure whether the company making the SteamBoy will be able to use the same tech in their handheld, but I imagine they'll make themselves well-acquainted with the latest revisions to Valve's controller/hardware while they're in development.

[pdSlooper]

I have no idea how I'm supposed to play Terraria with that thing.

[A Beta Fu7ure]

I have no idea how I'm supposed to play Terraria with that thing.

Yeah, I'm not sold on how good these things will be for any game that relies on a d-pad or joystick control. I get that these are made to replicate mouse movement and I'm sure that those responsible wouldn't design an awful product like that SNES pad...but some games do need the weight of movement behind your thumb...there's also the issue of how they reset.

Overall I'm just not sold on a "portable" Steam...especially considering I use Steam on my laptop so essentially already have such a thing already.

As a side note, I wonder what Nintendo thinks about the use of "Boy" in the name...

[Spore]

Last time I checked this product was nothing more than a render on a page with no company information. I hope the idea gains some physicality soon. I have no idea what kind of components they would put into this though. It can't use a modern ARM processor if they want it to natively run any Steam games...

[Kong Wen]

Yeah, I'm not sold on how good these things will be for any game that relies on a d-pad or joystick control.

The trackpads are both also d-pads. Most reports I've read from people who have played with the official Steam controller say it works pretty well as a d-pad. The official controller also has an analogue stick, but this portable mock-up was made before that change took place, so I wonder if they'll try to work one into their own design as well. The Vita proves that analogue sticks can work well on portable systems, so I don't see why these guys wouldn't be able to keep up with Valve's design changes.

[pdSlooper]

I'm totally sold on a portable Steam. Just...I can't wrap my head around how that thing would actually for the games I play.

[Sharecrow]

I'd actually consider getting this just to be able to access that incredible library that I've excluded myself from as I don't game on my PC or on my Mac. Those things are writing tools for me and I can't bring myself to use them for games. A handheld, though....that's an easy leap to make.