Smach Zero: portable Steam Machine pre-order date & price

[crossy]

I'm interested! Always wanted an ultra portable device that can play games. Only thing missing is the ability to use Windows. Maybe it can? I've looked at the possible CPUs it could be and the graphics benchmarks look quite promising. More than enough to play most games.

Why in the name of all that's holy would you want to run Windows on this kind of device? What next, Windows-for-washing-machines?

The whole idea of this is that it's a focused device - for portable gaming only. As soon as you start doing "feature creep" then the price, the size and the weight all go up ... oh, and battery life goes down.

If you really gotta have portable Windows, then there's plenty of Windows tablets. And if you want a gaming fix (that's not satisfied by the Windows App store) then get a dual-boot tablet with Android and game on the 'droid side.

Getting back to the article, IF they can deliver a viable device for less than £300 then it's very interesting. Especially if the battery life isn't shocking. Plus, we'll get back into the "green v's red" battles since Smach Zero is AMD-powered and of course NVidia have their Shield line for portable gaming.

Linux on the desktop is a lost battle, but maybe Linux-in-the-pocket (excluding Android) is winnable?

[jimbouk]

I do enjoy playing games on the Vita on my 15 minute train ride in the morning/evening, but would I play Civ5 or Cities: Skylines for instance on such a small screen? They do at least have a large software catalogue so if the hardware works ok then it should be a hit.

[Spud1]

I already do this this a cheap windows tablet and 360 controller.

This was my thought too - All of the games they list (and many, many more) work really well on any of the Atom Z37XX type tablets (like the Linx one mentioned, or the dell venue 8 pro), and they run full windows 8 (or 10 ) so you are not limited to Steam Games.

This is a great mass-market device for those who don't want a seperate controller, but for the rest of us you can do this with a tablet + 360 pad (or tablet + bluetooth kb/mouse). I have been enjoying replaying HL2 and Portal 2 on train journeys for the past few months! Price will be key - if its around the £200 mark it will be a good contender.

[aaronfranke]

Only thing missing is the ability to use Windows. Maybe it can?

I don't specifically see why you want Windows. More and more games are being ported to Linux every day, and SteamOS is specifically designed for ease of use so you don't have to deal with Windows. Most lightweight and/or older non-Linux games can be run in WINE, and this isn't going to be playing the latest graphically-intensive games anyway. If you do still want Windows, I think it wouldn't fit due to the low storage space, and even if it did you'd have no room for your games, and that's only if the bootloader is unlocked on this device. I recommend in-home streaming to play games that don't run on SteamOS.

[Wozza63]

Only thing missing is the ability to use Windows. Maybe it can?

I don't specifically see why you want Windows. More and more games are being ported to Linux every day, and SteamOS is specifically designed for ease of use so you don't have to deal with Windows. Most lightweight and/or older non-Linux games can be run in WINE, and this isn't going to be playing the latest graphically-intensive games anyway. If you do still want Windows, I think it wouldn't fit due to the low storage space, and even if it did you'd have no room for your games, and that's only if the bootloader is unlocked on this device. I recommend in-home streaming to play games that don't run on SteamOS.

I was thinking more about it just being a full OS. Linux could also do this just fine but SteamOS is limited in features outside of gaming.

[SurajNegi]

This machine is capable of running the likes of Half-Life 2, Civilization V, Dota 2, Tropico 5, BioShock Infinite, and Cities: Skylines ... can be hit if it not too expensive..

[jimbouk]

Just had a quick nosy at the AMD 'Steppe Eagle' SoC - sounds like it's a year old tech: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06...ed_processors/. Don't seem to be able to buy a motherboard off the shelf sadly as they're 'industrial', and it's £400+ for a thin client. If they're claiming these can play reasonable titles at 720p for $300, it'd be interesting to see what could be done with a net-top style device.