64gb internal for $500? LOL

[Viper]

is this some kind of joke? this would be like mobile phones having 4GB internal and if you want a more they just tell you bUy eXterNaL mEmOrY

[Xedhadeaus]

Canada?
It's only 400 here.

And while I will agree 64 gb is a pittance given the size of typical high or even middle end games... Paying 120 dollars more for an ssd and profile theme really doesn't seem like the way to go... especially when a comparable ssd might be 60 dollars in comparison... Same with the 512 model... when if the pcie slot is the same, 1TB of memory is 180 dollars.

I cannot really speak against the price too much however, as the mere existence of it has spawned a naughty or nice sized list of things I can do with it, as well as excessive amounts of games I have typically ignored being tolerable to play in a comfortable couch setting.

It is what it is, I bought that model, and plan on doing what I can to make it stand up to the better ones with as little money as possible.

[karmazyn1]

Vote with your wallet.

[Cyberbeing]

Originally posted by karmazyn1:

Vote with your wallet.

You realize Valve isn't making much money out of this ? Gaben was pretty straight forward about it when he commented about the pricing. It wouldn't surprise me if base model was sold near cost value.

[WarnerCK]

Originally posted by Cyberbeing:

You realize Valve isn't making much money out of this ? Gaben was pretty straight forward about it when he commented about the pricing. It wouldn't surprise me if base model was sold near cost value.

I'm pretty sure they're taking a big loss on the base model, and only breaking even with the middle one. Similar projects from others are way more expensive. Economies of scale only go so far.

[Viper]

Originally posted by Cyberbeing:

Originally posted by karmazyn1:

Vote with your wallet.

You realize Valve isn't making much money out of this ? Gaben was pretty straight forward about it when he commented about the pricing. It wouldn't surprise me if base model was sold near cost value.

I don't believe much of what he says considering Valve's anti consumer history.

[a man and his harem]

Originally posted by WarnerCK:

Originally posted by Cyberbeing:

You realize Valve isn't making much money out of this ? Gaben was pretty straight forward about it when he commented about the pricing. It wouldn't surprise me if base model was sold near cost value.

I'm pretty sure they're taking a big loss on the base model, and only breaking even with the middle one. Similar projects from others are way more expensive. Economies of scale only go so far.

this is why i think the true model is the most over priced option sadly enogh.. still better then the bad value of the switch tho..

[Insomnus]

Originally posted by viper:

Originally posted by Cyberbeing:

You realize Valve isn't making much money out of this ? Gaben was pretty straight forward about it when he commented about the pricing. It wouldn't surprise me if base model was sold near cost value.

I don't believe much of what he says considering Valve's anti consumer history.

Then take a look at the rest of the market. Gpd win2/3 and ayaneo all have a launch price around $800 or more. Its not out of the question valve is losing money or breaking even on 1 or more SKUs.

[Shadic]

Originally posted by viper:

is this some kind of joke? this would be like mobile phones having 4GB internal and if you want a more they just tell you bUy eXterNaL mEmOrY

64GB internal is the same price as the switch OLED tho.

[Cyberbeing]

Originally posted by Skeletor:

Originally posted by Cyberbeing:

You realize Valve isn't making much money out of this ? Gaben was pretty straight forward about it when he commented about the pricing. It wouldn't surprise me if base model was sold near cost value.

Gabe didn't say anything like that at all.
Since Valve does want to see other companies get on board in making a Steam Deck, Valve needs to prove that it is a viable business model, which means they need to show there is enough profit on hardware sales to make it worth it.

Please re-watch what Gabe said in the interview.
"we had to be very aggressive in terms of pricing of the deck"
"price point was secondary and painful"

It means they are either taking losses in some SKU or breaking even in worst case. Why in heck would he say price is "secondary and painful" that make no sense if its a critical aspect of it. Valve first and foremost want to present its own brand while proving to other companies they could build something that perform this good while maintaining low price ranges.

[WhiteKnight]

There are plenty of AAA that are less than 64 GB and plenty of indies titles can be fitted in 64 GB.

You want why don't you make a PC handheld with 1 TB Nvme on it for 399$.

Guys don't mind Skeletor aka Einsberg. If Epic Games were to launch this similar thing. He would be praising it.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by Skeletor:

Originally posted by WhiteKnight:

Guys don't mind Skeletor aka Einsberg. If Epic Games were to launch this similar thing. He would be praising it.

Don't make up BS about me. man, you people sure to love to make up lies about me.

I didn't disparage the device at all. Saying it makes no sense for them to take a loss/no profit on the devices is not disparaging the device at all.

There is nothing BS about you being Eisberg though.

I don't think their base model is making a profit for them. Anyways neither i or you work at Valve. Valve will not talk about it either. The only info we have is the pricing is painful for a reason https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-price-valve-gabe-newell-400-dollars-painful-but-critical.

[kilésengati]

Originally posted by WhiteKnight:

Originally posted by Skeletor:

Don't make up BS about me. man, you people sure to love to make up lies about me.

I didn't disparage the device at all. Saying it makes no sense for them to take a loss/no profit on the devices is not disparaging the device at all.

There is nothing BS about you being Eisberg though.

I don't think their base model is making a profit for them. Anyways neither i or you work at Valve. Valve will not talk about it either. The only info we have is the pricing is painful for a reason https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-price-valve-gabe-newell-400-dollars-painful-but-critical.

Also, should it turn out to be sold at a loss, I'm sure it will be a neat tax write-off for them. But we can only speculate and may never know about the financial (un-)success of the Deck as Valve is a private company. I'm sure Valve is strong enough not to go broke about it.
By the way, other console manufacturers are not turning a profit on their consoles either, but on the games sold through their distribution network and licencing fees, though these are closed systems.

[AD]

Originally posted by kilésengati:

Originally posted by WhiteKnight:

There is nothing BS about you being Eisberg though.

I don't think their base model is making a profit for them. Anyways neither i or you work at Valve. Valve will not talk about it either. The only info we have is the pricing is painful for a reason https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-price-valve-gabe-newell-400-dollars-painful-but-critical.

Also, should it turn out to be sold at a loss, I'm sure it will be a neat tax write-off for them. But we can only speculate and may never know about the financial (un-)success of the Deck as Valve is a private company. I'm sure Valve is strong enough not to go broke about it.
By the way, other console manufacturers are not turning a profit on their consoles either, but on the games sold on their console, though these are closed systems.

Yeah, I hope it's not too bad. If Valve sell the Steam Deck at a loss of say $100 each (which is just a random number I picked because it's easy to calculate with) and they sell 1 million, then the loss is $100 million. That is not a small amount of money. So I do hope it works out for them.

[Cyberbeing]

Originally posted by Skeletor:

Originally posted by Cyberbeing:

Please re-watch what Gabe said in the interview.
"we had to be very aggressive in terms of pricing of the deck"
"price point was secondary and painful"

It means they are either taking losses in some SKU or breaking even in worst case. Why in heck would he say price is "secondary and painful" that make no sense if its a critical aspect of it. Valve first and foremost want to present its own brand while proving to other companies they could build something that perform this good while maintaining low price ranges.

That can also mean they had to search out ways to create the best deck they can, which was very hard to do, while wanting to keep it at a lost cost for the customer. That doesn't mean it wasn't painful to get a deck that is a satisfactory performer and at an affordable price. There is more than one way to to read into what he mean there.

And again, it makes no sense for them to want to see other companies get into making a Steam deck if Valve couldn't even prove it is a viable business model by showing there is enough profit on the hardware sales to make it worth it. If they are taking a loss or not making any profit, then no other company is going to get into that business and Steam Deck will be dead on arrival because Valve will certainly not continue making new versions over time, they'll produce it for ~4 years before abandoning it.

When Gaben said pricing was "secondary" and followed with "painful" I don't think there's room for interpretation. It means he didn't care about healthy profit margins when trying to establish this new product category.

If Valve as software company can do this, surely more established businesses in the hardware space can definitely do better. Dell did something last year but never committed. I think with this move Valve will encourage others to hop in instead of leaving this void to inexperienced crowdfunded businesses.

[WarnerCK]

Originally posted by Skeletor:

Valve can only encourage others to hop in if they can show it is a viable business that can make a profit on the hardware sold, and they can't do that if they are taking a loss.

As I said upthread, I think they're making a loss on the base model and breaking even on the middle model. Hardware manufacturers will likely be able to make something as good as the middle one for cheaper with more established and efficient logistics. They might also be able get better margins at the premium end. Valve needed the headline price, and they needed to be make something that's adequate for a lot of use cases to establish a market. It's not inevitable that every manufacturer would make a loss with a handheld PC.