Steam and Silk

Just a few weeks after Dbrand revealed its Companion Cube was a lie (or rather that it didn't get permission to make it), the company is back with some new wraps for Valve's little cube-shaped gaming PC. They include nine fun new skins with matching Steam Controller options, among plenty of other options.The new skins can make your Steam Machine look like a basketball, black or white dice, a brick wall, a dusty old PC, the planet Earth, and a shabby old shipping package. In addition to those, there are also many familiar skin designs that Dbrand has sold for other products over the yea

The Steam Machine is Valve's new piece of hardware entering the scene as a mini PC built for living room gaming. I love a lot about it, had some issues with it, but overall came away from my time with it feeling very positive. The big question mark has been around the Steam Machine price. After the Steam Deck had a jump in price, we knew that would be a major factor in who to recommend this to for PC gaming. The Steam Machine specs in coordination with how well it works with the Steam Controller being still make this an appealing PC rig to consider.

A wonderful design can't beat the ugly realities of pricing, performance, and consumer value.

Ever since the Steam Deck debuted in 2022, it's been one of my favorite devices. It was relatively affordable for a handheld gaming PC, but still powerful enough to play pretty much anything I would realistically play on the go. And while I still love the thing, the recent price increases make it almost impossible to recommend to anyone looking for a budget gaming handheld right now.

Valve's next batch of hardware- the living room-focused PC, the Steam Machine, and its VR headset, the Steam Frame- will be shipping this summer.