The use case is it’s going to introduce gamers to Linux. And it’s going to prove that in PCs, just like consoles, you don’t need Microsoft to game.
That seems like a nice start to adopt Linux to the mainstream market. If there are more products, it maybe will be like with Android phones. I’m happy there seems to be more alternatives nowadays. Just installed one of my Steam games on my now semi Linux PC and I find it pretty cool that I can now play on that. Before, with just an emulator, it doesn’t really feel the same.
I want to just buy games and have them work on my machine. So a console.
Microsoft is surrendering the console war.
Sony has already put malware in their products and I will not be their customer again.
Nintendo is super locked down.
Valve has always shown me excellent customer service.
People want a console but also:
- A wider game library (Missing on Playstation and Xbox)
- No subscription (missing Playstation and Xbox)
- a working 10 foot UI (missing in windows)
- controller os navigation (missing in windows)
- no bimonthly fullscreen nags to use edge, office365, onedrive, etc. (missing in windows)
- Working ACPI sleep states. (Missing on most cheap mini PCs)
- Backwards compatibility for older titles and not needing to rebuy games when upgrading (Missing on PlayStation)
Microsoft could probably build an XBox that fixes the first problem but would probably fill it with nag screens.
People with technical skills can probably run Bazzite on a minipc but might hit issues with sleep depending on luck while purchasing.
People without technical skills just want a package that works
People WITH technical skills just wany a package that works. I don’t want to fix every single fucking piece of technology I own, constantly - even if I am capable.
As someone who’s tried several PC-in-the-livingroom solutions, just try building a PC with good specs at that size and you’ll appreciate the niche that is being filled.
It’s a pretty nice custom designed PC that is guaranteed to work well with Linux. The only downside, really, is that you can’t upgrade it beyond storage and RAM.
Price!
We can argue about it all we want, but basically everything hinges on its street price.
If it’s cheap, all those critiques are irrelevant.
Expensive? “It’s cute, I like Steam, I like how it mostly works OOTB,” gets real niche, real quick.
Regardless of the box cost, there’s no arguing with the price of games in a Steam sale!
I don’t think I’ve paid more than £15 for a game in years and years.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the cash to spend up front. Paying more over time is easier.
Or they just get lured in by a cheap sticker price.
And again, price is still relevant. If this is well over $1K, it starts to negate the Steam storefront cost savings.
Fair enough. If they’re cash poor, grabbing one of those cheap games consoles is a good plan. 😟
Well what if i want something like a console but hate the big tech and dont enjoy someone spying on me? this is the only option. What if i want a console that i can modify and use as a pc or a server if i damn want to? this is the only option. What if i want a true console like experience but want to play a title that just isnt on any consoles? this once again is the only option. This thing will have so many usecases, just maybe a little specific ones… :D
Arch with KDE is for people who don’t like Linux?
It’s for the people who can’t afford to build their own PCs these days. Graphics cards went up in price, hard drives went up and now RAM.
Other than “not seeing the use case” I think the meme is right on. People hate Windows but don’t want to deal with Linux, people hate being trapped in the walled gardens of Microsoft or Sony consoles, but don’t want to deal with a full-on gaming PC. Kinda like how when iPads came out people where like, this is worse than a phone and worse than a laptop, who are these things even for?
I want them to build a top of the line gaming pc put into a small box and sell it to me at a huge loss. Why can’t they do that?
This kinda blew up. For the record, there are probably decent use cases. I’m just befuddled by its popularity. The best I’ve seen is PC games on a TV more easily than moving an entire setup. But the form factor removes a lot of the upgradeability and repairablity that makes PCs so great, it has standard hardware like a console but still traps you in a (admittedly slightly better) ecosystem, it has Linux but masks it so well most people won’t notice or care. If it pushes gaming to a more linux-friendly place, great, but it feels like it’s packaging it to the point that it won’t push the player-base, only devs. It feels like it packages almost all of the limitations of the 3 groups with very few of the best benefits. Truly do hope I’m wrong, I often am.
it has Linux but masks it so well most people won’t notice or care.
That’s the best sales pitch for linux I’d ever heard!
Idk, to me it’s like veggie bacon. Stop spending so much time trying to make plants taste like meat when you can just… make the plants taste good. I’d rather be shown the advantages and explore the reason for a switch than have it try to be what I wanted to avoid in the first place. Maybe this is just a natural in-between step towards more universal adoption, it just kind of feels like the first step towards enshittification. Maybe I’m just jaded and cynical at this point, I’d just rather have something that is proudly itself rather than something trying to shamefully hide what makes it unique
It’s a fully functional Linux distro though?
Hooking a whole desktop to a TV is intrusive with most desktop form factors.
Most people who want a console don’t care about upgradability or repairability, and that’s certainly not the main thing that “makes PCs so great.”
Most people gaming on PC are equally “trapped in an ecosystem.” This has a desktop mode if need be, but hardly anyone does games outside of Steam.
“It has Linux but most users won’t notice or care” is a double positive.
“It won’t push the player base, only the devs” is a double positive.
The point of a console isn’t to make people into more technical proponents of open source projects. It’s to play games.
And if it’s competing in the console market, especially for people who aren’t terribly interested in the “Call of Duty” type AAA titles of today, it seems like a perfect fit.
The GabeCube could hit the market at $1000 and still be a major success. Think about the RAM prices and there‘s not really a way to build yourself a cheaper PC that‘s convenient for couch gaming.
Reminds me of the steam box / idiocracy cross over I found
https://lemmy.zip/pictrs/image/fa3c3bbb-ada2-4876-b98e-621b35305eed.webp
I saw that post and it made me start thinking about why I have no interest in it, and a few days later here we are. Honestly, the last 3 panels live rent-free in my head
Even with all the tweaking time in the world I don’t believe you can get a pc set up so that it can reliably and intuitively be operated with just a controller 100% of the time.
Bazzite in game mode?
If you want to be technical about it, you pretty much just described any modern video game console. The OS is the only thing actually differentiating modern consoles from PCs (or tablets in Nintendo’s case).
