Better Offline – “Is Valve Taking On Microsoft? With Steve Burke”

Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Ed Zitron
Guest: Steve Burke (Gamers Nexus)

Episode Overview

This episode of Better Offline dives into Valve’s revived hardware ambitions with its upcoming Steam Machine console and Steam Frame VR headset. Host Ed Zitron and guest Steve Burke (Gamers Nexus) explore what makes these products unique, their potential to disrupt the stagnating console market—especially given Microsoft’s recent miscues—and the broader implications for PC gaming, indie developers, and consumer trust in tech. The episode stands out for its wit, skepticism toward industry hype, and infectious nostalgia for an era when hardware launches were genuinely exciting.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Valve’s Hardware Announcements: Real Innovation Amid Vaporware

• Valve’s New Efforts:

  • Valve recently announced the Steam Machine (a small form-factor PC console running SteamOS/Linux) and the Steam Frame (a next-gen VR headset).
  • Both products mark a return to “real,” consumer-facing technology, as opposed to hype-laden, AI/crypto buzz.

  “It was a really nice break from everything else because like you said, it’s real. They’re actually doing stuff, it’s consumer facing.”
  — Steve Burke (04:34)

• Technical Details:

  • Steam Machine: Essentially a modular Linux-based PC; comparable to a console, but more open/flexible (access to BIOS, upgradeable RAM and storage).
  • Steam Frame: VR headset with both standalone mode and wireless streaming from a gaming PC, leveraging a huge Steam library.

2. Steam Machine: The ‘Gabe Cube’ and Its Microsoft Disruption

• What Sets It Apart (05:50–08:42)

  • Not just a standard PC—marketed as a living room console alternative, but open/upgradeable.
  • Runs SteamOS (based on Arch Linux), optimized for gaming, with modern translation layers and upscaling tech.
  • Nicknamed internally (and on the show) as the “Gabe Cube” (after Valve CEO Gabe Newell).

  “People have been jokingly referring to the Steam machine as the Gabe Cube, as in Gabe Newell, the CEO of Valve.”
  — Steve Burke (06:58)

• Hands-On Impressions & Controller (08:44–11:00)

  • Ed and Steve discuss the new Steam controller: large, with haptic trackpads, grip sensors, and gyros—“clever execution of input.”
  • Notably, Valve never mentioned “AI” during press briefings—delightfully free of hype.

  “Not a single time… did at any point anybody from Valve say AI in that order of letters.”
  — Steve Burke (11:57) “Oh, magnifique. Thank God.”
  — Ed Zitron (12:00)

• Market Impact — Threat to Xbox (12:00–14:56)

  • Valve’s timing is ideal: Xbox is stagnating and losing market share, pricing increases aren’t helping.
  • Microsoft’s game plan (“going the route of Sega”) is in disarray.
  • Valve offers consumers open hardware at a critical inflection point for consoles.

  “Xbox is kind of at the lowest of its lows. You know, they just, they, they can’t seem to stop fucking everything up.”
  — Steve Burke (12:28)

3. Technical Deep Dive: Hardware & User Upgradability

• Core Specs (19:30–24:39)

  • CPU: Zen 4, 6 cores/12 threads, 4.8GHz, 30W TDP.
  • GPU: RDNA 3, 28 compute units (a bit below RX7600).
  • Some components are soldered (laptop-like), but RAM (SODIMM) and SSD (M.2) are upgradable; easy fan/power supply replacement.

  “The CPU and GPU are the only non modular [...] components…but you can do the RAM...and SSD.”
  — Steve Burke (19:42, 28:12)

• Positioning & Price Uncertainty

  • Intended as an affordable, entry-level gaming PC; price not announced but likely crucial to success.

  “They say it’s gonna be priced like an entry level gaming PC. [...] That could mean literally could cost 7 million.”
  — Ed Zitron (24:39)

  “The biggest concern is for sure price. But at a hardware level really I think the big story is the Linux side…”
  — Steve Burke (24:44)

4. Console Stagnation & Indie Gaming Renaissance

• Peak Console & Indie Games (22:10–26:32)

  • Both see the big graphics race hitting diminishing returns; fun/quality of play is driving more indie successes.
  • Steam remains the best path to discover “the lifeblood” of interesting, low-cost games.

  “More people are playing indie games that don’t push graphics to insane levels… Oh wait, I play video games to have fun and it doesn’t need to be—.”
  — Steve Burke (22:10)

  “Indie games are kind of like the lifeblood of it now. [...] There’s so much character in them.”
  — Steve Burke (25:42)

5. The Steam Frame: Next-Gen VR with Foveated Streaming

• What Is It? (33:14–37:05)

  • A wireless VR headset doing both standalone and streaming VR.
  • Major technical innovation: “foveated streaming” (tracks your eyes; the sharpest video stream follows where you’re looking, reducing bandwidth/latency).

  “You’re casting a video to the headset so you’re not rendering locally… what they’re doing is they are targeting specific areas where the eyes are tracked to be looking and then rendering those, assigning basically the maximum amount of bits to those areas.”
  — Steve Burke (35:02)

• Comparison/Contrast to Vision Pro

  • Similar productivity aspirations, but gaming-centric at heart.
  • Promises less setup/room-burden than earlier VR, but price and release still TBD (expected early 2026, probably $1000+).

6. Industry Cynicism: The Dread of AI Hype and Tech’s Moral Decay

• Why Valve’s Approach Resonates

  • Listeners and reviewers alike are “starved” for sincere, consumer-facing hardware, not just tick-boxes for investor hype (AI, data centers).
  • There’s relief that Valve is just launching real gaming hardware, without the shadow of morally dubious business partnerships.

  “I’m not used to companies not just immediately being evil.”
  — Ed Zitron (29:13)

  “Other than the fact that they’re partnering with Palantir, which has openly admitted to developing technology that is used on occasion to kill people. The GPU is pretty good. How do you cross that bridge?”
  — Steve Burke (39:31)

• Wider Industry Parallels

  • Hardware companies pivoting to AI/data centers, leaving gamers behind.
  • Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, etc. are increasingly linked to surveillance, government contracts, and profiteering.
  • Valve’s “just hardware that plays games” is refreshing (“sadly…pretty exciting right now,” Steve, 41:45).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the “Gabe Cube” and Controller:

  “God damn it, I wish I thought of that for a video.”
  — Steve Burke (07:00)

• On Microsoft’s Console Malaise:

  “They’re losing control of the market and it just looks like they’re kind of going the route of Sega right now…”
  — Steve Burke (12:40)

• On Indie Games Surpassing Triple-As:

  “My favorite game of this year was Dead Zone Rogue...Indie game, never heard of…the developers…Fantastic game. I haven’t enjoyed any AAA that much. Unless you consider Hades 2, which I’m not sure that counts.”
  — Ed Zitron (25:59)

• On Industry Cynicism:

  “I’m not used to companies not just immediately being evil.”
  — Ed Zitron (29:13)

  “People just feel so kind of beaten down where…RAM prices are skyrocketing, [and] just like the sort of, hey, it’s just hardware that plays video games…that sadly is pretty exciting right now.”
  — Steve Burke (41:45)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:51 | Show proper begins: Ed welcomes Steve and introduces Valve hardware news | | 04:34 | Steve explains the Steam Machine and why it excites him | | 06:58 | The “Gabe Cube” nickname for the Steam Machine | | 08:44 | Steam controller hands-on impressions | | 12:00 | Will Steam Machine threaten Xbox? | | 14:20 | Microsoft’s declining innovation/market share | | 19:30 | Steam Machine technical specs/depth | | 22:10 | Discussion of "peak console" and indie’s rise | | 25:42 | Indie games as PC’s lifeblood | | 26:03 | Ed describes his indie GOTY | | 28:12 | Upgradability and repairability of Steam Machine | | 33:14 | Steam Frame VR headset explained | | 35:02 | Foveated streaming: technical breakthrough | | 37:44 | The rarity of “just hardware” launches | | 41:45 | Why “just hardware” is such a relief | | 43:36 | Nostalgia: Creative vs. Apple, the Zune, and lost tech heritage | | 45:05 | Steve previews upcoming investigative story at Gamers Nexus |

Closing Thoughts

Ed and Steve’s conversation is lively, skeptical, and hopeful all at once—a refreshing break from “AI economy” fatigue and corporate overreach in tech. As Valve re-emerges with hardware grounded in actual utility and user empowerment, the episode captures a rare moment of excitement in a jaded industry. The discussion is a must-listen for gamers, tech watchers, and anyone invested in the future of open, honest consumer tech.

Recommended next steps:

• Check out Steve Burke’s investigative coverage at Gamers Nexus (esp. his upcoming scrapyard/dev kit story).
• For more Better Offline, visit betteroffline.com or check the show’s Discord/Reddit.