RAMageddon

Steam Machine, Valve’s new machine, should already be on the market. However, a few weeks ago something curious happened: Valve appeared at GDC asking for ‘help’ to be able to buy RAM memory. Because not even the company that dominates PC gaming is safe from the component crisis. Meanwhile, Microsoft is preparing the new Xbox, the one known as Project Helixand the CEO of Microsoft Gaming is already heating up the ground. It’s going to be expensive. Project Helix. It’s not a secret that Xbox is quite out of the competition hardware at the moment. With Xbox Series they jumped into the pool with two models (Series X for enthusiasts and S Series for those who didn’t need so much) and the strategy has not worked (added to other decisions of the company in which everything is an Xbox, so… why buy an Xbox?). With Project Helix they want to target another user: the one who wants a consolidated PC. Steam Deck has paved the way for many and the Steam Machine is still that: a PC, but in console format. Nothing is officially known about the machine, but it will be “a console for playing great games, including PC games,” in the words of the new CEO, Asha Sharma. There are rumors of all kinds such as the opening to Steam to be able to use third-party stores and even that they will not use a custom APU, but rather one from AMD available to anyone who wants to buy a PC. And the price, obviously, is something that is on the table. The notice. At Xataka we have not echoed the rumors in this regard for two reasons. The first is because you have to wait for confirmation. The second is because the rumors can come to nothing considering how the component crisis is going. In fact, the fork that is being shuffling It is between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars, clearly excessive and, as we say, without official basis. But what we can do is pay attention to what Sharma said in a podcast recorded with Game File. When asked about the current memory shortage situation, the board commented: “All of those things are in the equation. Memory prices will affect the price of the machine, but also availability. We’re looking at where we need to be, but we’re not ready to share a roadmap for the launch of Project Helix yet. My approach is to focus on what’s within our control: building a great console to play great games, including PC games.” No one escapes RAMageddon. Since Helix began to be talked about as a premium product, expectations about the price began to fly. There was hope, that a company with the potential of Microsoft would cushion the blow (I had that hope in the Steam Machine and Everything indicates that it will not be). However, the fact that Asha confirms so boldly that the current situation will affect both price and availability does not advance a situation in which we have a price more similar to that of a console than that of a PC. As always, we will have to wait because everything is in the very early stages of the conversation, but it is evident that the situation of the RAM and the data centers is disrupting the plans of companies like Valve, Microsoft and even Sony with its PlayStation 6. In fact, it is already disrupting the current stock. There are the Steam Deck as an example, with a Valve alluding to stock outages for the current situation. Very active. Before we mentioned the “everything is an Xbox” strategy that the company pushed for a time. The result was a loss of identity that, now, they seem to want to recover. Sharma is pushing for a new emblem”We are Xbox“, wallpapering the office walls with the “return of Xbox” and taking some measures like the price drop for Game Pass Ultimate (leaving ‘Call of Duty’ out, yes). Although was put under the magnifying glass Coming from one of Microsoft’s AI divisions, the new CEO has not taken long to begin to show that she has different ideas for the brand and undertaking different actions to win back her audience. The problem is that it will have to deal with a diffuse hardware launch that points to a price to which the console market is not accustomed. They are expected to begin shipping development kits to developers early next year and Project Helix will go on sale by the end of 2027. A lot can change in a year, but Nobody knows very well if something is better or worse.. In Xataka | A few days ago a man bought an Xbox 360 for five euros at a flea market. Inside was a treasure called ‘GTA IV Beta’