Steam Machine Turns Into an All-in-One Gaming Console

Steam Machine has become a single platform for modern PC gaming and emulation, giving access to a Steam library alongside retro games from multiple generations. Its performance also allows games that struggled on the Steam Deck to run at higher resolutions, including 1440p and 4K.

Steam Machine has been used as both an everyday gaming console and an emulation machine. EmuDeck can be installed in desktop mode, allowing you to bring a retro game library to the system. This review focuses on how different games perform, not the installation process.

Steam Machine Emulation

Games that previously struggled on the Steam Deck, including some PS2 titles, can run at 1440p and 4K on the Steam Machine. That gives the system another role beyond running a standard Steam library. Around 320 games have been added to the system, with the selection focused on games worth playing rather than filling the storage with titles that may never be used.

The goal is to keep the games in one place so the Steam Machine can handle both the Steam library and retro games without switching between different devices. For example, I removed Bayonetta 2 from the Wii U library because it wasn't played often enough to justify the storage space.

With a 1TB SD card, 61 Steam games, and more than 300 games through EmuDeck, you still have over 306GB of available storage. That leaves room for additional games and other content. The GameCube library includes games such as Luigi's Mansion, Mario Golf, Mario Party, Mario Baseball, Mario Tennis, Double Dash, Paper Mario, and Sonic. More games can continue to be added as the library is reviewed.

The Super Nintendo collection already includes 62 games, with more still being added. The Wii U collection is smaller, while the SEGA CD was recently added because it includes games worth keeping. PlayStation and PlayStation 2 also offer a large selection of games, giving the Steam Machine access to multiple generations of games from a single device.

PlayStation Games at 1440p

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one example of how the emulation setup performs. The game runs at 1440p and supports different visual filters for users who want to change the presentation. The game runs well at that resolution, letting players enjoy the PlayStation title through the same system used for modern PC games.

Ultimate Spider-Man is another example. The game runs at 1440p through EmuDeck on the Steam Machine, with its cel-shaded visuals displaying as intended while maintaining performance. These games show how the system can combine older console games with the Steam library without requiring separate hardware for each platform.

The main benefit is having everything in one place. Steam Machine can run the Steam library and provide access to retro games through emulation. The PC ecosystem also lets you shop across different storefronts and buy games at the lowest available price. It can also keep a retro library on the Steam Machine, rather than requiring multiple consoles to connect separately.

The price of the Steam Machine remains a major criticism.

The cost is high, but its range of functions can make it easier to justify for users who want one system for different types of gaming. Steam Machine can also replace several separate consoles and devices. A new app lets you play PlayStation games through the cloud, although that feature has not yet been tested.

If the cloud gaming experience performs as expected, it could add another way to access console games from the same system. Combined with Steam gaming and emulation, the Steam Machine can bring several gaming platforms together. So far, the games tested have worked without hitting a title that simply couldn't run on the Steam Machine.

For anyone who uses emulation and plays games from different generations, the system keeps those libraries in one place. The more you use the Steam Machine, the more useful the all-in-one approach becomes. Instead of connecting different consoles to different libraries, the Steam Machine can provide access to modern PC and retro games from a single platform.