The Valve Steam Machine has a price, and it is over $1000. That number is the center of gravity for this episode of Waveform, where Marques, Andrew, and David work through whether Valve is subsidizing the hardware, whether gamers will actually pay it, and what it means for PC gaming in the living room. The Verge confirmed both the release date and the no-subsidy pricing, which makes the sticker shock official, not speculative.
The Slate truck also gets serious time, roughly 20 minutes, with the crew debating whether it will actually ship. That conversation is worth hearing because it goes beyond specs into production credibility. GTA6 pricing, the Nothing Phone 4B, and an iOS 27 RCS update round out the news block before the Steam Machine and Meta Glasses segments take over the back half.
The Meta Glasses discussion pulls from a Verge hands-on and touches on privacy, battery life, and the Kylie Jenner marketing angle, which tells you something about who Meta thinks is buying these. Read the full episode breakdown if you want the actual arguments on Steam Machine viability, not just the number.
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