Episode 594: The Steam Machine Is Weaker Than a PS5 (And Costs 2x)

Valve's Steam Machine reviews are in — and the verdict is brutal: by most measures it's slightly less powerful than a base PS5 while costing more than double. We break down the benchmarks, why Valve went semi-custom on the chips, and whether "access to the entire Steam library" is worth the price of admission. Before that, we go deep on Escape from Tarkov's first-ever season, Cord Breach — the new seasonal character system, the Path of Exile-style trait modifiers, the Kappa protocol, and whether this shakes up the Tarkov loop for good. Then it's War Dogs: the alpha impressions are rolling in, the hype is real, and the only "complaints" are people mad about camping in a large-scale warfare game. Plus: Sony is killing physical disc production for new PlayStation games in 2028 — do you even own your games anymore? And one last Call of Duty story from our CoD heritage: Warzone's cheater problem has never been worse, to the point streamers are teaming up mid-match just to survive. Jake sees the upside, Raz calls it like he sees it. 0:00 - Intro & Happy 4th of July 1:26 - This Week In Gaming (the rundown) 2:33 - Tarkov's First-Ever Season: Cord Breach 9:22 - Breaking Down The Seasonal Traits 21:28 - The Kappa Question & Big-Ticket Perks 26:46 - Neutral, Season-Wide Modifiers 29:44 - The Negative Traits 39:18 - Verdict: Is Cord Breach Worth It? 39:32 - Seasonal vs. Permanent Characters 47:03 - War Dogs Alpha: The Hype Builds 1:00:31 - Sony Kills The Disc (2028) 1:10:26 - Do You Even Own Your Games? 1:17:06 - Steam Machine: Impressive Hardware, Baffling Price 1:22:26 - Benchmarks: Weaker Than A PS5 For Double 1:33:24 - How Chips Are Made & The Silicon Lottery 1:34:16 - One Last CoD Story: Warzone's Cheater Hell 1:39:55 - Landing The Plane _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #GamingPodcast #Podcast · #EscapeFromTarkov #Tarkov #CordBreach #WarDogs #SteamMachine #Valve #PS5 #CallOfDuty #Warzone · #SteamMachineVsPS5 #GamePrices #PhysicalMedia · #GamingNews #HotTake #PodcastClips #GamingShorts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices