"Did I go back to the PS4 era?": Former PlayStation head criticized Steam Machine

Shuhei Yoshida found few reasons to recommend Valve's box to gamers.

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida shared his first impressions of the Steam Machine, stating that the device is currently difficult to recommend to most users.

Yoshida, who worked at Sony for 31 years and participated in the launch of the first PlayStation, recently tested the Steam Machine and shared his experience on the social network X.

According to him, the main drawback of the system was its performance. He noted that the quality of 3D graphics leaves much to be desired, and the recommended default resolution is 1080p. Yoshida jokingly wondered if he had returned to the PlayStation 4 era.

The former Sony top manager also complained about the long loading times of some games, noting that the system spends too much time launching. He also disliked the Steam Controller: the sticks seemed too soft, and the touchpads were overly sensitive and not very comfortable to use.

At the same time, Yoshida highlighted several advantages of the Steam Machine. He praised the simple and clear interface, the ability to turn on the device directly with a button on the controller, calling this feature "killer," as well as interchangeable faceplates. In addition, the compact size of the system and its virtually silent operation left a positive impression.

However, the main obstacle to purchase, according to Yoshida, remains the cost of the device. He called the price "extremely unfriendly" and concluded that in its current form, the Steam Machine is difficult to recommend to ordinary users – unless they want to explore the platform for research purposes.