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