Portable Steam Machine SMACH Z Hits Kickstarter And Its Got AMD Support

Remember that handheld Steam machine that got announced a little while back? Well, it seemed like a pipe dream which would never come to fruition, but it’s taken a big step to becoming a reality with the launch of its Kickstarter. They’re after €900,000 funding to begin producing the SMACH Z portable Steam machine, which was previously known as the SteamBoy.

Interestingly they seem to have the manufacturing process properly figured out, and have even partnered with AMD for a custom APU. Since we last saw it the SMACH Z has undergone a bit of a redesign, with an upgrade to a full 1080p screen, 4GB RAM, a Jaguar-based CPU with Radeon graphics, 64GB storage, and HDMI output. The controls meanwhile are very reminiscent of the Steam Controller, with a pair of trackpads, a single thumbstick, ABXY face buttons, and six triggers and buttons on the top and rear.
  • AMD embedded G-Series SoC “Steppe Eagle” with Jaguar-based CPU and GCN based Radeon graphics.
  • 4 GB RAM memory.
  • 64GB internal memory and SD Card Slot.
  • USB OTG and USB 3.0
  • 5-inch Touch screen with 1080p resolution.
  • Configurable tactile gamepads.
  • HDMI video output connection.
  • Wi-Fi connectivity.Bluetooth connectivity. 4G mobile network connectivity (PRO model only).
The folks building it reckon the SMACH Z offers support for more than 1000 Steam games right out of the box, with the trailer even suggesting it’s capable of running every game from a hardware point of view. I’ve got my doubts about that, but it could be a real winner for playing older games and less demanding indie titles on the toilet the move.
As it stands it comes with SteamOS installed so that’s going to limit the SMACH Z somewhat. It does have emulation support right out of the box which could elevate it to must buy status for some. This includes NES, SNES, Megadrive, Playstation 1 and 2, N64, GameCube and even the Wii. They’d work particularly with the custom control pads below, which allow you to replicate retro gamepad layouts by placing over the trackpads.

The development team are targeting an October 2016 launch which seems a little optimistic, with an expected price point of €349. If you back over on the Kickstarter page you can get early discounts on the device, but it’s obviously a risk without knowing the quality of the final product.
At the moment the SMACH Z is doing moderately well on Kickstarter. it's broken through the €100,000 mark in less than a day, but it's going to need some serious momentum to that €900,000 goal by January 13th. 

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