Play your PC games Everywhere!
Read more
553
backers
€160,984
0
seconds to go
This project will only be funded if at least €900,000 is pledged by .
Replay with sound
About this project
Steam™ name and logo are property of Valve® Corporation. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Liability disclaimer: SMACH Z project is not being developed by Valve® Corporation. SMACH Z project doesn't have any connection to Valve® or Steam™. SMACH Z is not a official Steam Machine™.
We love handheld consoles. Now that smartphones and tablets are overtaking handhelds, we need more than ever good games to play, real games for gamers, to be played on a dedicated gaming platform.
We have chosen AMD’s powerful embedded low-powered SoC with its blazing fast performance and power efficiency on portable devices. Thanks to their support for SMACH Z, the dream of playing your PC games on the go is on its way to coming true.
"We love the project, it's pretty amazing! When we first met the SMACH Team we were immediately on board to help support them. SMACH Z will bring an exciting new dimension to Steam™ games." - Stephen Turnbull, AMD's Director of embedded product marketing.
- More than 1000 games out of the box. And you don't need to purchase them again, just load and play any game on your Steam™ Library compatible with SteamOS™.
- More than 5 hours of battery life. Plus the option to add extra batteries to double the duration.
- Powerful enough to play any game on the market: Portal 2, DOTA, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, SOMA, Civilization V, Metro: Last Light Redux, Borderlands 2, The Witcher 2, ...
- Haptic touchpad controls: The evolution of the mouse! And if you are more old-school gamer, take a look to our Magic Z-Pads!
All your favorite games. AAA, indies, strategy, RTS, action, FPS, adventure, MMO, mods. Steam™ catalog is bigger and better than ever and new great games are arriving every day. Check here the list of games currently supported on Linux: https://steamdb.info/linux
We have worked closely with AMD to select the best existing chip that enables a unique and powerful portable gaming experience. SZ will feature the latest generation AMD technology on portable SOC chips: the AMD Embedded G-Series SoC.
The low-power AMD Embedded G-Series APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) revolutionizing the experience by delivering a small and light device without compromising performance or features. The AMD Embedded G-Series SoC (System-on-Chip) takes combination of CPU and advanced GPU onto a single chip one step further, adding the I/O controller onto the same chip as the APU, making it the ideal fit for applications requiring ultra-low power and small form factor processors.
“We are looking forward to seeing SMACH Z make the most of our embedded Radeon™ graphics" - Stephen Turnbull, AMD's Director of embedded product marketing.
Using AMD latest technology we can deliver an exceptional high-definition visual experience, and take advantage of heterogeneous computing while maintaining a low-power design.
We have been looking for a good balance between performance, cost and power efficiency, that will permit to play the majority of current games in Steam awesomely well. Take a look:
- AMD embedded G-Series SoC (formerly codenamed "Steppe Eagle") with "Jaguar"-based CPU and GCN-based Radeon™ graphics with 2 GB of dedicated GPU RAM.
- 4 GB RAM memory (8 GB on PRO model)
- 64 GB* internal memory (128 GB on PRO model)
- MicroSD Card Slot.
- 5-inch Touch screen with 1080p** resolution.
- USB 3.0 type C
- Configurable tactile gamepads.
- HDMI video output connection.
- Wi-Fi connectivity 5.0 Ghz
- Bluetooth connectivity.
- 4G mobile network connectivity (PRO model only).
* Only if the Stretch Goal is achieved, otherwise: 32GB.
** Only if the Stretch Goal is achieved, otherwise: 720p.
The keys scheme will make use of two touch pads, a joystick, 4 action face buttons, 4 trigger buttons and 2 additional action buttons in the rear-back.
Anyone will be able to create their own custom control schemes. The touch pads are also buttons with different areas of detection, so they can be used in many ways.
But if you are "classic" gamer, and you prefer more traditional controls... take a look to the Magic Z-Pads just below!
They are adapters to configure the SMACH Z controls your way. Just plug in the Magic Z-Pad add-on on top of any of the touchpad and play!
This simple yet magic solution will permit you to play with a real D-Pad on your SMACH Z, add a second stick or add more buttons. There are plenty of combinations!
Retro Magic Z-Pads: Do you miss classic controllers when playing Emulators? Imagine to be able to have all of them in your pocket...
* Magic Z-Pads are not included with the basic version of SMACH Z, take a look to the rewards for details.
SMACH Z has been designed to be an autonomous handheld, but If you are using SZ in your house, you can also stream games from your PC via WIFI. This allows you to play games that aren't still supported by Steam OS, or use the power of your PC to play more demanding games: Just lay down on your couch or bed, with your PC with Steam open, and load any game you want directly from your SMACH Z.
SMACH Z Deep Black is the basic edition. But you can get it also in other 5 different colors: Silver, Pearl White, Red Fire, Radioactive Green and Indigo. Plus, another new color editions will be decided by the backers in the development forums.
More powerful, bigger disk, front-camera and connection everywhere. Recommended if you are going to play demanding games, for youtubers, or for MMO players that need to play always online.
Specs comparison:
- SZ PRO: 8GB RAM vs SZ: 4GB RAM.
- SZ PRO: 128GB HD vs SZ: 64 GB HD.
- SZ PRO: Front-camera vs SZ: No camera.
- SZ PRO: 4G connectivity vs SZ: Only WIFI.
What else? SMACH Z is a handheld PC plenty of other possibilities if you are interested in explore them. Some examples:
- Play on the TV with the HDMI.
- Connect another gamepad and play on Multiplayer!
- Emulators: SMACH Z will be the best handheld device for emulation, and Retro Magic Z-Pads will bring your fingers back to the past. NES, SuperNintendo, Megadrive, Playstation 1 and 2, Nintendo64, GameCube or even Wii will be in your hands.
- Multimedia Center: We plan to integrate KODI (check Stretch Goals), an open source software for playing videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files.
- Use SMACH Z as a gamepad controller for your PC.
- Open Platform: We want to keep SMACH Z an open console, if you prefer to install other OS (Windows, Android,...) you are free to do whatever you want with it. We will give to the community all the info a codes needed to support other OS or develop additional features.
- Attachable extra battery: It ads +5h of gameplay outdoor. You can add a second battery in the back of SMACH Z.
- Accelerometer & Gyroscope: A cool way to control racing or airships games.
Thank you for the awesome support, guys!
SMACH Z will open a new window for game developers to distribute their games. Even if all PC games will be compatible, we're willing to work with developers to help to adapt the games to SMACH Z.
Additionally, we'd also love to have games designed specifically for our platform too. Every SMACH Z is a dev kit, and you don't need to purchase a license or SDK. But if you are a developer willing to develop for SMACH Z, take a look to the Developer's Perk: It grants access to full development support, in the technical side as well as on the marketing for gaining visibility on our platform.
We really hope SMACH Z could bring more opportunities for Indies, to innovate and experiment with new ideas.
"That thing looks great! I hope it works out!" - Terry Cavanagh - VVVVVV developer
"SMACH Z looks interesting and you seem to have found a space in the gaming world to fill." - Vishnu Vijayakumar - Tale Worlds - Mount&Blade developer
"The concept sounds fantastic!" - Andy Schatz - Pocketwatch Games - Monaco developer.
"Smach Z's portability and power really bring something to the table that other Steam Machines don't. Can't wait to have one of these in my hands". - Enrique Corts - Super Mega Team - Rise&Shine developer.
"This looks awesome!" - Alex Nichiporchik - TinyBuild Games - Party Hard developer.
WINNERS DON’T PLAY ON SMARTPHONES.
Since the first announcement of the project a year and a half ago, we've been listening to all your suggestion to improve SMACH Z:
- 1080p screen: 720p is more than enough for a 5" but by little more we can go HD. If we get to the Stretch Goal, SMACH Z screen will have more resolution per PP than the iPhone 6S!
- HD 64GB: 32GB is a quite short for so many awesome games. This one is a priority for us.
- Battery Life: 5h are great, but extra batteries is your only salvation in a long travel.
- DPad: Classic controller has been one of the most demanded features. We are confident that with the Magic Z-Pads everybody will be happy.
And we plan to continue listening to your feedback. All the backers will be invited to participate in the Development forum to give feedback and vote SMACH Z features. Like for example, choosing the colors of certain models.
In October 2016 we will start shipping SMACH Z to backers!
We stand firmly behind our product. SMACH Z includes 2 year limited warranty. For more information, please see:
Any reward has to add 5€ shipments to United States and European Union or 10€ for the rest of the world. However, if we get to the 2.5M Stretch Goal shipments will be free for everyone! If you have any doubt related to shipment to your country send us a message to support@smachz.com
If you need help, during or after the campaign has closed, you can reach us at support@smachz.com
Know someone who would be as hyped as you are about SMACH Z? Share our campaign with them here:
We've also cool rewards for all the backers when we will reach Social goals:
- 1,000 Kickstarter page Re-tweets: Exclusive SMACH Z wallpaper
- 5,000 likes in our Facebook page: Digital SMACH Z Christmas card.
- 10,000 Kickstarter page Re-tweets: Exclusive SMACH Z sticker for all the backers.
- 50,000 likes in our Facebook page: Download code for a Steam indie game compatible with your SMACH Z.
SMACH Z is being developed by a team of video game industry experienced developers, in association with a hardware manufacturer (ImasD), with more than 10 years of experience. ImasD is expert in designing and manufacturing mobile devices, such as tablets and consumer hardware, based in a patented own technology: ClickArm. We’re excited to work together building a new console that can revolutionize the way people play Steam games.
You are part of the SMACH Team: Join us in the project to bring PC games out of the house! The more we raise, the more we can do: Help us to make it REAL!
JOIN THE SMACH Z REVOLUTION!
©2015 SMACH Team. Steam™ name and logo are property of Valve® Corporation. All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Risks and challenges
We've come a long way already. What we have left to do is the manufacturing process, that it's expensive. Our manufacturer partner has complete a detailed project analysis to assure all the costs and providers, they've been doing it for years, but it is never simple.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
Support this project
Funding period
- (35 days)