Cartel when my favourite monopoly doesn't get preferential treatment.

Bullshit. Whales are lining up to buy Gaben his ninth yacht.

I don't even think the Steam Machine is a bad deal, especially if you have a decently sized Steam library. That's the draw. Yeah it's a few hundred more than a PS5, but with the PS5, you gotta buy games. If you already have a Steam library, the Steam Machine has an advantage the consoles can't really touch, given all the deep discounts, giveaways, Humble Bundles that gave Steam keys over the years, and so on and so forth. Also, I do believe Steam Machines can play GOG and Epic sold games as well. Probably emulators, too.

So what would a PlayStation/Xbox be worth if it included as many games as you have on Steam? If you have zero games on Steam it's a moot point. I myself have 268 games in my Steam library. 64 of which can be played on my current computer (Mac), though most of those probably still use Intel code, which means I won't be able to play them next year when macOS 28 drops its Intel compatibility layer.