While this should come as no surprise to those that follow gaming and especially Valve, the long discussed “Steam Box” has been unveiled at CES in Las Vegas. Although the name “Steam Box” was not mentioned in the official release, the unveiling finally gives us a look at what Valve’s Gabe Newell confirmed back in December, and what many (including us) think could change PC gaming - and by extension the entire gaming industry – for good.
The announcement today is the first step towards elevating the Steam Box beyond the realms of talk and design that it has firmly inhabited thus far. The name may change, and the specifics have yet to be discussed, but a prototype has been commissioned through the Salt Lake City-based Xi3. That coincides with the announcement that Valve has invested in the hardware manufacturer.
Although still in the development stage, the device is being shown off at CES. It takes advantage of Valve’s “Big Picture” mode, which allows for games to be played on HD TVs. Combining that with the games available via Steam’s service, could make for some serious competition for the big three console makers, as well as retailers that thrive on physical media sales.
It’s far too early to start guessing about things like price and availability, but the hardware is essentially a vehicle for the successful Steam service, which could mean that the Steam Box (or whatever name it finally lands on), could be coming sooner than you think. It might even beat Microsoft and Sony to the punch, and introduce a new, legitimate contender in the next console war.
You gave no information on how “nothing will ever be the same again”. You gave no specs at all except that it runs big picture mode, which everyone already new it would. Xi3 is also not the company making Steam Box, it’s making it’s own hardware, being back by Steam. The steam box will come out after Xi3 releases theirs, also another company is also making a system that will do the same thing as Steam Box and what Xi3 is releasing.
Where do you get your info to prove this harsh statement?
And users of the Steam Box will be called…wait for it…STEAMPUNKS!
The console industry needs new blood, the WiiU is baby stuff, xBOX and Sony are sitting on there laurels. Now I don’t have to but my son a full blown gaming rig to play games with me. But it will have to have parental control feature on game content. So ready for this, sadly eJunkie doesn’t have clue what going on in the hardware arena and what you can accomplish in a smaill form factor. Go Steam go, I will definatly be a buyer!
Knowing Valve’s naming scheme, if they call it anything other than Turbine I’ll be very surprised.
Yea because this will SO change gaming. Like um… How?
Theres no way that little cube will run full games like Left 4 dead or GTA IV.
We already got consoles and gaming PC`s, and we got the Ouya for Indie games.
We dont need the steam box.
Don’t think you get it. It’s way more powerful than ancient Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware. Left 4 Dead is owned by Valve and is guaranteed to be supported. It will have the horsepower for GTA IV, but runs Linux, so a port is required there. That’s going to be the challenge. Getting devs to release Linux versions of their games.
Now… if this thing can somehow use the computing power of my PC and “beam” the game out to my TV then that would be something… somehow wirelessly link my controller to my PC or something of that nature I can see it being a hit… maybe. The issue I see is the reason I play games on my PC. Other people are using the damn TV. I’m not sure if my sister, brother, significant other is going to appreciate me playing all the way through Dead Space 3 during Dexter the American Walking XFactor Survivor Dead…
If the “Steam Box” is a PC “console” for your TV this will revolutionize gaming in every aspect! Let’s just hope no leaks happen and Microsoft/Sony steals some of Valve’s ideas.
Um… portable PC’s in small cases like this have been around for more than a decade.
http://www.falcon-nw.com/desktops/fragbox
The “Big Picture” thing is what is… kind of new.