Valve "Steam Box" gaming console?

[Eric5676]

http://www.theverge....-gaming-console

Exclusive: Valve said to be working on 'Steam Box' gaming console with partners, could announce at GDC

Recently there's been chatter that Valve — the company behind the massively popular gaming service Steam — has been considering getting into the hardware business. Specifically, there have been rumors that the company has been toying with the idea of creating a proper set-top console which could potentially pose a threat to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell even recently told Penny Arcade: "Well, if we have to sell hardware we will."

At a glance that would simply be interesting fodder for a gaming forum debate, but we've uncovered information that suggests that not only has Valve been secretly working on gaming hardware for the living room, but that the company is actively pursuing a strategy which would place Steam at the center of an open gaming universe that mirrors what Google has done with Android.

Backing up that concept, in the same interview we quote above, Newell says that Valve doesn't really want to do hardware on its own, stating, "We'd rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do [hardware]. We think it's important enough that if that's what we end up having to do, then that's what we end up having to do."

That jibes pretty well with this rumored arrangement.

According to sources, the company has been working on a hardware spec and associated software which would make up the backbone of a "Steam Box." The actual devices may be made by a variety of partners, and the software would be readily available to any company that wants to get in the game.

Adding fuel to that fire is a rumor that the Alienware X51 may have been designed with an early spec of the system in mind, and will be retroactively upgradable to the software.

Apparently meetings were held during CES to demo a hand-built version of the device to potential partners. We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU. The devices will be able to run any standard PC titles, and will also allow for rival gaming services (like EA's Origin) to be loaded up.

Part of the goal of establishing a baseline for hardware, we're told, is that it will give developers a clear lifecycle for their products, with changes possibly coming every three to four years. Additionally, there won't be a required devkit, and there will be no licensing fees to create software for the platform.

We're hearing that a wide variety of USB peripherals will be compatible with the boxes, though it will likely ship with a proprietary controller. It's possible that the controller will even allow for swappable components, meaning that it can be reconfigured depending on the type of game you're playing. Think that sounds odd? Well Valve filed a patent for such a device last year: http://www.faqs.org/...p/20110105231#b

Additionally, we're told that the kind of biometrics Valve uses in game testing will somehow be incorporated into these devices. Sources of ours say that the realtime biometric feedback in games will be a sea-change for users. To put it more succinctly, the sentiment we've heard is: "You won't ever look back." These biometric devices could come in the form of a bracelet, or be part of the standard controller.

The consoles will also take advantage of Steam's "Big Picture" mode, a feature Valve touted last year at GDC, but has yet to release to the public. According to the company's press release in 2011 "With big picture mode, gaming opportunities for Steam partners and customers become possible via PCs and Macs on any TV or computer display in the house."

The most interesting piece of this puzzle may be related to that statement. According to sources, the Steam Box isn't intended to just clash with current gaming consoles. Rather, Valve wants to take Apple and its forthcoming new Apple TV products head-on.

Newell has clear questions about Apple's strategy, telling the The Seattle Times "On the platform side, it's sort of ominous that the world seems to be moving away from open platforms," adding that "They build a shiny sparkling thing that attracts users and then they control people's access to those things."

The Steam Box could be unveiled at GDC, though we're also hearing that the company may wait until E3 this year to show off what it's been working on.

One thing is for sure, however: if these rumors turn out to be correct, there could be a whole new kind of battle for control of your living room happening in the near future. Of course, much of this is pieced together from a variety of sources, and there could be moving parts which we can't see. Some of this information could change.

We've reached out to Valve for comment, and will update the post with any new information we receive.

Disclaimer: There isn't a hell of a lot of concrete data or sources behind this article. Take it for the overglorified rumormongering that it is but I personally think there's a grain of truth to the overall broad concept being suggested here.

Obviously if GDC and E3 come and go and we see and hear nothing than it's a bunch of crap and we move on.

Valve were ambitious pioneers with Steam way back in 2004. This has the potential makings of being another ambitious and possibly pioneering move by them yet again. If basically set themselves up as the Android of the entire gaming world that's huge for them.

If nothing else, it certainly is going to be very interesting to watch unfold. If I'm Sony, Microsoft, Apple, and Nintendo I'm definitely not a happy camper with this news.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Eric5676

[grawk]

Wanting to compete with a $100 set top box with a $300+ console is an interesting take.

[Eric5676]

Wanting to compete with a $100 set top box with a $300+ console is an interesting take.

If it's even true.

What I basically get out of all of this rumoring and such is: Valve wants to make Steam the Android of the gaming world. Frankly I feel like I'm already seeing that in progress.

I can use Steam on the PC, the PS3, the Mac, this: http://store.steampowered.com/mobile this: http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/thebigpicture.php and so forth. I can't see Valve making hardware for themselves and they don't have to. Look at Google with Google TV, for example.

So it's going to be interesting to watch unfold.

[grawk]

I think a modular gaming box like that is great, I just don't see how it's a competitor for appletv at all. They don't really even have any overlap

[Beefy]

I think a modular gaming box like that is great, I just don't see how it's a competitor for appletv at all. They don't really even have any overlap

In this day and age where even DVD players have Netflix capability, and Steam is becoming a ubiquitous delivery platform, it is entirely feasible that a 'Steam Box' could be used for accessing many different types of content.

Lite games plus media on one box would be great for the mainstream, IF they can keep it under the Xbox/Playstation alternatives.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Beefy

[Grahame]

Interesting. Specs also compatible with OnLive (Gaming, in/from the cloud) or a Valve version of it perhaps?

[deepak]

Core i7 and 8 GB of RAM is very high end as far as console specs go. If it's not running any OS or anything in the background...

If it's true it would be great. More competition for Sony, MS, and Nintendo is always good.

[kungfuzion]

the specs read like a gaming pc, a I7 and 8gb of ram already put it at around the $200-300 mark.