Valve Job Posting Confirms Plans for Making Own Hardware
It's not an official confirmation but it's probably about as close as we'll get for now.
Rumors of Valve's plans for a Steam Box console have been doing the rounds for a while now. Things got started back in February when Gabe Newell said in an interview that while Valve had no reason to believe it was any good at selling hardware, they had to continue to innovate, and if that meant developing and selling hardware, then so be it. Today, a job posting points to the existence of said hardware, which could be either a game console or a PC.
A job posting for an Electronics Engineer over at Valve says in no uncertain terms that the company is looking to get into the hardware game.
"For years, Valve has been all about writing software that provides great gameplay experiences," the post reads. "Now we're developing hardware to enhance those experiences, and you can be a key part of making that happen."
Just in case that leaves any room for doubt, the posting continues, "We're not talking about me-too mice and gamepads here – help us invent whole new gaming experiences," with an invite to join a "highly motivated team that's doing hardware design, prototyping, testing, and production across a wide range of platforms."
Valve says interested applicants will be required to have hands on prototyping experience, lab and measurement skills, system-level design experience, knowledge of embedded systems/microcontrollers, experience with high speed serial interfaces, experience with schematic entry, and experience with circuit simulation. Additionally, the company would like if the candidate also had an idea of doard layout (analog and high speed digital), Hardware Definition Languages (HDL) for FPGA and chip design, and a whole host of other things (including experience with thermal management and ARM / X86 system design).
Hit up Valve for full details. There's also a screenshot below in case the job posting is pulled (click through to zoom).

that will be a launch title, how else will they get everyone with a pc to get this?
that will be a launch title, how else will they get everyone with a pc to get this?
Everyone minus 1. That would be the day I bought a console because I wanted to play HL2 Ep3. Moreover, an HL2 Ep3 that was an exclusive to said console! I'd just stick it to the Man. I don't need another company moving to console exclusives.
it's called ps3 with linux.
That does not mean it can play games due to the ps3 using a completely different processor architecture, as long as they make their system based on x86 then the homogenous software can work if written correctly.
I know in another article that they were also working on developing some new biometric feedback as well. So I guess their box will give you more feedback than the rumble feature that came out on the N64, which is nice. I know that is something that has been lacking in PC gaming, since your mouse and keyboard gives zero feedback. Perhaps texture feedback? I know a company developed this a year or two ago and was suppousedly going to be on the PS Vita, but that was a no go.
I think it would be great if they use Nvidia's ARM chips, they can use Android as the OS. Look at what developers have done with Asus Prime.
In a sence, that is the way I think they want to go. Google created Android as this open platform, however they make money on the market and advertisement.
Valve can make an open gaming platform, but because they pretty much will set the roadmap, they will make millions in transaction fees from the Steam Store.
And if there is a "Amazon" out there wanting to compete in Valve's platform, that only makes the platform more popular... a win win for Valve.
Windows 8 is the 1st thing that comes to mind when I saw ARM / X86 System Design in the recommended section for the job posting.
I hope my mind is just messing with me tho..... who knows what it's going to be, could be an authenticator for your steam account for all we know. (and that would be a great option for people who have a TON of games and are paranoid about having their account stolen/hacked/etc.)
I can think of few things in gaming that I hate more than the cloud.