Report: Valve Working on 'Steam Box' Game Console
More rumors that suggest Valve could be about to take on Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.
With Mobile World Congress over, the industry's attention is turning to all things game as GDC is almost upon us. Last month, Gabe Newell got people talking when he said in an interview that his company could end up selling hardware. Newell said 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. Now, the latest rumors say Valve is indeed working on its own hardware and it could talk more about it at GDC this month.
According to an exclusive report on the Verge, the company has been working on a hardware spec and associated software which would make up the backbone of a "Steam Box." The site's sources also said that the device would be manufactured by a variety of partners, and the software would be readily available to any company that wants it. The Verge reports that the hardware in question would be capable of playing PC games and would also be able to run services like EA's origin. Basic specs of the Steam Box are said to include a Core i7 processor from Intel, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GPU, and the Verge points to both the Alienware X51 and a recent patent filed by Valve as possible reference designs for the console and its controller. This particular patent was filed in 2011 and details a controller that allows for swappable components depending on the game you're playing.
Not too long after the Verge report surfaced, Kotaku pointed to a November 2 tweet from Valve employee that included the specs listed above and a photo of a gaming PC.
"Built this tiny PC. i7 quad core, 8GB ram, Zotac Z-68 mobo w/ onnboard Nvidia mobile gfx. Runs Portal 2 FAST," the tweet read, with a link to the following photo:
Based on the information we've heard (and seen) so far, the Steam Box sounds a lot like a Valve-branded PC, which makes us a little bit skeptical about this move. For a software company, entering the hardware market is a big enough risk, but at least a console's life-cycle is usually pretty long. The same cannot be said of a gaming PC. There's also the issue of price -- a gaming PC is significantly more expensive than a console. For example, the Alienware X51, which the Verge reckons may have been designed with the Steam Box in mind, starts at $700.
Valve hasn't revealed anything about its plans where hardware is concerned, but the Verge's sources say the company might reveal more about the Steam Box at GDC or perhaps E3 later this quarter, so stay tuned.



Confirmation that this might be an underpowered, overpriced failure!!!!!!
Confirmation that this might be an underpowered, overpriced failure!!!!!!
Cheers! XD
Screw those guys I'll just use Origin until they deliver on HL3! Been waiting to dam long!
Haters gonna Hate, but whateva.
I hope this never happens. This is a stupid idea, and its bound to fail. They will never get it at a cheap enough price to be profitable for them. Any new console needs to be under $500 new for consumers to even think about buying it.
its MUCH more likely valve is working on a controller with swappable controls. You know, the thing they actually filed a patent for. And the only fact in this article. Than working on some horrid alienware clown that already exists.... They have steamworks on ps3 and are working on Xbox. this doesn't even make sense
um... you do realise that if this takes off, more pc centered games right?
older valve games for close to free if not free? i mean to a normal person, getting a system preloaded with what at least 5 games regarded best of the genre would be a major selling point.
lets assume high end mobile gpu... it can play damn near every game maxed so long as you aren't trying to force retarded settings on it... i play all my games at 1920x1080 windowed or 1920x1200 full screen basically maxed with shadow effects toned down on a 5770.
low, lets see here, an i7, no mention of a mobile version, so assume 250$+ a mobile gpu, im assuming a high end, so 200-300$, now motherboard, ram and such, i'm assuming 50 and 80 in that order, probably less if they get it bulk. and a psu, which if gotten geared for the hardware, could be cheaper than what we buy and just as good of quality, so ill assume 50$
so in total 630-730$, now realize that valve would put this out with plans on making that money back through subsidizing if they do sell it below cost, wall mart and such sell a game with 12-17$ profit margin, valve gets what 25-33% (selling it digitally lowers the cost allot, giving more to devs than store bought)
people who dont have a gameing pc and would buy a gameing pc from alienware.
no no no no no... thats later in the game, first run of consoles, at least sense xbox was to establish themselves, no matter the cost. second run was to get into homes no matter the cost. ps2 and ps3 both pushed a hardware standard, not even focused on games, just wanting to win the war, so it was less about games and more about getting the hardware out...
once all that crap was dont, than yea, it becomes more of a games make up for it.
not in gameing, due to the cost of about 10 million per extra platform. but seeing as this will most likely be just a valve branded pc, it wont add to the cost of games.