Steam Console Rumored!

300_Angry_Kittens · Mar 5, 2012

Could gaming software titan Valve be getting into the hardware business? The makers of iconic games like Half Life and Portal and the creators of the gaming distribution program Steam are reportedly working on a hardware platform they could be announcing as early as this weekâ€™s Game Development Conference.

The rumor, reported by The Verge last Friday, puts Valve in an interesting position to shape the next generation of console gaming. The hardwareâ€™s presumed heavy integration with Steam would create a console store that Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store would have a lot of trouble keeping up with. PCWorld Editor Jason Cross actually discussed the advantages Steam has over other game and app stores on a recent episode of the Game On podcast.

The Verge speculates that Valveâ€™s console would feature upgradable hardware that used biometrics in some way along with a proprietary controller that let you swap out components depending on game type. Valve filed a patent for just such a controller last year.

This is all in line with Valve president Gabe Newellâ€™s comments in a recent interview with the PA Report. In the interview Newell confirmed that the company had some exciting plans ahead with biometrics in games, and even confirmed that the company was looking into the hardware space saying simple â€œwell, if we have to sell hardware we will.â€

Without any actual confirmation, this is simply remains a rumor. But we may find out what (if anything) Valve has in store soon. Rumor has it that Valve was already setting up meetings about their new console at CES and is planning to reveal the hardware either at this weekâ€™s GDC or at E3 this summer. Weâ€™ll let you know here at Game On as soon as we hear more.
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<a class="postlink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/251263/steam_box_is_valve_working_on_a_console.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.pcworld.com/article/251263/s ... nsole.html</a>

Very exciting stuff!

Not for hardcore PC gamers but bringing steam to the unwashed masses (console gamers) and into the living room sounds great.

Killvion · Mar 5, 2012

I don't want little 12 year old PS and Xbox kiddies in my TF2. Or any other game for that matter.

And I'm not a console player myself, so it's not really interesting for myself either.

Aaaand I'm afraid Valve is going to release some "console-only" games...Which would suck. Not to mention bad porting..

Alias · Mar 5, 2012

Bleh, I have a PS3 and wouldnt see the point in buying another console. Besides... the reason I play games on steam is because i like them on my PC...

300_Angry_Kittens · Mar 6, 2012

As i understand it it will just be a PC that can be easily connected to your TV, and runs steam, any game they release on steam will be available on the traditional client as well as the console.

It wont use a whole new platform or anything. My guess would be a modded version of Linux that runs the Steam client and any steam game.

Morrolan · Mar 6, 2012

300_Angry_Kittens said:

As i understand it it will just be a PC that can be easily connected to your TV, and runs steam, any game they release on steam will be available on the traditional client as well as the console.

It wont use a whole new platform or anything. My guess would be a modded version of Linux that runs the Steam client and any steam game.
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Which might mean that they'd finally release a native Linux client. \o/

Jer9 · Mar 6, 2012

300_Angry_Kittens said:

As i understand it it will just be a PC that can be easily connected to your TV, and runs steam, any game they release on steam will be available on the traditional client as well as the console.

It wont use a whole new platform or anything. My guess would be a modded version of Linux that runs the Steam client and any steam game.
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yeah that's what i think too. it sounds they're trying to make a more standarized PC that people can pick up and play on.
great for casual peopl i guess.

their controller looks interesting. ability to customize your controller to some setup you'll like.

Anonymous · Mar 6, 2012

Darkness899 · Mar 6, 2012

That comic :lol:
+1

B.A baramous · Mar 6, 2012

new info:

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.
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source <a class="postlink" href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/2/2840932/exclusive-valve-steam-box-gaming-console" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/2/284093 ... ng-console</a>

spec's aren't bad at least ^^

*Gaz · Mar 6, 2012

B.A baramous said:

spec's aren't bad at least ^^
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It's just a computer with a stupid gamepad.

This kind of project would bring, as Killvion said, more only console games and also some kind of consolized games on our computers, which is a pretty bad (the worst ?) idea seeing we have more and more easy games that you can finish at 100% in 10 hours.

Alias said:

the reason I play games on steam is because i like them on my PC...
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+1

So this results in a NOP vote

Have a nice day

Anonymous · Mar 6, 2012

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QfSzgV1q5g[/youtube]

Jer9 · Mar 9, 2012

Valve is denying the rumors:

Shooting Down Rumors, Valve Says Theyâ€™re Not Making a Game Console Any Time Soon

Delay those dreams of a Steam Box competing with a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii. Valve Software is not making a gaming console in the near future and that the various rumors swirling around don't add up to them making their own set-top box.

"We're prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we're building boxes to test that on," Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said, referring to a new Steam interface that will make the online gaming service easily useable for people who want to play Steam games on a PC that's connected to their TV. "We're also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we've talked about a fair amount.

"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware."

Lombardi refused to flat-out say that Valve isn't working on a console. When I posted it to him this wayâ€”"What you're saying is, there's definitely nothing coming any time soon, nothing at GDC or E3, but what you're not ruling out is the possibility that, hey, maybe some day Valve would make hardware," he said, "I think that's accurate."

Rumors of an impending Steam Box have heated over the last week, since leading tech site The Verge reported that Valve was working on a console that it would develop in partnership with various hardware manufacturers, similar to Google's approach with the Android platform. Some of the evidence cited were patents for configurable controllers and rumors of an incorporation of Valve's public interest in tracking and reacting to player's biometrics into a Steam console. The Verge report also cited a hardware spec that turned out to match that of a PC built last fall by Valve's Greg Coomer. Could that have been a prototype, we had wondered?

"Greg's one of the guys leading the effort of the Big Picture mode," Lombardi said. "The idea is that you can take Steam to any display. What we're trying to do is say, 'here's a box that we're going to use for testing that's common for Big Picture mode and get performance at a base level.'... We're always putting boxes together. Going all the way back to the Half-Life 1 days, we built special boxes to test our software renderâ€¦ it's just part of development."

UPDATE: Some readers speculated that Lombardi was dancing around the possibility that Valve might be partnering with other hardware makes who would be shipping a possible Steambox. I double-checked with Lombardi. Whether we're talking about Valve making hardware or partnering with others, nothing like that is happening any time soon, he said.

Source: Kontaku
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300_Angry_Kittens · Mar 9, 2012

I thought they might be trying to get in on the next gen console launch, but who knows how far away that is, anywhere from late 2012-2015.

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