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[MutonCommander]

With those specs and at full retail price, shit... guesstimating anywhere from $800-$1800. I'm probably off but I don't think by much.

Considering that these will launch mid-2014 and that Valve expects Steam Machines with Intel graphics, I'd say that proper Steam Machines that run games natively will start from as low as $300.

 

[Cerebral Assassin]

Meh the entire thing is a costly and pointless exercise. Just give me a small unobtrusive (like a HDMI stick like the Chromecast) streaming box that utilises my all ready expensive PC equipment without the stupid hardware lockout/limitations of the Nvidia Shield.

Who is this high spec and I would imagine very expensive SteamBox for exactly?

As most of the interesting developments in gaming are occurring on PC(OR, G-Sync, Steam Controller, Steam sales etc.), I can see some long-term console gamers being tempted by PC gaming, but may be put off by the process in building/upgrading a gaming PC. The Steam box could be perfect for these people.

 

[Hellsing321]

Meh the entire thing is a costly and pointless exercise. Just give me a small unobtrusive (like a HDMI stick like the Chromecast) streaming box that utilises my all ready expensive PC equipment without the stupid hardware lockout/limitations of the Nvidia Shield.

Who is this high spec and I would imagine very expensive SteamBox for exactly?

For the 300 people Valve picked to be Beta tester.

 

[MutonCommander]

It's like some of you weren't around for the announcements or something..

There are going to be several types of Steam machines. Though my guess is that they'll pretty much be two main types with lots of custumizability options.

The first is what I personally, and most existing PC gamers with any interest in expanding their gaming into the living room would likely purchase: A streaming box. A simple, little black box that streams my PC games, near latency free, to my TV from my existing powerhouse of an SLI rig. It's not only going to do that though - it will also support streaming my music/videos and almost certianly support stuff like netflix and youtube and twitch TV, etc, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some models with a passthrough for a cablebox a la Xbone for live TV support.

The second type is basically an HTPC. But it's steam branded, and probably much easier to pick up. I wouldn't be suprised if eventually you could wlak into walmart and ask for a "Steam machine" PC and have only a few options available, kaing it easier for Joe Schmoe to partake in the glory that is PC gaming.

And people, Valve are NOT a bunch of morons. They are not looking to compete with consoles head on the same year they release. It's not worth it. The Xbox brand hasn't made Microsoft ANY MONEY yet. Think about that. Even fi valve wanted to get into the console business it would be folly for them to expect a return on investment earlier than a DECADE from now. Ridiculous. You'd have to be crazy to try and compete in that space directly...

But indirectly... Well, I don't know about you guys but in 2006 80% of my friends were console only gamers. Today 100% do at least SOME gaming on the PC, with a good 75% gaming almost exclusively on their PC's.

Valve cannot compete directly with subsidized hardware and Billion dollar marketing budgets. BUT, in 3 years time, when Steam boxes are a reality, the kinks are worked out, there is wide support for Steam OS, and when you can include hardware that is 2-3 times more powerful than a "next gen" console for roughly the same price?

That sounds like the perfect time to bring in even more PC gamers into the fold, IMHO.

I think that's their plan.

First the will make PC gaming in the livingroom space a viable, easy thing to do even for Joe Schmoe, then they'll make the hardware easily and affordably available.

And those are only good things for PC gaming, IMHO.

Great post. There is ample opportunity for disruption in the console space and Valve are just now getting started.

 

[Daingurse]

Big black box, kinda like a 360. I like it, I have no incentive to buy it, but I like it. Just give me dat Steam Controller Valve, yessss.

 

[LeeRoyBrown]

Cool, well not that this was a let down I can go ahead on lock in the BitFenix Prodigy I was going to buy.

 

[Majukun]

but if a game is compatible with windows,will it be automatically compatible with steam OS too,or every company will need to make their new and old games compatible with the new OS?

 

[Interfectum]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/4/5...chine-valves-video-game-console-of-the-future

^ great article

 

[LeeRoyBrown]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/4/5...chine-valves-video-game-console-of-the-future

^ great article

Images from your link.

 

[TheHollowNight]

Edit: Ninja'd! Darn you!

 

[copelandmaster]

I want a mATX double stack/triple stack version with room for a BD drive and a Creative ZXR sound card.

Somebody do this and sell it on the internet. I pay you in the legally valid currency of my glorious mother nation.

 

[Clawww]

What excites me about this is that even if Steam Machines fails terribly, Valve will have come out of it having learned a lot.

 

[TGO]

WTF is that! Pad trying to replicate a KB+M too?

 

[OryoN]

Hey look guys, a freaking box!

 

[Moral Panic]

Cool, well not that this was a let down I can go ahead on lock in the BitFenix Prodigy I was going to buy.

That's way, way bigger than this though.

 

[TheHollowNight]

WTF is that! Pad trying to replicate a KB+M too?

Do you live in a cave?

 

[Clawww]

Cool, well not that this was a let down I can go ahead on lock in the BitFenix Prodigy I was going to buy.

Oh, because the only thing keeping you from getting your hands on an extremely limited prototype model was the way it looks?

"Sorry, Gabe, too ugly--you knew I was only interested in the case aesthetics anyways!"

hurrr

 

[TheHollowNight]

A cool shot with all the parts exposed from the Verge article.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

Looks like the old Motorola Comcast Boxes

However I like it. Im excited to get my hands on one soon. I might end up buying one of these before the Xbox one

 

[Dukey]

Should put a picture of that dude from the stereo commercial in the chair getting blown back by a speaker in front of the steambox. Looks like a subwoofer.

 

[LeeRoyBrown]

That's way, way bigger than this though.

Yeah...I know...it houses miniITX motherboards. Well spotted 99!

Oh, because the only thing keeping you from getting your hands on an extremely limited prototype model was the way it looks?

"Sorry, Gabe, too ugly--you knew I was only interested in the case aesthetics anyways!"

hurrr

I'm building a rig soon.

Being fuck ugly isnt on the agenda. When I think PC, I don't think VCR.

 

[domlolz]

Cool, well not that this was a let down I can go ahead on lock in the BitFenix Prodigy I was going to buy.

the steambox is too ugly, i'm gonna buy an even uglier looking case

 

[moggio]

I'm building a rig soon.

Being fuck ugly isnt on the agenda. When I think PC, I don't think VCR.

You prefer your PC to look like a ladies handbag.

 

[shuri]

that gtx card is gonna cook..

 

[domlolz]

Why is that hand wearing glasses?

it's a painting, why not

 

[Mononoke]

Yeah...I know...it houses miniITX motherboards. Well spotted 99!



I'm building a rig soon.

Being fuck ugly isnt on the agenda. When I think PC, I don't think VCR.

To be fair, the point of this is not to build a rig, but a portable device that you would have under your TV. Building something of those dimensions really limits your ability to make something good looking. I'm not saying it can't be done, it can. But they are much more limited than if they built a full on rig. At this point, the design is all about function and not form. It's literally an encasing which is the exact size needed to hold it all in. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[LeeRoyBrown]

the steambox is too ugly, i'm gonna buy an even uglier looking case

the steambox is awesome, can't wait to slap an AMD 290x in that and watercool it.......oh wait.

oh I see what you did there.

 

[Clawww]

Yeah...I know...it houses miniITX motherboards. Well spotted 99!



I'm building a rig soon.

Being fuck ugly isnt on the agenda. When I think PC, I don't think VCR.

Just a weird way to make your point: it's not like you had the choice of getting this beta prototype steam machine over your preferred case. Unless you're misunderstanding something about this not being any kind of final retail design, but there's no way you're that dense, right?

 

[Muppet of a Man]

And....it's a box; a rectangular prism to be exact. At least in terms of design accents, they have the concentric circles that kind of match the circular concave trackpad thingies on the controller.

 

[Moral Panic]

Yeah...I know...it houses miniITX motherboards. Well spotted 99!



I'm building a rig soon.

Being fuck ugly isnt on the agenda. When I think PC, I don't think VCR.

So does this. I'm confused....

 

[Kinthalis]

but if a game is compatible with windows,will it be automatically compatible with steam OS too,or every company will need to make their new and old games compatible with the new OS?

If the game is compatible with Linux/OpenGL it'll likely be compatible with SteamOS, or easily made so. If it's a windows only, DX game, then it would have to be ported, or made with OpenGL support. This is going to take some doing on Valve's part. They'll have to convince (and probably on occasion pay) developers to do this. Devs need to feel like it's a worthwhile endevour.

It might also be possible to dual boot the syste and play windows games in windows, and all others in SteamOS.

What would be fantastic is if SteamOS can boot first and then have windows running on top. Best of both worlds.

 

[Dmented]

Considering that these will launch mid-2014 and that Valve expects Steam Machines with Intel graphics, I'd say that proper Steam Machines that run games natively will start from as low as $300.

You would be correct. It's pretty interesting that you could buy something like that, starting at $300 using the integrated GPU and then later if you wanted, spend a little extra cash and buy a dedicated GPU and toss it in it. It gives people a chance to get familiar with PC/Steam and then decide later if they want to get more out of it or not.

That's the type of "console" gaming I would like to see in the future.

 

[ClassyPenguin]

Looks better than most pc cases. At least there no "omg oh wow" led light show that tends to the norm for gamer cases.

 

[bedlamite]

Are people seriously jizzing over the size of the case? It's a small form factor case like the Dell OptiPlex that was shown earlier in the thread.

 

[Daingurse]

Looks better than most pc cases. At least there no "omg oh wow" led light show that tends to the norm for gamer cases.

That was the only thing good about my old Alienware Aurora. Shitty airflow and cramped innards, but it could do light shows . . .

 

[shandy706]

That....that....I don't know how that GPU stays cool..8-O

 

[Alien Bob]

That....that....I don't know how that GPU stays cool..8-O

Looks like there are plenty of vents

 

[solarus]

That thing makes my node 304 look like a giant 0_0

 

[BraXzy]

So now about 40 of Valve’s 330 employees are tinkering with hardware and trying to make the PC platform better for entertainment.

So that's where Diretide went.

I hope this works out for Valve, either way, just give me one of those 300 prototypes!

Is it odd that I like the design of this a lot?

 

[shandy706]

Looks like there are plenty of vents

Not enough to make me comfortable...even if it works 100% lol.

My current SLI setup makes me nervous and it has more room.

 

[Harlock]

So, the controller will work with Deadly Premonition?

 

[JaseC]

Looks better than most pc cases. At least there no "omg oh wow" led light show that tends to the norm for gamer cases.

I can't stand this sort of ostentatious crap. These days it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a moderately-priced case with more than half-a-dozen HDD trays and decent cooling that doesn't fall within the "gamer case" bracket.

 

[dezzy8]

Looks like a VCR.

 

[ChitoCrisis]

I think it looks pretty cool especially for a prototype. I wonder how much it's going to cost.

 

[Raticus79]

Hmm, is that another touch pad on the front of the machine itself?

 

[redtails64]

Yeah, the big button thing reminds me of a 360.

 

[Zeth]

Are people seriously jizzing over the size of the case? It's a small form factor case like the Dell OptiPlex that was shown earlier in the thread.

It houses a full size top end GPU though - closer to Falcon's small form factor than the Dell.

 

[D Bo Chops]

what the hell is this? we were not ready

Ahh you havnt heard? That was the prototype version of the "brainwave detector" model. No need for buttons, fuck that shit. Its reads your mind, skin temp, and gives you something to hold onto as your world gets rocked! lol

 

[Darkwaknight]

Looks like there are plenty of vents

Yeah...With the case top of it as in this photo.

Judging by the display of ..ahem.."prototype" controllers they have on that desk resembling a Car Boot Retro gaming display (I mean what would you do with the curved plastic..??..tray??) these Valve designed in-house built boxes (must have taken at least a week for the custom bezel to arrive for their mATX case) I do for see some "Issues" on the beta that are heat related off the bat.

And to confirm it is simply a PC called steam box running Linux...Hmm cannot get that excited about something I already have or could build?/

 

[Bomber Bob]

price you guys, we need a price