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Valve Teases Steam Box, Other News

We'll hear three different announcements from Valve next week.

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There are big things brewing at Valve. The company has launched a teaser website that says “the Steam universe is expanding in 2014,” and has promised three announcements next week.

Given Steam founder Gabe Newell’s recent comments at a Linux conference, it seems inevitable we’re about to hear more concrete details about Valve and Steam moving into the living room.

“Last year, we shipped a software feature called Big Picture, a user-interface tailored for televisions and gamepads,” said the company on its teaser page. “This year we’ve been working on even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room.Soon, we’ll be adding you to our design process, so that you can help us shape the future of Steam.”

In a subsequent email to the press, more details about how this will played out were detailed.

Firstly, expect an announcement Monday morning. The news will show up on the teaser page, but Valve did not provide any details on what we might expect, except to say the news is about “the steps we're taking to make Steam more accessible on televisions and in the living room.”

There are several image-related teaser on Valve’s page, too. Make of them what you will.

This year was already going to be a crazy one for gaming hardware. It’s about to get crazier.

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Patrick Klepek on Google+

146 Comments

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trucksimulator

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It's Shenmue 3.

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deactivated-619aef89cbc28

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This is why i never pre ordered a PS4 or XBONE

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Milkman

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*insert Half Life 3 joke here*

In all seriousness, if this is what I think and hope it is, I might just say fuck a PS4 and Xbox One.

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redwing42

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Been waiting for a Steam Box... curious what the pricing tiers will be.

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spraynardtatum

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I can't wait to switch to Linux. I'm done with Microsoft for a good long while.

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OllyOxenFree

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WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!?

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EuanDewar

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I'm really, REALLY interested in this. The barrier keeping me from getting big into PC gaming is a simple but meaningful one and I would love to see Valve come out with something that makes PC gaming more appealing to me. Cant say it would stop from me getting a console completely though, too many games that don't come out on PC that I'm interested in.

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Christoffer

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About damn time something moved into my living room, I haven't been there in years. Well, someone could have already moved in there by now, it's impossible to know really.

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subyman

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Edited By subyman

@rushdo said:

This is why i never pre ordered a PS4 or XBONE

You can buy a PC right now. ;)

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chiablo

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All I want is an inexpensive device like the nVidia Shield, but that connects to a PC that will stream video and games from my PC to the living room.

But whatever it is, I hope they call it the Hatbox.

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jagehtso

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How about Steam on Xbone and/or PS4, instead of making a console of their own? Too far-fetched?

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sprinks

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@chiablo said:

All I want is an inexpensive device like the nVidia Shield, but that connects to a PC that will stream video and games from my PC to the living room.

But whatever it is, I hope they call it the Hatbox.

Yes, I want a (possibly Miracast supporting) easy and cheap streaming solution to put Big Picture stuff from my PC into the living room as well.

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LarryDavis

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It's Shenmue 3.

That's existed for a while, it's called the Yakuza series.

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KingHippp0

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You can purchase this console today. It's called a Personal Computer. It also plays Netflix.

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stunik101

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The controller is actually alive and will come with three Ai personalities to choose from :- elvis / Stephen hawking or lady ga ga

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Rasgueado

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I mean... they're releasing they're own version of the LINUX kernal. I can just see that... if they were able to develop a version of the OS that is more compatible with games traditionally made for a windows environment than...

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deactivated-590b7522e5236

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half life 3 linux exclusive

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Hells

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What is the meaning of that Cat?

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xymox

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deactivated-619aef89cbc28

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@subyman: Do I look like a scrub? ;P

I would like to play some games on my TV though. And if it works like I'm assuming it will, I will have a large library of games already purchased on it.

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kkotd

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While I've been waiting a while to hear what they'll do, I'm definitely keeping my expectations really low. It'll probably be a smaller linux box, that runs a custom distro, using WINE for as much as it can and has medium range specs. It'll probably retail for $399-499. This is all speculation, but if they're really trying to go after the living room, then that sorta makes sense.

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CaLe

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Edited By CaLe

I never use my living room but I do use a 42" TV as a monitor.. It's too big to sit right in front of and play games though, so I find myself sitting further back and wanting to only play things that are controller friendly. I'm interested in whatever hardware they have cooking. I hope it's some kind of new input device rather than another form of PC box.

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Mr_Skeleton

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Edited By Mr_Skeleton

I bet they are making a new Dota game.

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spraynardtatum

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The controller is actually alive and will come with three Ai personalities to choose from :- elvis / Stephen hawking or lady ga ga

I read that as 2 Ai personalities. Elvis/Stephen Hawking or Lady Ga Ga. Elvis/Stephen Hawking would be incredible.

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deactivated-619aef89cbc28

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@chiablo: I would be okay with an announcement like that. But I am more looking for someone to take on MS and Sony head on. But I would be surprised if they announced a streaming box because ultimately Steam is a software platform which benefits more from a new audience rather than a shift in it's current audience.

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Winternet

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Edited By Winternet

New patch for Dota is coming out Monday.

Mystery solved!

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ProfessorEss

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I'm interested in anything that has the potential to combine a console with Steam-style software prices.

I'm also interested in anything can can combine Linux's efficiency with Windows compatibility.

And the fact that it's Steam makes it that much more convincing.

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Levio

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I really like the idea of the steam box coming in and just demolishing the X1 and PS4, but if Valve builds up too much of a monopoly, they could eventually get away with screwing over their customers (which shareholders would force them to do in such a scenario), which would ruin Steam.

Either way though, at least it will be fascinating to watch.

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porjos

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Edited By porjos

Perhaps it's not anything with the steam box - maybe it's Half life 3, Team fortress 3, and/or Left 4 Dead 3. Holy three.

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Aetheldod

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Half fuckin life 3!!!!! It has to be ... please D:

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Aoi

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Edited By Aoi

So I'm curious. If the rumors are true, and this will be sporting Linux based Steam OS, which in turn would cut out any other service that doesn't run in Linux, how is this not the biggest bullshit monopoly move again? They already did a fantastic job wiping out used game sales on the PC, locking games to one specific person so you can't give them to friends when you don't want them anymore, but now they are (rumored) to be making a big ole box that makes sure to cut out any competition to their storefront.

Man, Gabe's time as a Microsoft employee is showing through beautifully. It's neat how all they needed to do is release a couple good FPS games, and a MOBA to get people to clamor for a potentially more restrictive system of playing games than the Xbox One was going to be on their worst day. Awesome.

Edit: Oh, and their sharing program? Seriously? It's a neat system that is made absolutely pointless by its crazy restrictions. It's amazing how gamers will just ignore anything bad Valve is doing just because they've made a few great games.

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Evilsbane

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Half fuckin life 3!!!!! It has to be ... please D:

Just don't man...I had to stop thinking anytime valve said they had surprises (3 Surprises TWICE NOW) and NOTHING my heart just can't handle it anymore still love Valve for what they do but fuck them for making such an amazing series and then just....silence.

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ArbitraryWater

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It's not Half Life 3. Half Life 3 is a myth designed to keep the populace docile for the inevitable culling.

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LiquidPenguins

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@aoi: don't use steam and quit crying about people getting something they're happy about

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deactivated-64b8656eaf424

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3 buttons, half life 3 confirmed.

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porjos

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@aoi: Your opinion was presented in an extremely speculative, uninformed, and obviously biased format. In other words, worthless.

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Drekly

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Edited By Drekly

HOLY SHIT THEY MADE A CONSOLE AIMED PRIMARILY AT CATS.

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stunik101

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stunik101

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I want an actual steam powered console and it must look something like Stephensons Rocket

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mithhunter55

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Edited By mithhunter55

@levio said:

I really like the idea of the steam box coming in and just demolishing the X1 and PS4, but if Valve builds up too much of a monopoly, they could eventually get away with screwing over their customers (which shareholders would force them to do in such a scenario), which would ruin Steam.

Either way though, at least it will be fascinating to watch.

Valve doesnt have share holders. It is a privately held company. Though it does have a few stakeholders Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington :P Who knows what deals they made when Mike left. Anyways depending on the content deals valve has other publishers still have power over them. Example being EA not releasing Mass Effect 3 and Battlefield 3 & 4, Ect. on steam.

Though in my personal life this has just lead me to not play Mass Effect 3. :S

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Aoi

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@porjos: I'll never get tired of all the crazy people that get immediately, and crazily defensive whenever anyone says they're worried about the direction Valve is taking. Carry on, dude, you're hilarious.

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Harkat

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half life 3 linux exclusive

You know, if Valve are serious about Linux being the future, they should actually do this.

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Sooty

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@aoi said:

They already did a fantastic job wiping out used game sales on the PC

Except they didn't. One-use codes were already a thing before Steam in the case of multiplayer, and many stores stopped allowing the trade in of PC games long before Steam caught on.

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radioactivez0r

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Edited By radioactivez0r

@levio: What makes you think it would demolish standard consoles? Your average non-PC gamer won't switch because a) they have too much invested in an ecosystem and b) won't understand how it works. I'd be surprised if it did 5% of the sales of the One and PS4, really.

@aoi: Why would Valve intentionally make a box that allows you to buy games from other services? I mean, you can do that now on any computer, so how would it benefit them?

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014

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Well, that middle image means 3D, right?

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hermes

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I will just wait and see. There is no point to changing Steam from PC to what would amount for a console, and I want to see what is so different about it. Would it mean I will lose all the advantages of a PC over a new console that is closer to the original XBox One than the current version? And gain what, exactly?

Seriously, I know we are just conjecturing now, so I might sound more apocalyptic than intended, but if this is what most people think it is, what is the difference between this and yet another attempt from a company with no previous background to enter the console market?

Remember Mattel's HyperScan, Samsung's CD-i, Nokia's N-Gage, Apple's Pippin, Commodore's CD32 and Panasonic's 3DO? How about all those android based consoles? What makes this attempt better?

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endoworks

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So I think Valve is waiting to have a bunch of 3s in one box, Left 4 Dead 3, LF3, HL3, Portal 3....... all for $3 :)

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BirthWild

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Edited By BirthWild

peter molyneux is probably in the box. Or he is the box, but I also think Jeffs tweet about it was pretty spot on, I think it's a streaming device between computer and tv instead of a full on console.

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Cold_Wolven

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Edited By Cold_Wolven

Could this be the Steam box that has always been teased by Valve.

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Justin258

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@harkat said:

@masterpaperlink said:

half life 3 linux exclusive

You know, if Valve are serious about Linux being the future, they should actually do this.

What a hassle that would be. I mean, we're talking about installing an entirely new operating system just to play one game. This is something that I can do, but HL3 would have to be something extremely special for me to do it.