@august said:

@RankRabbit said:

OMG, how many bits will it have? My Xbox does 58 billion bits!

It will have five times as many graphics.

THAT'S A LOT OF GRAPHICS.

Would like this to be true just to see how they are gonna make it sell any better than a standard pc you can buy from shops already.

I can't see this being a real thing though.

Wasn't there a rumor about this a couple of years ago? Or am I thinking of something else?

This is not even that crazy, this is just a PC designed for hooking up to a TV that runs an OS made by valve in which you could buy games as if you were buying them for a console but doesnt have the extra bull shit packed in.

Basically, sometimes I really have no idea how we still live in a world where I have to have few TVs, monitors for my computers, a tower PC for heavy lifting, a laptop, handheld game consoles and a phone, stupid tablets that have almost no purpose, a kindle/nook, and whole separate computers to hook up to my tv that simply let me play games and watch netflix (which every other device can do, possibly even my TV). Why the fuck can we not get this down to like three fucking devices...I'll tell you why, because companies decide to waste money on stupid shit that no one needs like 3D or tablets that cost upwards of $830 and a monthly fee attached to them with functionality comparable to that of the phone you probably already have with you at any moment or less functionality that the fucking laptop, desktop, or tv you most likely have within viewing distance, but instead of using one of those devices you decide you want to throw some time away playing shitty $1 games on a screen larger than your phone because your phone is too small for your lazy eyes to concentrate on for the 2 minutes you are going to spend to playing that shitty game.

What started out as a regular comment turned into a fiery rant. Sorry about that. No, but seriously, this would be cool if it was true.

@MB: Link?

Not really sure of the point, but I guess it would be cool. And there's always room for more expensive electronics. I just don't know how big the market is of people who want a small form "PC" to play games, but don't want a console. If the advantage is ease, then you're already talking about a market that prefers console games and who don't see the appeal of playing PC games. If the idea is just to make a PC you can easily house on a TV stand, then the people who like PC gaming probably won't be that enticed to buy it.

I like Steam and I like Boxes. Combine the two and I'd probably like that as well.

@Phatmac said:

@MB: Link?

I can't remember...that's why I asked the question...

@MB said:

@Phatmac said:

@MB: Link?

I can't remember...that's why I asked the question…

Ah sorry just saw that this was posted a day ago, thought you'd remember it but nevermind!

This exactly fits the profile of the kind of gaming device I want at this point. I actually really hope it's true.

I just wanted to add to this discussion that I think it is awesome it was Phatmac and the Illusive Man avatar that broke this info on the GB forums. I felt like it was actually him telling us this info for a moment.

Which means I've been playing too much Mass Effect 2.

Valve....making a console? That's a hoot!

Let's be honest: if they've been delaying the shit out of Half-Life 3 in order to make a console, I'm more than positive that those guys will be in a world of very nasty and corn-filled shit from their fans.

@BoOzak said:

Personally i'm all for it but it all depends on how it's structured, steam has evolved alot over the years but it still isnt perfect. In order for this to work it has to be reasonably priced, support mods, and a M&K. But at that point most people who would be interested in this already own a gaming PC, which has all that and more(except the reasonably priced part). So I dont know who this is intended for. Sounds like it might go the way of On-Live if not handled correctly.

I had the same reaction after reading this. I'm a PC gamer and a huge Valve fan, and I would love to see more actual gaming companies get back into the console race (like it used to be, instead of giant electronics corporations). But I'm not sure I understand who they're aiming at here. A Core i7, 8 gigs ram, and an Nvidia GPU--that's exactly what I have in my computer. Prices aren't prohibitive on those specs anymore, so why wouldn't you just get a rig like that? How is this dedicated at all? Doesn't sound like it separates itself much from just having a gaming PC. Steam's not perfect, and yes, lots of games are annoying to install and have some compatibility issues and the such, but it's not so pervasive or unbearable as to warrant buying a whole separate system just to iron out a few wrinkles.

I don't know. Am I missing something? Sure it's just a rumor, but it seems like most of the people on this thread think this sounds like a great idea, rumor or not. As it stands, I don't see this selling well at all.

Did not notice any specs on storage space. What are we going to store the games on? This consoles sounds neat in theory, but valve could easily make a major loss in doing this. Wait and see on this one

I have not read the last eleven pages, but I really hope we're all on the same page of "this sounds cool but will never, ever, ever happen, ever." Right, guys?

In the mailbag the other day the Giantbomb team got a box full of steam but it was full of pizza too. How many graphics does pizza have? Will Valve's Steambox come with dry ice?

The odd thing about this concept is I had suggested "Steam OS" about a year ago. My idea was that they could theoretically create an operating system that is only running the necessary components to make the base OS run, whatever a game would need in order to run and nothing more. Essentially free up a lot of CPU & RAM overhead, making games run more effectively. With that, they could then deploy the OS on a "Console Box" and compete with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo on a much greater scale.

If that is what will be installed on the "Steam Box", hopefully it will be available for installation on standard PCs as well, (like Boxee or XBMC). If you know how to dual-boot a computer you'll know what I mean.

IF this "Steam Box" comes to be truth and not speculation and rumor, I wonder what will be the basis for the underlaying operating system. Will it be based off of the Windows NT kernel or a Unix kernel, or something entirely different? I can't see Valve, with the current state of affairs with Microsoft, leaning towards the Windows NT kernel. This makes it interesting to see what they would do about DirectX/OpenGL because I can't see Valve paying a premium to Microsoft in order to get DirectX support on this machine, especially if they're going to be competing against them.

That being said, maybe we'll see the rebirth of OpenGL as the mainstream choice. As it stands, Microsoft currently dictates a lot of development practices due to the fact that Xbox/Windows PCs primarily use DirectX, while PS3, and Wii do not. They can develop for DirectX and cover two platforms at the same time (Xbox and PC).

However, if there is a third wheel (Steam Box, Playstation, Wii) that don't have DirectX support, (And if this Steam platform is an installable OS, 4th platform: PC) I think OpenGL will become the weapon of choice. This would also be great for Mac and Linux gamers. That alone will unify gamers and developers in a much broader sense than simple Steam connect on Playstation. Hopefully the SteamPlay will be in effect so you can play on your TV or in the Den, at a friends house or in bed.

Who knows other than Valve at this point. Maybe that's why the Linux version of Steam was canned. They realized how much adapting they had to do with Mac/Unix that they just decided to build an OS from the ground up to be a native gaming platform first and foremost and have thus decided that creating a console would also be a smart idea. I think Valve has a lot of great ideas and I think they can handle console gaming, especially in terms of Multiplayer interaction and a sense of community a lot better than the stagnating systems that are currently deployed by Microsoft/Sony/Wii.

EDIT: Please also note, Valve made $2 Billion dollars in game sales last year, not taking into account w/e crazy amount of money they made off the in game store that TF2 has. You better believe Valve has the cash to consider rolling a console out.

I'd also like to point out, though it has already been pointed out, that this is a console gamers solution to acquiring a gaming PC. I tell my friends and family that I can build them a pretty great gaming rig for about $600-$1000. Where they can buy games and not see their library dissappear when they upgrade to newer hardware (True Backwards Compatibility).

They usually just respond with, "Yeah, but then I have to upgrade it when it gets out of date." or, "I just want to play games. I don't want to have the hassle of hooking all that shit up. I just want to plug into the TV and play." I can't market a PC to them. But I can market a "console" to them just as easily and they'll understand it no problem. These are the types of people this device would be for. Console gamers, not PC gamers.