I have always trusted Valve to deliver, but as a dedicated PC player, any move they might make towards "consolization" disinterests me. I like playing PC games at a desk, with a mouse and keyboard (or gamepad, if the gameplay endears it). I like also Big Picture and those developments, but aside from Steam what has made me love Valve is their games. Portal 2 was the last "great game" Valve made. I'd like Half-Life 3, but I don't think Valve want it, or else are taking an equivalent amount of time to make it great that they took for Half-Life 2. I don't want Valve to throw away what made them special in the first place.

@aceofspudz said:

I hope it's a box that solves the 'my pc is in a different room than my television' issue. I would pump my fist and look directly into the camera.

Pretty much that.

My money is just on some small transmitter/receiver that will plug into the HDMI/USB ports of your PC, which will wirelessly connect to a small box in your living room that has a controller and will plug in your tv, basically just a box for streaming from your computer/office place to your TV/living room place.

I look forward to seeing what the come up with. I'm writing this post with a Logitech Dinovo Mini keyboard, connected to my pc, outputting to my 32in lcd. I recently sold my 360 from sheer lack of use, and use this pc for tv tuner, gaming, and with a windows shortcut key combo it goes back to the monitor on the desk when needed. Big Picture Mode is great , and im plotting a new HTPC to split the media center/gaming off to a dedicated box. im fairly committed to PC in the living room, so if Valve can make my experience more fluid and seamless, im all for it. And having Jeri Ellsworth is icing on the cake, she is truly a brilliant mind, cant wait to see what she comes up with.

I am going to put this out there, this box will either be an OnLive (stream games processed in a server room) type system or an AppleTV (have your local PC do the work and stream a video feed locally) type system. This, I guarantee, won't be proper hardware. Valve, while pretty big financially, do not have the money to produce console hardware.

Stop posting pictures of Half-Life for stories that have nothing to do with Half-Life, you manipulative bastards!

It's bad for my blood pressure.

Alienware did just release a new super mini gaming rig that looks A LOT like a a console box maybe that box is about to be re-branded, retooled and turned into 'steam boxes'.

As far as i am concered, Alienware fixed the "PC in the living room" problem with that box. Its perfect for putting beside the television. Its not exorbitantly expensive for an Alienware product, and the reviews are pretty good.

@Phished0ne said:

Alienware did just release a new super mini gaming rig that looks A LOT like a a console box maybe that box is about to be re-branded, retooled and turned into 'steam boxes'.

As far as i am concered, Alienware fixed the "PC in the living room" problem with that box. Its perfect for putting beside the television. Its not exorbitantly expensive for an Alienware product, and the reviews are pretty good.

At 700$ it ain't solving anything

@Phished0ne said:

for an Alienware product

Is the important part of that sentence.

Its an alarm clock that goes off when Half Life 3 is released.

So yeah its really just a clock that will never make a sound

Sign me up! I really love what Valve is doing business-wise, so I'll blindly support whatever they do. Gabe jumped off of a cliff? Geronimoooooooo!

Haha the funny this is...i got rid of my TV and connect my Xbox/ps3 to my second PC monitor.

I think i am doing this wrong.

A terrible thought has just occurred to me.

What if Valve are releasing a motion controller?

@BoG said:

Sign me up! I really love what Valve is doing business-wise, so I'll blindly support whatever they do. Gabe jumped off of a cliff? Geronimoooooooo!

For a few solid seconds I completely missed the "if _______ jumped off a cliff, would you?" metaphor and thought you were celebrating Gabe's suicide.

Wouldn't a Valve console just be a PC with a Valve logo thrown on the side, perhaps running something borderline useless for gaming like Linux because they hate MS, and using their name as an excuse to charge Mac tax and shoot the price up to something ridiculous?

... or would it be like Steam where they sell you a $600 computer for $100?

Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be cool

@CircleNine said:

@Phished0ne said:

for an Alienware product

Is the important part of that sentence.

That's fair, but I was just using it as a point that you can make a good computer at that size for an okay amount. Obviously if Valve did it the hardware would be cheaper, because to be competitive in the console market you need to take a hit on hardware costs. Just figured it was an interesting thing to point out considering Alienware/Dell are marketing that desktop rig as perfect for putting beside the television. I tend to agree, although it is pricey.

hopefully a decent controller for the PC and a good wireless receiver & headset

Yeah the xbox controller works alright but MSoft intentionally crippled it unless you access it using DirectX API - the triggers are a single split analog axis so you can't tell L from R.

a bluetooth 4 controller and headset combo, maybe with a touch pad about where the mini-keypad fits on the xbox controller would be pretty great.

My body is ready

With Half-Life 3 being a launch title!... *cries*

The use of "it's" rather than "they've" or "they're" on the first sentence is giving me a nerd aneurysm.

@Hamst3r: fuck

"PC still has no games"

Favourite quote of the thread.

@Brendan said:

@AhmadMetallic said:

No Half-Life 3 anywhere to be seen, and this article is not about Valve's ambition to revolutionize the mouse and keyboard as I had hoped. They want to make a fucking console and they want it in your fucking living room under your fucking TV. They want to fucking do it no matter what. THIS IS THE VALVE PLAN NOW!!!!111!1!!!

I'm losing interest in Valve's future plans. I don't see any HL3 in the horizon, I don't see any new cool shit for my PC be it software or hardware anytime in the near future, all I see is my favorite game company trying to fill their pockets more by making Steam a TV platform.. They have the right to make more money, it's business, but I have the right to completely feel alienated by this company. It's like your only favorite drama show on TV suddenly turned into a sitcom, I see a boring future here.

Let's be frank though, it's not like your ideal future is that interesting either. You just want more computer stuff for your computer, as it is defined right now, forever. That's cool, but it's about as boring as it gets.

I see. So, Half-Life and Deathmatch, Counter Strike and the introduction of Steam as a play platform, Half-Life 2 and its episodes, Garry's Mod, Steam becoming your go-to one-click-away game store, its sales and coals and secret ARGs, the orange box and Portal becoming a thing, Team Fortress 2 and its 'Meet the' trailers, Steam trading and coupons, L4D 1 and 2, basically everything Valve has done for me and you since they started, software-wise, has been boring?

The things that made them awesome for the past 15 years and made more people play the PC and enjoy it and the timeless masterpieces they've given us, revolutionizing everything about the PC experience as they went ahead, that was all boring? Shit got interesting just now when they got infatuated with this fucking TV/console plan?

The natural next step for Valve's long record of total AWESOME is to give us the next classic title (HL3) and to revolutionize the player's use of hardware since they've pretty much perfected the software aspect. Not manufacture a god damned console.

@AhmadMetallic: No, what Valve did before wasn't boring but what you're envisioning is. HL3 and unspecified hardware relating to controls (hardware relating to controls being exactly what is being promised in the article)

Besides, they're continuing to develop games and Steam. Where have you gotten the image that this is now all Valve is working on?

"It’s hard to tell if Valve is always flying by the seat of its pants, or if it’s carefully calculated this “shrug, we’ll figure it out” image to make us think they’re all just hanging out and high-fiving all day."

I love you scoops. <3

Shit just got real...?

@insanejedi: and wireless keyboards & mice work so well, too...

My guess is that this will be something along the lines of WiDI displays, but address the latency and distance issues (maybe by using the new 802.11ac and some new video compression setup). And the unique part will be handling a low latency controller/keyboard/mouse input back to your PC at the time time. It will also have a security dongle type function built in, just because there will be room to spare.

Hopefully it is not just a better version of something you can pickup at the store already. Although I could see gaming PCs being a bit of a niche, because the current situation seems to swing between having a huge cost premium compared to custom builds vs. something so low end it barely plays games (maybe one of the smaller boutiques addresses this already though).

It's some kind of new input device. The entire issue with PC games in the living room is that it's impossible to play keyboard+mouse and still be comfortable/not be hunched over the coffee table. I'm thinking they designed something from the ground up to fix this, but your guess is as good as mine what this new/weird controller will look like. Maybe it'll have an attached mouse that you pivot instead of move.

An AppleTV equivalent? Basically a box that access your steam account and you can play the games on your TV in your living room?

@AhmadMetallic: Not only did you infer more than what I said and twisted my words as a result, it's still clear from your post that you're a myopic thinker who wants what he's had.

I have a PC that plays games. I like Steam. I generally will pass over a game that is not available on Steam. Very important, however; My next console purchase is a Durango, because that's where my friends play games.

If Valve wants to make a semi-console semi-pc box thing that is designed for living room use and plays all Steam games, I will buy it.

not interested I can't stand Valve