Well, I'm signed up. At the time of this post, I have a 1.2% chance of getting some cool hardware. Yeah, I'm totally going to get one.

I still don't know what this thing is, a hardware-upgradable console? a pc-like console? (and what does that even mean!?)

@fearxloathing: Yeah, same here. I'm running a Radeon 7870 GHZ Edition, but I'm got space and power to spare. I was thinking of bumping up to a 7950 after these consoles launch, which should probably do me well for a few more years.

Things are getting Steamy for Valve.

I'm right there with you. So ah...huh...? It's a what now?

Since it would be such an obvious name I'm wondering if they maybe don't already have software or something that they already internally refer to as "Steam Engine". Or possibly this will be the new name for the Graphics rendering engine instead of "Source 2"

Perhaps a Steam controller, next?

I love this. It's so exciting!

What I think I am hearing is some sort of scalability to meet what the end user has. Sounds complicated unless plug and play. There is another term, on the tip of my tongue...where you can easily add, subtract or change out components. MODULAR!

But I get Steam now on my nice gaming machine that is hooked up to my TV. Soooooo why?....maybe for the future, high end components plugged into the Steam Machine? The Pc taking a lessor ( or even perhaps at extreme no?) role.

Suddenly I want to wait on going next gen.

I think my Steam badge progress is broken. I've launched/played 3 steam games through big picture (with the controller) and have not received the badge. Am I missing something?

Also my main interest in this is just the streaming service. I already have leftover computers that I can put SteamOS on. I'll still be picking up a PS4.

Next up: Source Engine 3.

Fingers crossed!

I still don't see what this is for. So they're basically releasing a gaming pc in a mini tower with a Linux based Os that is meant to emulate a console?

Why would you get this instead of just building a regular gaming PC and running games off Steam? What's the advantage?

I don' t think I would call this protection from smurf accounts. In fact this just makes it easier for you to win by creating multiple accounts. Create 10 accounts and make you friends with yourself. Launch BPM and start up a demo.

Like a console, it's easier to use on a TV in a standard living room.

I could see this working if the gaming performance bang for your buck was better than custom built PCs. Is that even likely though?

What if you could dual-boot the Vita TV with SteamOS? Huh? Huh!? Yea, awesome.

Steam Machine is a pretty cool name.

Yes but you're essentially buying a second PC. I feel that if you're really passionate about PC gaming then connecting your existing powerful PC to a TV is not a huge hurdle. If you're just a casual gamer then you'll probably just buy a console cause that's even simpler than what Steam is offering.

I'm sure there will be enthusiasts, and we of course haven't heard all the details (maybe it will be great!) but so far I'm a bit befuddled by it all.

I think you forgot about the damn GiantBomb quests.. wasting bandwidth.

@angeln7: Its what you spend on it.

~110$ gets you a roku-like (size and functionality) box which also receives game-video from your actual gaming pc Steam Client and possibly has a wire(less) controller attached to IT (so that you don't need to run a controller cable to your main gaming pc, if you go for that connected setup)

also does xbmc, netflix and spotify, connects directly to your TV and is "invisible"

~ RealPC$ gets you all of the above + a Gaming PC (from Ztoac Box to bulky black mofo of a machine) that just is not running windows, but an OS that FEELS like a Console (tightly designed UI, no seams between apps, no "desktop"..."), but which you can expand like any other PC - open up, insert new graphics card, close, boot, continue gaming with more shinies.

Only caveat here at the moment is that there are few to no AAA's out for linux/SteamOS, but this seems to be on the roadmap, as they write "Watch for announcements in the coming weeks about all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014." on the SteamOS teaserpage.

Combine the two to your hearts content throughout your house.*

* Wired network or amazing wireless network** required for game streaming at high resolutions.

** Network equipment not part of packaging

@masterpaperlink: cant tell if troll or unaware there's a 3rd announcement on friday...

I guess everyone saw this coming, but it's still very exciting. A modular gaming machine running a Linux-based-yet-gaming focused OS built around Steam's ecosystem, yet fully hackable (could be very useful for developers).This gaming machine with a "add/take/hack whatever you want, however you want it" vibe gives me a feeling that their input controller device will actually be something modular or flexible to be customized to the user's liking (both physically and digitally) with relative ease.

This is pretty cool,

Friday is going to be a real bummer when they announcement Ricochet 2 as a SteamOS exclusive.

i hope this new kind of PC gaming is more about the GAMING and less about the PC.

putting a countdown on an announcement that was made months ago is presumptuous, not a single bit of meaningful information was added, if there is nothing to show then make it 2 announcements instead of 3. yes, i know there is a final one which is most likely not going to shed any more light on the hardware, finally ill say no, this isn't a big deal its just confusing.

So, it's a PC, right? A PC with a 3DO hardware model? Why...would I want this over a normal PC? Why would anyone slightly interested in this (ie people into PC gaming) care about this and why should this entice anyone who doesn't give a shit about PC gaming? Who is this for?

Guys I think the manufacturers are going to name their version of the steam machine, instead of looking at steam machine as the name of the product, consider the product itself (i.e cellphone to I-phone 5). The dream isn't dead for the gabecube.

Yep, I am more or less one of those people. Though I expected this to the third announcement, now I'm wondering what the last one will be (and if it is a controller, how is that not a let down by comparison?)

@kersplackle: HOLY SHIT. GabeCube. I just realized this.

Wow, it will be fascinating to see how this pans out. Valve has excellent PR and Apple-like sycophancy so sight unseen I'd expect their hardware to sell OK. The thing for me personally is that I don't really care about having Steam in my living room. Maybe I just don't understand their pitch. Presumably you'll still need to upgrade this box like a PC right?

Also, I feel like I buy a console because I don't want a "multiple choice answer". I just want a thing that plays games and it's a game thing and it works with games.

Really I just think there are a lot of questions still to be answered about Valve's plans. Also, *something about Amnesia: A Steam Machine For Pigs*.

beta testing a new valve prototype?..... does anyone really take into consideration of their bugs? Even recently big picture mode crashes and runs super slow. There has to be a healthy skepticism before jumping on board with this.

The problem with valve is that they come up with ideas, and bring them to market very fast. But they never really improve on the tecnology they create. They just keep adding to it, or worse taking away. Never modifying it to make it better.

For instance, Steam is basicly just a web browser, but sometimes I wont check out a game because I cant open a new tab.

to me, makes the PS4 useless. Most of the indie stuff is already out on Steam... will be on those machines...

@joshwent: You can do that with the PC right now which is usually powered by Microsoft's OS.

I just hope it's as flexible as XBMC with the usability of Plex, with the added benefit of Steam integration. That's all I want.

Hmmm...I think I might still just build a Windows PC early next year anyway. I'll put the Steam OS on a USB stick and boot it there if I want to mess around with it.

*adjourns meeting with powerful people, then pours self 12-year scotch, sips, then stares out the window*

"Just what is your game, Newell..."

*aaaaaaaaaand scene*

It's interesting that they're releasing a lot of different models.

1. Sounds cool having different boxes with varying functionality.

2. They might be robots.

I have to imagine they're main selling point is that upgrades will be a lot easier than normal pc upgrades. I think the machine will be designed in such a way that you won't have to open the box to perform the upgrade.

I'm thinking something along the lines of, inserting the graphics card, CPU and memory into something akin to drive bays so that they could be removed and upgraded easily, like how the hard drive upgrades work in the PS3. Something like that.

I really want that. I hate doing upgrades now. I used to love it, but it's such a pain in the ass.

I think it only registers if you've done it since they released this badge. I just launched FEZ through big picture and the badge showed up.

As for now, we know it will be based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, but instead of running big and heavy Ubuntu Unity, it'll be running Big Picture.

I'm thinking their announcement of the controller on Friday is that whatever this controller will be, it'll try and solve the no keyboard and mouse problem.

I think they announced it now, so that they get people used to the idea of what they're trying to do. So that people will hash out it discussion threads like this one, rather than just coming out with something suddenly like the Saturn. This is not like a regular console, it's a console-y PC. That takes a little while to sell it.

I'm sure they're hoping the 300 beta users, will be posting videos of themselves doing crazy stuff, like "I setup the SteamOS machine to behave like regular Ubuntu!" or "I have SteamOS running on a Raspberry Pi!" or "I dual booted a Steam Machine to run hackintosh and SteamOS!"

I'm obviously excited, but I'm a Linux user. I'm already know the potential.

Color me mehhhhhhhhh'd.

So after waiting all year Gabe announced Valve are building hardware and they'll only be at prototype stage in 2014....earlier this year he said hardware would be announced in the summer. This seems anticlimactic, no real news here as we still don't know what the machine is. The vague language used has me worried this isn't a gateway to PC gaming for the mass market, but maybe a set top box that works with an existing gaming PC.

The news is so vague and it sounds so far off (valve time) so I'm probably going to sink my funds into a console.

Disappointed

Sure. But the revolution here is that Valve is bringing that open PC mentality to the console space, whereas Microsoft has been gradually bringing their closed console ideas to the PC.

Imagine not getting what Valve are trying to do here. Imagine being that guy.

I don't think so. The only two things I'm interested in is the controller and the OS. The only Steam machine I would buy is a streaming box and even then it has to be better than an HDMI cord. The actual PC has to be somewhat expensive for it to work. We're talking at least $600 with no real price drop unless you're willing to wait a year and get a slightly out of date PC.

What don't you think so? That Valve isn't being open... with its open source OS? Because that's all my point was.

If you're unimpressed, than cool, but it doesn't change the reality what these things can be and the alternative they may give to the current console/streaming box leaders.

I will get a PS4 soon... Xbox one... maybe later. My computer is awesome... I like the idea of Steam Box... but I don't need it. We will see.... >.>