Valve's Steam Box prototypes going out in the next four months

[bben46]

Looks to me like a crippled custom mini PC that may be running a proprietary Linux. May be good for the non geek gamers that don't want to play around with components but still want the ability to use mods. I haven't seen anything yet about if it will be able to browse the internet or run anything besides games.

 

The funny shape is possibly to prevent discourage people from stacking things on it. The projected price is around US$1k. What do you get for that? does it come with any kind of controller? is it going to be compatible with other gamebox controllers? Does it come with a Keyboard? Mouse? Monitor? WiFi? USB? DVD? Motion sensor? or what? Is it going to be locked into Steam only? or will you be able to play other games as well?

 

For now I'll stick with my custom built Windows/Linux PC that can do so much more than a gamebox.

[ziitch]

That fact that Steam distanced themselves away from it tells me that the pricing for those devices are definitely not within the range they're aiming for.

 

...And I don't blame them. Accessibility is key; when you put something out that small for a price that high, your typical consumer would be concerned about how powerful it is compared to a PC or notebook at that price. You could say that the XiB is very much the 3DO of this time - An expensive console that despite its power, only a handful would be interested in buying it.

 

(Also, given the rise of HTPCs thanks to ITX boards, along with an OS that feels right on the bigscreen, and consoles are at the mercy of custom kits of varying prices...)

Edited March 12, 2013 by ziitch

[Thor.]

YA Htpc is a way to goo, especially multi purpose, i bought the rare Asus xonar hdav 1.3 deluxe for that purpose, one thing about on board sound its to dang quiet. . That Xonar cards a beast, you can route your video cards On board sound and increase the quality and output by 50% :biggrin:

 

on topic

 

I think with the price mentioned it would fail, but you never know, that's all rumours and not he actual price of the console, we have along way from E3 june to find out

Edited March 13, 2013 by Thor.

[Deleted1848331User]

If it's more expensive than the PS4 or the next Xbox and only plays games on Steam, I don't see it doing very well. Most of the people I know who PC game are planning on building/already built their own computer.

 

Although in the words of one of them (who we still make fun of for it): "I'm going to build my own CPU." His explanation was that it's shorter than saying computer; the acronym PC no longer exists in his mind :P

[Thor.]

I think you might be right about him thinking that pc is already dead, think again when the ps4 comes out it might change. Especially like game like watch dogs its already coming out on pc. So i think there will be a big flood of games coming to the pc. is it just wishful thinking, maybe not.

 

They are using 90% pc parts so i don't see why not.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Thor.

[ziitch]

The worst issue that puts the PS4 at high risk, thanks to its x86-based architecture, is the ease of emulation. However, I think that it's a double-edged sword; what comes with that risk is also the possibility that, if they choose to include a form of media that allows hard copy sales, makes it possible for PC owners to play PS4 exclusives, which could very well double or triple their sales. Of course, this will go unnoticed until A)sales of exclusives exceed that of consoles sold, and/or B) their next console is not based on the similar architecture that PCs are using.

 

Additionally, the developers that they need to grab attention of right now are indies that are growing into full companies due to successful titles. However they aren't answering the big question: Is the console open? Which, for the most part, has been the big problem; it seems that in an industry where accessibility for the developers and players is one of the biggest issues, the ones calling the shots are control freaks too paranoid to let others mess around with their creations.

[Beriallord]

Steambox? Not enough people are going to buy that. The Steam fanboy enthusiast group isn't nearly massive enough to carry the weight for purchases on a new system. Besides, most people who use steam got PCs capable of playing the said games, so why would they even need a Steambox?