Valve and Xi3's 'Steam Box'

[TheIceCreamMan]

The "Steam Box" modular computer announced by hardware maker Xi3 and Valve at CES is codenamed "Piston" and is modeled after the PC maker's X7A line of pint-sized computers, Xi3 reps tell Polygon. Xi3 brought an early version of Piston to CES, but was tight lipped on details about the hardware currently in development with Valve. Xi3 chief marketing officer David Politis told Polygon that Piston will offer up to 1 TB of interal storage and offer modular component updates, including the option to upgrade the PC's CPU and RAM.

Xi3 wouldn't discuss price for Piston, but commented that the Steam Box is based on its "performance level" X7A offering, which is priced at $999. Xi3 declined to comment on what would differentiate Piston hardware-wise from a standard X7A. Xi3 also offers the entry level X5A, which is priced at $499 with a Linux operating system. The demo unit of Piston featured an IO board boasting one ethernet port, 1/8" audio in/out, SPDIF optical audio, four USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports (with one dedicated to keyboard input), four eSATAp ports, two Mini Display Port ports and one DisplayPort/HDMI port.

[Pistola]

I think its a neat idea and all but essentially it just another console and it will hinder pc gaming just as consoles have hindered pc gaming. Games will be forced to be able to run on a steambox. Im thinking 2013 is gonna be a year with a lot of hype around gaming so many new platforms coming out how are developers going to make games? I for see some sad time ahead for real gamers. I think the angry birds crowd and the very casual gamers will be very happy with things are going though.

[TheIceCreamMan]

I think its a neat idea and all but essentially it just another console and it will hinder pc gaming just as consoles have hindered pc gaming. Games will be forced to be able to run on a steambox. Im thinking 2013 is gonna be a year with a lot of hype around gaming so many new platforms coming out how are developers going to make games? I for see some sad time ahead for real gamers. I think the angry birds crowd and the very casual gamers will be very happy with things are going though.

I agree. Looking Forward to seeing what to come later this year.

[TechFan@ic]

Where are all the hardware components supposed to be ?

And why only the CPU & RAM , the GPU is the most important component in gaming and is the most frequent hardware upgrade.

[TheIceCreamMan]

Where are all the hardware components supposed to be ?

And why only the CPU & RAM , the GPU is the most important component in gaming and is the most frequent hardware upgrade.

The components inside will include a 1TB hard drive and a CPU/GPU combination you can choose to upgrade. It’s safe to assume the performance on offer will be well beyond what any of the game consoles on the market can produce, and it needs to be if Piston intends to support the next generation of games being released when the Xbox 720 and PS4 launch.

[fred]

Am I the only one that thinks that too many folks are entering the console market? I wan't it to shrink in favor of PC gaming, not grow. And just because you make a console doesn't mean AAA devs will jump on it.

[cafe]

i think it is cool

but i dont play on consoles so

NOPE.AVI

[TheIceCreamMan]

Am I the only one that thinks that too many folks are entering the console market? I wan't it to shrink in favor of PC gaming' date=' not grow. And just because you make a console doesn't mean AAA devs will jump on it.[/quote']

it's nice for people who want to get into PC gaming. Its a Console/Pc .

[Box_Of_Rocks]

I think its a neat idea and all but essentially it just another console and it will hinder pc gaming just as consoles have hindered pc gaming. Games will be forced to be able to run on a steambox. Im thinking 2013 is gonna be a year with a lot of hype around gaming so many new platforms coming out how are developers going to make games? I for see some sad time ahead for real gamers. I think the angry birds crowd and the very casual gamers will be very happy with things are going though.

Steambox is not only console ... its also open software so you can build your own :) and that fact will crush cosoles

[TechShroom]

It's basically supposed to be the easier way to get into PC gaming for console people who don't want to build a computer themselves. It's pretty cool, but also not really targeted at the kind of demographic that uses this forum.

[TheIceCreamMan]

It's basically supposed to be the easier way to get into PC gaming for console people who don't want to build a computer themselves. It's pretty cool' date=' but also not really targeted at the kind of demographic that uses this forum.[/quote']

Im a fan of small factor Gaming so this really interests me. I even like Consoles. (I like Pc's better :)

[Ghost]

Oh god. I thought they would release a mini itx PC that you can simply upgrade with a gpu etc like a custom PC.

Sadly I'm dissapointed by Valve.

[Purple]

It's a neat idea, but most people that have a steam account own a gaming PC already.

[Paperchase]

Oh god. I thought they would release a mini itx PC that you can simply upgrade with a gpu etc like a custom PC. Sadly I'm dissapointed by Valve.

I was also hoping for some type of small form factor system that you could open up at any time and upgrade to your liking. Sadly that's not the case.

[TechFan@ic]

Oh god. I thought they would release a mini itx PC that you can simply upgrade with a gpu etc like a custom PC. Sadly I'm dissapointed by Valve.

I was also hoping for some type of small form factor system that you could open up at any time and upgrade to your liking. Sadly that's not the case.

That's what I thought to, I'm bummed out now T_T .

[douchecanoe]

The major weakness of this is purely that it's running GNU/Linux, and a locked down version of that I assume (wouldn't it basically be locked to Steam big picture mode?)

Simply you won't have near the same library that a Windows platform would have

Sure, Steam Linux is in beta and it has some games running fine, but there's no way developers are going to port all their old library of games from DirectX to

OpenGL, and even new releases, I don't see many developers switching the tried and true methods of using DirectX and completely going the opposite direction and using OpenGL

Look at the selection of games available for Mac right now, that's pretty much the amount of selection that's going to be available on any Linux system, highly doubt many AAA titles will be coming at all

It's a novelty idea, but I don't see it being a competitor for desktop PC's in the slightest, and because of the lack of game titles and high price point I can't see it crushing consoles either

Lack of up-gradable hardware is also a negative, but I guess if it's marketed towards casual gamers who don't want a desktop PC, then you have to keep it simple. I imagine this thing gets TOASTY as well, and I guess we're going to be seeing framerates of basically a maximum of 70fps at 1080p

This isn't the Steambox people were hyping up and imagining, and I don't think we'll ever see it. The Steambox everyone wants is just a damn desktop PC

[Olila]

Will it play on PC servers? Or will it have its own dedicated servers and lobbies.

[Huskie]

Its like a gateway drug, but instead of meth its PC gaming.

[27-bit]

I think people who go to LAN parties very often will get it. It's small, light and very easy to plug in..

[Gamerj27]

I think its a great Idea, the portability may lead to more people moving over the PC gaming.

I'd like to see some performance benchmarks when it is released.

[JustDenDimi]

It's awesome, but Valve just said that Krasnow was understood wrongly (Translations form German to English would have made people understand wrong)

They also said that the Steam Box won't be coming out this year, and are also not sure if it will be running Linux, Gabe Newell DID say that they were developing it and doing tests with Linux but are not sure if they will use it. For more info feel free to google this or translate the following article from Dutch to English. ^^

For Dutch people: http://tweakers.net/nieuws/86550/valve-geen-steam-box-dit-jaar.html

[Baxterz]

I can't wait to see all the features this little box can hold. Good job Valve!

[douchecanoe]

On another note, the I/O on that thing is ridiculous!

4 USB 3.0, 4 USB 2.0, 4 eSATA, displayport (and are those 2x thunderbolt or mini displayport), plus optical audio? Ridiculous, but awesome!

[Bob]

I really only see this as a way for the lower budget people IE console players to get into the PC gaming experience. I don't see this as a console, it should try to be a cheap gaming PC.

[Kevin Beam]

The thing that concerns me is how small it actually it is, I think Valve needs to be careful when going into the console world (yes this is console) because consoles have issues with overheating.

I think it's a great idea for Valve to make a gaming console reason being because you can get a PC without having to worry about upgrading parts oveclocking ect. I don't think it wil; be as popular as the other consoles because those consoles are what everyone knows to be good.