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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414039,00.asp

A lot of rumors are floating around about Valve announcing a "Steam Box" gaming PC/system at CES 2013, running the company's Steam platform and offering PC gaming in a small, living-room-ready package. Valve is indeed at CES 2013, and I spent some time at their booth getting the definitive answer:

There is no Steam Box, but something is coming.

The booth, which was remarkably empty, showed off gaming computers in small form factors connected to HDTVs and running Steam's Big Picture big-screen interface. However, none of them were Steam Boxes, or Steam Box prototypes, or even design concepts of what a Steambox could look like. According to Valve representative Tom Giardito, several of the systems were simply off-the-shelf Alienware systems running the Linux version of Steam with Big Picture.

Computer manufacturer Xi3 has been reported as the company making the Steam Box, according to several accounts from a press event Monday night. However, I confirmed that this is not the case. The Xi3 "Piston" computer was in Valve's booth next to an Alienware system, but neither were intended to be definitive, or even possible Steam Boxes.

According to Giardito, Valve's presence at CES is primarily to meet with hardware manufacturers to explore how a Steam Box interface or standard might be made. He said that there is no single Steam Box, and that there will be no retail Steam Boxes until lengthy testing processes have been completed. He noted that Xi3 is one of many hardware partners working with Valve, and that a Steam Box could become more of a standard for gaming PCs designed for HDTVs than a Xbox or PlayStation-like-product.

Valve is working on some kind of Steam Box, but we haven't seen it yet. Still, users with gaming PCs connected to their HDTVs can enjoy a Steam Box-like experience with Steam's Big Picture interface, which was recently launched on Steam. Big Picture turns the Steam menus into a full-screen interface intended for use from a couch, with larger and more graphically oriented visual elements.

As far as I understand it:

- Valve is interested in creating a SteamBox (design + their very own specification as Gabe said).. someday.

- Several companies are making their own little compact PCs, and Valve told them "sure bring them to CES so that we can show an idea of what the SteamBox might be. Also let's begin a discussion about a potential standard".

- These PCs weren't really created with any standard in mind, not a standard by Valve anyway. They are just compact PCs running Steam's BPM. None of them are even potential SteamBoxes. Because:

- Valve says it will take a lengthy period of testing to come up with a standard.

- SteamBox is more aimed to become the definitive standard for PC gaming on HDTV, not necessarily a console-like product (and competitor?).

 

[Castor Krieg]

In other words - clusterfuck.

 

[Jackl]

They're not building a console, they're building a gaming OS.

 

[The Boat]

Valve time.

 

[Nibel]

Valve employee #1: "2013 will be amazing, we are currently working on a Steambox"

Valve employee #2: "There is no Steambox"

Valve employee #3: "We have something at CES"

Valve employee #4: "We have nothing at CES"

Valve employee #5: "Please stop asking about Half Life 3"

Kotaku writer #1: "I think that 'Sony and Microsoft should be concerned about Steambox' is a good headline"

GAF: Fucking confused

 

[R1CHO]

Valve employee #1: "2013 will be amazing, we are currently working on a Steambox"

Valve employee #2: "There is no Steambox"

Valve employee #3: "We have something at CES"

Valve employee #4: "We have nothing at CES"

Valve employee #5: "Please stop asking about Half Life 3"

Kotaku writer #1: "I think that 'Sony and Microsoft should be concerned about Steambox' is a good headline"

GAF: Fucking confused

CubePC: yo guys, we are the steambox, we rulez!

 

[JaseC]

In other words - clusterfuck.

This messy and muddy situation seems to have been brought about by Xi3 prematurely announcing a partnership with Valve.

 

[tci]

Maybe now gaming media can stop jumping to conclusions all the damn time. Watching some of these interviews about the Piston was so embarrassing.

like ... "Valve - Steam - Piston .-.... right? get it?"

Valve will tell you when you see the Steam Box... jeeez

 

[Guevara]

It's hard to take this seriously when Valve clearly doesn't

 

[Jackl]

Oh Gaf, never change.

 

[Mrbob]

Valve time. This isn't coming out till 2020.

 

[JaseC]

Valve time. This isn't coming out till 2020.

Coincident with Half-Life 3. (So, Q4 2013.)

 

[EagleBurnn]

I'm confused, so I'm just going to ignore all of this and buy the new Xbox and/or PS4. In the meantime, Valve can have fun starting up rumors.

 

[angular graphics]

This messy and muddy situation seems to have been brought about by Xi3 prematurely announcing a partnership with Valve.

Yes. They sort of admitted it themselves their PC is something of their own and not really something Valve labels or will ever label "SteamBox". http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46209080&postcount=160

But due to their early "Valve will have our PC on their booth!" announcement, by that time it was already too late.

 

[patapuf]

They're not building a console, they're building a gaming OS.

That's my impression too.

 

[params7]

This year's e3 might just be the best ever in history.

 

[RyanReedyMusic]

This means its hard to decide on a solid more closed platform.

 

[EagleBurnn]

They're not building a console, they're building a gaming OS.

I really hope not. No one chooses an OS just because of games. There's too much on Windows that Valve will never be able to compete with.

 

[grimshawish]

Whats Piston? Seriously, did they like screw Valve over by going early? What was that?
As I said in the last thread. Their still tinkering, far too early for concrete stuff yet.

Coincident with Half-Life 3. (So, Q4 2013.)

Half Life what?

 

[Sentenza]

Yes. They sort of admitted it themselves their PC is something of their own and not really something Valve labels or will ever label "SteamBox". http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46209080&postcount=160

But due to their early "Valve will have our PC on their booth!" announcement, by that time it was already too late.

To be honest I don't even think that was accidental and unintended.
I'm sure they enjoyed a lot to be paired with Valve on many headlines.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I think that Valve dosn't have a clearly idea of what they want. Probably using those compact PC's to test waters....

Half Life what?

Yeah, you know, the overrated FPS series.

 

[BocoDragon]

I thought this was something we'd see on shelves this year... But it sounds like its a year or two away :/

 

[angular graphics]

To be honest I don't even think that was accidental and unintended.
I'm sure they enjoyed a lot to be paired with Valve on many headlines.

Absolutely. They toned it down, only when they had already enjoyed their 15' of fame.

 

[Angry Fork]

In other words - clusterfuck.

It's hard to take this seriously when Valve clearly doesn't

How do either of you know this when pretty much nobody knows anything here about what Steambox is.

Is this going to be the moment everyone starts jumping to conclusions and comparing Steambox to Last Guardian for no reason?

 

[1-D_FTW]

They're not building a console, they're building a gaming OS.

Pretty much. And if it's going to have any chance at success, Source 2 is going to have to be really good. Good enough for indies to want to make it the standard engine.

 

[JaseC]

Is this going to be the moment everyone starts jumping to conclusions and comparing Steambox to Last Guardian for no reason?

That'll only happen if Half-Life 3, which itself has spent several years in development, releases before the Steambox.

 

[Amagon]

Valve employee #1: "2013 will be amazing, we are currently working on a Steambox"

Valve employee #2: "There is no Steambox"

Valve employee #3: "We have something at CES"

Valve employee #4: "We have nothing at CES"

Valve employee #5: "Please stop asking about Half Life 3"

Kotaku writer #1: "I think that 'Sony and Microsoft should be concerned about Steambox' is a good headline"

GAF: Fucking confused

 

[Zzoram]

Maybe they're going to wait for 2014 to be able to fit powerful enough specs into the Piston form factor at $999 or less before they're willing to call it a Steam Box.

 

[Draft]

Valve employee #1: "2013 will be amazing, we are currently working on a Steambox"

Valve employee #2: "There is no Steambox"

Valve employee #3: "We have something at CES"

Valve employee #4: "We have nothing at CES"

Valve employee #5: "Please stop asking about Half Life 3"

Kotaku writer #1: "I think that 'Sony and Microsoft should be concerned about Steambox' is a good headline"

GAF: Fucking confused

:lol

There aren't any bosses at Valve. It's not surprising there's no unified messaging.

 

[Chinner]

valve is lacking a good leader to lead them into the next generation. they need their own don mattrick or bobby kotick.

 

[Eideka]

valve is lacking a good leader to lead them into the next generation. they need their own don mattrick or bobby kotick.

Subtle.

 

[Durante]

In the words of the man himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d6yBHDvKUw

 

[Dabanton]

As someone said Valve Time

I don't expect to see one to Valves "standard" anytime soon. Also what would they launch this with? at this point in time?

I think they'll wait until they have a new version of source and HL3 ready to go.

That could be a while.

 

[Nibel]

valve is lacking a good leader to lead them into the next generation. they need their own don mattrick or bobby kotick.

There is no real boss at Valve

When they show off Steambox at E3, you'll see the entire Valve staff on stage

 

[mentalfloss]

Valve just threw the idea out there to see what the response was.

Now that there's a tepid response, they're pretending like it never existed.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

I guess what could happen is that we see a Steambox "standard" emerge, with a number of manufacturers selling them, some more high-end, others more compact, with others still focused on streaming, but all with a Linux OS and geared towards TV usage, and with a Valve "seal of approval".

 

[terrdactycalsrock]

Valve just threw the idea out there to see what the response was.

Now that there's a tepid response, they're pretending like it never existed.

I wouldnt call it a tepid response

 

[Glass Rebel]

Can you imagine different people at Valve talking about the development of HL3 publicly? Stuff that they haven't even decided on, mostly ideas, concepts and at most prototypes?

Do you still wonder why we haven't heard shit about HL3?

 

[Orayn]

Valve unofficially announces tentative plans for a Thing™.
Some time after that, Valve and a hardware partner reveal a device that's kind of similar to Thing™, though not exactly what Valve described earlier.
Internet flips out because the revealed device is not to their liking, declaring the Thing™ to be the blunder of the century and a failure from day zero.
Valve clarifies that the device revealed was not actually the Thing™, and that Thing™ is still a ways off.
Internet flips out because it had already decided that the revealed device really was supposed to be the Thing™.

Did I miss anyThing™?

 

[Fare Godmace]

So, like ultrabooks but for gaming PCs. It's not so hard, guys, it's not a console.

 

[Clay Davis]

I wouldnt call it a tepid response

I agree, but it depends on what kind of response they were hoping for. where they hoping for the mass media to start reporting on it or were they happy with only gaming and tech sites reporting on it?

my feeling is they were hoping for the media at large to at least mention it, but the lack of interest from them, possibly due to the all the mixed messages and lack of product to point to to say - "this is the new console / gaming machine on the block, the steambox" might have resulted in them going back to the drawing board or waiting until the next big event (e3) to give it attention.

 

[evangd007]

"lengthy tests needed" = will be released alongside Half-Life 3

 

[terrdactycalsrock]

I agree, but it depends on what kind of response they were hoping for. where they hoping for the mass media to start reporting on it or were they happy with only gaming and tech sites reporting on it?

my feeling is they were hoping for the media at large to at least mention it, but the lack of interest from them, possibly due to the all the mixed messages and lack of product to point to to say - "this is the new console / gaming machine on the block, the steambox" might have resulted in them going back to the drawing board or waiting until the next big event (e3) to give it attention.

Oh sure, I bet the casual consumer drives more of the gaming business than we realize. So without thier support, or big news intrest it could look bad to them

 

[Interfectum]

I agree, but it depends on what kind of response they were hoping for. where they hoping for the mass media to start reporting on it or were they happy with only gaming and tech sites reporting on it?

my feeling is they were hoping for the media at large to at least mention it, but the lack of interest from them, possibly due to the all the mixed messages and lack of product to point to to say - "this is the new console / gaming machine on the block, the steambox" might have resulted in them going back to the drawing board or waiting until the next big event (e3) to give it attention.

You seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions...

 

[Atomski]

I thought this was pretty clear after that interview with Garry.

Yeah same here.. I think a lot of the speculation in these threads is what is so confusing.

Can you imagine different people at Valve talking about the development of HL3 publicly? Stuff that they haven't even decided on, mostly ideas, concepts and at most prototypes?

Do you still wonder why we haven't heard shit about HL3?

The speculation threads would be of nightmares.

 

[Clay Davis]

Oh sure, I bet the casual consumer drives more of the gaming business than we realize. So without thier support, or big news intrest it could look bad to them

agreed.

You seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions...

I didn't say I wasn't. it's my personal feeling and opinion on the situation. it feels like something that hasn't gone according to plan. from the lack of product to the mixed messages to all the confusion.

it feels, to me at least, that valve didn't want to happen like this but unfortunately it did and now they have to try and salvage as much as possible or try to dampen interest until they have a more cohesive and directed message along with a product to show off.

from a valve engineer randomly confirming the existence of a steambox to a german site to one of the partners possibly taking that as a sign they were allowed to talk about the steambox and announcing their part in bringing one to the market.

it all feels like an announcement and reveal that shouldn't have happened, at least not yet.

 

[jbug617]

I'm confused on what is going on now.

 

[Orayn]

I'm confused on what is going on now.

Steambox, I believe, is what Valve is currently calling their internally developed, Linux-based living room PC.

There will be "Steam-friendly" living room PCs from various partners, some Linux and some Windows, but those are not Steambox. The Piston from Xi3 is part of this category.

 

[TheGreyHulk]

I read this morning that the Steambox will be running on Linux, but you will be able to install windows on if you want.

source is from the verge, but i don't have the link. it's on my phone. google it

 

[Orca]

A lengthy period of testing...

I'm now glad I have a couple kids. Maybe they'll be able to enjoy it one day.