(Just a mockup. Please don’t let Alienware be the ones that actually make this thing…)
Back in March a rumor went around that Valve was interested in breaking into the hardware business, and that they might even secretly been at work on a console/set top box meant for the living room that would be compatible with Steam and other digital download services. The so called “Steam Box” would pack formidable specs compared to current console hardware, including an NVIDIA GPU, 8GB of RAM and a Core i7 CPU, with an HDMI connection as the standard output format due to the prevalence of high definition televisions.
The idea would be to release what was basically a very gaming-specialized PC, presumably to give developers a standardized level of hardware to develop for. Upgraded versions of the system would be released at specified dates, allowing developers to know exactly what specs to build future games around. A patent filed by Valve back in 2011 lent some credibility to these rumors. The patent in question was for a controller with parts that could be swapped out based on the type of game it was being used for.
If the PC had an “official” controller, would it be something like this?
These rumors were eventually denied by Valve. In an interview that went up around that time, Gabe Newell stated, “We’d rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do hardware. We think it’s important enough that if that’s what we end up having to do, then that’s what we end up having to do.” Valve basically stated that while they themselves weren’t working on a new gaming system, they were encouraging others to do it, and that they’d be interested in supporting Steam on such a device.
It seems that Valve’s call for new hardware has gone unanswered, and they may well be gearing up to get it done themselves after all. A job posting went up recently on their official site for an Industrial Designer, the description specifically calling for someone with “expertise in product design and manufacturing, ergonomics, usability, aesthetics, and surfacing.” While this description hardly confirms it’s a console that’s being worked on, it seems pretty likely that some sort of hardware is going into active development over at Valve, whether it’s the controller design from 2011, a prototype for all those neat wearable computing ideas they’ve been talking about, or some other project they’ve managed to keep quiet about.
Between this, Steam Greenlight and the announcement that Steam would be breaking into non-gaming software, 2012 has seen Valve’s operations expand into all sorts of unexpected places. Are we going to see them onstage at next year’s E3 unveiling a console to compete with the Xbox 720 and PS4? Probably not. In fact, knowing them we aren’t going to see whatever they’re working on until around 2020. But hey, might be cool.
its all leading up to the climactic announcement of ricochet 2
I highly doubt that if they are actually making a console, they would actually have a successful run. Given that the Ouya will enter the market(and even it has a questionable future on it’s hand beyond it’s pre-orders), if the “Steam Box” is to enter the market we might witness an over-saturation in consoles and might provoke another game crash…
-The Theory
im not sure adding 2 more consoles to the game market would cause a game crash, the original reason why a game crash occurred is because a ton of nobody companies decided to cash in on the video game market because of activison gaining the right to make 3rd party games for consoles
this resulted in companies who have NOTHING to do with video games making video games, such as dog food manufacturers, so not only where the games completely insane and random but they where also HORRIBLE and there was THOUSANDS of them that simply did not sell
investors pulled there money out, nentendo designs a system that’s locked down and becomes king
its interesting because the Arcade and PC gaming markets back then where still really strong
I love it but personally I dont like the look the controller. Looks very odd.
You’re sad get a life, jefuwjhe
Honestly, I absolutely love the concept.
If Valve does it right, which from past SOFTWARE experience, they often do, then this could be a successful console. Not only to normal console gamers, but to give those elitest PC gamers (Much like ourselves) a chance to branch off and feel for ourselves what gaming can be. I think that it’s a great idea and that Valve should keep working at it. As for the Alienware mockup, Alienware are very good but fragile. If Alienware makes this, I think Valve would be smart and fund for a strong sturdy case ^_^
Have a nice day