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Further proof that the Xi3's Piston PC is the Steam Box, or at least a version of it.There was quite a bit of mystery surrounding Xi3's Piston PC at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year. Early reports pegged the PC as being Valve's hotly anticipated Steam Box, and when asked straight up by Maximum PC Online Editor Jimmy Thang, Xi3's chief marketing manager, David Politis, played it coy. Now two months later, a branded version of Xi3's Piston PC has broken cover on Facebook and Twitter.
Game developer Infinity Ward posted a picture of the modular PC alongside an iPhone to give viewers a sense of scale. The photo's caption simply reads, "Game development (phone for scale)." Might this be the Steam Box?
That's the consensus on the web. Whether it will be the official Steam Box, or the only Steam Box, is something that still isn't known, but the fact that a branded version has fallen into the hands of Infinity Ward is a pretty strong indication that it's at least a Steam Box. And given the popularity of the Call of Duty franchise, it would make sense that Infinity Ward would get a head start on making sure its games will run on such a device.
Time will tell what's going on, but in the meantime, here's how you can set up your own ultimate Steam Box.
Comments are closed on this article
Warrior247
March 05, 2013 at 1:50pm
The idiot and the idiot train express chug along believing anything they hear. Has ANYONE seen Gabe? Has Valve made an announcement? Nope and hell no.
"Whether it will be the official Steam Box, or the only Steam Box, is something that still isn't known"-MaximumPC
Vaporware
noun
1. a Gaseous, malodorous, stench fill exhalation, fog, mist, "steam", smoke, or noxious @$$ gas, diffused through imagination, or suspended in hype: the vapors rising from the hot air of fools.
Paper Jam
March 05, 2013 at 2:58pm
Right on time. Dance, puppet, dance. Now call me an idiot, and then call it vaporware one more time, just so we all know that you mean it.
Warrior247
March 05, 2013 at 5:33pm
How about I just call you a dumb@$$ one more time so we all now I mean it?!! The problem is the word "steambox". The mere mention of the word and the guy wets his panties. The damn thing has Infinity Ward on the side of it. "Nobody" has said it's Valves Steambox and neither has Valve! When "Valve" announces their *ahem*...bwaaahaha...oh, uh, "Steambox", then...AND ONLY THEN... will it go from foul smelling, internet ass gas, to reality.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/05/valve-readying-steam-box-prototype?utm_campaign=twposts&utm_source=twitter
It's "THIS" kind of schooling, absolute ownership, pure and utter mental beatdown, that people love to receive from me. Why? I just don't know.
Paper Jam
March 05, 2013 at 6:21pm
When the Steambox is placed in front of you, you will deny its existence. Your brain won't be able to handle the reality of it and your head will explode. But before it does, your last words will be to call me a dumbass one last time.
Warrior247
March 05, 2013 at 11:45pm
Damn this guy like to be abused. If it exists, then it exists. But it DOESN'T! The Steambox is a fart in the wind. It stinks for a few seconds, then it's gone. You hear some news, then...nothing. If it does arrive, it still has to survive. My money is going to M$ and Sony. I'll fix my HTPC up before I waste good money on... another HTPC!!
lordfirefox
March 06, 2013 at 5:23pm
Is that why they're shipping prototypes out in 3 to 4 months? Because they don't exist? Kinda funny how a machine that you claim doesn't exist can be shipped out to customers.
You claim you'll fix up your HTPC before you'll buy another HTPC. Then why are you going to buy M$ and Sony's HTPC's? Yeah that's right those "consoles" are HTPC's they have x86 hardware they run Windows 8 and Ubuntu. They can download/install games to the hard drive they'll most likely be compatible with mouse and keyboard input. Call them what they really are: HTPC with Microsoft and Sony branding.
You come here and post inane bullshit and consistently fail at basic logic. Do yourself a favor and leave MaximumPC forever and find a new hobby because you sure as hell aren't welcome in this one you stupid iTool.
Now kindly FUCK OFF!
Warrior247
March 06, 2013 at 10:47pm
It's a fartbox, a stinkbox, wishful thinking, hot air, it DOESN'T exist. It's NOT announced, it has not been shown, no specs, nothing!!! "If" this abomination makes it out of the lab, it'll die a slow and agonizing death. You know for a fact the PS4 and the 720 are running Windows 8 "and" Ubuntu? They will be compatible with a mouse and keyboard?!! They can "now" download and install games to the hard drive? Where have you been butt monkey? Consoles can do that already!! The PS3 is one of the highest rated Blue-ray player around! Do you hear M$ talkng about the 720? Nope! Put it in your mouth.
jnwoll
March 06, 2013 at 1:20pm
This was copy and pasted from PC Gamer's website.
In a BBC interview ahead of last night’s BAFTA Game Awards, Gabe Newell revealed that prototypes of Valve’s “Steam Box,” their planned living-room friendly PC, could be ready to ship to customers within the next three to four months.
“We’re working with partners trying to nail down how fast we can make it,” Newell said. “We’ll be giving out some prototypes to customers to gauge their reactions, I guess, in the next three to four months.”
While so far, all that’s been officially unveiled are third party Steam partnerships, like Xi3′s Piston, here it sounds like he’s taking about Valve’s own internal efforts. If that’s the case, then “customers” could be referring to anything from consumers, to publishers, developers or hardware manufacturers. Given Valve’s love of testing, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were eager to get something out to members of the public.
While most of the early work has been done on the console, Newell says there are issues that still need to be resolved. “There are noise issues and heat issues and being able to [deal with] that while still offering a powerful enough gaming experience is the challenge in building it.” Components aside, it seems the biggest problem Valve faces is the controller design, and has created multiple versions for customers to test.
The full four minute chat is available to watch on the BBC News page. As well as Steam Box, Newell also talks about biometrics, saying “You need to actually be able to directly measure how aroused the player is – what their heart rate is, things like that – in order to offer them a new experience each time they play.”
And then, inevitably, he dodges questions about Half-Life 3. “We’re always looking at all of our different games – even Ricochet and Day of Defeat – thinking about how we can evolve them in the changing gaming landscape.”
Engelsstaub
March 05, 2013 at 2:48pm
I like speculative articles about tech that's relevant to me. People who get geeked up over new consoles, PCs, etc are naturally going to anticipate new stuff. There's some credible indications that the Steam Box will become a reality.
Warrior247
March 05, 2013 at 5:45pm
When it does, it will be. Remember, Sony didn't show any hardware! For all we know it could be vaporware and a ploy to draw out M$. But at least they announced something, Valve hasn't.
Paper Jam
March 05, 2013 at 3:00pm
Don't try to reason with it. This troll only gets more angry and will call you names.
majorsuave
March 05, 2013 at 1:42pm
What I like about the specs of the PS4 and the leaked specs of the Steam Box and next Xbox is that they all use the same architecture (AMD APU) which means that devs will spend less time tweaking for each console and more time creating content.
If they all have the same APU it will also mean that most games will be tweaked to play well on AMD hardware.
owen420
March 05, 2013 at 5:07pm
they said the same thing about "powerpc" chips that the 360/ps3/wii all used
and we still had issues
hopefully they also both use the same gpu's
Paper Jam
March 05, 2013 at 1:19pm
Alright, Wario, call it vaporware once more, and this time with feeling.
stradric
March 05, 2013 at 1:16pm
I imagine that Valve may commission Xi3 to build a version of the steam box based on their X7A in order to cut costs. The X7A looks a bit pricey to compete with $500 consoles. I don't think most people are going to be eager to drop $900+ on a Steam Box. But Valve makes a killing on Steam and could probably afford to subsidize the cost of the system a bit.
I *do* like the design of these PCs though. Aesthetically pleasing. Solid. Easy to take apart. Modular. Color me interested.
Either way, this next generation of gaming is going to be one for the ages. With cheap consoles like the Ouya, mainstream consoles like the PS4 and yet-to-be-announced Xbox 720, new "consoles" like the Steam Box -- all with the ever-present force of the iPad, iPhone and Android... there is a whole lot of chaos to ensue. It's gonna be real interesting.
Peanut Fox
March 05, 2013 at 3:33pm
I think one of the big 3 is going to fall off. I can't see Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all being able to fit in the same market. Excluding the PC it's always been a two console race. Even when there were three or four entrants things seemed to always fall into the top two leading by a large margin.
Neufeldt2002
March 05, 2013 at 12:10pm
Okay, kind of related, but I think it would be cool if they made a Steam Punk Steam Box. I would totally buy that provided that it could be upgraded.
