Valve working on 'Steam Box' gaming console with hardware partners

Re:Valve working on 'Steam Box' gaming console with hardware... by pwf on Saturday March 03, 2012 @12:09PM (#3660466)

I don't think the hardware spec will be fixed. The article seems to think it will be Android-like. Valve will give guidelines like 'must support OpenGL' and 'needs at least HDMI output and 6 USB ports', but if you want to spring for the Alienware Mega-'Console', then you'll have a bit more power.

And the more I think about this and type my response, the less exciting this sounds... All of this is possible on a PC. What they'll be offering us is basically a pre-loaded, locked-down Linux based OS.

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Re:Valve working on 'Steam Box' gaming console with hardware... by nextparadigms on Saturday March 03, 2012 @02:37PM (#3660905)

Speaking of Android, I think Google should either either Android or Google TV to turn it into a "console platform" rather than the usual "console-device" we have now.

Graphics on ARM chips are getting good enough for enjoyable 3D games in HD, and soon we'll be able to just hook our phones to a TV and play all the Android games there anyway (some phones already do this).

But Google could encourage manufacturers to build special cheap $100 boxes that are meant only for gaming, too. Then it would just be able to gain market share over the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the same way it gained over the iPhone - by getting all manufacturers to make such devices.

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Re:Valve working on 'Steam Box' gaming console with hardware... by jiggy2011 on Saturday March 03, 2012 @12:13PM (#3660474)

True, but if they invest the resources into making all of these games run on Linux then perhaps those of us with "real" Linux setups will be able to run them too. No more dual booting!

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