Rumor: Valve to get in the console biz

[Stormwatch]

Recently there's been chatter that Valve — the company behind the massively popular gaming service Steam — has been considering getting into the hardware business. Specifically, there have been rumors that the company has been toying with the idea of creating a proper set-top console which could potentially pose a threat to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell even recently told Penny Arcade: "Well, if we have to sell hardware we will."

Apparently meetings were held during CES to demo a hand-built version of the device to potential partners. We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU. The devices will be able to run any standard PC titles, and will also allow for rival gaming services (like EA's Origin) to be loaded up.

Part of the goal of establishing a baseline for hardware, we're told, is that it will give developers a clear lifecycle for their products, with changes possibly coming every three to four years. Additionally, there won't be a required devkit, and there will be no licensing fees to create software for the platform.

sauce and moar

[brentsg]

No offense to the op, but .. Yawn.

That sounds almost as exciting as PC gaming, which was awesome like 10 years ago.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Actually I would welcome a modern equivalent to a 8 / 16 bit home computer for PC gaming, Considering optimisation and compatability is the worst aspect of PC gaming. Imagine playing 2D indie games on such a system that works flawlessly.

As someone who loved playing around with BASIC on my spectrum as a kid the Raspberry Pi is quite intresting too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

[Friendly]

Valve does not have the financial resources needed to go into the console biz.

/the end

[Ed Oscuro]

Valve + nVidia = ??????????????????

[nZero]

The devices will be able to run any standard PC titles, and will also allow for rival gaming services (like EA's Origin) to be loaded up.

So... it's a PC. A set-top "gaming" PC.

[JBC]

Sounds cool but implausible. If it happens I'll grab one just to support Valve.

It would be nice to have a new contender. Seems like the big 3 are too threatening for any other companies to try these days. Back when we had a ton of systems all living around the same time. This gave us plenty of options and stuff to collect or, in the case of the Neo Geo, aspire too

They've already got plenty to draw on for major IP's/mascots/exclusives but they would definitely have to expand to meet expectations. Valve stuff is always so slow to roll out the gate.

It also sounds like it would be different enough from the regular consoles to warrant a purchase and also take all of the hassle out of PC gaming. I'm very sad that my little laptop can't do Civilization V.

[Acid King]

No licensing fees is pretty fucking great for independent developers though. I'd like to see it happen.

[Ed Oscuro]

"But can it play Crysis?"

And MAME...depends on which Core i7 it has, I was thinking about the new 3820.

[brokenhalo]

Half life 2 episode 3 as a launch title. I'm calling it now.

[Estebang]

Sounds cool but implausible. If it happens I'll grab one just to support Valve.

I think Gabe Newell is already fat enough.

[KBZ]

it might be a good idea if they can make it open for developers, and have it not run windows. It might also save me the headache of wondering how well a game will run if it's optimized for a specific piece of hardware.

[Udderdude]

The game selection will definitely not be as large as Steam proper, mostly because I doubt they'd include a keyboard and mouse in order to make it seem more like a console.

[Cuilan]

I'm sure there's a niche for something like this, but is that niche big enough to make this viable? I have strong doubts.

If this ends up being real and does catch on, I foresee Sony being the one most negatively impacted by this.

...and have it not run windows.

No Windows = no Direct X, no Direct X = Steam is mostly worthless.

[SuperGrafx]

They'll probably go the OnLive route.

If you recall, OnLive has a console and controller bundle that you can use to play their streamed games on your TV.

[Ed Oscuro]

it might be a good idea if they can make it open for developers, and have it not run windows.

The game selection will definitely not be as large as Steam proper, mostly because I doubt they'd include a keyboard and mouse in order to make it seem more like a console.

No Windows = no Direct X, no Direct X = Steam is mostly worthless.

Y'all need to read:

The devices will be able to run any standard PC titles, and will also allow for rival gaming services (like EA's Origin) to be loaded up.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Seen this recently and it doesn't make much sense. It's not a console, just a branding of PC like Alienware.

Why anyone would go into the halfway house between console and PC, where it's easy to set up but allows no customisation is beyond me. It'd need Windows under the hood to run everything (assuming the PC compatible is true) so I can only assume the cost-saving in the overall hardware price will come in the form of cheap internals.

Valve can in no way go toe-to-toe with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. It's also about 2/3 years late in putting together a budget PC package to lure the graphics whores away from the consoles - no PC gamer would go for a pre-built box like this so I can only assume that dragging the console customers away is the aim.... but pretty much everything on PC (aside from a few exclusives and MMORPGs) is available on consoles, just not quite a sexy-looking. I really don't see where their market is going to come from and with Nintendo jumping the gun on the next gen, this concept will have to go up against the next xbox and PlayStation based solely on Valve's reputation in the PC market and Half Life/Portal.


Sega re-entering the console market sounds like it'd have more success!

[Ex-Cyber]

Valve does not have the financial resources needed to go into the console biz.

/the end

The article doesn't really paint the picture of Valve going into the console business. The actual boxes would likely be made by Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. but carry a logo indicating that they've been built/configured/tested to Valve's standard. Likewise, Steam games would presumably be required to undergo QA evaluation on a reference design. It wouldn't be that far removed from something like Microsoft's "Designed for Windows <version>" certifications.

I think the snag here is that Valve doesn't control Windows, DirectX, or the GPU situation enough to really provide any long-term availability/compatibility guarantees. It wouldn't surprise me if they could get a special arrangement for Windows. They might be able to get Nvidia or ATI to commit to extended availability of a specific GPU family (for PC GPUs, 5 years of volume OEM availability is considered "extended") or to bake in hardware-based backward compatibility for a few generations, but I'd expect that to take more effort.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Dunno why you guys are talking about consoles its basically a home computer and would imo be quite attractive to gamers who love PC gaming but hate putting up with all the extra hassle that comes with the platform.

Valve does not have the financial resources needed to go into the console biz.

/the end

Console no, but since they take whats rumoured to be 30% on each steam sale they could probably fund a home computer if they dont go overboard with custom parts. That said if it turns out to be a massive flop it could put them in financial trouble like THQ with their 1.4 million unsold udraw tablets What a dumb idea that was

[gct]

So... it sounds kind of like Alienware.

[Drum]

I wonder when they'll turn Steam into a streaming service. They're very well-positioned to do that.

[Stormwatch]

Why would they do something so awful?

[KBZ]

I guess there really is no windows-free route for this. Wouldn't really feel like you're sticking it to Microsoft when part of your purchase goes towards a copy of their OS. Linking this idea less and less.

There are many console games that make it to PC, but they rarely translate very well. They usually have sluggish controls optimized for the narrow restricted movements of a controller, and offer little to nothing in terms of configuration. If this form factor PC means more of that, then I hope it doesn't happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ZtBCpo0eU

[gameoverDude]

I wonder when they'll turn Steam into a streaming service. They're very well-positioned to do that.

Fuck no. Keep Steam as it is. I'm not into the potential problems of streaming (i.e. lag, connection dropout). Hopefully it'll have an embedded version of Windows, so the unneeded services can be stripped out.

Given that it'll probably compete with PS4/Xbox 720, it better be able to run Crysis... on Ultra.

And it needs to still be able to accept installation of boxed games, GOG releases, etc. Having an eSATA port would be nice esp. so you can hook a 2TB drive to it. The current gen consoles' proprietary drives are meager stuff, esp. when you consider stuff like Rage, Battlefield 3, etc. that singlehandedly suck up 20+ GB.

No Windows = no Direct X, no Direct X = Steam is mostly worthless.

QFT. Virtually every Steam game is a Win app.

[Specineff]

I'm having flashbacks of both the Phantom and 3DO systems.

Not necessarily a bad thing, considering it's Valve we are talking about.

I just wish it was Sega making the announcement about a console and not a different company.

[louisg]

MPC Level 4 has finally arrived!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_PC

[Ex-Cyber]

I didn't even know there was a MPC Level 3. What was the killer app for that one?

Also, "CD-ROM drive using no more than 40% of CPU to read", lulz. PIO FTL.

[null1024]

I wonder when they'll turn Steam into a streaming service. They're very well-positioned to do that.

Having this as an option would be interesting, but going the whole way and being stream-only, gah. Would be terrible business, considering most Steam users have the hardware to run the games locally.

[BulletMagnet]

Not happening, at least for the time being, according to Valve.

[neorichieb1971]

I welcome any new ideas on the block. Just because something comes out doesn't mean you buy the idea of it. See what it is when it comes out and decide then.