Jon`C, I hear your many points about Android but:



I'm betting that trumps them all. I remember constantly reading articles about how the PS3 was a nightmare to develop games on (although I think that's mostly hardware related). I wont debate if the PS3 was a success or failure but it certainly sold millions of units and attracted enough major developers to have a comparable gaming library to the Xbox360.

And more back on topic...

Announced at CES, Valve is apparently partnering with Xi3 and it's going to be a mini-PC.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/3849284/piston-valve-steam-box-xi3

I'm having a tough time finding detailed specs, but it looks like it would be based on AMD's Trinity APU. Probably something like the A10-4600M. Enough for decent 1080p performance in most situations.

I can't say I'm surprised, but I'm still a little disappointed. I guess I was sorta hoping for something closer to Alienware's X51, small yet upgradeable in case there was any chance it could be converted from a console to standard PC.

These dedicated Android consoles have a completely different mode of user interaction and impose new constraints. You really have to treat them as a completely different market from smartphones. They aren't going to be popular just because Android phones are popular.

The market decided that the PS3 would be successful before it ever came out. Developers worked on it and consumers preordered it on the expectation that it would be a success. If it hadn't been the successor to the PS2, game and middleware developers certainly wouldn't have wasted the time fixing it.

Ewww, a LV Bulldozer. Gross.

I don't think this is the official Steam box (if there even will be such a thing). I just don't really see them partnering with an unknown Kickstarter-funded hardware company. It's looking more and more like Steambox will be a certification program for Linux PCs that boot directly into Big Picture.

I'd love it if Valve releases their own 'Steambox' Linux Distro, and we could just supply hardware designed to meet certain minimum requirements. Looking at the prices Xi3 is currently charging it would be easy to build the same system in MicroATX format for ~1/3 the cost.

It looks like an ATX power supply with ports.

Also yeah, looks like the steambox has garbage ass specs and is made by a dumb idiot company, and will probably sell for ±800 dollars.
well gabe, it was a good run.

A certification program would be great. Then, like Google's Nexus, Valve could release a flagship line meant to set the reference standard. And they can call it Steam Engine.

I'll be really upset if there isn't something called Steam Engine.

I was thinking it would be nice if the 'SteamBox distro' included a series of benchmarks, similar to the Windows Experience Index. Then it could evolve as new games came out, requiring more horsepower.

(Silly example) Like something that meets Steambox 1.0 specs might only be able to run Crysis4 on Low Settings, and it would inform you of that, even before you make your purchase.

Thanks Mentat. Although some of that Good, Better, Best talk confused me- I did like this part: