The debate over next generation consoles has been running rampant ever since both Microsoft and Sony announced their latest upgrades to their consoles back in June at this year's E3 gaming conference. Despite the debate mostly being confined to the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, Valve is getting ready to completely change the game by getting involved in the hardware industry.
Valve is typically the kingpin of PC gaming, that is, of course, in addition to being the operator behind the hugely popular and successful Steam game store. The company has been hinting that it is planning to get itself involved in the hardware game for quite some time, the idea is to build a product called the "Steam Box." Now there is a website to tease the upcoming product.
According to Forbes, the Steam Box will basically be a PC that plugs into your TV, likely accompanied by a Windows or Linux operating system. Consider that both the Xbox One and PS4 are made largely with off-the-shelf PC parts, it makes sense for Vavle to produce a physical gaming console and it's entirely possible that it will end up being competitive with other console boxes.
"Last year, we shipped a software feature called Big Picture, a user-interface tailored for televisions and gamepads. This year we've been working on even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room. Soon, we'll be adding you to our design process, so that you can help us shape the future of Steam," reads the teaser site.
Forbes cautions that customers shouldn't expect the Steam Box to dominate the console market overnight. The PlayStation and Xbox are brands that everyone already knows and have a well established backing. However, the hope from the company is that it won't take long for people to see the appeal of PC level computing power in a gaming console right in the living room.
