Be Excellent To Each Other

it might lead to Steam coming out for the likes of Ubuntu eventually.

The thought occurs to me though: is it really all that likely this thing will run a non-Windows OS? I ask that because, for that to work, all the developers would need to create and support a Linux version of their games and are they likely to want to commit (what I imagine to be) a decent chunk of resource for that in addition to the Windows/PS3/Xbox/etc versions they'll already be doing?

So why not stick that under your telly?

Because many other programs look like poop when displayed on a TV, even if you set windows to giant-text mode

This is the company that force updates on my Football Manager game, thus breaking it every couple of weeks, once I'm forced to use their platform to run my boxed game in the first place? Their console is going to be a breath of fresh air!

Good news, the future is already here!

Note that 'the future' is only available as a Beta version to selected time-travellers. Your temporal access is at risk of being revoked if you do not keep up payments on your time machine. Terms and conditions apply.

Already?

There's going to be a lot of leads hanging out of the back of suck a small box.

Pffft. The graphics card in my washing machine is bigger than that... toy.

Valve readies prototype Steam Box video game console

Valve expects to offer prototypes of its upcoming video games console for testing within four months time.

The firm's chief executive Gabe Newell revealed the news to the BBC ahead of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) Games Awards.

Valve's online PC games store Steam has already proven highly popular and analysts suggest the console, called Steam Box, could have a big impact.

Mr Newell is being honoured with an Academy Fellowship at the event.

He was less forthcoming about whether his firm was actively working on new sequels to its hit science fiction franchises Half Life and Portal.

Portal 2 - a puzzle based game involving a prisoner trying to escape test chambers controlled by a homicidal computer - won best game and two other awards at last year's Baftas.

Its upcoming Steam Box hardware is designed to make it easy to access the service via living room televisions posing a challenge to Nintendo's Wii U, the upcoming Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's next Xbox.

"We're working with partners trying to nail down how fast we can make it," Mr Newell told the BBC.

"We'll be giving out some prototypes to customers to gauge their reactions, I guess, in the next three to four months.

"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."

He added that his company had still to finalise how the console's controller would work as it continued to explore the possibility of including sensors to measure the gamers' body states.

"If you think of a game like Left For Dead - which was trying to put you into a sort of horror movie - if you don't change the experience of what the player is actually feeling then it stops being a horror game," Mr Newell explained.

"So 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."

One industry analyst said Valve's effort to transform itself from a games creator to an online marketplace was impressive, but added that it was still too soon to know if the Steam Box would be a success.

"I don't have any doubt they will put forth an impressive machine and it's pretty clear that at launch they will have a significant games catalogue," said Lewis Ward from IDC.

"But the surrounding app ecosystem is unlikely to match other consoles which have Netflix, video conferencing tie-ins and other non-gaming aspects.

"And we still don't know the price - Valve will be unable to subsidise its console in the same way the other manufacturers do, so that remains a major unknown."

“We reaffirm the fact that we received an investment from Valve Corporation (as we previously disclosed during the 2013 International CES trade show), and we did so with Valve’s written permission,” Xi3 CEO Jason A. Sullivan said in a statement published on Kotaku.

“Second, we were asked to build a product specifically for Valve, and both companies showcased this product – the Piston Console -in their respective booths at CES 2013.”

Sullivan said he met with Valve boss Gabe Newell at CES, and was asked not to disclose any additional information about their “relationship”, but that Xi3 needs to sort out a few things.

The executive said Piston is not the “official” SteamBox, but also noted that “just because Valve may not ‘currently’ have any ‘involvement with any product of [Xi3]‘s doesn’t mean that such involvement won’t exist in the future”.

This mysterious statement aside, Sullivan said Piston will be able to access Steam regardless of any relationship with Valve, as well as many other gaming an entertainment platforms. “Which is more than what Valve apparently has planned for its official SteamBox,” he added.

Piston, he explained, is a modular computer, “that can run any operating system or application designed to run on an x86-based 64-bit computer”.

“To be clear, the Piston Console will ship initially with a Windows operating system specifically because that’s where the vast bulk of game software and computer gamers are today. That said, the Piston Console can also run Linux (and other operating systems), which means it can support the Linux-version of Steam.

“Contrary to Valve’s vision, Xi3 believes that the way to take this to market today is to do so with a Windows OS at the core, coupled with the ability to not just get to one platform/store for games, but to get access to all game stores/platforms. Studios should have the option to go through Steam if they choose or to go direct to the end-user if they so choose. That will be the difference between Piston and other Steam boxes. You’ll be able to access Steam if you choose, but you’ll also be able to access other platforms as well-all through the Piston Console.”

So it's just a tiny little PC, basically.

The Xi3 is, sure. That's all it was ever presented as, to be fair, right back to the Kickstarter.

I can see why Valve are backing away from it, if Xi3 have just come out and said "Well obviously it won't only be for Steam..."

Backwards compatibility with existing games is the big question mark over 2). A Steambox that can only play a handful of games from my Steam library isn't interesting. Devs won't port games over to Linux en masse, and software compatibility shims a la Wine is a problem lots of people have tried and failed at in the past. I'm genuinely puzzled what Valve is going to do to square this circle.

Lewie tweeted last week that there were rumors that the next COD would have a linux version

I think I've seen somewhere that Steam Linux has around 80 or 90 titles (which is way more than any console would launch with) , I would think a wrapper may be possible for *some* titles , and Lewie tweeted last week that there were rumors that the next COD would have a linux version (which would be a big thing to launch steambox with the latest COD bundled)

*not* Lewie's link but covers the main points

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... with-steam

Maybe there will even be a Modern Warfare 4 Piston bundle sold this autumn when the as yet unannounced new Call of Duty game will presumably be released.