Post by Morgesm on Mar 8, 2013 12:00:22 GMT -5
Valve's Steambox
A New Competitor for the Next Gen of Gaming?
A New Competitor for the Next Gen of Gaming?
The Back of the prototype System
There are a lot of rumors surrounding this very elusive system coming from Valve. Some say that it will be a "Console for the PC gamer". Will this route actually draw the attention of hardcore PCgamers? If you ask me, I say that it will not. The main reason is that it may end up taking away the ability for gamers to customize their gaming rigs. Whether they want more RAM, memory, or a new graphics cards, by buying this as a console it could greatly restrict the ability to have a custom rig. There is still alot of speculation being put out there as to what the Steambox really is. Is it a console? Or is it a PC that is easier to plug and play into your big screen at home? I am sure in the coming months more information will come out that will clear the questions on this subject.
Valve has announced that it will be sending out prototype versions of the Steambox as early as June to some Steam users. They are still unsure what kind of Operating System the Steambox will run, but rumor has it that it will not be Windows. One thing that is for sure is that it will use an interface much like Steam for PC. For PC gamers this will feel like home. Some noticeable differences from other consoles are that this device will require an online connection to be used as well as all of the games being downloadable so there will be no disc copies. This leads us to imagine that gamers who usually purchase used games will steer away from this system altogether.
The price of this system seems to be a very wide range from $499 USD - $999 USD. Some might say "If I am going to throw out $999 I might as well just buy a new PC." One can imagine that this might be a major flaw in the marketing of their system.
Another rumored hiccup for the current hardware of the Steambox is the amount of heat that it will give off. Not just that but this bad boy is loud! Valve has stated that it is working on making the unit cooler and suffciently quieter.
Basically, no one is quite sure how the Steambox will perform, and how it will stand in the war of consoles of the next generation. All we can do is stand by and watch as it unfolds. We will be keeping a close eye on rumors of this console and keep you readers informed on our findings.
A look at Steam's Big Picture
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