User:S.sai93/Steam Box (game console)

Steam Box is a Linux-based game console that is being constructed by Valve, the developers of Steam, and Xi3. Computer manufacturer, Xi3, takes the role of designing the hardware of the Steam Box. The Steam Box will incorporate the Steam software in order to create a new console. Steam serves as a marketplace for games produced by Valve and other game developers. This console is rumored that it will dominate in the competition between the other video game consoles and high-end computers because the Steam Box will be affordable, open sourced, allow for cross-platform gaming, and surpass the hardware component of most high-end computers. Valve CEO, Gabe Newell, announced on February 7th, 2013, in his keystone speech for the 2013 D.I.C.E. SUMMIT that the Steam Box is also competing with Apple and Microsoft for the PC taking over the living room of average households.

Background

Steam is a client software on computers that allows for users to download games and play with their online friends. Steam is popular among gamers because it allows for cloud game access and saving. Since games could easily be pirated and not creating revenue for game developers, Steam provides a great legal way for supporting game developers. Gamers prefer Steam because it allows for easy distribution of games that can be directly downloaded on a computer, without the need of CDs. In the beginning of 2013, Steam had a user growth rate of 300% compared to 2012, which is an addition 6.6 million Steam users. Therefore, Valve had the idea of investing in the computer manufacturer, Xi3, to have hardware engineers construct the portable Steam Box game console. Valve chose Xi3 to make the Steam Box because Xi3 creates computers with micro-sized modular computing without performance tradeoffs. The specs of the Steam Box are:

• Nvidia integrated graphics card containing up to 384 programmable cores

• 4 to 8 GB of DDR3 RAM

• A quad-core 64-bit, x86-based 32 nm processor running at up to 3.2 GHz

• Linux OS (able to install Windows OS)

• Up to 1TB of internal SSD storage

• Cube shaped

• Has the GPU ability to play a game on one console on eight different TVs with eight controllers

Collaboration of Corporations

Valve Valve is the owner of the software Steam. Valve Corporation is an American video game developer and this is the first time the corporation is going into hardware design. Because of Steam's popularity, Valve is investing in Nvidia and Xi3 to make the Steam Box. Valve has already started making the Steam store and game library look more like how gaming console menu screens appear. They accomplished this by adding the Big Picture Mode on Steam. This is an essential step for Valve because it makes the PC gaming experience on a TV a lot better. To promote their Linux-based compatibility, Steam has listed a few games on sale on Feburary 16, 2013. Steam prefers using Ubuntu over other Linux versions.

Nvidia Nvidia is a corporation that makes graphics cards for computers demanding high performance graphics. Geforce, a name given to a series of Nvidia graphic cards, was used Microsoft's original Xbox game console, and Sony's PlayStation 3 game console. Nvidia will release the SHIELD in Q2 2013, which is a $250-$300 handheld game console that is the shape of an Xbox 360 Controller, but has a 5-inch touchscreen display attached to the top of the controller. The specs of the handheld SHIELD are:

• Nvidia Tegra 4 graphics card with 4 cores

• 5 to 10 hours of battery life for gaming

• 24 hours of HD video playback

• 1280 x 720 (HD) resolution 5-inch touch-screen display that flips up from the controller

• microSD memory card, standard audio jack, HDMI output, USB, and Micro USB ports

• 2GB DDR3 RAM

• Android Jelly Bean 4.2 OS

• Play video games by streaming PC games through WiFi from your PC to the Shield

The collaboration of Valve and Nvidia will make the Steam Box and Shield a powerful combination because the Steam Box could act as a source for Nvidia Shield to stream from.

Xi3 Xi3 Corporation is a computer architecture corporation that focuses on modular design. The goal of this corporation is to redesign the traditional computer to an energy efficient and portable modular computer design. Xi3’s high-end product, such as the X7A line of computers, cost up to $999. . The specs of X7A will be very similar to the Steam Box. The specs of the X7A are:

• Ultra high performance, low power, small form factor

• Runs x86-based operating systems & software

• 3.2GHz quad-core x86-based APU

• Radeon 7000 series GPU w/384 programmable cores

• Up to 1TB of SSD storage

• Low energy use (40 Watts)

• Triple monitor support: 2 Mini DP, 1 HDMI/DisplayPort combo

• 12 I/O ports (four eSATAp III, four USB 3.0, and four USB 2.0)

Competition moving PC into the living room

Apple During Gabe Newell's DICE keynote, he stated that his real competition in moving the PC to the living room is Apple, not the videogame consoles. Apple TV is the closest Apple has been in moving the PC into the living room. It costs $99 and is working on getting cable on the next generation of the Apple TV. It offers services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, NBA.com League Pass Broadband, and NHL GameCenter Live.

Microsoft Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the successor to the Xbox 360 would also be competition for the Steam Box. The Xbox 360 is $200-$300 and offers a lot of entertainment and media features. In 2012, Microsoft included Internet Explorer to the Xbox 360. This allowed for the Xbox 360 to turn from a closed sandbox console to the full Internet, making it more like a PC. When Microsoft makes the successor to the Xbox 360, which is predicted to be released in Q4 2013, it will make an open sandbox system, similar to the Linux-based Steam box. .

Release Date and Price

The Steam Box is going to be release during the Q4 2013. Valve and Xi3 are planning to make the Steam Box as affordable as possible. The high-end 1TB version of the Steam Box is predicted to be $300 and the low-end model would be $99. In Gabe Newell's DICE keynote, he claimed that the Steam Box will be hitting retail with an asking price “much, much lower” than consumers are used to.

Speculation

Downfall of Gaming Consoles The Steam Box will cause the downfall of gaming consoles because it will allow for cross-platforming, which allows for PC gamers to play with Steam Box gamers. All of the gaming consoles that have come out were closed platforms and third party accessories have to be licensed by the producer of the console in order to sell the products. The Steam Box is an open platform which allows anyone to build and sell hardware for the console. This would create a whole new market of console accessories development companies for the Steam Box. In Gabe Newell's DICE keynote, he announced that the Steam Box will be the future cable because the PC would expand to the T.V in the living room. And with the combination of the Steam Box and the cloud gaming platform Shield, videogames could be could be saved on the Steam Box and accessed wirelessly through Shield. Therefore, the gaming experience could be brought anywhere.

Compatibility issues

Before making the Steam Box, Valve will have to resolve some compatibility issues.

Linux-based The Steam Box will run on Linux OS, which many Steam games on do not support. Steam has listed a few games on sale on February 16, 2013 to show that Steam games are slowly being reprogrammed to be compatible with Linux.

Game-controller In order for the Steam Box to become a console, it needs a hand-held controller. But most gamers on Steam enjoy using the mouse and keyboard set up instead of controllers. The Steam Box will have to include dual-compatibility for mouse and keyboard setup and controller setup. Gabe Newell wants the controller to be more precise and have less lag. He also wants to implement the use of biometric and gaze tracking data in the controllers. The idea behind biometric and gaze tracking communication in controllers is to use hand, muscle, and eye movement to make the gamer experience better.