Piston (SteamSole) Cometh

[sirdilznik]

So Valve and their hardware partner Xi3 are lifting the covers off their (likely Linux-based) Steam computer... console... thingy. It's called "Piston" (right now), it's in the prototype stage, and it will basically have all the functionality of a full PC in a super small form factor:

Video from before CES

[Sslaxx]

Likely to be rather expensive though, seeing as the machine being used as its base is $999, which will be a big problem. I'd not be surprised if Steam is going to have other people make "SteamBox" consoles.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I bet they will manage to keep it below $500 - comparable to other high-end consoles.

I, for one, think it is awesome.

[sirdilznik]

I bet they will manage to keep it below $500 - comparable to other high-end consoles.

I, for one, think it is awesome.

Yeah, looks like Piston, which is just in the prototype stages right now, is just one of several potential "SteamSoles". Gabe Newell is no dummy, and I'm sure he's aware that $550 or so seems to be the cutoff point. Going above that has generally spelled disaster (see Neo Geo and PS3 as examples). They will likely take the road of initially selling the console at a loss and making money off games, then the machine turns profitable as manufacturing costs go down.

If nothing else, this should really drive Linux gaming forward.