While PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the hype in the console world, a careful observer might see that in the shadows of the upcoming heavy hitters of the 8th generation of consoles there is an underdog patiently waiting to hit Microsoft and Sony below the belt.

1. Steam Box – The New Prodigy or the New Prodigal Son of the Gaming Industry?
While PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the hype in the console world, a careful observer might
see that in the shadows of the upcoming heavy hitters of the 8th generation of consoles there is an
underdog patiently waiting to hit Microsoft and Sony below the belt.
Throughout the early months of 2013, some wondrous rumors spread among the gamers – strange tales
of controllers that measure your reactions while playing, allowing the action to be tailored accordingly,
machines offering simultaneous play on multiple TVs, and games that allow you to create content or
even make money while doing so. These are the things that can change the gaming market on a level
that motion controllers, share buttons, and smart cameras can only dream about.
Intrigued? Read on…
VALVES, PISTONS, STEAM, AND THE DIGITAL RAILWAY OF THE FUTURE
This mythical new hardware will be prepared by Valve Corporation, a gaming company owning the
digital distributions platform Steam. It is difficult to present any concrete facts about Steam Box as, due
to the lack of official statements from Valve, the only available information comes from interviews given
by the company’s director Gabe Newell and other Valve employees. The release date remains a mystery,
as well as the technical specifications or exact software strategies employed. Also, no official name has
been announced so far, but the journalists and the community alike dubbed the console ‘Steam Box’.
The scarcity of concrete data combined with Valve’s reputation for creativity, as well as intriguing
remarks made by Newell, sparks wild speculation in the community. One thing is sure: this product will
be unique. However due to this uniqueness, it will either be an immense success or it will share the fate
of failed gaming projects such us Atari Jaguar, Nokia N-Gage and Dreamcast.
To better understand the nature of the upcoming console, it is worth taking a very brief look at Steam as
it is certain that that the product will be centered around this system.
GAINING PRESSURE
Steam was launched on September 12, 2003, as a way of distributing updates for the company’s
products. After battling some initial problems, the platform has matured. Today it is the biggest
downloadable games provider with over 50 million users (for comparison, Xbox 360 and PS3 sold around
77 million units each), and a catalogue of nearly 2000 games. In 2011, Forbes estimated that Steam
holds 50 to 70% of the downloadable PC games market, which in case you are still buying your software

2. in brick and mortar shops and don’t know the scale of the phenomenon, was worth $4 billion at the
time.
NOOKS AND CRANKSHAFTS
Steam is something more than a tool for buying and downloading games. Among its features one can
find cloud saving of game progress, cross platform games (currently for Microsoft Windows, OS X and
Linux), ‘Steamworks’ tool, for unified matchmaking, achievements and in-game micro transactions, as
well various community features, including groups, forums, voice-chat, easily-accessible cross-game chat
and a Facebook-like friends news feed. Although these seem pretty common today, many of them were
practically unheard of at the time of their inclusion on Steam.
Among the more recent and innovative features we can find, the ‘Big Picture’ mode – an effort to make
PC gaming on TV screens more accessible, and ‘Greenlight ‘, which allows users to choose community-
submitted games to be sold on Steam.
These additions concentrating on TV gaming and community features foreshadow the coming of Steam
Box, but Valve has much bigger plans for the new console. Let us sum up what is already known about
the project and see the fabled revolutionary features that may either be a selling points, or reasons for
its demise.
WHAT DOES THE BOX HOLD?
Although Valve is working hard to keep the project secret, some extremely important details have been
disclosed: Steam Box is envisioned to be a platform for gaming hardware and software rather than a
single machine. Also, the company wants to have a twofold solution: physical ‘consoles’ – silent and
attractive-looking devices that can be put in the living room next to a hi-fi set or a PlayStation, and
streaming solutions that will connect the home PCs with TV sets.
THE PHYSICAL CONSOLE
Valve is going to release the ‘default’ machine, internally called ‘bigfoot’, nonetheless, the company
wants PC manufacturers to produce their own ‘consoles’ with different configurations.
Despite hardware diversity, user experience will be unified – possibly by a set of hardware
requirements, such as a dedicated CPU and GPU (no further details have been disclosed). These
requirements are not going to be very limiting, for example, even though Valve’s machine will not have
an optical drive, the manufacturers can include one in their machine. One of the more interesting
examples of the 3rd party Steam Box is Xi3 Corporation’s Piston, which for a long time was suspected to
be Valve’s actual Steam Box.

3. We will soon learn more about Valve’s hardware, as the prototypes are to be handed out for testing in
the very near future.
STREAMING
The Streaming system will be the cheapest option for getting a Steam Box. During his DICE 2013
keynote, Gabe Newell noted that such a device should cost 100.00 USD or less. Miracast and Nvidia Grid
are among the considered solutions. The default Steam Box console will offer streaming. Newell
discussed the possibility of playing games on multiple screens during his interview with ‘The Verge’ in
January 2013:
‘‘The Steam Box will also be a server. Any PC can serve multiple monitors, so over time, the next-
generation (post-Kepler) you can have one GPU that’s serving up eight simultaneous game calls. So you
could have one PC and eight televisions and eight controllers and everybody getting great performance
out of it.’’
THE CONTROLLER
To improve gaming experiences and garner the interest of gamers, Valve is also working on a new
controller. In November 2012 it was reported that three different prototypes were being tested. It
seems that the company wants to appeal to hard-core gamers, as it wants to concentrate on improving
precision and reducing latency.
However, another feature to be included in the controller may indeed be a true revolution. Valve has
admitted that it is testing controllers that gather biometric data. The company has even employed an
experimental psychologist to help explore the possibilities of using such feedback to enhance gameplay.
Additionally, the use of eye tracking for control input, and hardware such as Oculus Rift have been
researched.
SOFTWARE
Dissatisfied with Windows 8, the company has chosen to employ a Linux distribution in the ‘default’
Steam Box. There is no word on how customized the build is going to be. However, gamers and
hardware manufacturers will be free to install Windows on their machines.
THE NEED TO FOLLOW CONVENTIONS AND TRANSLATE SPECIALIZED TERMINOLOGY
However the customized build may look and act, the new console ecosystem will be more closed than
the PC environment. This will obviously apply to the Steam software, and its ever growing list of
specialized and unique features, but it might also refer to the specialized hardware that will be part of

4. the said ecosystem, be it optional or not (think new biometric controller, screencast devices). This in
turn will create the need for unified translation of terminology connected to such features. It is yet
unknown how this will be handled and if Valve will release guidelines and glossaries, mimicking the
approach of Sony and Microsoft who demand the publishers to conform to given conventions, before
allowing them to release a game on their platform, or assume a more liberal approach.
WHAT TO EXPECT?
A HIT…
Of course one might say ‘All this is very nice, but even if it’s set to use straight out of the box with pre-
installed Steam, Steam Box is basically going to be PC. What’s the big deal?’
Here are the main reasons why Steam Box could be a game changer:
A COMPLETELY NEW APPROACH TO LIVING ROOM PC GAMING
Rather than making a console, Valve is trying to create an ecosystem that aims to simplify the use of PCs
on a TV screen by providing a streamlined user interface. It is meant to be elegant, easy to use with a
gamepad, and offering quick access to games, including a 10-foot design, so you don’t have to get up
from the couch to read in-game text smaller than the fine print on a bank contract.
AN OPEN STANDARD
By not imposing strict hardware limitations, Valve sets up an open standard. This will result in
manufacturers making products aimed at different consumers. Such a non-discriminating hardware
approach ensured the success for standards such as Android OS and PC architecture in the past.
—
INNOVATIONS IN GAME CONTROLS AND COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS
This topic has already been partially covered, but it deserves further attention.
Biofeedback data gathered by the controller will help the game to modify the action according to the
emotional input. Positive reactions can be rewarded with more of the same, while negative with the
change of action. This is a fundamental shift in game-design, as it involves game responding to what is
happening with the player, rather than the traditional – player responding to what is happening within
the game.

5. A similar shift in approach can be seen with user shops and content creation. In his keynote for DICE
2013 Newell also talked about cross-game purchases and users who want to stop using a given game
being able to selling the content created while playing.
ENORMOUS NUMBER OF LAUNCH TITLES
As Steam Box will employ Steam, we might expect a machine with 2,000 launch titles. If you add full
backwards compatibility for future machines, presence of practically every new major PC release and
users having access to their existing libraries, the new platform may be immensely appealing.
AGGRESSIVE PRICING
PC games are cheaper than console titles in general and Steam is well known for its many sales. What is
more, Valve has relatively low fees, offering publishers a gross margin of 70% compared to 30% at
retailstores. This is sure to encourage both users and developers to choose Steam Box.
…OR A MISS?
So, judging from all the wonderful things written above, the consumers will get the best thing since
sliced bread, right?
Not necessarily, here are the possible issues (some might even seem familiar):
A COMPLETELY NEW APPROACH TO CONSOLE GAMING
Steam Box will not be a real console but the consumers are likely to treat it as one – after all, the
product will compete with consoles. There might be some confusion when one discovers that their new
console will require installing games and, additionally, needs to wait until the games are downloaded –
not ideal if you suffer from a poor quality internet connection. Until recently, console titles also did not
require installation, all you needed to do was insert the disc.
AN OPEN STANDARD
This issue overlaps with the previous point. Consoles offer simple solutions – you don’t have to buy new
GPUs, you don’t have to update drivers and there are only slight variations between console versions,
like disk size or color. In contrast, Steam Boxes are likely to have different CPUs and GPUs. It’s hard to
imagine a mother checking benchmarks on AnandTech to see what version of that ‘Steam Box’ she
should buy her son for Christmas.

6. Also, despite Valve including some hardware requirements, the hardware diversity might result in a
situation in which programming for Steam Box will not be much different from programming for regular
PCs. Needless to say, this does not leave much room for optimizing the code on the console level.
UNDERWHELMING NUMBER OF LAUNCH TITLES
A vast majority of those 2000 games available at launch will not be optimized for the big screen, and a
great many will require the use of a mouse and keyboard. Also, the action in games such as first person
shooters will be suited to the use of mouse and keyboard, not a gamepad.
LINUX
The ‘default’ Steam Box is supposed to use Linux. Currently, Steam offers over 160 Linux games,
including a large number of interesting, but not high profile, indie titles. We have yet to see what kind of
solution Valve has in store for bringing a large number of titles to Linux.
LACK OF EXCLUSIVE TITLES
Exclusive titles are one of the highlights of console gaming. In the case of Steam Box we are not likely to
get anything like God of War or Halo (with the possible exception of the elusive beast known as Half Life
3). Of course there are some PC only titles, but they are not exclusives per se, and, again, they are not
designed with TV gaming in mind.
DIFFERENT TARGET DEMOGRAPHICS AND REGIONS – MORE CLIENTS, BIGGER NEED FOR VIDEO GAME
LOCALIZATION
As console gaming is widely regarded as more accessible than computer gaming, it is very possible that
there will be a shift in demographics of Steam players; with more children and teenage gamers as well
as casual gamers attracted by the streamlined approach of consoles. Such clients are also more likely to
demand a localized product.
Thanks to the cheaper solutions, such as streaming dongles, Steambox is likely to be popular in PC-
centric emerging markets. Higher demand in those regions might in turn convince publishers to localize
their games. Gabe Newell himself commented that releasing a localized product on emerging markets
such as Russia helps to boost sales and reduce piracy.
Surprisingly, the wide selection of free-to-play titles on Steam might also induce the need for quality
localization as well as video game community management. With the gradually saturating market, only
the titles that stand out from the competition will be able to grab the attention of fussy gamers.

7. INTERESTING TIMES AHEAD
It is difficult to predict how the market will receive this product. Steam Box is one of those few devices
that are meant to create a new niche in the market – it is more of an iPad than an Xbox. Whether this is
going to be the true paradigm shift or not, one thing is certain: Valve is making a fairly safe bet from a
financial point of view. By making an open platform based on a tried architecture, it does not have to
invest in new hardware or subsidize the cost of its products at launch.
Valve Corporation has proven its competence when it comes to introducing groundbreaking features
and innovation – first with games, then with digital distribution. Time will tell if it can also do that with
hardware. However, even if the new console will not take the place of Xbox or PlayStation, it is possible
that in one form or another, it will find itself a new, cozy place – right between those consoles and the
TV set in your living room.
WojciechBrudzioski, MO Group International.
WHAT WAS CHANGED IN THIS ARTICLE?
The consoles have now been released, so any mention of excitement prior to release have been
changed.
More techy information about Steam Box, PS4 and One due to more recent leaking of info from
developers.
Difficult to pinpoint changes in this article!! It’s more of a general tone that implies it was written a
while back!