The prototype has been built to give manufacturers a reference design to work towards for their retail versions which are expected to debut at CES in January.

Steam Machines are the customizable video game consoles that are designed to bring the power of PCs to the living room. The machines have separate zones for CPU, power supply and the video card, so Valve designed the case so the parts can breathe individually. The CPU blows air out the top, the power supply out the side, and the graphics card exhaust out back.

“Really we just wanna have confidence that all the customers on Steam are having enough options, and that the price/performance spectrum is as fleshed out as Steam customers want it to be. And right now, the indications that we have from the lineup that we’re gonna be talking about at CES, is that they are gonna have enough choice. So we’re gonna continue to treat this as a test platform and see how that goes.” Says Greg Coomer.

Those machines will be revealed at next January’s CES, as well as partners and more information and hopefully the pricing.

So  circle January on your calendar.

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Rather than a single, one spec box like a Xbox One or PS4, Valve is working with multiple partners to launch a variety of Steam gaming machines for the market next year. All will run Linux-based SteamOS.

“Beginning in 2014, there will be multiple SteamOS machines to choose from, made by different manufacturers,” the company writes. Unfortunately, Valve doesn’t say which manufacturers it’s working with, or what the Steam Box will look like.

The aim is to bring the popular Steam gaming service into the living room, allowing users to play PC games on your big screen TV with a game controller instead of a keyboard.

Different manufacturers are expected to build different kinds of boxes with numerous levels of power and prices. Details on the systems specs aren’t clear at present, but 300 prototypes will be sent to Steam users who sign up for a limited beta program by October 25th.

The machine is expected that unlike other game consoles – these Steam machines will be “upgradeable and re-build friendly” just like PC’s. It’s said that the company will erect three tiers which are “Good,” “Better,” and “Best.” Good would be a cheap (around $100) box that streams content from another computer in your home with more muscle, while Better (around $300) will be more powerful yet cheaper than the last tier, which will be the Best, with no restrictions.

There’s another announcement coming at 10AM PT / 1PM ET on Friday, September 27th. My guess would be a game controller.

Of course, we’ll be showing it to you fellow t[H]‘ers here, as soon as it is unveiled.

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The franchise made its debut on the PC in 1998 with Thief: The Dark Project, the series continued with Thief II: The Metal Age, and Thief: Deadly Shadows. The new title is in development for PC, PlayStation 4 and other next-generation consoles.

There is a rising tide of fear in The City. Hatred saturates every stone and whilst the rich prosper, the less fortunate face misery and repression. Ravaged with sickness and famine, they wait for something to change. Into this shadowy world steps Garrett the Master Thief in a first-person adventure featuring intelligent design that allows players to take full control, with freedom to choose how they approach and overcome each challenge and forge their own path through the game.

Thief: Out of the Shadows is expected to arrive sometime in 2014.

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The Voice actor, Erik Todd Dellums, voice actor for the original Bethesda works, who is known for his role of radio DJ “Three Dog” in the post apocalyptic Bethesda RPG Fallout 3, has tweeted at the possibility – and that he was “allowed” to tease it - that there’s a chance Bethesda could be working on a direct sequel to the original story, exciting us, the Fallout fans everywhere. has tweeted this possibilty, meaning that .

Added to the rumour that Fallout 4 will be announced at PAX:East (Boston) in march, and that the game will take place in Post Apocalyptic Boston, we are all eyes and ears now.

It seems that 2013 will be one of the best years for gaming.

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DayZ, a zombie survival horror mod for PC military simulator title ArmA II that has attracted rave reviews, has been given the green light by developer Bohemia Interactive to make the step up into a fully-fledged standalone title. The mod, which according to its New Zealand creator Dean Hall has attracted over one million users in the four months since its release, has propelled ArmA II back to the top of the Steam sales charts a full three years after that title’s release and it’s expected the standalone game will enjoy the same kind of success.

The game is played in a 225 km² (87 mi²) fictional country called Chernarus that is swarming with zombies. It’s never really explained why this is so, but what’s crystal clear from the outset is that you have to do whatever it takes to survive in this post apocalyptic landscape and that zombies aren’t necessarily the most dangerous foes you’ll encounter.

Players start without guns, and have to scavenge for food, water, tools and weapons, all the while evading both the undead and bandit players who will happily take your hard earned loot from you.

It is the player’s absolute freedom to choose how they will play the game, coupled with a real-time day/night cycle and the ever present threat of permadeath that will force players to start again from scratch that adds significance to every decision you make. Giving a stranger the benefit of the doubt and letting your guard down could see you forming a team that improves your chances of survival, but it could also get you killed at the hand of the stranger who is looking for some food and ammo. Just the kind of situation one would expect to encounter in a real zombiepocalypse.

Thankfully current players won’t be left in the lurch as the mod makes the move to standalone title.

“Development and updates of the mod will continue in parallel with the development of the game, so anyone who is playing the mod now will be able to continue to do so,” writes Dean Hall on his Tumblog. “The project will follow the Minecraft development model; fast iterations with the community alpha available for a heavily discounted price.”

Users are hoping a standalone incarnation will iron out some of the idiosyncrasies of the original ArmA II engine, in particular the overly complex and unwieldy inventory management system.

Source: dayzdev.tumblr.com