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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The controller reminds us the Xbox version but it is quite different to that of other consoles. The most prominent elements of the Steam controller are its two circular trackpads which are very sensitive and clickable.

Steam gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller’s resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse.

 

Sounds good, hm?  Aye, but we need to give it a few spins to pass judgement. Let’s proceed…

The Steam Controller is built around a new generation of super-precise haptic feedback, employing dual linear resonant actuators. These small, strong, weighted electro-magnets are attached to each of the dual trackpads. They are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement. It is a higher-bandwidth haptic information channel than exists in any other consumer product that we know of. As a parlour trick they can even play audio waveforms and function as speakers.

 

So far so good… Rumble tech is one of the basic technologies in a console controller. It seems like Valve is trying to take things into the next step. Always a good thing.

In the center of the controller is another touch-enabled surface, this one backed by a high-resolution screen. The screen allows an infinite number of discrete actions to be made available to the player, without requiring an infinite number of physical buttons. The whole screen itself is also clickable, like a large single button.

The Steam Controller was designed from the ground up to be hackable. Just as the Steam Community and Workshop contributors currently deliver tremendous value via additions to software products on Steam, we believe that they will meaningfully contribute to the design of the Steam Controller.

 

And here’s a little detail that we need so bad in today’s world. Openness.

Valve is going the way of the free, we’ll see if this road will end in a ghost town on Route 66 or on a grassy knoll overlooking a more free and fun world, time will tell.

I will grab myself one of the Steam Machines, that’s for sure.

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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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