In case you didn’t know, Valve has been dropping bombs all week! The first of a series of three announcements began on Monday, with the introduction of a new SteamOS built on Linux. The second announcement, which was revealed yesterday, was fan boy dream box The SteamBox (Steam Machines) another alternative to home consoles and PC.
Valve has stated that they will not making these devices in-house, but will instead be working with manufacturers to bring the best they have to the market (all running on Steam OS of course). But whose to say Valve won’t be one of those manufacturers?
In order to help them on their epic quest to find the right combination to bring to market, Valve is opening up a very small beta group of 300 people. If you’re interested in getting on a beta list more exclusive then the Garden of Eden, check out the Valve page for further info.
As stated on the official Valve page,
‘Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS…’
My body is ready. Dude, what’s next?!
As the race begins to predict the last announcement, it is mentioned in the Steam Hardware Beta Test Agreement that Valve has “developed and produced prototypes of entertainment system hardware and software, including a set-top box running custom software and a game controller.”
Judging from this image, which has been lighting up in accordance with the announcements, it’s likely the last will be turn out to be a controller. Shout out to Forbes for nabbing the screenshot!
The currently highlighted circle, which can still be viewed on the Steam Engine’s site, represents yesterday’s announcement. The first circle was the Steam OS, with the second circle featuring the first in brackets. Those guys at Forbes were clever enough to point out that this was the physical box encasing the SteamOS software.
Since Friday’s circle has no box, and just those two circles linked by a plus sign, there’s honestly nothing else it could be aside from a D-pad. Who wouldn’t recognize the universal symbol for ‘this is how you get ish done?’
But as for the last announcement being just a controller? I don’t know about you guys but I’m shooting high on this one. I dare say the third announcement will be a game! At this point who knows? Of course it is entirely possible that the sheer force of my expectations have been clouding my judgement.
The final announcement will drop at 1 PM Eastern tomorrow. Regardless of what it says, Valve has their work cut out for them, as the battle to control your living room has only just begun! Brace yourself guys. The next generation is almost upon us
What do you think the next Valve announcement will be?
