Xi3 Teases Piston Console Unveil Scheduled for Monday, September 30
Valve earlier this week announced there will be several so-called "Steam Machines" in 2014, the official name for what the media was calling Steam Box. These Steam Machines are intended to run Valve's Linux-based SteamOS, and it's Valve's hope that users will interact with these machines using an official Steam Controller, the last of Valve's three big announcements. Where does all this leave third party players like Xi3 Corporation?
While Valve has built a prototype Steam Machine, the real intent here is for third party manufacturers to take its blueprint and run with their own customized designs. Xi3 Corporation has shown considerable interest all along, and for a period of time, it was even rumored the company's Piston console would be the official Steam Box / Steam Machine. We now know there will be several players, though the Piston isn't going anywhere.
Just the opposite, Xi3 Corporation is planning to drop more details about its Piston console on Monday, September 30. In the meantime, Xi3 Corporation is keeping those details close to its chest, though we already know a little bit about the machine.
According to an existing pre-order page, a Piston console comes with a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid state drive. It costs $999 and will shipping "Holiday 2013." What we don't know are what other features the Piston will have, or if Xi3 Corporation will upgrade any of the parts, especially the SSD since prices have come down considerably since the company first began accepting pre-orders.
While Valve has built a prototype Steam Machine, the real intent here is for third party manufacturers to take its blueprint and run with their own customized designs. Xi3 Corporation has shown considerable interest all along, and for a period of time, it was even rumored the company's Piston console would be the official Steam Box / Steam Machine. We now know there will be several players, though the Piston isn't going anywhere.
Just the opposite, Xi3 Corporation is planning to drop more details about its Piston console on Monday, September 30. In the meantime, Xi3 Corporation is keeping those details close to its chest, though we already know a little bit about the machine.
According to an existing pre-order page, a Piston console comes with a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid state drive. It costs $999 and will shipping "Holiday 2013." What we don't know are what other features the Piston will have, or if Xi3 Corporation will upgrade any of the parts, especially the SSD since prices have come down considerably since the company first began accepting pre-orders.
