Valve's Gabe Newell Hints at Possible Steam Box Reveal Next Week
The question no longer seems to be whether or not Valve will release a Linux-based console of its own -- the so-called Steam Box -- but when will it debut? Based on some comments Valve co-founder Gabe Newell made during a keynote at LinuxCon 2013, the company could launch a Steam Box as early as next week, or at least offer up some additional information about its hardware plans.
Newell promised to share "the hardware opportunities we see for bringing Linux into the living room" very soon, perhaps next week. While that could simply mean more lip service about PC prototypes by third party manufacturers like we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last January, The Verge claims it was previously told by Valve that Steam is working on its own box, which would then serve as a blueprint for other hardware players. Before doing that, there are some kinks to work out.
"There are thermal issues and sound issues, and also a lot of input issues," Newell stated during the keynote. "The next step in our contribution to this is to release some work we've done on the hardware side."
The rest of his keynote was mostly spent talking about Linux being the future of gaming, a notion Newell has never been shy about since the introduction of Windows 8. Valve's made a concerted effort to play nice with Linux in the past year especially, and there are now almost 200 games on Steam that support the open-source platform.
Newell promised to share "the hardware opportunities we see for bringing Linux into the living room" very soon, perhaps next week. While that could simply mean more lip service about PC prototypes by third party manufacturers like we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last January, The Verge claims it was previously told by Valve that Steam is working on its own box, which would then serve as a blueprint for other hardware players. Before doing that, there are some kinks to work out.
"There are thermal issues and sound issues, and also a lot of input issues," Newell stated during the keynote. "The next step in our contribution to this is to release some work we've done on the hardware side."
The rest of his keynote was mostly spent talking about Linux being the future of gaming, a notion Newell has never been shy about since the introduction of Windows 8. Valve's made a concerted effort to play nice with Linux in the past year especially, and there are now almost 200 games on Steam that support the open-source platform.
