Steam Box – Officially Official, But Is It Really Needed?

Well, looks like the cat is out of the bag, and has been for quite some time. Yup, that little box up there, although just an artists mockup, depicts what is soon to be gaming’s newest console contender.

But, honestly, do we really need yet another console?

With Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all competing in a never ending arms race for console supremacy, we can’t help but wonder; why in the hell is Valve, a company known for creating computer games, as well as the award-winning Steam distribution platform,  attempting to go after some of the worlds largest, wealthiest and most powerful digital giants? You’d think it would be instant failure, and yet, here we are. The Steam Box exists. Valve truly has some huge ‘faucets’  to enter into this war zone. But, will they succeed, or will they simply become the next Sega, destined to forever be a digital content distributor?

Honestly, we’d have to bet on the later. Valve is, although a very large and popular video game company, still just catering to a select group of people. The console market doesn’t know they exist, and the PC market doesn’t have an interest in consoles. They’ve found themselves in a catch 22 situation, unable to properly focus on one specific ‘side’. But let’s say, just for the sake of the argument, Valve manages to succeed with their console endeavour, what now? Do they continue to remake new iterations of their Steam Box every couple of years, as to stay current with the console market? Do they adapt some form of cloud gaming service, something similar to OnLive, perhaps? What do they do with their unexpected success? Do they even plan on doing anything?

There are just so many unanswered questions right now, and a closed tap at Valve HQ isn’t allowing the news to drip out of the faucet.

So, do you think the Steam Box will be a hit, or an epic fail so intense, it causes an earthquake of angry bronies to storm throughout California, eventually leading to the entire state sinking away into the salty oceans below?      (Well, maybe not the entire state… Just Hollywood)

Source – http://kotaku.com/5966860/gabe-newell-living-room-pcs-will-compete-with-next+gen-consoles