Xi3 shows Steam Box Piston - CES 2013 HD

[inf64]

So this is Steam box. Looks like it will be upgradeable to Trinity/Richland QC @ x.xx-3.2Ghz with 384SPs (similar to 4600M Trinity 35W part)- the guy in video mentions this at the end of the clip. Looks very tiny.

Overview:

Xi3 Modular Computer with a dual- or single-core 64-bit, x86-based processor supported by the 780E NorthBridge and SB710 SouthBridge chipsets, with dual 2560 x 1600 display outputs.

5A Model # 5342
Processor Board
(Model No. CPU-5A-C21)
Processor/Socket:
Dual-core 64-bit 3400e
Speed: 1.8GHz
Memory: 2GB DDR2
L2 Cache: 1MB
Power: 20 Watts
Interface: HT3-1GHz

 

[Face2Face]

Looks pretty cool. Funny, in the clip he mentions Half Life and then pauses for a second. Sounds like a Half Life 3 maybe coming....? Why would he mention Crysis 2 and then a old old game like Half life...

 

[inf64]

Yep HL3 slip right there . It's coming this year I'm pretty sure.

 

[mizzou]

woah, that thing is TINY

what does this have to do with Valve Corporation?

 

[Sable]

Looks pretty cool. Funny, in the clip he mentions Half Life and then pauses for a second. Sounds like a Half Life 3 maybe coming....? Why would he mention Crysis 2 and then a old old game like Half life...

Or he did it on purpose to make people go OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH HL3. :cynical:

And those specs sound weak sauce. Might be on a par with the next "proper" consoles but this will have all the lovely windows api overheads.

 

[Zstream]

woah, that thing is TINY

what does this have to do with Valve Corporation?

Because Steam is trying to sell PC games which Steam gets a profit from. The bigger news is that this is an AMD box. Another big win for desperate company. This will mean more AMD optimized games in the future.

 

[Lonyo]

Basically Kickstarter failed, because no one thought it was a good idea, and Valve stepped in and threw money at them, and suddenly people care, even though it's still a terrible idea (for a console at least).

 

[nitromullet]

How does an AMD 780E | SB710 Chipset translate into a PC that is optimized for gaming?

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=780E&id=2223

 

[blastingcap]

Because Steam is trying to sell PC games which Steam gets a profit from. The bigger news is that this is an AMD box. Another minor win for desperate company. This will mean more AMD optimized games in the future.

FTFY

 

[dbcoopernz]

There's an interview with Gabe Newell at The Verge.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming

So are most of these going to be Linux-based Steam Boxes?

We’ll come out with our own and we’ll sell it to consumers by ourselves. That’ll be a Linux box, [and] if you want to install Windows you can. We’re not going to make it hard. This is not some locked box by any stretch of the imagination. We also think that a controller that has higher precision and lower latency is another interesting thing to have.


...



So... Netflix on the Steam Box?

Oh absolutely. You can fire up a web browser, you can do whatever you want.

That sounds like a lot of fail. I'll believe it when I see it, as far as Linux goes.

 

[NTMBK]

There's an interview with Gabe Newell at The Verge.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming




That sounds like a lot of fail. I'll believe it when I see it, as far as Linux goes.

A small, well designed PC which you can install your OS of choice onto and looks good under the TV. How is that a fail?

 

[dbcoopernz]

That would be fine, but a linux OS for consumers? Fail.

 

[nitromullet]

There's an interview with Gabe Newell at The Verge.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming

That sounds like a lot of fail. I'll believe it when I see it, as far as Linux goes.

I was actually really glad to see that the Xi3 box was not the official "Steam box", but just a 3rd party option.

I also have my doubts about a Linux based gaming PC, unless there is some way to efficiently emulate DirectX, OpenGL makes a resurgence, or a new API becomes the industry standard for gaming. Neither of the latter seem likely, and the former would probably result in a lawsuit from MS should it become too successful.

 

[cbn]

Because Steam is trying to sell PC games which Steam gets a profit from.

Yep, that is what I have read.

More info here from this Nov. 2012 article:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/16/3652756/valve-big-picture-mode-steam-os-linux-game-console

When a game developer can offer their games directly through the Windows Store or Mac App Store that’s built into every new computer, why go with Steam?

 

[moonbogg]

I am having such a hard time trying to understand the appeal of such a device. Someone please help me with this. From what I gather, its just a super weak, tiny PC that gets used with your TV set. Why can't someone simply connect their real PC to their TV set? Is this device for people who don't have a PC? It sounds like a HTPC capable device but not much more than that.

 

[Bryf50]

This isn't the Steam Box from what I understand. And at least hope it isn't. This Xi3 would have trouble with Facebook games let alone anything that renders 3D graphics. I've heard they have a newer higher-end model with an AMD APU but I still don't think that's it either. They are going to have to do much better than that to compete with the next-gen consoles.

 

[inf64]

This is more like a prototype. The "real" one will look the same but have QC Trinity part with ~2.3-3.2Ghz clock and 384SPs.

 

[BrightCandle]

I think in the end the goal is a full on APU that games fairly well. AMD is definitely better for that purpose right now.

If Linux did finally start to get a lot of games because of steam that would be great. I could finally switch over.

 

[dragantoe]

woo my 100th post, also, I think if it's using a new apu it will be substantially better than consoles once games start being optimized for it

 

[mizzou]

I am having such a hard time trying to understand the appeal of such a device. Someone please help me with this. From what I gather, its just a super weak, tiny PC that gets used with your TV set. Why can't someone simply connect their real PC to their TV set? Is this device for people who don't have a PC? It sounds like a HTPC capable device but not much more than that.

It's about control, it has nothing to do about delivery. Steam Corporation is fearing Windows 8 because of their App store. They feel that if Windows 8 does this, it will somehow impact the Steam Market.

In order to protect their market, they need be able to deliver their product outside of windows. That's a pretty big fucking leap, because if you don't play ball with Microsoft, you are forced to do your best without Direct X and native Windows Support.

The ONLY way to avoid those, at the moment, is Linux and OpenGL. Your average PC User is not going to be running that, and your average PC developer is not going to be developing for that.

Steam Corporation basically is going to spearhead this by doing the following:
1. Sell a device which natively supports Linux and OpenGL.
2. Develop AAA games focused on being developed in this market.
3. Flip Microsoft the bird as you sail into Valhalla with the Nerdy Gamer market under your wing.

 

[tviceman]

This is not the steam box. Valve has already said they are releasing their OWN hardware later this year, not endorsing someone else's box and calling it a day.

 

[gorobei]

the x7 model the guy in the video talks about is basically a turn key system with a mini motherboard and 2 daughterboards for upgrading apu and possibly video. its a neat little novelty pc that if done right could cover most of the same consumers who would buy a console.

the steam box concept is probably to use a linux OS that the consumer never has to touch or even see since everything they would ever want to do could be done through steam big screen mode. if everything is turn key, it is the convenience of a console without being locked into the xbox/playstation/wii/apple ecosystems.
as long as you can guarantee a minimum level of hardware in large enough numbers, developers will take the time to port or even natively code. since it will have to be openGL, it will lose some of the PC market but probably gain from the android game app writers looking to capitalize on their familiarity with OGL.

 

[Bman123]

Ha this is terrible

 

[SithSolo1]

This is not the steam box. Valve has already said they are releasing their OWN hardware later this year, not endorsing someone else's box and calling it a day.

Yeah. Valve said other companies will be open to develop compatible hardware but I believe he also said that Valve would NOT be releasing any hardware in 2013. Ill see if I can find the article. www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/valve-ben-krasnow-steambox/