I know a guy who would gladly buy one, should they be available in Europe for decent price. Otherwise he'll keep his PC under his TV.

I just find it amusing that Linux may become the dominant gaming OS as a result. 

I maybe buy one at some point.

I think this is going to remain a very niche product. At best we'll see some improvements for games on linux. At worst the internet will shake with the cries of the entitled select few.

So far I haven't seen a single reason why a SteamOS would be better for any game than windows 7. And you're dreaming about linux becoming the "dominant" platform. That's a joke.

I don't see this making Linux dominant over anything.

I think Valve is out to lunch on this. I don't really know who these would appeal to. I can already hook my gaming laptop up to my TV and use Steam's Big Picture and sit on the couch with a controller if I want to. These seem like novelty boxes more than anything, at least at this point.

You're correct, it was a joke.

IIRC, the selling point vs. Steam on Windows is that somehow Windows OS is holding back performance - so with a custom Linux OS, theoretically games would perform better.  The idea is that by putting the weight of Steam/Valve behind it, there may be enough critical mass to force a) hardware manufacturers to solidly support the Linux drivers and game developers to actually release the games in a Linux compatible format with c) good controller support for the PC (no keyboard required.)  

It will depend on gaining a sizeable market share fairly quickly in order for it to gain critical mass; based on the skeptical reception so far, I don't really see that happening.

Personally, I don't think it's the right problem to solve - PCs generally have far superior performance to consoles at any point other than immediately after the consoles' introduction - with or without Windows.  Also, game developers who target consoles are still going to have to develop for the other major contenders, even if they also target SteamOS - so it won't "unleash" some super-performance game that the Playstation/Xbox consoles only get to play in some hamstrung format.  Lowest common denominator still wins.

On the plus side, all of these Steam boxes will be fully capable of running Windows or other Linux distros should the SteamBox thing not work out (vs. say a PS4 - which if Sony went away tomorrow would become a big paperweight.)  

the idea is that they don't like windows 8+ with its own store built in... and possibility of ms going down the apple route.. and getting locked out...

This is the truth with many 32-bit games/engines, such as Sins of a Solar Empire, which suffer from the Windows imposed 2 GB RAM limit.

Falcon Northwest still exists?

With the prices of their pcs and people who would want to waste that much money I guess so haha. Thats really sad. 

I won't buy one because building your own is still way cheaper and more rewarding. I still want to hear more about steam controller, I might get one but not sure... 

I wish I had the money or knew how to program this would be a dream.

A request I have an idea fpr a game. First I would like to say that spore sucked. Now this is the game I thought I was buying. In the cell stage I would like fish in stage five. In the creature stage I think people want the chance to be human. When the egg hatches you would be the new species, but everyone else still would be the old species. In order to get the more advanced appendage you should be required to use it. It make more sense to get a more ecolved part if you are addapting with that kind of part. Now instead of waiting when you are ready for the tribal stage it should make you go instead of cheasily gaining points. In the tribal stage there should be more parts to make you more alien. These weren't the big problems of the game the next three stages were. In the tribal stage you should do something something like virtual willage and the prehistoric era on empire earth. If you befriend a tribe instead of conquering them then they should make it into the civilization stage. The civilization stage should be more like empire earth or civ world. The customize ability in spore sucked. Theur customizing wasn't enough. You needed to make more than one vehicle for the whole stage. First in the civilization stage you start out without a horse, and you keep upgrading until you have a tank. Instead of having a tank for the whole time. The clothing should change depending where you are at technologically. Now in the space stage it whould be more like Sins of a solar empire, Shattered suns, or Distant worlds. I guess some of these abilities and stuff would be dependent on how you play. I think if spore would have had stuff like this I would still be playing it. If you think a turn based of these things then that would work to.

  Before I came up with this I had a different idea for a game. Not as elaborate it was a turn based game instead. Before I bought spore I was imagining a game like Civilization 5 and Galactic civilizations combined.

Even though I can't afford to buy a game engine or do I have the skills to make these games. I would like to see someone make these games I mentioned.

I think you're missing the point of the Steam Box.

For us "PC Enthusiasts", we could say "oh go build a PC" since we would know what to buy and what's good and what's not as well as putting the thing together. However the Steam Box is not aimed at us "PC Enthusiasts".

It's probably aimed at that console market. People who don't know how to go about building a PC. To make it easier for them to enter PC gaming. It's essentially the gateway drug to PC gaming in that showing the pros of PC Gaming in a somewhat cheap and easy manner in hopes they would invest in more PC related items and games.

The biggest selling points of the Steam Box are probably this.

• As cheap as the Xbox One at the lowest $500 mark
• Better than the Xbox One in performance at $500 mark (It's an i5 with a GTX 760, it's pretty decent)
• More flexible and can be upgraded in the future to further itself from consoles in performance since they stay stagnant. (most likely, no confirmation yet)
• Larger library of games on Steam and cheaper as well

I could be wrong, but brief look over Steambox idea reminds me of "consoles extended" - they have broader specs options than consoles, so they are more flexible. Yet because they have (apparently) only selected array of hardware components, it could make software optimization for that specific hardware easier. So it could be natural middle ground - we have fixed consoles hardware with best optimization possible, free PC market with worts optimization possible, and something inbetween - steamboxes.

I ran through local stores prices, it doesn't seem like buying components and assemblying own "steambox" will be much cheaper than buying already built ones. Of course, careful search, choosing proper store could save a buck, but it's nothing outstanding - just few games on Steam Sale.

What exactly is a steambox.