Valve releasing a console next year

Quote :

Valve boss Gabe Newell has announced this week that the company will be launching a console built for the living room next year.
Newell says the company's main focus now is how to make PCs work better in the living room on the big screen. The first step was releasing their "Big Picture" UI earlier this year.

PC packages that are designed to run on a TV will be launched next year, by Valve and by other manufacturers, with each being able to run Steam flawlessly out of the gate.

Newell says the PCs will compete with the Xbox 8 and the PS4.

"I think in general that most customers and most developers are gonna find that [the PC is] a better environment for them," Newell noted to Kotaku. "Cause they won't have to split the world into thinking about 'why are my friends in the living room, why are my video sources in the living room different from everyone else?' So in a sense we hopefully are gonna unify those environments. We'll do it but we also think other people will as well."

The Valve head did note that their console would not be as open as the average computer: "Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment. If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that's what some people are really gonna want for their living room. The nice thing about a PC is a lot of different people can try out different solutions, and customers can find the ones that work best for them."

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/12/09/valve_will_release_pc_console_next_year

I'm not sure everyone truly understands the difference between a regular PC and a gaming PC. I dunno if this console will do well, 'cuz people will thinks it's wholly unnecessary since they have a laptop or desktop already.

Will Valve games only be on this console from now on though? That concerns me even though it's pretty understandable. Also, Big Picture is annoying 'cuz I keep accidentally clicking on it.

What does he mean not as open? If this is capable of using mods and is reasonably powerful I'd def be interested.

Xbox 8? The fuck?

sounds cool.

but is it affordable?

Given Big Picture was just launched (still has more features than PSN) it's not surprising that Valve want a piece of the pie. They have the software in place, now they're moving onto the hardware to make the push into the living room. I already know indie games are going to thrive on this platform.

TheCinemaJack wrote:

Will Valve games only be on this console from now on though?

No. That would be commercial suicide not to include 3rd party games on their new system. Most games on Steam are multi-platform and the majority of Valve's titles have had a console release.

Mikenuge wrote:

Given Big Picture was just launched (still has more features than PSN) it's not surprising that Valve want a piece of the pie. They have the software in place, now they're moving onto the hardware to make the push into the living room. I already know indie games are going to thrive on this platform.

TheCinemaJack wrote:

Will Valve games only be on this console from now on though?

No. That would be commercial suicide not to include 3rd party games on their new system. Most games on Steam are multi-platform and the majority of Valve's titles have had a console release.

He means will Valve's IP's be exclusive to the console to entice people to buy it. Highly doubtful, buy I suspect the likes of L4D III, Half-Life 3 etc will be Steam exclusive for a set amount of time when it launches.