Steam is where it’s at for gaming on the PC, but did you know that soon Steam is going to make the transition over to the less complex and more affordable console market?
We’ve been hearing about Steam Boxes, Steam Controllers and Steam console operating systems for years now, and true to their word Valve Software, the company behind the products, is beginning to mobilize the platform into stores. Hardware and software have both been outlined to be arriving prior to a concrete Steam Console release – the Steam Controller, a recently finished high tech game pad, is presumably going to be the first piece of Steam Hardware to arrive.
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From what recent reports have said, people are finally going to have a more defined retail outlet for Steam games, at GAME here in the UK as well as GameStop in the US and EB Games in Canada, with a section for prepaid Steam Wallet cards, games, as well as the new Steam Link, a device which streams games from your computer over to a TV in another part of the house.
As it’s become more popular and been embraced by indie developers, Steam is no longer solely a platform for major heavy hitting releases that require a big powerful computer with fast graphics. In fact, a lot of the games, if not the majority, have very average operating system requirements, or simply are just as playable on lower power computers as they are on the bigger ones. Therefore major titles on the platform will arrive in stores as digital downloads alongside hardware.
The Steam Machines (i.e. consoles are also expected to appear when the sections are unveiled this Autumn – with smaller less powerful models starting at $449 in the US and moving up towards the $1000 mark for the more powerful devices. Interestingly enough Steam’s huge range actually allows for these consoles to be the first of any unified range to offer significant differences in hardware for differing prices – it’s never been done before.
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Taking back retail is of huge importance for Steam – a pioneer in a PC gaming digital content revolution that saw most game shops lack much in the way of computer based gaming. Valve figurehead Gabe Newell is excited that Steam is now returning to stores – “Creating a ‘store within a store’ across North America and the UK is a significant win for getting the first generation of Steam Hardware products into gamers’ hands.” according to the Steam website.
There’s no dedicated time of release, of course, but it should all start appearing for the Autumn and winter holiday rush leading up towards the end of the year. We’ll keep you posted.
Source: SteamDB.Info
VIA: Techspot