KatsBits Community
General Category => Blog => Topic started by: kat on March 05, 2012, 05:31:56 PM
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Speculatively, this (http://www.develop-online.net/news/40019/Valve-product-designer-leaks-Steam-console-photo) (and this (https://twitter.com/#!/gregcoomer/status/131907166960484353/photo/1) - see below if you feel like being lazy) is being touted as Values much rumored "SteamBox". If it is, there's a problem. It's nothing more than a SFF PC (Small Form-Factor PC). The "problem"... is (going to be) the retail price. SFF hardware isn't especially cheap, even the low end stuff.
So unless Value have a cut-throat agreement with some 'no-brand' manufacturer in China, consumers would normally be looking at the starting price for this of at-least £400+ - assuming off-the-shelf hardware. As an example ASRock do something similar, the ASRock Vision 3D (http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=Vision%203D%20Series), which Amazon lists at £600+ (http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-3D-i3-370M-Graphics-Operating/dp/B004DFFUXK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1330967901&sr=8-3) for bottom end models. They do look like nice bits of kit, but for a console, Valve would have to do some serious strong-arming to get the price down - unless they sell at cost and use Steam Network to recoup losses, and/or take a cut from third party licensed access to the machines. Interesting stuff though (goes back to looking at the ASRock *le sigh*).
(https://www.katsbits.com/images/blog/valve-steambox-leaked-photo.jpg) (https://twitter.com/#!/gregcoomer/status/131907166960484353/photo/1)
Image courtesy of https://twitter.com/#!/gregcoomer/status/131907166960484353/photo/1