Is Alienware's newest rig about to become a Steam Box?

March 5th, 2012

Rumors are swirling this week (literally swirling, I tell ya!) that Valve will soon begin licensing "Steam Boxes" to hardware partners, such as Alienware, to bring the popular Steam service beyond the desktop.

"According to sources, the Valve has been working on a hardware spec and associated software which would make up the backbone of a 'Steam Box,'" reports The Verge. "The actual devices may be made by a variety of partners, and the software would be readily available to any company that wants to get in the game," including the new Alienware X51, the report adds, "which will be retroactively upgradable to the software."

The report follows in the wake of Valve already filing a gamepad patent to power the new set top box, not to mention Steam's already released "Big Picture" mode, which is ideal for browsing your game library during lean-back situations, like in the living room on really big TVs.

Why now? It's not necessarily to combat consoles, the Verge reports. It's to beat Apple TV to the digital gaming in the living room punch. An official announcement is expected as early as this week; no later than June during E3.

What do you think of the "news"?

Read more: PC gaming headlines

Comments

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Uhh, I don't think it's a bad idea, but i prefer my alienwares to be a windows. :O

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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ill stay with windoes ands steam installed^^ dont need for every publisher a new console..-

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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androidArts said: Oh crap, sorry didn't mean to to post like 10 times, the comment wasn't showing up when I posted it, so i tried again :/
haha no worries dude.

and yeah it does sound like a pretty good idea, but like the first two guys said, i'd rather my alienware have windows...

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I would say that would be awesome but at this point I think that would be overkill! lol! Suffice it to say that I had been hearing rumors of this and it will be interesting to see a fourth entry into the "console ring". Although I think it would technically outmuscle the next gen console offerings, I am curious to see if it will be something like a PC/Console hybrid with the ability to upgrade parts that would improve performance. More than a console but just shy of a PC that would be user friendly to non PC folks, now that would be a gamechanger!

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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So i can install a steam OS on my old M11xR1 and play games with much more performance?

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Waiting E3 for more information. Steam Box, another XBox/PS3 like ?

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Nice android arts, Nice idea wonder how much it will cost.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I don't know how I feel yet, need more info, but indications are good.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I like the idea, even if it's not a product I'm particularly interested in. Like the article said, this product would be ideal for a living room set up.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Chunaki said: Uhh, I don't think it's a bad idea, but i prefer my alienwares to be a windows. :O


Agreed. For now, I am well nested with windows. But We'll see soon enough whether steam boxes is any good or not, then I'll make the decision whether to stick with windows or move on with Steam xD

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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how hard is it to just use steam from your PC why make a console. And with the X51 it's still not very hard to take it to the living room on your giant Flat screen, hook it up, and still play games from steam. Another console(if it's even a console) is not needed at all

my time has come.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Now that it's explained like that, it doesn't seem as ridiculous. Though I remain not a fan of Steam as I dislike intrusive clients when gaming.

losing activity as I'm moving away from gaming.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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i also prefer it to be on windows

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I would definitely be interested in something like this.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Makes sense. Alienware and Valve have very good relationships... The X51 does look very console-ish... I could imagine this being very similar to the Steam Box...

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Well that will be interesting, that is for sure.

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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kinglonewolf said: how hard is it to just use steam from your PC why make a console. And with the X51 it's still not very hard to take it to the living room on your giant Flat screen, hook it up, and still play games from steam. Another console(if it's even a console) is not needed at all


I imagine that it's for the same reason that so many people prefer consoles over PC: it's cheaper and simpler.... most people today are lazy and don't want to spend time to learn about or raise money for a gaming PC.

"A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

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Posted Monday, March 5th, 2012    Quote This Post
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Interesting...

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I'd give it a go, but I trust and know Windows better.

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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windows all the way baby

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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If this is a full blown console i know whats replacing my xbox and playstation :)

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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As of right now im going to say ill stick with windows also.

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I agree with lonewolf, it just seems unneeded if you can just run steam as a program vs an entirely separate console. It just seems unneeded.

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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I'm sure it'll pose as a technological competitor but probably struggle in terms of price.

Press any key to continue...

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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ITS A XBOX!!

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Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2012    Quote This Post
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