American gaming PC specialist iBuyPower has unveiled the first third-party Steam Machine, a compact PC running Valve's SteamOS and designed to compete directly with the Xbox One and PS4.
Valve, traditionally a software development house best known for its Half Life and Portal franchises, has been making moves into the hardware realm of late with talk of a virtual reality headset and the unveiling of prototype compact PCs designed to run its Steam digital distribution platform on a Linux operating system. These Steam Machine prototypes are to be joined in early 2014 by licensed third-party implementations - the first of which has now been officially revealed.
According to details released by iBuyPower to Engadget ahead of a full unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) early next year, the prototype is a compact split-box design with a PS4-like light bar running across the center and an embossed Steam logo on the top. The front of the console, which is likely to see considerable changes from the revealed per-production renders to the final production model, has a single power button and no other ports or slots - which means no optical drive.
The company has not announced the specifications of the PC hardware inside, but says that it is powerful enough to run all SteamOS compatible titles at 60 frames per second and at 1080p Full HD resolutions - suggesting at least a mid-range discrete graphics card, rather than a reliance on integrated graphics processors. The device is likely to be sold alongside Valve's custom Steam Controller, pictured next to the console.
Sadly, iBuyPower is being coy when it comes to a release date or pricing - leaving SteamOS fans hanging until its more formal announcement, and hopeful demonstration of actual hardware, at CES next year.
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