Gabe Newell has admitted the Steam Box is real, Valve is building one, and that it will be available in 2013. This being Valve time, let’s assume 2015. The above is also a fan mockup, but we can dream.
Either way, it’s great news for gamers. That said, there are a few things we’d like to see that Valve could make happen, especially since Newell has admitted it won’t be a fully open PC.
Support for Xbox 360 and PS3 Controllers
It goes without saying this thing will be studded with USB ports, but Valve throwing in some shareware to run controllers console owners already have would be a nice touch.
Dual Boot Capability
It’s likely this will be running some form of Linux, or possibly some custom software Valve has put together, but dual boot, especially to an OS like Android, would be an excellent perk as well.
The Ability To Serve As A Dedicated Server For Multiplayer
Obviously it won’t be able to work as a server for a huge group, but for fans of older games that may have their multiplayer switched off, or which only use dedicated servers in the first place, this would be a great perk for them.
At Least Some Open Architecture
Valve needs to keep up with the Joneses on this one: Even Sony, that lover of proprietary memory cards and formats, built the PS3 so you could at least replace the hard drive easily if you had to. Being able to swap in more memory or more hard drive space quickly and easily is going to be key.
A Disc Drive
Yeah, the idea is that you buy games, digitally, off of Steam, but some of us still have PC games from the ’90s lying around the house that we’d like to play.
These are just five features we could think of; if you’ve got more, let us know in the comments.