Xi3 and Valve Partnership Reveals (A Sort Of) Steam Box

Holy crap! It’s what you always wanted. Gabe Newell was talking about these “living room PCs” back in early December, and now you – yes, YOU – can pick up your very own Steam Box…kind of.

Hardware manufacturer Xi3 specialise in these modular computers, including their X7A model – which is designed for gaming. Polygon spoke with Xi3 reps about a bit of kit that is still being worked on by them called Piston, and found out that it is based on the company’s X7A range. Valve are said to be an investor in Piston, and nothing more. The device, which can fit in one hand, is being designed to utilise Steam and big picture mode.

Xi3 chief marketing officer David Politis  has revealed that the machine comes with 1 TB of storage and offers the same type of modular component updates that Xi3’s other PCs have. You can check out the video below to get a better idea. Currently, there is no word on price, but the X7A’s RRP is $999, so take from that what you will.

The demo model of Piston at CES was said to feature “one ethernet port, 1/8″ audio in/out, SPDIF optical audio, four USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports (with one dedicated to keyboard input), four eSATAp ports, two Mini Display Port ports and one DisplayPort/HDMI port.”

This may be the first “Steam Box” we see, but I don’t think it’s the last. The extent of Valve’s investment isn’t known, yet the Piston feels like the first of many “Steam Box” PCs we’ll see pop up over the coming months.

Either way…huzzah!!!