Valve has been talking about expanding its operations for a long time. There have been plenty of rumors about Steam Box over the past few months – a possible console version of Valve’s popular Steam software platform for PCs – but very little concrete information.
That is, there was very little concrete information until a short time ago, when Valve’s extraordinary CEO Gabe Newell let slip to Kotaku that the company had received a good response to Steam’s Big Picture mode and that after Steam for Linux development had completed, the company was expected to begin fervently developing their own hardware that would – get this – “compete with next-gen consoles from companies like Microsoft and Sony.”
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to too many people. Although it is significant that the CEO of Valve basically confirmed the information. Steam can now run on Linux and the program’s new Big Picture mode allows users to access a larger, more user-friendly interface over their TV. As the company develops these features further, many expected it to branch into the console environment.

So what kinds of features would the Steam Box include? Some theories include:
-Powerful CPU and graphics card combination for top-tier gaming performance
-Native support for Steam’s platform and likely little else
-Better support for movies, games, and TV shows
-A more open operating environment than anything offered by the PlayStation or Xbox
So what do you think? Could you get used to using your PC in your living room in the near future? Or would you stick with the classic office chair, keyboard and mouse combination? Let us know by dropping a comment below!