Steam Box aka Computer

Remember the interview Gabe Newell gave to Penny Arcade?

Let me refresh your memory.

They asked the almighty Gabe if he saw "a future where Valve is actually selling hardware". To which he responded "if we have to sell hardware we will."

Well. It's seems like they will.

Rumors on the Interwebz talk about a so called "Steam Box", a hardware with an associated software.

According to the same rumors, the basic specs of the Steam Box will include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU. 

With that Valve's new machine will be able to run any standard PC titles, with the ability to even run rival gaming services, like EA's Origin.

Now this is really weird. "It's just a normal PC", was also my first reaction. "What's the difference between buying this, and buying a custom made spec?

Well let's analyze everything.

The goal here isn't selling a normal PC. What's in line here is a baseline for PC gaming. So far PC gamers keep getting better and better parts for their computers. If instead you got a predetermined spec that, like any other computer, would be upgradeable after 3 or 4 years, gaming companies would know exactly the type of machine everyone has.

-Supposed hardware picture-

And remember that it is still Steam. So those that are comfortable with building a computer will still be able to just build one and keep playing. But those that want a simpler version, just like a console, will have this.

At least that's my view.

So you get customizable controllers, no licensing fee for producing (unlike consoles that get money from companies that want to make games for them), no required devkit, upgradeable hardware with an i7 and 8GB RAM among other things and its being made by VALVe.

-Patent for customizable controller-

So far things are looking up. Of course I'm biased since I'm in love with Gabe. But face it. Most of the internet is... It's a curse.

Let's wait for CES or E3 and hopefully we'll get more info.