With steam announcing its console/PC we will now have 4 consoles on the market.  Well this isn't entirely true as their will be many manufacturers for the steam PCs or steambox for short.  But even so, we can arue that consoles are technicly PC's adapted to gaming making them consoles. We really need more information before we know if Valve is actually going to try and be competitive in the console market before getting too carried away.  However, hypotheticly lets say Valve is serious, then can 4 consoles survive head to head? Can the steambox be successful?  And if you think they would be successful and 4 consoles cant survive who would fail and exit the console market?

This is all hypothetical questions but I want to hear what you all think.  I'm not adding a poll as they tend to be biased and inaccurate, I want good explanations to what you all think.   Personally I think steam is the best online service and they have amazing deals that you don't have to pay a subscription for like a service that gets bragged about on this site.  However, I can't see them being successful in the console market because it will most likely stay dominate on PCs.  I see this more as them trying to expand than to compete personally.

There is also the Ouya coming soon.  Will the Ouya be successful as well and weill it chip into the casual market that Nintendo and Microsoft has been trying to capture?

Yes... if they can all deliver high quality content at a reasonable price. The idea of a console is outdated anyways. We have soooo many healthy game ecosystems already: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Steam, iOS, Android, Facebook... and the list goes on

I STILL DONT BELIEVE THERE IS A STEAM BOX A HOW AND WHERE IT IS ANNOUNCED

if theres a steam box its gonna be only online steam downlodable games no retail i guess,probably mouse keyboard and traditional controlers for gaming...something cloud like maybe for 2D facebook like crap games,,

i get it but i dont...

It's a PC that is aimed to connect to your PC and is focused around steam.  So in other words a console.  All consoles are PCs focused around a gaming aspect and connects to your tv.  We don't have much information on it at the moment but that is how I understand it so far.

probably something gamcube like with no disc and everything is wireless¸..thats how i imagine it :))

http://www.gamrreview.com/news/89562/valve-confirms-its-making-a-home-console/

They've already announced it and it has been confirmed.

hunter_alien said: Yes... if they can all deliver high quality content at a reasonable price. The idea of a console is outdated anyways. We have soooo many healthy game ecosystems already: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Steam, iOS, Android, Facebook... and the list goes on

I wouldn't consider IOS, Android, Facebook consoles.  I see a lot of people talking about that kind of stuff on this website but lets face it, you don't buy IOS or Android products for gaming.  They're in the mobile market not the console market.  Just because they have games does not mean they're competing.  

Well they're using the words PC/console at the moment so that is how I'm saying it but it has more in common with a console than a PC at the moment.  I'm sure you will be able to use keyboard/mouse still and everything like that, but it appears to be a console.  The most confusing information that I've recieved so far is they will have many manufacturers.  This points at it being a cheap gaming PC. 

honestly, i dont think so. but i might be wrong, we will have to see

The details are still a bit murky, but this console-PC hybrid could do a lot of damage if it gets a full head of STEAM behind it ;)

I believe that most console fans stay away from gaming PCs because of the cost, the relative lack of accessibility, and wariness over mouse & keyboard controls.

But if this proposed console made the living room the hub, provided a remote similar to the Xbox 360 controller, and allowed for automatic updates, I think it could win over many fans.