We don't know what it is? How it is different than other consoles or if it is? How much will it cost and what is the appeal? Yet, it is d00med. Take that Wii U!

It runs Linux. There are 38 games on steam that run on Linux. 80% of these are small indie games and the rest are Valve games. Nothing that moves hardware at all.
So it runs just a fraction of the steam library.

Sure this might change, but do you think Publishers would port their game over to Linux? Even on Steam only 0.8% of the users use Linux.
I really fail to see a reason for publishers, consumers and retailers to support the Steambox in a major way.

In 2013 and 2014 MS, Sony and Nintendo will battle the hell out of each other with advertisements and stuff like that. I don't see Valve in this league at all.

right,well i was thinking it would be good for all the indie games but people have pads,pods and pids these days for all that stuff i thought

i don't really understand what it is for unless it is an accessible low range PC or maybe valve are getting their foot in the door for the future lounge/tv battle when everyones media will come via the net

I don't know how anyone can say if it will fail or not since we know next to nothing about it. We don't even know if it's a console or a PC.

I must say, you are easily entertained!

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@OP - Even if Valve massively drove up the size of their dev teams... what the hell does Valve know about distribution, logistics, etc? Even if people might want to buy the thing, they'd probably all be stuck in a warehouse, somewhere.

Even when it comes to software distribution, they usually (always?) rely on a third party, such as EA, to handle the physical copies.

Well .... I'm not certain how it will do, but I am interested in the machine. Providing it is a viable platform I will pick one up to complement the PS4. In my neck of the woods people predominantly game on consoles. That doesn't say we are not interested in PC gaming, but putting together a gaming PC is rather expensive in my area (even more so than the US). The Steambox is definitely generating some buzz where I live.

If they don't try to make it a traditional console, I think it could be quite successful for what it is ...

Producing a console that sold 2.5 tp 5 million units per year would be very bad but if the Steam Box isn't looking for licensing fees, is content (mostly) getting ports of games, and publishers get high margins by cutting out retailers it could actually be well supported. If hardware doesn't have to be a fixed configuration, different manufacturers (including gamers themselves) could build hardware to meet the changing needs of gamers and the people who are willing to spend whatever it takes to have the best graphics could do it.

While I wouldn't ever expect a system like this to sell like a popular console, it could actually have a pretty large impact on high end consoles, in particular late in the generation. Basically, if the people who were willing to spend $600 on a PS3 started buying a $600 Steambox in 2009 it could have a significant impact on system and game sales.

Guys what the hell!? you are dooming a new device even when it hasn't come out yet! what are you th...

wait....

I see it as their attempt to counter long term and inevitable impact of Windows Store on future of digital distribution on PCs - not that anything can really stop that model from taking over.

I imagine they'll be happy if it sells as much as the Dreamcast, which is infinitely more succesfull than the PS3 was for Sony at $599