Valve distances itself from Xi3 Piston

Valve has distanced itself from the Xi3 Piston, saying the company did "exploratory work" with the company but currently has "no involvement" in the product.

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The Xi3 Piston was initially dubbed a "Steam Box," one of several TV-ready PCs being made by third-parties alongside Valve's own hardware. But in the wake of pre-orders starting over the weekend after being shown at SXSW, Valve is distancing itself from the hardware.

"Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year," Valve's Doug Lombardi told Eurogamer, "but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs."

Valve was said to have invested in the hardware company when the Xi3 Piston was first announced, but the size and scope of the investment is unclear. Now that Lombardi is calling it "exploratory work," it seems the companies' connections were tenuous. Valve is still planning its own Linux-based hardware.

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  • reply
    March 12, 2013 8:15 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Valve distances itself from Xi3 Piston.

    Valve has distanced itself from the Xi3 Piston, saying the company did "exploratory work" with the company but currently has "no involvement" in the product.

    • reply
      March 12, 2013 8:24 AM

      Ouch


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      March 12, 2013 8:25 AM

      To be fair they said exactly the same thing when the Piston was first shown off, but it seems like no one picked up on that.

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        March 12, 2013 8:34 AM

        Yeah i kept trying to tell my IRL friends this, but no one listened.. "No dude, its steam box!" .. pretty sure they said it isnt.

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        March 12, 2013 8:37 AM

        games journalism

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      March 12, 2013 8:25 AM

      didnt Ben Folds Five write a hit song about the Xi3 Piston

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      March 12, 2013 8:26 AM

      At the price they were looking at, I don't blame them. The goal is mass consumption to penetrate the already massively popular console market. You market the steambox to only the select few millionaire gamers out there, you'll never break through.

      They need something cost effective, not effective and costly.

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        March 12, 2013 8:49 AM

        Absolutely this. They need a mainstream box at the $300 price point. There are so, so many popular PC games, Source Engine included, that can run like butter on budget hardware. I can almost see Valve creating three classes of Steambox specs-- lite (for 2D and indie games), standard (for your current Unreal engine type stuff), and hardcore (for max detail Crysis 3 level stuff). That way, there's something for every level of gaming commitment. The key will be to keep it simple--nobody wants hundreds of different options and combinations. It's overwhelming, confusing, and not cost effective. Kind of like the current PC market.

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          March 12, 2013 11:20 AM

          I would say that even 500 would be a price point a lot of people would be happy with. Talking to my friends who are console only players, they would pay something in that range.

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          March 12, 2013 12:13 PM

          I think mentioning ANY price point is silly at this point since there hasnt been a feature set released.

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        March 12, 2013 9:14 AM

        yep, this

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      March 12, 2013 8:37 AM

      good

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      March 12, 2013 9:46 AM

      Pretty much expected. Valve's hardware needs to be no more than $599, preferably $499, and needs to have a decent dedicated GPU.

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      March 12, 2013 11:10 AM

      its good to know this, though we kind of knew it for some time. if it was this thing, it would have been a huge failure for Valve i think.

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      March 12, 2013 12:10 PM

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