Valve and partners hope to take on PlayStation and Xbox with its Steam Machine game consoles that are designed to bring the Steam gaming experience to TV. The first three are now available starting from $450 dollars. The new Steam Controller is also available.

Steam-powered game consoles
Valve’s Steam Machines have been delayed for over a year but they are finally here. The first three will be made by Alienware, Zotac and Cyberpower, with prices ranging from $450 to $1499 dollars for the high-end configurations.


Of a catalog of over “6000 games” available on Steam on a PC, “1000+” will run on the new game consoles, according to Valve. The Steam Machines are powered by the so-called Steam OS, a Linux-based operating system. Besides playing games natively on your TV via the console you can also stream games from a PC in the house. That makes it possible to enjoy the games that are not currently available natively for Steam OS.

Launch games include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rust, Half-Life 2, Portal 2, Borderlands 2, BioShock Infinite, and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition.

To complement its game consoles Valve has developed the Steam Controller, which offers “a new level of precision and control” due to its two touchpads and haptic feedback. The controller is wireless and configurable, and comes bundled with the purchase of a Steam Machine.



The first three Steam Machines are available now. Go to the Steam website for more information. Valve will also release its Steam Link box this month.

The first three consoles are just the beginning. Over the next two weeks Steam Machines from Falcon Northwest, Maingear, Digital Storm, Gigabyte, Material.net, NextBox, Origin Omega, Webhallen, and Scan will be released.