Speaking with The Verge, Gabe Newell has revealed details about Valve's Steam Box initiative and what it means for gamers. The first thing you should know is that the Steam Box is an open platform. Third-party hardware manufacturers will likely reach the market first, but Valve is developing their own self-made hardware.
The Valve-made Steam Box will be made by Valve and sold by Valve and will run Linux with the option to install Windows at the consumer's discretion. Newell says that the Valve-constructed Steam Box will not be a "locked box by any stretch of the imagination."
The controller shipped with Valve's hardware will serve some biometric feedback function, but details remain scarce. Valve is also hoping to encourage end-users to develop their own stores. This will further encourage consumers to develop their own content for the games they love (see the Team Fortress 2 workshop for an idea of what they mean).
Finally, Newell tells The Verge that the Steam Box (or "Bigfoot" around the Valve offices) won't just act as a PC, but also as a server. The aim of this is to "have one PC and eight televisions and eight controllers and everybody getting great performance out of it."
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