It's not the "Steam Box", but Piston - Xi3's living-room friendly small form PC - is a box with Steam in it. Technically all PCs have the potential to be boxes with Steam in them, but most aren't designed both specifically for gaming and to fit in the palm of your hand. In fact, I've just attempted to lift my PC with one hand and now my fingers hurt.
I knew there was a reason I wasn't a tech journalist.
At this weekend's SXSW Gaming Expo, Xi3 unleashed pre-orders of the device. It's a pricey proposition: $899.99 gets you the base version , with 8GB RAM and a 128GB internal solid state hard drive. And that's the special SXSW price. When the expo ends on March 17th, the standard cost of $999.99 takes effect.
Xi3 also offer upgrades to the initial specs, with a 512GB SSD bumping the price to $1,649.99.
Delivery of those pre-orders won't take effect until the console's release in "Holiday 2013". Xi3 CEO Jason A. Sullivan explained the timing of the pre-order launch, saying, "Given the amount of awards, media attention and gamer interest the PISTON Console has generated since it was unveiled at CES 2013 in January, we've become seriously concerned that we will not be able to meet the demand for PISTON Consoles this year. That's why we have decided to begin accepting pre-orders on our PISTON Console, beginning today with the start of the SXSW Gaming Expo."
As to how the Piston will work, Polygon captured some video footage of the device's interface. You can also hear its demonstrator making it very clear that he really doesn't care what people do with it.
Is anyone tempted by the Piston? As intrigued as I am by the concept, $900 for a new, untested device seems like an awfully large gamble.
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