Valve Wants To Change The Face Of Home Gaming

The popular gaming development company Valve, the brainchild behind Steam, has promised gamers three game changing announcements this week. We now have details of the first two, with the first being the new SteamOS and now the second being a new line of home gaming consoles known as Steam Machines.

Details as to what we can expect to see in the first round of Steam Machines is a bit sparse, but here’s what we know so far: The hardware beta, only includes Valve's version of the Steam Machine, there won't be options for different configurations from different manufactures at this time. All the machines will run the newly announced SteamOS.

The beta testing of the new devices will begin later this year with 300 lucky participants. To qualify for the early prototype, Steam users must complete Valve's "eligibility quest." That involves joining the Steam Universe community group; agreeing to the company's hardware beta terms and conditions; having or making at least 10 friends on Steam; creating a public Steam Community profile; and, lastly, playing a game with a gamepad using Steam's Big Picture mode.

Sign-ups have already opened and all of your steps must be done before October 25 to be eligible to receive a Steam Machine prototype and become eligible to participate in the hardware beta. Valve will choose the 300 participants, starting first with 30 individuals chosen based on past community contributions and beta participation while the rest will be random. 

As for Valve's third announcement, a new countdown kicked off just as today's expired, leaving another 48 hours before the final piece of news.