Three hundred lucky beta testers will be getting their hands on Valve’s Steam Machine and Steam Controller tomorrow.
Unfortunately, none of those testers will be from someplace outside of the United States. According to Valve, this decision was made because the alternative was to hold off on the beta beyond the point when the company could actually apply any of the feedback into the 2014 products.
Further details surrounding Steam’s Mean Bean Machine – couldn’t be helped I’m sorry – will be revealed during the Consumer Electronics Show on January 6. The SteamOS will be also be available for all Steam users when its hardware counterparts ship out from the factory on Friday.
Meanwhile, Digital Storm has announced its own plans to release a Steam Machine according to The Verge. The gaming manufacture’s teaser site says they plan to, “defy the cookie-cutter mold.” For high-end gamers this may sound promising, and with a price tag of $1,469 attached to their creation, there’s a good chance Digital Storm isn’t joking.
Not much is known about the PC itself, except that it will feature liquid cooling, alongside a form of advanced thermal-management system. Luckily games will be able to play titles for both operating systems thanks to the machine’s ability to dual-boot Windows and SteamOS.
Configuration options include a 700W power supply and a GeForce GTX Titan graphics card. The system is 4.4 inches wide, and 16.4 inches tall.
