If you aren't a regular reader of gaming blogs, you may have missed the buzz regarding the pending announcement of Valve's first foray into gaming hardware, the Steam Box. While Valve's intentions haven't been exactly secret, the announcement of a Linux based "console" has many gamers giddy to see what exactly the Steam Box will offer. Steam has succeed in revolutionizing PC gaming, practically killing physical distribution through digital downloads, while also enabling independent developers to create and sell their creations to a large market with low overhead. The question is if they can shift the momentum of their platform to Linux (which has a poor history with games) while also challenging the console incumbents. Valve has also indicated that while they will make or spec hardware, other companies as well as individuals will be able to build their own Steam Box. As a believer in consumer choice and open-source software, I love this concept. Much as Android has carved out a market with the number of choices in hardware and software, Valve can do the same in breaking open the console ecosystem, offering more choice, more flexibility, and ultimately, more benefits to the consumer.
I think it would be amusing if Steam pushed Linux and stopped accepting new offerings for other platforms. Without Steam, PC gaming would be a rather different beastie.
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