SteamBoy is set to be the first mobile Steam gaming console

[Justin Kahn]

With Steam gaming consoles expected to make a strong push for time share in the living room and Valve's current dominance over the mouse and keyboard realm, a new announcement from E3 looks like Steam could be going mobile as well.

On the final day of E3 2014, a third party team not affiliated with Valve revealed its new mobile PS Vita-like Steam gaming console called the SteamBoy. The handheld console looks like a combination of Sony's mobile gaming system and the latest Steam Controller, as well as the ability play the "majority of current games in Steam," according to the development team. 

SteamBoy boasts much of what you would expect in terms of controls with 8 face buttons, 4 triggers, 2 rear buttons and 2 Steam Controller-like touch pads. It has a 5-inch, 16:9 touchscreen and packs a quad-core CPU, 4GB RAM, and a 32GB built-in memory card inside. In conjunction with Steam's streaming functionality, this will be enough juice to handle most of your favorite Steam content, although exact details aren't available at this time. According to the developers, SteamBoy is about as powerful as PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS compared to their HD console counterparts.

While we still appear to be quite a ways off from getting a firm release date, some have suggested a mobile gaming console that supports such a massive library of quality titles could make SteamBoy a desirable gadget among mobile gamers. While the quality of Android and iOS games gets better every year, Steam on the-go would arguably provide a much stronger pedigree of titles and developers, especially for non-casual gamers. 

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https://www.techspot.com/news/57118-steamboy-is-set-to-be-the-first-mobile-steam-gaming-console.html

 

[oldikes]

Depending on price and if the game library is as extensive as it suggests, this could be the greatest mobile gaming console evar

 

[penn919]

32GB bult-in memory...does this company know that Steam is a digital-only platform? You aren't going to fit many games on this thing at all. If this is truly expected to be a gaming handheld, then it would have to have 128GB built-in storage minimum.

 

[cliffordcooley]

32GB bult-in memory...does this company know that Steam is a digital-only platform?

I think you are looking for a different term. Games have always been digital. We are not talking about audio CD's here. Don't get the use of optical media confused with analog audio disk.

 

[penn919]

32GB bult-in memory...does this company know that Steam is a digital-only platform?

I think you are looking for a different term. Games have always been digital. We are not talking about audio CD's here. Don't get the use of optical media confused with analog audio disk.

Correct. Of course. Perhaps I should've said non-physical media platform.

 

[yukka]

With 4GB of Ram it isn't going to be a monster. If its just for streaming then thats fine but streaming works well in the home, not across the internet. If its got the hardware to play Windows games independently then its going to cost a bomb or do it badly.

 

[oldikes]

With 4GB of Ram it isn't going to be a monster. If its just for streaming then thats fine but streaming works well in the home, not across the internet. If its got the hardware to play Windows games independently then its going to cost a bomb or do it badly.

im running 4GB of DDR2 and I can play most of the games in my steam library just fine.

 

[hahahanoobs]

SteamBoy? Oh god...

 

[yukka]

im running 4GB of DDR2 and I can play most of the games in my steam library just fine.

Yes most will play with 4GB with a decent processor. Will this have a decent processor in a handheld. My point is that this will have limited use as the CPU to play windows games will require a powerful battery to work on the go and a CPU that will take the price to high. Currently this looks like a gimmick. Good to play in bed or on the sofa when streaming but not "on the go" as the article suggests.

 

[cliffordcooley]

My point is that this will have limited use as the CPU to play windows games

I'm not so sure about that, with Valve creating their own Linux based OS. There is quite a bit more detail, we still don't know just yet.

 

[Jad Chaar]

With 4GB of Ram it isn't going to be a monster. If its just for streaming then thats fine but streaming works well in the home, not across the internet. If its got the hardware to play Windows games independently then its going to cost a bomb or do it badly.

Memory management is supposedly more efficient on Linux than on Windows, so that could be a factor.

 

[DarkTrazz]

If they were to put in the latest intel atom platform that could be very interesting to see, it being comparable to a celeron and even a mid end haswell i3. the issue would be a gpu though.

 

[penn919]

SteamBoy? Oh god...

I'm surprised more people aren't taking issue with it's name. There have been some pretty bad game system names, but this one probably takes the cake for least creative.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I'm surprised more people aren't taking issue with it's name. There have been some pretty bad game system names, but this one probably takes the cake for least creative.

One thing that would make it worse is the use of the following emblem as a marketing icon.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Somehow I see the library being mainly the indie titles on steam, making the system really not much better then the Vita ( I own one) because the most common thing released to the vita are indie games.

 

[oldikes]

Honestly if it does PC version of minecraft ill pay $500 for it

 

[Bubbajim]

I can't tell who's going to sue them first over the name, Valve or Nintendo.

 

[tfreakburg]

If they make it work with Onlive's Steam-Cloud streaming service, you've got some pretty sweet options for home and on the go...

 

[Björn Svensson]

I can't tell who's going to sue them first over the name, Valve or Nintendo.

Ydes, or those asians doing the anime "SteamBoy"-franchise.