It looks like a console, but his DNA is on the PC. Meets the sweet name code “Piston”, platform games and Valve manufacturer Xi3 is dedicated to Steam Big Picture and its interface that displays PC games on TV (and added a navigation joystick) . Not really a PC, therefore, but a console using an OS made in Steam.

Technical side, the architecture is based on the Piston X7A of a modular computer by Xi3 already developed following a Kickstarter campaign that earned him some recognition. Small, extremely powerful, especially fully and easily customizable, is intended X7A already in the game It has a quad-core processor clocked at 3.2 GHz and an ATI HD 7660G, 8GB of RAM, of storage 12 GB SSD and a hard drive of 1 TB
It also has four USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0, but also an HDMI port and two mini-HDMI.

Xi3 states that X7A (which reached the thousand dollars with his most powerful config) is a basis for the Piston. It is intended also to play at home but also to use more gamer for LAN where it could present a powerful and compact.

Still in development, the piston has not officially announced the price (although some say already about $ 400), or final configuration. It will have to wait a little longer before we can judge its actual capabilities.

If the person does not want to stand Xi3 utter the words “Steam Box” everyone has in mind the recent statement from Gabe Newell. Valve boss had indeed told Kotaku that the first hardware brand Steam would be revealed in 2013. He already spoke of reciprocating machine, so PC and more closed to embark Steam pre-installed and would connect directly to console.