Valve To Begin Steam Box Tests In Coming Months

It looks like Valve is planning to begin Steam Box testing with gamers this summer.

We've been looking for Valve to release their proper Linux-based Steam Box before the end of the year and the BBC is now reporting that they will "offer prototypes of its upcoming video games console for testing within four months time."

The BBC is reporting that, according to Gabe Newell, there are a few different controller prototypes being tested for the Steam Box. BBC caught up with Gabe ahead of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards.

For gauging the reaction of customers/gamers, Valve expects to begin sampling some prototypes in three~four months. Gabe does cite heat and noise issues as current challenges in the Steam Box development. In terms of my hardware expectations for the Linux-based Steam Box, I'll save that for another Phoronix article shortly. At least their plans to begin sampling Steam Box prototypes in the next quarter reaffirm my expectation the Steam Box will be running an X.Org Server.