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"This sounds weird, but it's almost like rolling two weighted trackballs that are too large to actually fit into the controller," Lambe said as he tried to explain what it's like to have one's thumbs on those two trackpads. "For camera controls, slide one thumb to the right, and you'll feel this ticking, like you're turning a physical control. Flick your thumb quickly, and this imaginary physical thing reacts like something with weight to it—the 'trackball' continues to roll for a bit, eventually coming to a rest. And since it's all controlled through the software, the same trackpad then becomes more like a mouse or a laptop trackpad when you're navigating through menus. Dynamic!"P

I received similar positive impressions of the controller's haptic feedback from Klei's Jamie Cheng who had not gone hands-on with the controller but whose colleague had. "He told us that the controller haptic feedback was uncanny," Cheng said, "and that using the trackpad really did feel like pressing buttons."P

I had asked Lambe how the Steam controller felt compared to traditional game controllers. He replied: "It's familiar enough to be accessible (I believe they tried less conventional designs before they went with a form factor similar to existing gamepads), but much more precise for (say) anything WASD+mouselook."

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So how will PISTON be upgradeable, and why should consumers care about that?

It has been 5—7 years since the previous “closed” gaming systems were launched by 2 of the Big 3 Gaming manufacturers. When those machines began shipping, they provided a great gaming experience for their day. Today? Not so much. The reason that’s the case is that those machines were never designed to be truly upgradeable or updateable, and as we all know, technology continues to advance with new capabilities being launched every year.

The same problem also exists with gaming computers. Like it or not, the vast majority of computer owners don’t know how to update or upgrade their machines by themselves. That means if they want a better computer gaming experience, they have to pay someone else to do it for them or go off and buy a brand new machine. With the PISTON Console (PC), this will not be the case.

Because PISTON is based upon the Modular Computer architecture that replaces the typical single motherboard found in most computers with three miniaturized and interconnected boards, PISTON Consoles (PCs) can be updated simply by removing and replacing one of these three boards. In the future, Xi3 will provide upgrade PISTON boards and components to provide increased processing power, faster/better graphic rendering capabilities, improved networking speeds, greater connectivity options, and more. As a result, Xi3 believes it will allow PISTON users to continue to enjoy topnotch gaming throughout the life of each PISTON Console (PC).

So what about Valve Corporation? Does Xi3 have a relationship with Valve or not?

When we unveiled the PISTON Console (PC) at CES 2013, we announced at the time that Xi3 had received an investment from Valve. We have not revealed the amount or nature of that investment, nor will we do so now. We did, however, provide additional commentary about Valve and the “Steam Box” in a separate announcement in March of this year.

Is PISTON the Steam Box or not?

Xi3 has never described its PISTON Console (PC) as the Steam box or a Steam Box, especially since it appears that Steam Box is a term created by journalists and not by Valve. To be clear, however, PISTON Console owners will be able to access and play games on/through Steam since it is a Web-based platform open to anyone with an Internet connection and a Steam account, either on a Windows- or a Linux-based system. So in this regard, PISTON could be considered the first commercially available Steam Box.

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So for our own first prototype Steam Machine ( the one we're shipping to 300 Steam users ), we've chosen to build something special. The prototype machine is a high-end, high-performance box, built out of off-the-shelf PC parts. It is also fully upgradable, allowing any user to swap out the GPU, hard drive, CPU, even the motherboard if you really want to. Apart from the custom enclosure, anyone can go and build exactly the same machine by shopping for components and assembling it themselves. And we expect that at least a few people will do just that. (We'll also share the source CAD files for our enclosure, in case people want to replicate it as well.)

And to be clear, this design is not meant to serve the needs of all of the tens of millions of Steam users. It may, however, be the kind of machine that a significant percentage of Steam users would actually want to purchase - those who want plenty of performance in a high-end living room package. Many others would opt for machines that have been more carefully designed to cost less, or to be tiny, or super quiet, and there will be Steam Machines that fit those descriptions.

Here are the specifications for Valve's 300 prototypes.

The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
CPU: some boxes with Intel : i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

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