Piston Steam Box pre-orders open at $1,000

Prices for Piston--the first "Steam Box"--begin at $1,000, manufacturer Xi3 revealed today. The new device, which is intended to unite the comfort and ease of use of a console with the scope and upgradeability of a desktop computer, will ship in time for this year's holiday season.

Xi3 is extending a $100 discount to those who pre-order by the end of the SXSW convention (March 17), with a choice of integrated SSDs on its store page.

The console was the first publicly unveiled Steam Box: a loose term meaning a PC which specializes in running Steam games for couch/living room play. Valve is working on its own Steam Box internally, with co-founder Gabe Newell talking up impressive plans for future features.

One thousand dollars could buy a superior desktop computer, but with its own host of hassles and entertainment-center-unfriendly form factor. Now that we know the pricing for the first wave of Steam Boxes, what do you think?

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.