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

News
By Connor Sheridan published 11 March 2013

Living-room centric gaming PC to ship by holiday 2013

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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.

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  • Angled view of Steam Machine with glowing edges and Steam game artwork panels in backdrop. Valve is revisiting Steam Machine pricing and release timing due to "rapidly" increasing memory and storage shortages
  • ACEMAGIC Retro X5 mini PC on woodgrain desk with X5 text above and blurred NES box art in backdrop. It's no Steam Machine, but if you've got a grand to splash on a tiny rig, I'd check out this NES-inspired mini PC

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?

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TOPICS
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Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
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Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

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 was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.

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