I was wondering the other day, that there surely has to be a way for Valve to come out on top in this gen. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that they could easily blow away the competition. Here's how-

Tidal wave of exclusives - Valve could launch Left for Dead 3, Half Life 3, Portal 3, Team Fortress 3, and Counter Strike 2 to compete with all the exclusives from Microsoft and Sony. These franchises are pretty much among the best in their respective categories, and would bring in lots of people. The problem is that their previous incarnations were on console. However, if Valve wanted to hurt Sony and Microsoft they could change that.

Cheap Steam Box - Valves direct answer to the consoles should be a very cheap box that is 150-200 dollars. I don't think they should abandon PC, because that's what makes them unique. The box should stream games from your PC and they would help each other run the game, meaning that you wouldn't have to have a really good PC to run the game. It would add the comfort of laying back in a couch as well, which many people want.

Advertise the amazing benefits more - Most people don't have a clue about the sales that Steam runs daily, or the fact that you don't pay any money for multiplayer. They also don't know about things like steam workshop, that allow modding dunces like myself to have fun. Spread the word and show people the tangible benefits available to them.

It wouldn't be a good idea. To make a console just for Valve only games and nothing more and expecting it to blow them out of the water, is like saying the Ouya is the next best thing to compete with Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony and that unit bombed. Valve does make good games----when they release them, but they haven't released any thing since Portal 2. So for them to get in the gaming console market they're going to have to make or publish games to compete otherwise---it'll sink quick.

The conventional gamer I don't think is much willing to go from console to pc, which would slash their audience. That a very good pc would be needed to, even more.

Also, announcing all them games at once?! I'm no expert on valve, so correct if mistaken, but I doubt they could produce all them in a short time?

No, Valve can't kill Microsoft and Sony like that, for one there's [censored] Second, consoles have their own exclusives. Third, the Valve games you listed aren't even exclusives (and probably won't ever be).Fourth, Team Fortress 3 is NOT happening anytime soon. Finally, There's no way Valve could make a profit off of hardware that they sell for 150-200 dollars that can decently run any games even with the help of a PC.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, Valve released DOTA 2 yesterday.

Three exclusives that are FPSs? Ugh...not only a terrible lack of variety, but it would mean that your theoretical Steambox would already bomb in Japan. So it wouldn't be much of a kill anyway. Not to mention I don't see why those should be console exclusives when they would would already sell immeasurably well on PC. Valve would just shoot themselves in the foot doing that.

Besides...doesn't Valve already kill Sony and Micosoft?

They couldn't. If Valve is terrible at anything, it's meeting deadlines. It would be a miracle if just one of those launched with a theoretical console, let alone five.

That's the idea behind the Steam Box, no?

Ah just reread it. I was under the impression that you'd still game on the pc, apologies. Still, it'd be a hassle having to have your pc next to a TV (at least for me, due to lack of space etc).

Yeah steam having exclusives will be so much better than sony or microsoft having exclusives. /S

You wouldn't need to. The Steam Box is (rumored) to be a small-form-factor PC running a specialized distribution of Linux that boots directly into some kind of a Steam interface. No additional hardware required.

That said, as far as the OP is concerned, I think there's a lot more to competing with Sony and MS in the console space than just releasing the Steam Box along with some Steam-exclusive games. A lot of the console market doesn't even know what Steam is, for one thing. They'd have to do some pretty clever and expensive marketing to punch into the market at the level that would make them a serious threat to XB1 and PS4.

On ok, thanks for the info
And agree.

Answer to the responses-

- The Steam Box would play games of all types, not just the exclusives. ( Like how Steam works already ) I do agree that they have to get a move on with their production of titles, but this is a theoretical situation where they play their cards correctly to beat the other companies. So yes, they need to make these games a lot more quickly to supply their platform with good exclusives. The point is that the platform has been built already though.

Very true, I think that these consoles are very deeply integrated into the market and actually beating them will take some ingenuity. But it is possible to make people realize the benefits of gaming with them.

Well, those are the games made by Valve, so that's what they can make exclusive easily. FPS games are what sell nowadays. Also, refer to the above, it would play a multitude of games that are already available on Steam, so that solves the problem of selling it to certain groups of people like the Japanese. And yes, it does already kill them .

But I think that another selling point would be getting to play the last gen games on your Steam Box. That would get a huge audience without having to even try to market it. The word would spread like wildfire because one of the biggest failings of the current gen is their lack of backwards compatibility, and Valve can exploit that weakness to sell their product.

Already thought about it.. And it works.. But I can sense strict PC Gamers not understanding, saying.. If you want PC like stuff, then just get a PC.. Consolers want simple design that also gives them freedom. Steambox's designs in big picture seem far better than that of Xbox One and PS4..

I would be happy with Steam having exclusives. Microsoft and Sony do it to beat their competition.. If they wanna play dirty, than play dirty back

Even if the Steambox bombs in Japan, the worst it could do is be on equal footing with the Xbox One during its first year in Japan... since it won't be released there

Sony and MS don't make any money off of their consoles either. They make it off of the games and services that they sell. Remember, Sony and MS get a cut of each game sold, not just the ones they make.

They have an expensive one coming out, priced for the early adopters that look forward to all the problems and issues that come with new hardware. Call it a beta you pay for. The price is expensive due to the boutique nature of the product and production. However, the hardware that is on the PS4/X1 can run what needs to be run for a game on a TV. So, there is no reason that mass production console for the Steam box could not be competitively priced with the new consoles.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/gaming/valve-steam-box-release-date-news-and-features-1127072