Check out iBuyPower’s Steam Box prototype

It seems like we’re been looking at SteamBox prototypes for a long time already,which makes it so odd to think that all we’ve seen really, is on quick picture of a 360 lookalike one from Valve. The original Piston from xi3 turned out not to be a SteamBox machine after all, so really, this is only the second we’ve ever seen and it’s… a bit odd looking.

I’d describe it as looking a bit like a tron-VCR, with a glowing band that runs all the way around its mid section. We do know that the lightbar can change colour, but we don’t know why as of yet. It could be based on player preference to differentiate your console from others, but it could be to signify different modes.

Either way, he’s hoping you can turn it off.

It’s hard to tell from the pictures how big this Steam Box is, so we’ll have to take iBuyPower’s word for it: bigger than a PS4, but smaller than an Xbox One.

This particular one will cost $500 when it launches next year, bundling inside it a R9 270 GPU, which while far from a powerhouse, is still nearly $200 of graphics card all on its own. It’ll come with one touchpad equipped Steam controller for that money too.

The OS of course is SteamOS right out the box, though you could load in a version of windows if you wanted – but you’ll have to buy it separately, or go down a less scrupulous road.

So what do you guys reckon? I think we’ll need to know a little more before we know if it’s really worth $500. A reasonable GPU is one thing, but it’ll need a nicely matched CPU to take advantage.

For more images, check out the gallery on the left.