Steam Machines not designed to replace PCs, says Valve

Valve has said its upcoming Steam Machines are not specifically intended to replace the PC and can instead be used as a bridge between a user's existing gaming computer and the living room.
In a message on the Steam Universe community page, the company said Steam Machines could be designed to stream content from a more powerful PC to a living room set-up.
http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideo...309921_460.jpg"High-powered SteamOS living room machines are nice, and fun to play with, and will make many Steam customers happy", reads the statement, "but there are a lot of other Steam customers who already have perfectly great gaming hardware at home in the form of a powerful PC.
"The prototype we're talking about here is not meant to replace that. Many of those users would like to have a way to bridge the gap into the living room without giving up their existing hardware and without spending lots of money.
"We think that's a great goal, and we're working on ways to use our in-home streaming technology to accomplish it - we'll talk more about that in the future."
Steam Machines are due for commercial release next year and will come in different forms with different specs. While some will be constructed with high-end components to offer top end performance, others will prioritise low cost or a small form factor.
Prototype Steam Machines being sent to users for beta testing have been confirmed as "high-end, high-performance" boxes built using off the shelf PC parts.
Steam Machines were revealed in September as part of three announcements covering Valve's strategy to bring Steam games to the living room.
The company also revealed the SteamOS operating system, designed to be used on larger TVs, as well as a new Valve controller designed to offer innovative new input mechanics.

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