While some of you may have been a bit confused with the unveiling of the Xi3 Piston box which has been officially backed by Valve, we’re hear to remind you that it isn’t the ‘real’ Steambox. Gabe Newell confirmed earlier this week that a Valve-built Steambox from the company is definitely happening and will be based on the Linux operating system, but also with support for Windows if users need it. Following on from that, we’ve now heard that the Steambox may have three different price tiers and the lowest version could be a very attractive proposition indeed for console gamers who are now interested in converting to the PC scene whilst spending the least amount of money.

Prior to CES 2013, the Steambox was still very much a rumor but it looks like the arrival of the Piston box from Xi3 was the perfect time for Valve to make it clear that their own Steambox is a different product altogether and we’re guessing will be marketed as the the definitive PC box to own in 2013. Newell is not really known for his public appearances, but when speaking to TheVerge recently, he confirmed that their Steambox may even feature some biometric features and innovative controller inputs that should help to separate their product from other PC boxes from manufacturers that will inevitably look to emulate Valve’s product.

While it still could be a long time until we finally see the Steambox available to buy, Gabe Newell has surprisingly revealed very early that the box will have three pricing tiers – suggesting the categories as ‘good‘, ‘great‘ and ‘best.’ He then went one step further to state that the lowest Steambox could enter the market as low as $99, leading to the next version at $300 and then a premium model for those who want the best best experience possible.

A $99 Steambox that can play any Steam game obviously sounds good at first, but so far we do know the consequences that consumers will face by opting for the cheapest version. Hardware specs are obviously going to be at optimal level for the premium model, so does that mean a $99 Steambox won’t be able to play all games? These are questions that hopefully Newell will confirm at a later date, but it does make you wonder how the three versions will differ.

Either way, it looks like we are set for a major industry shakeup in 2013 and leading into 2014. The PS Vita may now be blown out of the water with NVIDIA’s Project Shield, while Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo now have their work cut out to convince consumers that their respective next-gen consoles will still be better than the upcoming onslaught of living-room PC boxes.

What are your initial thoughts on the Steambox? Are you prepared to quit home consoles for good if pricing is spot on for Valve’s box?

Towards the end of 2012 a kickstarter project came to light called the Xi3 Piston, which is a mini-PC that has its sights set on gaming, so it made perfect sense for the project to receive backing from Valve. We’re told that this gaming PC will be tailored to work with Steam’s Big Picture Mode, but as yet what we know about the internals is just speculation.

It’s looking more likely that the Xi3 will be based on the X7A, but should come with more powerful hardware. A recent hands-on from CES 2013 suggests that we could expect up to a 3.2GHz quad-core AMD R-464L APU, but that’s about all we know so far. However, you can see from the video below that the Xi3 will be all about its connectivity.

There’s a huge array of ports and the device will be able to offer support for three monitors, rather than two on most standard PCs. One concern for us is the Xi3 Piston price, as it’s assumed that it will be around $999, but it’s clear to see that many gamers believe this to be too expensive and should have a price of $400 or below to stand any chance of success.

Because this is such a compact design and will no doubt come with a pretty decent graphics card you would assume that the computer could overheat, but because it will have a low energy consumption of 40W, this will no doubt help to keep the heat levels down.

Gamers have already began to doubt the Xi3′s success because it’s meant to be a gaming PC, yet it will not be able to play games like Crysis, but do you believe this will be a major issue?

Counter-Strike is one of the world’s most famous shooters and despite being ancient compared to today’s standards, CS 1.6 is still being played by millions of PC owners worldwide. If you have played or still play CS, you’ll know that de_dust2 is a legendary map and is one of the key aspects of the game that distinguish CS from every other shooter online.

We’re not sure if Valve has the same level of high security that Apple has over their IPs, but Gabe Newell and his team may want to take a closer look at this blatent ripoff once they find out about it. How many of you have heard of Webzen and their new shooter called Arctic Combat?

The game is currently in beta and is due for release soon, but one of the maps included in the game called Sand Storm has become quite a talking point online with the FPS community. This is because the map quite essentially is a carbon copy of Valve’s de_dust2 map and Webzen surely had to be joking if they thought they could pass this off as their own by simply moving a few crate locations.

The map layout is exactly the same with both A and B bombsites, double doors at mid, catwalk at short A, almost bordering on the ridiculous. So far, the South Korean developer has yet to comment on the claims and there is some discussion that the map is just paying ‘homage to’ CS, rather than passing it off as a new map.

Check out the gameplay footage below courtesy of PC Gamer and let us know your thoughts on it. As a CS player, have you ever seen a blatent rip off like this before? Don’t be surprised if we see Sand Storm make a sudden departure from the final release of Arctic Combat.

Valve has always had a glowing reputation for delivering amazing game sales on Steam and this latest one is no different. They have a series of offers to tempt you with, all with the focus on CS: GO which launches on August 21 worldwide on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

It is the PC version that we’re focusing on though, as you have the opportunity to play the game one week before everyone else if you decide to pre-order it before release. To make the deal even sweeter, Valve is offering a 10% discount on top, meaning that you only pay $13.49 instead of an already ultra cheap $14.99.

Pre-ordering will get you access into the final beta for the game which lands on August 14 and it is a no brainer for us if you are a well seasoned CS veteran from 1.6. That’s the first deal out of the way, but there’s more from Valve. They are also offering the Counter-Strike: Complete package which will score you all of the CS games in Valve’s library.

This includes CS 1.6, CS: Condition Zero, CS: Source and CS: Global Offensive. The price for this lovely package – a mere $18.69 after a whopping 66% discount from Valve. This crazy deal is only available for a limited time only though and currently has 17 hours remaining according to the Steam store.

It’s time to put down Modern Warfare 3 folks and play a real man’s first person shooter. Let us know if you plan to pick up CS: GO, or if you’ve already been heavily involved in the long beta testing.

As most of you are well aware, the Source engine is still in circulation and powers the likes of Counter-Strike Source, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead and of course Half Life Episode 1 and 2. So far there has been no information on Valve potentially moving to a brand new engine for Half Life 3, but we could have had the first piece of information on this with a new rumor.

As discovered inside Source Filmmaker files by ValveTime, Valve are seemingly now working on their new engine Source 2 and it could explain the enormous wait and silence that PC users have had to put up with. The Source engine is now eight years old, so in a way it would be very logical to assume that the likes of Half Life 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3 would all come on a fresh engine.

Don’t expect Valve to comment on the rumors, but there’s no denying the line of code that can be read over at ValveTime. The words ‘next gen’ are also located in the code as well, so this is obviously very exciting news indeed for the whole PC community. Half Life 3 on a brand new engine is mouthwatering stuff, not to mention a possible new Counter-Strike game that may come bundled along as well.

After the unveiling of Half Life 3 concept art, we’d say that this is the most exciting HL3 rumor we’ve seen so far. How does Half Life 3 on a next-gen Source 2 engine sound to you? Let us know in the comments.

This is the same Gabe Newell that has previously worked for Microsoft for thirteen years before departing to create Valve remember, so why does he have so much beef with the newest software for his old employers?

In a rare appearance at Casual Connect, an annual gaming event in Seattle, Gabe Newell has been quoted as saying that ‘Windows 8 is a catastrophe’. In comments picked up by AllThingsD, he also went on to say that Valve will lose some of their top-tier PC/OEMS as a result of Microsoft’s new operating system.

One of the company’s focuses now in the meantime is getting the entire library of Steam games, running successfully on the Linux platform. Newell calls this his ‘hedging strategy’ and says it is always good to have alternatives. We’re guessing that he isn’t really a fan of that new Metro style UI, but does the problem stem deeper than that?

The great man is famous for his outspoken comments, but it will be interesting to see if Microsoft decide to respond to this, as calling their newest product a ‘catastrophe’ is a pretty big deal. Do you agree with him that Windows 8 is a bad idea from the start?

If you have already installed the Windows 8 preview build, let us know how you are handling it. Gabe Newell obviously sees a lot of potential in Linux, but do you?

If you have already seen the images, you’ll know that there is a lot of debate going on right now as to whether the images, although they look very authentic, are actually just elaborate photoshops. When we first saw them ourselves, we too had doubts given the length that some crazed fans would go to.

However, we’ve spotted over on the Steam boards that a few Valve moderators simply can’t hide their excitement on the concept images, with two specifically confirming that the images are real. The images, featuring Alyx wearing Eli’s jacket can be seen in their entirety over at the ValveTime Facebook page – so no signs of any Valve takedown yet.

After the images were revealed, Valve moderator ‘Smash’ posted in this thread that ‘this is official art’ and that he is ‘shocked that this day has come.’ When asked to prove why he thinks it’s official art, he then went on to say because he knows the source who leaked the concept art, but isn’t willing to disclose due to ‘exclusivity reasons’.

Later on, another Valve moderator by the name of ‘Sierra Oscar’ decided to chime in on the same thread, again confirming that the images are real and pondered whether Valve will now officially come out and comment on the images. Just to point out to you, if the images are real, remember that they were designed back in 2008 and may not be an accurate look at how Half Life 3 or HL2: Episode 3 looks at the moment in its current state.

After a drought in HL3 rumors though – this is exciting isn’t it folks? Let’s hope Valve do decide to comment on them. Take a look at the full gallery and give us your thoughts on them.

The closed beta is still underway as we speak and we’re guessing that many die hard 1.6 players have already had the chance to preview Global Offensive with such a long beta window. We played the game at Eurogamer last year and loved what we saw, especially given that the graphics shown on the console versions were on par with that of PC.

So the big date that you all need to write down is August 21 and that relates to multiple platforms as well. The game will be releasing on this date for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and also Mac users too. If you don’t know already, Global Offensive is an enhanced take on the original Counter-Strike 1.6 game that is still one of the most popular online shooters today. The game will feature updated map classics such as de_dust2 and de_dust1, while there will also be brand new maps for you to enjoy as well.

Global Offensive will also debut a few new weapons as well, most notably the molotov cocktail. The PS3 version of the game was originally shaping up to be something special after Valve announced that it would come with cross-platform support with the PC version. However, that plan has now been scrapped so you may want to stick with the PC version if you want to own the definitive version of the game with the quickest support from Valve post-release.

One pleasing aspect that will definitely surprise you is Valve’s pricing strategy. Some of you would probably be willing to pay full price for this, but Valve has announced that the game will be available for as little as $15! That price relates to the PS3, PC and Mac versions, while Xbox 360 owners can buy Global Offensive for just 1200 Microsoft Points – cheaper than Bethesda’s upcoming Dawnguard expansion for Skyrim.

Of course there are some groans that this isn’t really a ‘completely’ new Counter-Strike game, but rather a small update to the existing CS 1.6 game – but for $15 who is going to argue with Valve here? That is a fantastic price for a brand new game and one which current CS players will be delighted to pay out. The main mission for Valve will be to introduce brand new players to the CS franchise with Global Offensive. Don’t forget that this is a digital release only, so the hard work starts now to make this as appealing as possible on console.

Will you be paying $15 for Counter-Strike Global Offensive? We are really enjoying the beta at the moment, so it is a complete no-brainer for us.

Starting from this week, you will now be able to buy Steam vouchers across all GameStop stores in the US, vouchers which will add credit to your Steam Wallet on your computer. Just like Sony’s PlayStation Network vouchers, you’ll now be able to pick up vouchers in quantities of $20 or $50.

It means that you can now buy the games you want, with a peace of mind that your credit or debit cards are not at risk by sophisticated hackers, which has happened in the past don’t forget. We imagine that a lot of you are delighted by this announcement, since it was a long requested feature from the community.

If you want to buy some Steam vouchers straight away, you’re probably eager to find out if your nearest GameStop store has them. For those that need it, GameStop has provided a Store Locator service on their website, so you can find your nearest store and call them to check that they have the cards already.

We’re surprised that this didn’t come sooner, but it’s a happy ending for all concerned at last. What are you planning to buy from the Steam store with your first voucher? Unfortunately, it looks like this is a deal exclusive to GameStop, which means that you may have to search online for voucher codes if you live outside the U.S. Hopefully Valve will extend this to the UK and other parts of the world once the initial rollout has begun. It’s not hard to purchase PSN cards online though, but obviously there is a little additional fee involved for the service.

Is this fantastic news for you that you can now use Steam vouchers to add to your wallet?

We first heard about a potential gaming console from Valve at the start of March, when there were whispers that the system would be equipped with hardware specs such as an Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and graphics from NVIDIA – promising if accurate.

Now though, it has been widely reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook has recently paid a visit to Valve’s HQ and more specifically Gabe Newell and there is obvious talk that the agenda for both companies is closely linked to the initial Steam Box console theories, with Apple now potentially playing a major part in development.

If the two are really working together, then we imagine that Valve are hoping that Apple will assist them in the software department. Valve arguably has more knowledge in building a gaming system, while Apple obviously are one of the mobile app superpowers with their iOS App Store.

Could Valve’s gaming console feature support for the Apple App Store? Unlikely, but one much more likely scenario is that Apple could be helping out with voice-recognition and motion support for the console. It does seem like a rather farfetched collaboration, but the rumors do not seem to be going away at the moment.

Everyone is expecting big things from Microsoft and Sony at this year’s E3 event this Summer, but imagine a mindblowing scenario where Tim Cook and Gabe Newell take to the stage to announce their console to the world? That would be incredible. It’s worth mentioning about Sony too and how they would feel on a potential partnership between Valve and Apple. Most of you will remember Newell’s now infamous speech at E3 2010 when he surprisingly revealed Portal 2 for the PS3 with Steam support after previously being critical of Sony. Will this now put their relationship in jeopardy with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the way this year?

Interesting times indeed and we can’t wait to see what happens. Let us know your thoughts on a potential console from Apple and Valve. We often see the term ‘game-changer’ misused in the industry, but could it really apply in this case?