PC Tech World: Valve

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Controller designer, hardware lead Jeri Ellsworth out at Valve

We're still eagerly awaiting Steambox-spec'd hardware in our living rooms but Valve's endeavor into hardware will move on minus one party member, noted inventor / hacker Jeri Ellsworth. She reported the firing in a tweet earlier today, however any reasons, future plans or possible link to the project itself were not mentioned. When we spoke to Ellsworth last fall, she was working on controller prototypes to address mouse/keyboard use from the couch. At the time she also happily noted the Valve corporate culture's acceptance of risk-taking and failure on the way to new product development. We've attempted to contact both parties and will report back if we hear any other details -- especially if they include any more fashion / Commodore 64 mashups.

Yup.Got fired today.Time for new exciting projects.
- Jeri Ellsworth (@jeriellsworth) February 13, 2013

Source: Jeri Ellsworth (Twitter)

More Coverage: Jeri Ellsworth (YouTube)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

CES 2013: Valve unveils first Steam Box hardware for big-screen gaming

About the size of a grapefruit, they say

Valve's first foray into the world of hardware has been unveiled as a PC-type box appropriately codenamed Piston.

It's a development stage system, which means we shouldn't expect to see this particular model on shop floors any time soon, but the Piston project is intended to show off Steam game play on large high-definition TVs, making use of the company's "Big Picture" mode.

Built in partnership with Xi3, Piston is described by the company as a "uniquely shaped, grapefruit-size" computer chassis, with the first iteration being showcased at CES 2013. Here it is hastily mocked up next to a grapefruit for scale:

Steam Box Grapefruit [Grapefruit image courtesy of Ollie Crafoord under CC]

"This new development stage product will allow users to take full advantage of their large high-definition TV displays for an amazing computer game experience," said Jason Sullivan, founder, president and CEO of Xi3.

Looking to the future, he added that the two companies have their collective sights firmly set on traditional game consoles:

"This new system could provide access to thousands of gaming titles through an integrated system that exceeds the capabilities of leading game consoles, but can fit in the palm of your hand."

Lofty intentions indeed, although the existence of the Piston project isn't too surprising given that Valve's CEO Gabe Newell confirmed that the company was working on a Steam Box in December last year.