Hasta La Gadget!

While the Alienware X51 has been slated by Valve as a currently available Steambox, consumers still have to get rid of that pesky Windows to install the Linux-driven platform. As we’ve seen with the Razer Edge, a Windows 8-powered gaming system just doesn’t work well for living rooms because it still needs an interface that’s not a game controller. Fortunately, that barrier is slowly evaporating as the Dell-owned commodity is now providing Ubuntu as an OS option for the X51, paving the way for easier Steambox modification in the future.

It’ll come with Linux-friendly drivers from NVIDIA right out of the box, and you can of course install Steam for Linux on it from the get-go. As a reminder, the X51 is available in Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 models, and can be upgraded to 8GB of RAM with 1TB of storage, with either a NVIDIA GeForce GT545 or a GTX 555 card. Features include HDMI 1.4, eight USB ports (six are 2.0 while two are 3.0), digital 7.1 surround sound, on-board WiFi and gigabit Ethernet. Pricing for the base Ubuntu model is $599, which is about $100 less than its Windows counterpart.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

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Source: Alienware, Dell Community Blog

The value of my Steam account is $492.65, and the sum of it requires 155.02 GB of space storage space. Awesome. And my Dad said I would never do anything worthwhile.

Steam Gauge is the product of Hacker News user jprusik and is worth several minutes of your time. It pulls data from public steam accounts through the Steam Web API and aggregates everything into a sortable and exportable list. You can even share the data on Twitter and Google Plus. And since it pulls public accounts, you can check up on your buddies’ obsession, too.

There are some caveats. It’s not 100% accurate. While my account might have a face value of $492.65, I didn’t spend that much. Steam Gauge clearly doesn’t pull how much you paid for each game, just the value of each game. For instance I know I didn’t pay $39.99 for Half Life 2: Lost Coast.

Hopefully future builds will show play times, which is the most telling stat available through the Steam client. I’m particularly proud of the time I’ve put into Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Humble Bundle has announced two new sales for its collection this week. For the first time ever, the Humble Mobile Bundle will be released, showing off 6 great games that you can play on your Android device. Alongside the Humble Mobile Bundle comes the second Humble Weekly Sale. The new sale features 4 great games from game developer THQ that players can access through Steam.

For the Humble Mobile Bundle, you can pay any price you want to get access to the tower defense game, Plants vs. Zombies, the physics-based puzzler, Contre Jour, the reverse tower defense game, Anomaly Korea, and the third-person action brawler, Bladeslinger. However, if you pay more than the average price, you will also be able to download the 3D puzzle game, The Room, as well as the classic side-scrolling shooter, Metal Slug 3.

For the Humble Weekly Sale, you can pay any price you want (with a minimum payment of $1) to get access to two popular THQ titles. You will be given Steam keys for each game to be redeemed on any gaming-capable Windows PC. The first game you’ll get is Red Faction: Armageddon, where you will be fighting an evil alien species looking to spread Armageddon upon mankind. The second game is Darksiders, where you get to play as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. If you pay more than the average price, you will also given access to Red Faction: Guerrilla, as well as Darksiders sequel, Darksiders II.

The Humble Mobile Bundle will last two weeks long, while the Humble Weekly Sale will, of course, only be available this week. Humble Bundles are a great way for players to directly support game developers. Donations will also be split up and given towards several, select charities, including Child’s Play Charity, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the American Red Cross.

[via Humble Bundle]

Humble Mobile Bundle and second Humble Weekly Sale now live is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Valve has just announced a new program in Steam called “Early Access”. This allows gamers to purchase and play games that are still in development. It’s like a beta mode where you test drive the game in its current state, and report bugs and give feedback to the game’s developers. Valve believes this program will help developers form bonds with gamers as well as help them make better games.

Currently, there are only 12 games being offered in the Steam Early Access program. They are: Arma 3 Alpha, Kerbal Space Porgram, StarForge, Kenshi, Prison Architect, Kinetic Void, Gnomoria, Under the Ocean, Patterns, Gear Up: Premium, Drunken Robot Pornography, and 1…2…3… Kick It! etc. None of the games are free-to-play, however in the future, Steam plans on bringing f2p games into the mix.

Developers will offer their games at a discounted price in the Early Access program, so there’s a chance that you can get the game for a much lower-price point than if you purchased it on its official launch date. There may be developers, however, who may charge you a bit extra for the game later on during development, so be warned. Some of these games are only in Alpha mode, while others are more farther along. You have to view the screen shots of the game to see whether or not you’ll find it “playable”.

The Early Access program is a great way for developers to continuously make money for the games while they’re still in the development stages. The feedback from gamers will be helpful in creating the best end-product upon the game’s official release. Developers will be able to see what game features generate positive responses from players, and which features deter them. All in all, we should be seeing an influx of new, great games coming soon.

[via Steam]

Steam offers “Early Access” to developing games is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Xi3 Piston opened for pre-orders on Monday, and seemed to be the first of many Steam Box type devices powered by Valve’s online gaming store and service. But Valve quickly came out and said that despite their investment in Xi3, the company has no “official involvement” in the development of the Piston itself. Now Xi3 is firing back, admitting that while it received investment and the Piston console was built as the result of a request to build a device specifically for Valve, Valve isn’t currently involved in the project.

Xi3 says that Valve president Gabe Newell personally asked its founder and CEO Jason A. Sullivan not to disclose any info about the relationship between the two companies, and that’s just what it has done. The Piston was never an official “Steam Box,” Xi3 says, which is also what we pointed out in our article. Instead, we suggested it would be one of many devices from third-party OEMs that could fit the generic description of a PC console designed for Steam.

The release from Xi3 also goes on to claim that the Piston can actually do one better than any official hardware, since it’s fully open to support a whole host of different gaming platforms, not just Valve’s. Xi3 also says that it’ll ship with Windows initially, since that’s where the “vast bulk of game software and computer gamers are today,” not Linux (thought it is Linux-compatible). Xi3 says this is where Valve and it have a philosophical difference, and where the Piston will be able to offer consumers more choice than any officially blessed Steam Box.

Sullivan says in the release that pre-order demand has been very strong so far, and the company is actually concerned it won’t be able to meet holiday 2013 demand for the console. But the tone overall seems a little like that of a child whose affection was spurned: it gives the impression that Xi3 was slightly taken aback at the force with which Valve distanced itself from the Piston project.

Whatever the situation between Xi3 and Valve, the upshot is that there will be ‘Steam boxes’ and there will be ‘Steam Boxes,’ (Official) and Valve might have trouble keeping the public educated as to which is which. And in the end you have to wonder if it matters, so long as both provide full access to Steam and its games in a console-style environment.