As the rise of the next-gen PS4 and Xbox One has slowly been taking over gaming events and people's budgets, it seems like another name is trying to tap into the two-fighter rivalry: Valve's SteamOS.

Even though a couple of smaller names have been trying to tap the specific niche in the market--Ouya and MOJO for diverse, cheaper Android-based games, Nvidia SHIELD for gaming on the go or the couch--Valve is taking a new approach.

Instead of choosing just one market to focus on, it aims to deliver an open operating systems to put the graphics and all other advantages of PC gaming into your very own living room.

According to Read Write, even though the planned hardware Steam Box is still in the drawing board, the OS has already been released in the form of the SteamOS.

Quoting Valve, "SteamOS combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen. It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines."

Valve's Steam Machines--and the lucky 300 Steam users

Part and parcel of the Linux-based OS is the creation of Steam Machines. These are hardware devices that can be tested out by gamers, though it is not posited as the Steam Box per se.

GigaOM reports that the Steam Machines are products of partnering with hardware developers to ensure that the machines that will be rolled out can have a diverse range of prices and markets to be tapped.

This may be part of Valve's goal to not just allow one niche to enjoy the SteamOS, but rather deliver the core to more people by using a different outside medium. The report also implies that this may be Valve's movement towards customisable consoles, as the OS is upgradable and open.

These Steam Machines will be rolled out to 300 lucky Steam users, and according to Geek, they will be part of those who will get to test it and comment on any improvements.

300 Steam Machines will be given to lucky Steam users.

Support already coming in

The idea of creating an open platform for gaming may even be shared by quite a number of those in the gaming industries, as support for the OS is now coming in.

PC World reports that AMD and Nvidia had already voiced out their drive support for the OS. Due to the fact that Linux is not as popular in terms of PC gaming, the driver support may be an issue.

AMD has been a mainstay for Linux, but it has been officially confirmed that here will be a low-level programming API/GPU driver called Mantle. This may be the new performance graphics card that will be optimised for Valve's newest OS. According to the report, this driver should allow for an easier porting across Radeon-powered platforms.

As for Nvidia, the company with a pretty borderline relationship with Linux, it may be that an actual top-notch performing delivery will be in store this time. But this may be due to the fact that Nvidia played a role in the actual development of the SteamOS.

Eurogamer has found a post stating, "Engineers from Valve and Nvidia have spent a lot of time collaborating on a common goal for SteamOS: to deliver an open-platform gaming experience with superior performance and uncompromising visuals directly on the big screen."

So this can mean that Linux can expect a lot more from Nvidia this time around, compared to how they have been working together in the past.

In any case, Valve sure is aiming to get into the whole living room domination in gaming. Perhaps a shot at Half-Life 3 (the expected revelation for the month) is also worth thinking about?

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