When consoles emerged, it seemed to spell the doom for the PC in terms of a more mobile home gaming system. That is, until Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve announced that the Steam Box, slated to be a PC-in-a-console for your living room, will hit stores in 2013.

Before the first quarter of the year even comes to a close, BBC reports that the Valve prototype is expected to be available for testing in as early as three months.

So why should consoles start to worry? While there's no definite word on anything yet, TechRadar reports that the Steam Box will become an open system.

This means that, even though it is designed to play PC games, particularly the Steam games or supposedly proprietary games, the hardware bits can be changed for newer ones so that gamers won't have to deal with lock downs.

What's even more exciting is the fact that creators are now racing against time, specifically the time that it takes for the next-gen consoles of competitors likes Sony, Nintendo, and even Microsoft, reports Forbes,

"We're working with partners to nail down exactly how fast we can make it," says Mr Newell to Forbes.

For now, developers still need to work out the kinks of the Steam Box. According to Digital Trends, the current testing prototypes in the labs are still having issues.

"There are noise issues and heat issues, and being able to [handle that] while still offering a powerful enough gaming experience is the challenge in building it," said Mr Newell in a statement to Digital Trends.

But there is also a big hint of promise that may just put it ahead of the gaming pack, as the possibility of wearable devices for a more interactive gaming experience is now being emphasised.

ArsTechnica reports that some of the controllers may even include a heart rate monitor so that the game may actually be able to tailor to the amount of excitement, horror, joy, or any other emotion that a game is inducing in the player.

"If you don't change the experience of what the player is actually feeling, then it stops being a horror game," Mr Newell said to ArsTechnica. "So you need to actually be able to directly measure how aroused the player is-what their heart rate is, things like that-in order to continue to offer them a new experience each time they play."

It seems like there's really a lot to look forward to in a matter of four months. Whether Valve can actually deliver on this promise is what gamers will really have to wait for.