Is This the Steam Box prototype?

In the past, you may have heard mention that Steam could one day create a 'Steam Box', a sort of console that would be compatible with PC titles and (of course) games off of Steam. As it turns out, a picture of the prototype may have leaked online.

A Valve employee named Greg Coomer posted this image on his Twitter account in November last year, saying "Built this tiny PC. i7 quad core, 8GB ram, Zotac Z-68 mobo w/ onboard Nvidia mobile gfx. Runs Portal 2 FAST." Normally it might go unnoticed, but these specs are a match for the recent report about what the Steam Box could be running: a Core i7 processor, 8GB of Ram, and an NVIDIA graphics card.

According to reports, Valve held meetings about the box with potential partners at CES this year. It is said that they possibly discussed allowing other download services like EA's Origin to be used on the box, as well as going through the basics of how the machine works and who they are trying to reach with it.

Perhaps this information is best taken with a grain of salt, as Gabe Newell was famously quoted as saying that Valve would only manufacture gaming hardware "as a last resort." Regardless, if more information about Steam console becomes available, we'll have it for you!