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Piston, the first ‘Steambox’ gets a trailer

Xi3

When I read NME as a teenager, SXSW always seemed to be about Thom Yorke turning up at an Austin pub unannounced to mumble alongside a guitar, but it transpires there’s also a bit where you announce things like Xi3 Piston pre-orders. Punters at the SXSW Gaming Expo can pick up a Piston, test it for weight and even check it for lumps before they pre-order, but back home we’ve been asked to slap down nearly $1000 for what remains an unknown quantity, Steam-branded or no. This trailer should help a little with that.

“How will you survive the onslaught?,” ask Xi3, to a backdrop of Crysis 3 footage. “Can your current console or gaming system keep pace?”

That seems a bit of a silly question, what with Crysis 3 running reasonably well on current consoles, thankyouverymuch. What’s really special about the Piston is its coke can-equivalent size, and its temporary status as the only announced Steam Box of many.

It looks lovely under a telly, but even with a $100 early pre-order discount, it’s a cool $899. Is the Piston ‘console’ too pricey?

Thanks, VG247.