1. Better Competition For The Big Three
Given what Valve has already accomplished through other consoles over the years, it shouldn't be hard to understand why the company is now making the move to encroach on the market with its own console. The demand is already there many have always wondered what it would be like if their favorite game developer made its own console). And if experience has taught the company anything, it's that some software will require its own hardware to provide a better backbone -- but is it really a good thing to introduce more competition into a tightly packed oligopoly market? To be fair, Valve's Steam Box couldn't have come at a better time. While the big three (Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony) have warred with each other more than enough times to keep things fresh and interesting for the market, sometimes it isn't enough. In fact, these companies have allowed themselves to become too over confident to avoid making mistakes in the current and upcoming generations. But an fourth competitor like Valve could change all of that. Valve has already made game developers rethink the way they produce and distribute games, and they could do the same for console developers with the tantalizing Steam Box. This is good because it causes the competition to rethink their decisions before bringing them to fruition as well as motivate them into adapting and evolving in order to provide better goods and services along the way. This in turn will also motivate Valve to do the same, preventing the market from growing stagnant. Since its announcement, the Steam Box and its OS may have already impacted the big three accordingly, meaning good things are in store for the upcoming generation of consoles.