4. Beta Testing
As part of Valve's strategy for its Steam Box, the company is rolling out prototypes of its consoles to select few for beta testing. The plan is to use consumer feedback to help with the development of the consoles before they are released on the market. This move is simply brilliant on Valve's part because they can avoid the many mistakes that console developer make before launch. Particularly, the hardware needs to be reliable, comfortable and easy enough to use, but only the consumer can really determine that in the end. After all, the customer is always right. The same can already be said for software, which is why game developers rely on beta testing. So why not do the same with consoles? Valve obviously has asked their own people this question and the Steam Box will benefit greatly from the outcome of beta testing. If only the other console companies would think about that for a change. Microsoft especially would have benefitted from beta testing the Xbox One before announcing those ridiculous policies and having to retract them all for favor of maintaining sales and trusts.