Friday, April 13th 2012
Valve Recruiting Electronics Engineer for Developing Homegrown Hardware
It's no news that Valve is working on its own gaming hardware platform so far referred to as Steambox, but its talk has been mostly based on rumors and anecdotal information. The Steambox theory, and the theory that Valve is working on hardware, got cemented by a new job vacancy posted by Valve, which calls for experienced electronics engineers. The posting reads "For years Valve has been all about writing software that provides great gameplay experiences. Now we're developing hardware to enhance those experiences."
The skillset asked for in the posting fills a lot of holes in the Steambox theory. It requires engineers to be proficient with prototyping, system-level design, embedded systems, high-speed serial interfaces, circuit simulation, etc., with a much more juicy "recommended" skillset requirement covering areas such as board layout, ARM/x86 system design, power/thermal management, RF and antennas, etc., basically everything a company out to design a game console would seek in its new engineers. Find the posting here, under "Electronics Engineer."
Source:
Engadget
The skillset asked for in the posting fills a lot of holes in the Steambox theory. It requires engineers to be proficient with prototyping, system-level design, embedded systems, high-speed serial interfaces, circuit simulation, etc., with a much more juicy "recommended" skillset requirement covering areas such as board layout, ARM/x86 system design, power/thermal management, RF and antennas, etc., basically everything a company out to design a game console would seek in its new engineers. Find the posting here, under "Electronics Engineer."
22 Comments on Valve Recruiting Electronics Engineer for Developing Homegrown Hardware
I would be darn interested in such project but I have to hang around the internet instead :p
Not sure if a "classical" console part would be "new" enough to gather enough attention...
And the most advanced feature of Steam is its PORTALbility - you own your "console-titles" on PC at the same time...that would rock...
windows on ARM Devices
mobile phones run on ARM chips
Android Tablets run on ARM chips
all of the above are / will be gameing platforms
Looks like Steam want to make their "new System" cross (multi) platform Compatable probably as a way of future proofing the hardware and to ensure they capture as big a share of the gameing market as possable after release
Bring this sort of consol to the market along with ipad/iphone app (dont sue me for useing the Iwords please apple) and release a android app and basicly you have full market coverage!
I wonder if any ARM design they come up with will have socketed cpu rather than a embedded cpu that would be great for Console hardware upgrades + make the graphics upgradeable as well
this is interesting news indeed.
who knows...I could work for Steam. :nutkick: