Alienware Steam Machine priced 'very competitive' with PS4, Xbox One

Third-party Steam Machine manufacturer Alienware didn't offer hardware or price specifics about its plans to build a SteamOS-ready gaming PC, but the company says it plans to price its offering very competitively with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One.

The Alienware Steam Machine, which is expected in the second half of 2014, is being built to be compact and upgradeable. But its most important design goal, according to Alienware global marketing director Bryan De Zayas, was making a Steam Machine that's small enough to disappear in your living room set up, while still maintaining the company's build and performance standards.

Alienware is still in the design and iteration process of its diminutive Steam Machine, but De Zayas confirmed that its box will ship with an Intel CPU and Nvidia-powered graphics. Memory and storage are still to be determined, but the new box sounds like it won't compete spec- or price-wise with the X51 desktop, which starts at $699.

De Zayas said that Alienware's Steam Machine will ship with a Valve-manufactured Steam Controller, and while Alienware is open to building its own version of the gamepad, it wouldn't develop something that doesn't differentiate. Alienware doesn't want to simply slap its logo on a Steam Controller, he said.

We'll have more details on the rest of the Steam Machine third-party slate from CES in the coming days.