Is Valve Going Ahead With A Console?

It’s been rumoured for some time now that developer Valve would be throwing its hat into the ring with Sony and Microsoft (let’s just forget about the Wii and Wii U for now). A job listing on Valve’s site seems to out a shift to producing hardware as well as software:

“For years, Valve has been all about writing software that provides great gameplay experiences,” says the job posting. “Now we’re developing hardware to enhance those experiences, and you can be a key part of making that happen. Join our highly motivated team that’s doing hardware design, prototyping, testing, and production across a wide range of platforms. We’re not talking about me-too mice and gamepads here – help us invent whole new gaming experiences.” 

Requirements for the electronics engineer post include prototyping, thermal management, and circuit simulation.

Valve already has its highly successful online system in Steam and bringing this to a console platform may give Valve an edge in addition to allowing for cross-platform play. Could this be Valve’s masterclass or their big folly?

Ona side note, Valve has time for this but not Half-Life 3? Let us know what you think about a possible Valve console or at least try and come up with a name for it.