14 DAY TRIAL // Valve is making a push for the living room and wants gamers to move their PC gaming there. They also want gamers to use the Steam Controllers, but the ideal situation would be for them to mod their controllers just like they are doing with the games.
One of the things that Valve said when information about the Steam Machines was first made available was that they intended to make the designs of the upcoming consoles public so that anyone with time and money could build their own case. It was a lofty goal, but it got lost along the way. The task of building the Steam machines is now in the hands of companies like Alienware, so there is no real need to make that happen.
On the other hand, the Steam Controllers are built by Valve, and there aren't a million other companies making their own versions. Now they are saying the same thing about the Steam Controllers, and they might be right this time, although building your hardware is a lot more complicated than just putting together a case for a somewhat smaller PC.
Is hardware modding the future?
People are already starting to change how their components look. For example, a lot of PC users are going through the trouble of modifying the looks of the computer's inside, even if it's not something that you usually get to see. Painting the video card is something pretty common now, but it wasn't five years back. Valve is betting that this trend will become more important.
In an interview with Polygon, designer Erik Johnson talked about this possibility, and he seemed to be pretty serious about it. "We want to release the CAD files for how these controllers are put together," he said. "How do you mod the controller? What does that look like? It's in our DNA to think of how our customers can create value for other customers."
This is kind of idea that sounds crazy right now but might work in the future. And here is where we all remember that Valve is playing the long game and has the capacity to wait it out.