UNBOXED: Valve's Steam Machine, The Most Powerful Next-Gen Game Console

As if the Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One weren't enough, there's another major player in the video game industry dipping its toes in the video game console race.

Valve, the company responsible for the immensely popular Steam digital distribution platform and revolutionary games like "Half-Life 2" and "Portal," is giving 300 gamers around the country a free prototype version of its Steam Machine game console for testing.

The Steam Machine is based on standard PC hardware, just like the PS4 and Xbox One. It runs SteamOS, an operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution, modified for increased game compatibility and performance.

Reddit user colbehr was one of the 300 lucky gamers to receive the first round of Steam Machines from Valve. The Steam Machine is currently being tested in three models with increasing levels of processing power; his came with approximately $1,500 worth of PC hardware components. He graciously gave us permission to run his photos of its unboxing.