Well, it’s official – Valve’s Steam Box console will release next year to compete with the Xbox 720 and Playstation 4.

Details surrounding the so-called Steam Box are hazy at best, but website Cadred hybrid is expected to release as early as Q1 2013 – that’s before April, folks.

If this is true, Valve will get the jump on both the PS4 and Xbox 720, both of which aren’t expected until at least late next year.

This is competition that will be welcomed by the gaming community, particularly as Valve boss Gabe Newell long ago secured his place in nerd-heaven.

Newell is the founder of Valve, creators of the biggest online gaming distribution community, Steam. By offering extremely cheap games and the ability to chat and send games as gifts, Valve has become arguably the most-loved company in the gaming world.

If they can successfully break into the console market as well, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo could have the first real new competitor since, well…Atari.

However, Doug Lombardi from Valve told Cadred the hardware for the new PC/console was still unready, so perhaps a first quarter release date is a little optimistic.

“We’re prepping the Steam Big Picture MODE UI and getting ready to ship that, so we’re building boxes to test that on.

"We’re also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we’ve talked about a fair amount. All of that is stuff we’re working on, but it’s a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware.”

That might not sound hugely promising, but if Valve can produce a console that is capable of competing graphically with a PC (and there’s nothing to suggest they can’t), then other companies might be in for a shock. Fear the Almighty Gabe.