New York Times: Steam ‘Big Picture Mode’ Beta Kicks Off Tomorrow

The beta for Steam’s curiosity-generating “Big Picture Mode” will reportedly kick off tomorrow for Steam users, according to a post by the New York Times (of all publications). This new mode has been designed with the controller and living room in mind, taking Steam’s digital gaming storefront and transforming it to more effectively work with a television screen layout.

Go ahead and read this… Valve’s marketing team has prepared a much better pitch than my own (it is their product, after all):

“Heading to the living room—or anywhere there’s a big screen—is Steam’s soon-to-be-released big-picture mode, offering simple, easy-to-read navigation designed specifically for TV. With full controller support, big-picture mode will let gamers kick back and enjoy their favorite games on the biggest screen in the house.”

Aside from the fact that the new mode will launch on Monday, September 10, we’ve received little in the way of details regarding who or just how many will receive invitations to the beta. Will it be tied to the ‘Pillar of Community’ profile medal as it was with the recently released Steam Community beta? Perhaps it will be released en masse, allowing everyone the opportunity to hook up their gaming rig to the closest television?

Who knows? This is Valve we’re talking about, after all.

[via New York Times & Steam]