This Steam-Powered Gaming Console Is Totally Fake, Totally Awesome

As part of its annual April Fools' Day pranks, ThinkGeek today announced its first game console, the "Steam-Powered Gaming Cabinet." Clearly, this is a joke, but that's what today is all about anyway.

"While harkening back to a simpler time when steam powered the world, the console utilizes its coalfired boiler to play all of the modern games on Valve's streaming service, Steam," ThinkGeek explains. "All that a user needs to do to play games from their Steam library is begin shoveling coal to get the boiler stoked."

Here's some bulletpoints for ThinkGeek's Steam-Powered Gaming Cabinet:

• Multiple panels to access main controls and adjustment knobs
• Boiler viewing window and thermometer (to make sure your fire is burning at the optimum temperature)
• Wired controller features ball-jointed thumb-sticks and typewriter-feel keys
• Controllers and Steam-Powered Gaming Cabinet have warm vacuum-tube glow
• Viewable piston with steam venting valve for easy maintenance
• SteamOS pre-installed (can also be configured to run Linux, FLOW-MATIC, Fortran, and others)
• Side chute opens for additional coal to be added

Check out some more images of ThinkGeek's totally fake Steam Machine in the gallery below.

It's April Fools' Day, so be careful out there. See a roundup of all the day's best gaming-related pranks here.

Gallery