I invited your best friend, the Companion Cube, to the Steam Machine launch. Of course, he couldn’t come because you murdered him. So instead, gaming accessorizing company Dbrand is giving you the next best thing: a Companion Cube cover for your boxy Valve console. You can already preorder the special Dbrand case, even though you still can’t put money down on a Steam Machine.
The Portal-inspired Steam Machine cover is essentially several plastic and silicon covers that surround every side of the 6×6-inch PC/console hybrid. The rear plate is exposed to allow heat to exhaust, while several removable front plates provide access to the front I/O ports. Dbrand ensured the Steam Machine’s lone programmable light bar remains exposed, so you’re not losing out on any functionality when you—eventually—manage to buy one. In a note to Gizmodo, Dbrand founder and CEO Adam Ijaz said that initial units going out to reviewers have silicon rails that can leave oil marks on the Steam Machine. Full production units will use a different composition of the rails that hopefully shouldn’t result in unseemly stains on your (likely expensive) Valve-made console.
© Dnrand Dbrand’s Companion Cube will cost $100 or $130, depending on whether you get a “Poverty Cube” box with plain cardboard packaging. You may not want to throw away the box that comes with the regular version, as it opens to reveal a full-scale diorama that draws inspiration from the test chamber signs and buttons found in both Portal and Portal 2.
