Valve’s Big Picture for Steam is now live

Valve’s Big Picture feature for Steam went live today, along with a sale on 30 controller-enabled games.

As previously discussed on TG Daily, the living room-friendly version of Valve’s PC-oriented gaming platform allows users to access their favorite Steam games on big-screen televisions. Users still have to connect a TV to a PC with an HDMI cable, although this requirement t may change in the future if Valve rolls out its own set-top box or console.

Indeed, Valve recently posted a job listing for a candidate with expertise in product hardware – suggesting the company is ready to move forward with rumored plans to create its own “Steam Box.”

“With the press of a button, Steam displays a new full-screen user interface optimized for readability and interaction on TV,” a Valve rep explained. “Big Picture has been designed to be used with a traditional game controller, while also fully supporting keyboard and mouse input.”

In terms of controllers, Big Picture has thus far been tested with Microsof’s tXbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows, Xbox 360 Wired Controller and the Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710.

Approximately 40+ titles on Steam currently offer full support for controllers via Big Picture, including Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes.