Valve Corporation’s Steam service is launching its customized “Big Picture” mode today, with a PC-only beta that’s tailored specifically for your living room. Maybe it’s time to unplug that PlayStation 3.

As touted on the official webpage, Big Picture works by connecting your PC to your HDTV with a simple HDMI (or DVI/VGA) cable, where the set-up lets you play games and browse the Internet with a controller.

That’s all done with the ”Daisywheel” system, which appends a certain character to each button in a unique layout.

Aside from the control scheme, the Big Picture mode also reformats Steam to take advantage of your TV set’s natural visual fidelity, while also giving you a web browser “that doesn’t suck” and can also access the Steam Store or Steam Community.

There’s a set-up guide right over here to get you started.

If you want a quick breakdown how this will kill your consoles forever the whole thing works, you can also check out the trailer below for the abridged tutorial and features, complete with a soothing voiceover.

Source: Steam