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Valve just announced the Steam Deck, its long-rumored Switch-like handheld gaming device. It will begin shipping in December and reservations open July 16th at 1PM ET. It starts at $399 USD, and you can buy it in $529 USD and $649 USD models as well.
The device has an AMD APU containing a quad-core Zen 2 CPU with eight threads and 8 compute units’ worth of AMD RDNA 2 graphics, alongside 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. There are three different storage tiers: 64GB eMMC storage for $399, 256GB NVMe SSD storage for $529, and 512GB of high-speed NVME SSD storage for $649, according to Valve. You can also expand the available storage using the available high-speed microSD card slot.
The Steam Deck has a huge number of control options. There are two thumbsticks, but also two small, Steam Controller-style trackpads beneath the thumbsticks, which could give you more precision for things like first-person shooters. The front of the Steam Deck also has ABXY buttons, a D-pad, and a 7-inch 1280 x 800 touchscreen for 720p gameplay. The device also has a gyroscope for motion controls. Like the Switch, it has two shoulder triggers on each side, and there are four back buttons (two on each side) as well as built-in microphones.
As for the battery, “Steam Deck’s onboard 40 watt-hour battery provides several hours of play time for most games,” Valve says. “For lighter use cases like game streaming, smaller 2D games, or web browsing, you can expect to get the maximum battery life of approximately 7-8 hours.” Valve tells IGN that “You can play Portal 2 for four hours on this thing. If you limit it to 30 FPS, you’re going to be playing for 5-6 hours.”
And if you need to pause your game, the Steam Deck offers a quick suspend / resume feature built into SteamOS that will let you put the device into sleep mode and pick up where you left off later.
Valve will also sell a dock you can use to prop up a Steam Deck and plug it into external displays like a TV. You won’t need a dock to plug it into a TV, though — Valve says that the “Deck can be plugged in to your TV, monitor, or even your old CRT if you have the right cables.” The Deck comes with fully-fledged USB-C ports that contain HDMI, Ethernet and USB data, as well as standard Bluetooth. You’ll have native Bluetooth audio, something that’s missing from the Nintendo Switch.
On the software side of things, the Steam Deck runs what Valve is calling “a new version of SteamOS,” that it’s optimized for the handheld’s mobile form factor. But the actual OS is based on Linux, and will use Proton as a compatibility layer to allow Windows-based games to run without requiring that developers specifically port them for the Steam Deck.
Ultimately, though, the Steam Deck is still a full-fledged Linux computer, meaning that more technical users will be able to jump out to the regular Linux desktop, too. Valve notes that you’ll be able to plug in a mouse, keyboard, and monitor, and install other game stores, regular PC software, browse the web, and more.
Valve says the Steam Deck’s features are designed to emulate the regular Steam app on desktop, complete with chat, notifications, cloud save support, and all of your library, collections, and favorites kept in sync. And if you want more power, you’ll be able to stream games to the Steam Deck directly from your gaming PC using Valve’s Remote Play feature.
you should at least get the 256GB NVMe SSD version minimum. thats what Im eyeing.
Looks like a really cool device. Personally I have no need for something like it, but still cool. I'd highly recommend springing for the NVMe version if you intend to install stuff on it rather than mostly stream with it, but there's quite a big price gap there.
It seems that people primary game at home, so what does this really offer? You can play games on your phone, you going to lug this thing around the city or on trips?
According to Nintendo, about 80% of their Switch users play games at home and on the road with around a 50/50 split. The remaining 20% use it either exclusively at home or exclusively handheld. They've sold a LOT of consoles, so clearly there's a big market for something that can do both.
I remember like 20 years ago when it started looking feasible, we would talk about having a powerful computer that you take with you and dock at home and wherever else. This was before smartphones were a thing, which kind of made that unnecessary, but somehow it happened anyway because phones are such bad gaming devices.
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^^^ I remember guys on the celica forum would install a pc/Windows into their centre console, always thought that would be neat to try out, but yeah, smartphones
Reserved the 512gb model, but Q3 2022 delivery? Ouch
i thought they said 2021 December release date, what the fuck is 2022?
i was going to pre-order but i really need to see hands-on review from actual real users of the final product...
Yeah people have smart phones but it's nice to game and text NOT ON THE SAME DEVICE.
But that's Nintendo, which have always lead the portable market.
They also have their own exclusive IPs, so I'd almost lump Nintendo into a box of its own, it's not comparable.
This product is a glorified mini-computer, why would you play Steam games on this thing as opposed to a laptop/PC?
Because you can't take a shit while playing on a PC. It doesn't just play steam games if can play any game a PC can play. Emulators would be big for this. I think they even have a switch emulator.
Looks like all versions will have an M.2 slot so the 64gig version may be the way to go and just add your own SSD.
Quote:
hen is the Steam Deck release date?
The Steam Deck will begin shipping in December 2021.
However, that doesn't mean if you reserved one you'll receive it this year, as the Steam Deck site is now showing "expected order availability" in Q1 of 2022 for the 64GB version, Q2 2022 for the 256GB version, and Q3 2022 for the 512GB version. This may vary depending on your region, however. We'll update when we know more.
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The launch of Steam Deck will be delayed by two months. We're sorry about this—we did our best to work around the global supply chain issues, but due to material shortages, components aren’t reaching our manufacturing facilities in time for us to meet our initial launch dates.
Based on our updated build estimates, Steam Deck will start shipping February 2022. This will be the new start date of the reservation queue—you will keep your place in line but dates will shift back accordingly. Reservation date estimates will be updated shortly after this announcement.
Again, we're sorry we won’t be able to make our original ship date. We'll continue working to improve reservation dates based on the new timeline, and will keep you updated as we go.
To view your updated expected order availability and FAQ, please visit the Steam Deck store page.
Cheers,
The Steam Team
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