Thursday, July 15th 2021
Valve Announces the Steam Deck Game Console
Valve announces Steam Deck, the first in a new category of handheld PC gaming devices starting at $399. Steam Deck is a powerful all-in-one portable PC. With a custom processor developed in cooperation with AMD, Steam Deck is comparable to a gaming laptop with the ability to run the latest AAA games. Your Steam library will be on Deck to play games wherever and whenever you want. Steam Deck is also an open PC, adding the ability to install any software or connect with any hardware.
"We think Steam Deck gives people another way to play the games they love on a high-performance device at a great price," says Valve founder Gabe Newell. "As a gamer, this is a product I've always wanted. And as a game developer, it's the mobile device I've always wanted for our partners." Steam Deck starts at $399, with increased storage options available for $529 and $649. Reservations open July 16th at 10 AM PDT; shipping is slated to start in December 2021.
Steam Deck details:
"We think Steam Deck gives people another way to play the games they love on a high-performance device at a great price," says Valve founder Gabe Newell. "As a gamer, this is a product I've always wanted. And as a game developer, it's the mobile device I've always wanted for our partners." Steam Deck starts at $399, with increased storage options available for $529 and $649. Reservations open July 16th at 10 AM PDT; shipping is slated to start in December 2021.
- Powerful, custom APU developed with AMD
- Optimized for hand-held gaming
- Full-sized controls
- 7" touchscreen
- WiFi and Bluetooth ready
- USB-C port for accessories
- microSD slot for storage expansion
- 3 different storage options available
188 Comments on Valve Announces the Steam Deck Game Console
I don't think anyone should expect to play more performance intensive games like Cyberpunk. Be reasonable with your expectations and it will be a fantastic mobile platform.They probably are selling the hardware at cost too. I doubt they are making much if any profit of of the hardware sales.It is confirmed that the ssd is soldered and not upgradable.Battery life is about 2-8 hours, depending on what you're doing. 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.They are supposedly going to release one but you can use any USB C dock. You don't need to pay for the official valve dock if you don't want to.
I want it.
As an aside, I am really quite excited for this. I could definitely see myself using this often, and with the dock functionality it can even act as a thin-client for general PC usage which is awesome. I could then use it for general desktop usage then remote into my actual computer for gaming/heavier workloads.
At the very least this means EAC will be supported in Proton which means MCC on Linux, finally. I might ditch my Windows parititon entirely at that point, it's really only there so I can play MCC :laugh:
Although, the base model should just be axed. eMMC is completely unusable and will die very quickly as it has very limited write endurance. What they need to do is remove the base model and only sell the 256GB or 512GB NVMe models, or introduce a 128GB model that is at least SATA if NVMe is too expensive. But no eMMC. Just no. I feel bad for the tech-illiterate that will go ahead and buy the cheapest model then wonder why their storage is bricked within the year, and why their games take so long to load when it did work. For the sake of those people I would hope Valve reconsiders using eMMC.
This device is more than likely being sold at or near cost. To achieve a lower cost you would have to decrease performance and quality.
To achieve more performance you would increase costs and decrease battery life, and there isn't a lot of room to increase performance in this form factor.
To achieve better battery life you would have to increase costs and decrease performance, and there isn't a lot of room for a bigger battery in this form factor.
Somr people are suggesting that a gaming laptop is a better buy, but they don't recognize the appeal of a handheld device. Just look at the popularity of the Nintendo switch. This is a popular form factor.
This thing needs a built in HDMI port and an extra USB C port and I'd consider it. And you can't say they didn't have room for the extra ports, the thing is the size of a skateboard.
"Oh my god, it can run Cyperpunk! My 4 year old PC can't even run Cyberpunk." Yes, it can run even the most demanding games but like Cyberpunk, it won't run it well. What it can do that consoles do not do is give you access to graphics settings so you can turn down the visual quality to get better performance.
Despite having hardware that performs between the PS4 and Xbox One, a lot of people think it won't be able to run any games at all. Any game that runs well on a PS4 or Xbox One should run as well or better with the Steam Deck because it has a lower resolution. With some graphical tweaking, you should be able to get all but the most demanding games working very well.
Where this will really shine is Steams vast library of small indie games and emulation. Dozens of these kinds of games will fit fine on the 64gb version and last 8+ hours on the battery.
Get real guys.
But that's also not a terribly large target audience so I could see support disappearing quickly.
EDIT: Finally completed the reservation. Only took three billion tries.