Steam Deck

2022 - 2 - 25

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Verge"

Steam Deck review: it's not ready (The Verge)

Here is our initial verdict on Valve's $400 Steam Deck handheld gaming PC after two weeks of testing and lots of issues. It may not quite be the Nintendo ...

So far, that’s the one part of the Steam Deck that’s largely working out, and I can only hope it’ll get better. And I definitely disagree that Deathloop “plays great” on Deck “right out of the box,” considering the low frame rate and stuttery Xbox gamepad emulation I saw when I tried to play. On a lesser note, Valve doesn’t differentiate between whether the Windows or Linux version of a game is the version that’s been verified, so you need to watch out if a game might quietly have both. And while I didn’t have a lot of problems playing or installing games to SD, I did have lots of issues transferring between the SD and internal drive — and unusually long transfer times during which the Deck wouldn’t let me do anything else with the system. I might have made the same choice myself, considering Valve’s got at least half a year’s worth of preorders to fulfill before a single new customer will experience the Deck. That’s a lot of early adopters who’ll likely be willing to endure some bugs to be part of the club. And I never had to wonder how much time I had left or how to extend that battery life because the Deck can instantly report its own total power draw: if you see 20W in MangoHud/Gamescope, you know you’ll get roughly two hours out of the Deck’s 40Wh pack. I was about to run out of battery in the middle of a boss fight against a nasty dark demon in Control, but I never lost my place. Valve’s Lawrence Yang tells me the battery will be one of the replacement parts on offer, though, and it does take pains to protect it while charging. Still, I’m not going to tell you that the Steam Controller is better than my 20 years of muscle memory with a mouse and keyboard, or necessarily a fit for every game. For many games, I often found that a Steam Controller cultist had already uploaded a great controller scheme — I love what Runic did with Torchlight II — and it’s a cinch to take any profile you see, remix it, and share it with the community. And while you have the option of spending hours designing the perfect multi-layered control scheme, Valve makes it easy to add that gyro or a few extra grip buttons and go on with your day. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re thinking, “Uh, wasn’t the Steam Controller a flop?” But I’m here to tell you not only did it have an amazing cult following, the Deck makes it work.

Steam Deck Surprised Me, in Ways Both Good and Bad (CNET)

The Steam Deck is the latest high-profile attempt to do the near-impossible – make a great handheld gaming PC. The device looks a lot like a Nintendo Switch, the current king of portable gaming, but it's a very different beast: more powerful, ...

Third-person action and stealth games feel like a good fit for the Steam Deck, although getting used to the different placement and size of the controller buttons, sticks and triggers takes some time, compared to the familiar PlayStation controller. For the rest of us, this is a pretty decent adaptation of the physical game. This is one of the games Valve promotes as great for Steam Deck, and yes, it played fine. The twin touchpads were vital for cursor movement, and some, but not all, of the keyboard shortcuts I needed were mapped to the face buttons and triggers. The on-screen text is still small in places, and because you can play this game on a Nintendo Switch, PS5 or Xbox Series X (where it's part of the Game Pass subscription), an expensive handheld PC is overkill for a game like this. By going into the Steam menu for the game, I was able to assign specific commands to the four paddle buttons on the back. It reminds me of all the clever-but-flawed handheld PCs of the 2000s, almost all of which tried to map a keyboard and mouse experience onto a handheld device. One of the newest games I tested, this one is listed as unknown in the Steam Deck compatibility matrix. As a nonoptimized game, you'll need to dig around and play with the settings for an optimal experience. When turned on, it obscures a good portion of the screen, but it's got several levels of detail to choose from, and lets you track real-time performance as you adjust game settings to your taste. So much so that I wish it was part of the quick menu items summoned by the button to the right of the screen. For the uninitiated, this is an AMD-powered handheld gaming PC with a 7-inch 1,280x800 display and either 64GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage.

Valve launches Steam Deck, now available to order to reservers ... (GSMArena.com)

The Flip, 28 Feb 2022The more I check the reviews and it's been mixed with positive and negative, the more I w... moreYou didn't pre-order it?

It can't sell well because you can't buy it. It's a much better processor than the Steam Deck. Which uses the old quad core with RDNA 2 APU. The Flip, 26 Feb 2022If you have something better like the AYANEO Pro, ONEXPLAYER 1S, or GPD Win 3, it probably cos... The Flip, 26 Feb 2022If you have something better like the AYANEO Pro, ONEXPLAYER 1S, or GPD Win 3, it probably cos... The thing is, with th... The Vita slim is above them all since it's a pocketable PS1 and PS2 for me next to my smartphone with RetroArch and AETHERSX2. This is as affordable and close as putting a PS4 and Xbox One you can carry with you and only $50 more than a Switch OLED. The Switch technically has an SoC from 7 years ago. I follow ETA Prime, Taki Udon, Mr. Sujano, and TechUtopia on YouTube, so I'm very aware of the Steam Deck killers. One thing to consider with Steam Deck is... Takes at least 5 to 10 years to make the previous generations' power into a handheld. I never got Final Fantasy VII Remake and God of War (2018) for my PS4 slim because I no longer own a TV. I saw somebody on YouTube playing them and they run amazing! The Flip, 28 Feb 2022The more I check the reviews and it's been mixed with positive and negative, the more I w...

Factorio is experimenting with controller support and Steam Deck ... (PC Gamer)

When Valve first showed off the Steam Deck, elaborate and top 100 games worthy Factorio was right there. That makes sense: The Steam Deck runs Linux, ...

For now, Wube is working on a few other small fixes like UI tweaks to get sizing working better on the smaller Steam Deck screen. "We are experimenting with bringing proper controller support to Factorio; this will not only benefit the Steam Deck but also those who want to play the game more casually with a controller. That makes sense: The Steam Deck runs Linux, Factorio has a native Linux build.

Valve's Steam Deck Is a Glitchy but Promising Portable Gaming PC (WIRED)

This new handheld console has a lot of flaws out of the gate, but that could change over time.

Steam Deck review: Meet my new favorite console (Polygon)

The Steam Deck is Valve's bold entry into portable games. Can it compete with the Nintendo Switch or is it doomed like the PlayStation Vita?

But for people who already have a Steam library, or are eager to dip their toes into the waters of PC gaming, the Steam Deck already feels like a legitimate alternative. The Steam Deck reminds me of the Xbox Elite Controllers. It’s a higher-cost but higher-quality update to what’s already available. “Ready but waiting to go live” is sort of the theme of the Steam Deck beyond Steam itself. An official Steam Deck dock will be available later this spring, though Valve hasn’t announced a price and the dock won’t provide any additional benefits to the hardware. If you’re familiar with Linux, you can enter Steam Deck’s Desktop mode and install apps via Flatpak. If you accidentally break something, you can re-image and recover the Steam Deck, but if you’re at all familiar with any of these terms, I strongly encourage you to hold off for now. I expect to see lots of user-made profiles for cult games like this, the kind of titles that won’t be prioritized by Valve for Steam Deck compatibility. So consider the following an informational detour on what the Steam Deck ostensibly can do, but I’ve yet to actually see. So for the past two weeks, I’ve put the Steam Deck through a gauntlet of games spanning the past three decades. The fans, which are quieter than those in most gaming PCs, are noticeably louder than those in the Nintendo Switch, and they rev whenever I launch a game. Once a game is checked, it gets added to the list of Steam Deck-approved titles. I understand how hyperbolic that sounds, but I can’t overstate the scope of video games immediately available on Steam Deck on day one. Does the Steam Deck have a legitimate chance in the Age of Switch? Could it really be perfect?