Several media have managed to acquire the Valve Steam Deck: the new laptop developed by Steam developers that aims to be a portable console.
Source: PC Gamer
LED surprised everyone By unveiling without warning on July 15 a completely new machine. Publisher Steam, the largest PC video game platform, is launching what looks like a portable game console this year: the Steam Deck.
Since the company doesn’t have a great history of product development, we obviously got impatient to get the first feedback on its design, ergonomics, and operation. Several media outlets had the opportunity to visit the offices of Valve to take charge of the Steam Deck. We collect here the different opinions.
Design: cute baby but comfortable
Dealing unanimously: Steam Deck is quite imposing. At 30 x 12 cm, Valve’s laptop is much larger than the classic Nintendo Switch. However, journalists also agree on one point: Steam Deck is convenient to use.
Steam and Nintendo Switch // Source: The Verge
The Tom’s Hardware website thus notes that the Steam Deck is “surprisingly natural” in the hand, even if it feels like 670 grams. Far from being convinced by the product images, the IGN journalist was also surprised by the nature once he had the Steam Deck in his hands. The grip of the device is compared to the grip of the steering wheel, the way the console is held by its sides, it changes from a classic console and can be annoying, but very comfortable. After the article.
Source: IGN
Away from the position of the hands, IGN finds the analog sticks quite accurate and the knobs pleasant, though the directional switches aren’t “clickful” enough, the clicking sensation is not sufficiently pronounced. Same comment on triggers that are not assertive enough.
The media rightly reminds us that it is Start with a prototype. The final product can develop positively (or negatively).
The buttons on the back // Source: The Verge
One of the two touchpads on the front // Source: IGN
Steam Deck is distinguished from game consoles by additional buttons. Valve’s goal is to make it easier to play PC games that weren’t always designed with a console in mind. For this, the developers have added buttons on the back, similar to what we find High-end consoles like Xbox Series 2And two touchpads on the front. These blocks take what we already know about the valve indicator or the first Steam controller.
These two original releases hold a question mark for now: it will take lengthy testing and final approval by the developers to see if the capabilities will be realized. Meanwhile, Valve notes that users will also be able to submit their own configuration files that take into account touchpads. For games that use a mouse a lot like Civilization, this can be very useful.
It is possible for example to make the touchpad correspond to an area of the screen, so you can tap directly on an area of the touchpad to click the corresponding area of the screen. Suitable for getting around quickly with a mini map in a strategy game, for example.
Valve offers two different monitors
Valve offers two different monitors depending on Steam Deck configurations. In fact, the most expensive configuration, priced at 679 euros in France, includes a screen with anti-reflective glass, unlike other versions of the product. For Tom’s Hardware, the difference is obvious: the anti-reverse version is better.
To better understand this, the journalist and Norman Chan demonstrated the difference in images in a short video on Twitter.
We get to Valve and start hands-on with Steam Deck! https://t.co/X9QtowZGSf pic.twitter.com/SkIZSf8VV8
– Norman Chan (@nchan) August 6, 2021
Despite this difference, the journalist notes, “I’m not sure I regret my pre-order of a classic-screen model.” The difference is clearly noticeable with the two side-by-side models for comparison, but that doesn’t mean the classic screen is a pain to use.
Performance: The next generation portable console with compromise
On paper, Valve’s Steam Deck is much more powerful than the Nintendo Switch. It actually takes next-generation console components with an AMD RDNA 2 graphics chip and an AMD Zen 2 processor.
Obviously to make it a portable console, these characteristics have been revised downwards. “Equal to half an Xbox Series S” calls out The Verge, but “which has the task of rendering games at 720p on a 7-inch screen” (or rather 800p since it’s a 16:10 screen) where a Microsoft console should display 1440p on TV .
Concretely, The Verge shows us the game shot in mediocre quality just right, and “much better than the Nintendo Switch version of the game.” American media also tested Control, a very greedy game, which again works at average quality. For Tom’s Hardware, the game runs on default settings at just 30 frames per second and the game’s enemies lack detail.
PC Settings Options
Reading the various handles, we realize that Steam Deck is indeed primarily a PC. Thus, it is up to the player to adapt the graphics quality and target performance level. Steam Deck will not prevent you from installing an extremely greedy game, even if it does not launch properly on the device.
Due to the performance deficit, the Nintendo Switch cannot offer the same level of gameplay, but the compromise is decided by the developer and can know from the moment the game is tested by press, as in every game on the console.
In this thread, Valve noted that developers can access an API that allows setting graphics settings for Steam Deck. In other words, if they wish, it will be possible for developers to offer a predefined set of graphics options for Steam Deck.
Steam OS interface: a step in the right direction
For Tom’s Hardware, using Steam OS is immediately intuitive if you’re already using Steam on a PC, or better, if you’ve already used Big Picture mode.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Source: Tom’s Hardware
There isn’t much business left on the front of the product at the moment. And for good reason, it wasn’t finished at all apparently. However, the journalist from Tom’s Hardware was able to walk around the settings to access the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, storage, and console profiles.
For IGN, the most important thing to remember is that all Steam functions are there: save from the cloud, friends, downloadable content, mods with Steam Workshop or even achievements. Lots of functionality that Nintendo didn’t necessarily develop for its converter.
The “Steam Guide” button on the console allows, according to PC Gamer, to display quick settings like brightness or activate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: “The Steam Deck here gives the impression of a real game console, It just works ».
Quick settings menu // Source: tested
Behind the interface hides a Linux distro built on Arch. This means that Valve needs to make as many games as possible compatible with Steam Deck, with the majority of games still being released exclusively on Windows today. The company uses Proton technology which allows more than 50,000 Windows games to be played on Linux. According to Valve, a user’s Steam library is often playable on Steam Deck.
Steam Deck Video Tutorials
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Very interesting portable game machine
For PC Gamer’s Wes Fenlon, the Steam Deck “isn’t a Nintendo Switch competitor, but it turns out to be a really impressive gaming laptop.” Andrew E. Freedman joins his colleague: “Games won’t look as good as desktop PCs, but I can’t wait to play PC games in bed or on a plane.”
Here’s another element that convinced IGN’s Bo Moore: ” The ability to seamlessly switch from a PC game to desktop or laptop mode and the openness of the platform means I can play on the go with Steam, Epic Games, Ubisoft or itchi.io ».
