Nintendo watch out, Valve’s Steam Deck is shipping in December
What’s going on everybody, Wav3yGawd here. For a while now Nintendo has been the main video game company keeping a lock on the portable consoles. However, it might not be that way anymore, Valve has a new handheld portable console coming called the Steam Deck! This product has been in many rumors for months but Valve has finally confirmed it earlier today.
According to Valve this device is an AMD “powerhouse” that can handle the latest AAA games that has a 7 inch 1280x800 touchscreen, trackpads similar to the Steam controller and gyroscopic control. You can buy a USB-C dock for the Steam Deck which can provide DisplayPort but it is not necessary as you can plug it into your monitor if you have the right cables. “You can browse the web, watch streaming video, do your normal productivity stuff, install some other game stores, whatever.” says Valve when asked about it. The device will also include an HDMI output, an Ethernet adapter and 3 USB inputs. A Valve designer by the name of Lawrence Yang had this to say about the upcoming Steam Deck, “We don’t think people should be locked into a certain direction or a certain set of software that they can install. If you buy a Steam Deck, it’s a PC. You can install whatever you want on it, you can attach any peripherals you want on it. Maybe a better way to think about it is that it’s a small PC with a controller attached as opposed to a gaming console.” This should let y’all know what type of time Valve is on now.
If you want look at some specs you can see them below:
CPU: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
RAM: 16 GB DDR5
Storage: 64GB, 256GB, 512GB versions; expandable with MicroSD cards
Display: 7" diagonal, 1280x800 (16:10), 60Hz LCD touchscreen
Audio: Stereo speakers that "pack a punch," says Valve, 3.5mm stereo jack, dual mics, multichannel USB-C/Bluetooth output
Controls: Two analog sticks with capacitive touch, D-pad, face buttons, analog triggers, bumpers, assignable grip buttons, "view" and "menu" buttons, gyro
Trackpads: There's two of them, and Valve says that they have "55% better latency compared to Steam Controller."
Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Wired connectivity: USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; up to 8K @60Hz or 4K @120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2
Battery: 40Whr, "2-8 hours of gameplay"
The battery life might be a little bit of a bummer but that is kind of what you expect when you can do a lot on a handheld. The set price for the Valve Steam Deck is $399 but that is only for a 64GB version. If you want a 256GB version you will have to pay $529, or if you want a 512GB you will have to pay $649.
The Steam Deck will ship to the United States, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom later this year in December! So, the question is, will y’all be getting this device so you can play your Steam games on the go?! Personally, after seeing how big it is I don’t know if it’s actually something I would enjoy or if it’s actually worth it but I’ll leave that up to you who’s reading this. Until next time y’all, this is Wav3yGawd, PEACE!