Those of you who are aware of the news in the video games work have probably heard of the newest piece of hardware from Valve. An exciting, new platform that mixes the convenience of a console and the range of a PC, the steam-deck.
What makes this console stand out from the rest is its software. While most hand-held consoles were run on tailor-made software and required specific compatibility patches and separate releases from most games to run on them, a steam-deck is using Windows, the same operating system as most personal Computers. This allows it to play almost any game that would be playable on PCs. Additionally, if emulating on this console will be possible (and it probably will be, due to its operating system), it would mean that this single device could run virtually any type of games one could ask for, making consoles like Nintendo Switch practically redundant.
Originally set to release in late December of 2021, the Steam deck has been pushed back to make sure that it could deliver on all the things promised to us. It’s not the first time Valve pushed a deadline back, just to make sure that a product was up to standards, so it didn’t come as a surprise. However, recently there has been an update on the situation. A couple of days ago people received confirmation e-mails stating that their orders have been processed and the shipping process will begin on 28th of February.
The current price for a Steam-deck is 399$ for the 64gb version, 529$ for the 256GB version, and 649$ for the 516GB version. This puts it on the more pricey side of console-gaming, but in my opinion, it will be well worth it in the end. I’m excited to see what ideas Valve brought to the table with this one, since the company has yet to disappoint us in regards to any of their products.
I wonder how difficult it will be to use this console to play fps games. A PC or laptop has a bigger advantage in fps games and it seems unfair to match console users with PC users in the same game.
It’s curious how other companies will respond to this like Nintendo as their switch will lose its popularity. The possibility of emulation games from other platforms will also be very curious and Nintendo will probably try to do something about it.