The Nintendo Switch (OLED model) wasn't the "Pro" upgrade many expected it to be with 4K support and new internals but before its announcement, other handhelds aimed to take the role of the "Switch Pro". The AYA NEO and GPD Win 3 are among those devices shooting for that nickname since they are able to run recent AAA PC games on the go, given that they are handheld gaming PCs. Their efforts and popularity, although niche, enticed companies like Lenovo and Tencent to make similar concepts or patents; indicating that these indie companies might have more serious competition in the future.

It seems like this will indeed be the case and these handheld gaming PC manufacturers will need to brace themselves as Valve is itself entering this market with a Valve-branded handheld gaming PC. This news was actually reported back in May and today we have the official confirmation. In a Steam post today, Valve revealed the Steam Deck, an AMD-based handheld gaming PC that is expected to begin shipping in December 2021 in select regions.

The software giant partnered with AMD to create a custom APU for the handheld that is said to be "optimized for handheld gaming". "It is a Zen 2 + RDNA 2 powerhouse, delivering more than enough performance to run the latest AAA games in a very efficient power envelope," reads the announcement.

It will run on SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based) and there will be several models of the Steam Deck, which differ on the storage capacity, with the base model starting at $399. However, every model will include a microSD slot for additional storage capacity. For more details about the models available and their price, refer to the image below:

You can find additional specs details in the images below (click/tap to enlarge):

​

And just like the AYA NEO and GPD Win 3, the Steam Deck will also have a dock which will be sold separately. This accessory will provide ports for external displays, wired networking, USB peripherals, and power. More details about the dock's pricing will be announced at a later date but you can find some specs details in the thumbnail below:

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Valve says that the Steam Deck will start shipping this December to the United States, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom, with more regions coming in 2022. However, to be able to purchase one, you will need to book a paid reservation which will let you pre-order when the time comes. This reservation fee will also count towards the Steam Deck purchase price.

"The main reason for reservations is to ensure an orderly and fair ordering process for customers when Steam Deck inventory becomes available," writes Valve in the announcement FAQ. "The additional fee gives us a clearer signal of intent to purchase, which gives us better data to balance supply chain, inventory, and regional distribution leading up to launch."

Reservations for the Steam Deck will open Friday July 16th, 10am PDT. For more details about the new handheld gaming PC, head to the source link and official Steam Deck website linked below.

Are you interested in getting one?

SOURCE
Steam Deck Official Website

 

[LightyKD]

What are peoples thoughts of trying to run PC games from an SD card? assuming the fastest card easily available, anyone have experience tried this?

I do it all the time on my current Windows tablet. It's no biggie. Granted some of my SD cards are slower so yes the initial load time to get into the game can be lengthy but I find that going from level to level is about the same as something you'd expect from any game made within the Wii / 360 / PS3 era.

 

[krasaty]

It runs all Steam games according to Valve. Minecraft Java though? You'll need a controller support mod for that. (unless you wanna hook up a KB & M)

Minecraft java would work well enough with steam's controller config options without using any mods. Set it to work as a keyboard with the buttons you need, use the trackpad for mouse control and you're golden.

 

[FFTfanatic]

Which is kinda my point - that both platforms target different audiences, and one doesn't necessarily replace the other. My response was towards the notion that Steam Deck will somehow "kill Switch" and other weird stuff, while in reality, most fans of Ninty exclusives won't care about Deck in the same way as most PC gaming fans won't care about Switch (or alternatively, just getting base versions of both on a budget). Apples, oranges

On that we agree, to an extent. I don't think it's quite entirely "apples and oranges" though and would contend that the middle-of-the-road argument previously advanced by other users still has merit.

Steam Deck could very well potentially eat into not only sales of the OLED model to some of those existing Switch owners who had otherwise been planning on upgrading, but going further forward, into sales of the Switch Pro too (or Switch 2 or whatever the Switch's successor turns out to be), if those users were primarily in it for portable multiplats. Previously, the Switch was not just the only relatively affordable handheld device capable of that, it was the only mainstream, mass-marketed device capable of that. That is about to change.

Will Deck topple the Switch? Highly unlikely. Will it cost the Switch some market share? Almost certainly, not just in hardware but, if you consider the devs who cater to the aforementioned demographic, then in software too, particularly for demanding games from those genres that are not traditionally big sellers on Nintendo platforms. If the Deck is commercially well-received, then as time passes, those devs will be less and less inclined to invest the time and resources into shoehorning complex and demanding multiplats into a Switch version, particularly if the results would be sub-par and the sales for such games on the platform are declining.

 

[AkiraKurusu]

I wonder what the Aussie price of this thing'll be...hopefully the numbers will stay the same, even if the comparative values aren't.

 

[donaldgx]

interesting prospect, and if it can run yuzu relatively well then it's a sure buy.

 

[64bitmodels]

Wow, you sure showed me by calling me out. Thanks anyway, but I have enough to deal with without having to listen to condescending whiny bullshit attitudes like yours.

Piss off.

calm tf down bro it was just a joke

lol lame exclusives? are you for real only die hard fans? you do realize the switch is becoming one oif the top 5 most sold consoles ever made right? how would that be made of only die hard fans?

does nintendo have 90 million die hard fans? lol nice for them i guess why would anyone need anything else when they have that many die hard fans?

switch has several things this thing wont ever have first its much cheaper since you dont get a dock with this price, second the joycons allow for multiplayer while taking the switch with you, third this thing is much heavier and even bigger than the switch itself, people already complained about the switch being too big and now this is even bigger heavier(almost twice the weight),third physical media that many console players like and 4th well exclusives which this device has none since any pc can play without needing this.


hit me up when this even makes 30 million units sold , heck i dont think they will even sell 10 million at best.

I remember people saying the steamboxes would crush playstation and xbox and look where that went, same for this, this will be a gimmicky that will sell around 4 or 5 million and be done with that.

yes. nintendo exclusives are lame right now. no one wants to play a giant open world walking simulator when they could play majora's mask or twilight princess. the people that do are incredibly retarded. even if you wanted to you could just put yuzu on this thing and enjoy.
60 dollar games, 20 dollar a year online, and controllers that cost upwards of 80 dollars is not "cheap". you can always just play online multiplayer on the go with this thing (and it's for free too), and you don't really need physical media on a system like steam where your games will always be in your posession and will be easy to install unless steam goes under (which isn't happening for another century at this point)
there are people who are disappointed that the switch can only play 360 and ps3 ports. there are people who don't approve of nintendo's shit business decisons and would like to see the company topple (like, for example, LITERALLY EVERYONE ON THIS GOD DAMN FOURMSITE.). there are people who vastly perfer PC gaming for reasons that don't have to do with 4k 120fps with raytracing and 16k textures. these people are a big audience and i'm pretty confident valve will do well with this if they advertise it aggressively enough and get more people interested. this thing has the potential to dethrone the PSP as the best handheld gaming system of all time, and the potential to completely redefine the handheld gaming space in general. portable PC gaming is not a gimmick. its an innovation. the future is now old man

 

[agpixel]

and it is ugly

 

[the_randomizer]

calm tf down bro it was just a joke

yes. nintendo exclusives are lame right now. no one wants to play a giant open world walking simulator when they could play majora's mask or twilight princess. the people that do are incredibly retarded. even if you wanted to you could just put yuzu on this thing and enjoy.
60 dollar games, 20 dollar a year online, and controllers that cost upwards of 80 dollars is not "cheap". you can always just play online multiplayer on the go with this thing (and it's for free too), and you don't really need physical media on a system like steam where your games will always be in your posession and will be easy to install unless steam goes under (which isn't happening for another century at this point)
there are people who are disappointed that the switch can only play 360 and ps3 ports. there are people who don't approve of nintendo's shit business decisons and would like to see the company topple (like, for example, LITERALLY EVERYONE ON THIS GOD DAMN FOURMSITE.). there are people who vastly perfer PC gaming for reasons that don't have to do with 4k 120fps with raytracing and 16k textures. these people are a big audience and i'm pretty confident valve will do well with this if they advertise it aggressively enough and get more people interested. this thing has the potential to dethrone the PSP as the best handheld gaming system of all time, and the potential to completely redefine the handheld gaming space in general. portable PC gaming is not a gimmick. its an innovation. the future is now old man

Jokes, what are those?

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

Minecraft java would work well enough with steam's controller config options without using any mods. Set it to work as a keyboard with the buttons you need, use the trackpad for mouse control and you're golden.

Ooh. I hadn't thought of that! Good point! The trackpads are nice.. I wonder how they will do as mouse control replacement.

 

[MohammedQ8]

Why don’t desktop pc cases have sd slot as well?

 

[GenNaz]

It's official - I can no longer reasonably talk myself into paying 4 times as much for a multi-platform game on the Switch just because of portability and I'm glad for it. The second model seems almost like a no-brainer to me but I'm curious about the anti-glare screen on the most expensive kit.

 

[Pipistrele]

On that we agree, to an extent. I don't think it's quite entirely "apples and oranges" though and would contend that the middle-of-the-road argument previously advanced by other users still has merit.

Steam Deck could very well potentially eat into not only sales of the OLED model to some of those existing Switch owners who had otherwise been planning on upgrading, but going further forward, into sales of the Switch Pro too (or Switch 2 or whatever the Switch's successor turns out to be), if those users were primarily in it for portable multiplats. Previously, the Switch was not just the only relatively affordable handheld device capable of that, it was the only mainstream, mass-marketed device capable of that. That is about to change.

Will Deck topple the Switch? Highly unlikely. Will it cost the Switch some market share? Almost certainly, not just in hardware but, if you consider the devs who cater to the aforementioned demographic, then in software too, particularly for demanding games from those genres that are not traditionally big sellers on Nintendo platforms. If the Deck is commercially well-received, then as time passes, those devs will be less and less inclined to invest the time and resources into shoehorning complex and demanding multiplats into a Switch version, particularly if the results would be sub-par and the sales for such games on the platform are declining.

I can kinda see your point, and if Deck manages to explode into the mainstream, then it has potential to put a crack on Nintendo's existing monopoly. Still, there are a lot of obstacles that put me off from believing it would really happen, at least not for the first instalment - with Deck only launching in 4 countries and having portability as its sole selling point (with all of its games being playable on anything else, including other other portable devices like laptops and UMPCs), it already kinda puts itself in a niche for its initial outing.

 

[mattyxarope]

Wow, you sure showed me by calling me out. Thanks anyway, but I have enough to deal with without having to listen to condescending whiny bullshit attitudes like yours.

Piss off.

Wow I was just joking - chill

 

[Daggot]

My friends and I went from laughing at this thing to getting ready to reserve it within a day. It has potential, it's also significantly cheaper than a GPD Win 3 or an Aya Neo while being more powerful so it's got that going for it. Gabe Gear FTW.

 

[LightyKD]

I have butterflies! The wait is driving me nuts!!! I can't wait to pre order!

 

[Veho]

Why don’t desktop pc cases have sd slot as well?

Because PCs have other ways to expand their storage other than memory cards, and USB memory card readers cost a few dollars, so there is little point in having it on the motherboard. It would increase the price and complexity of manufacture, even if by little, for a feature that most users won't need. Some desktop builds have readers built in, but they are not really sought after.

 

[FFTfanatic]

and it is ugly

It's not that bad.

I can kinda see your point, and if Deck manages to explode into the mainstream, then it has potential to put a crack on Nintendo's existing monopoly. Still, there are a lot of obstacles that put me off from believing it would really happen, at least not for the first instalment - with Deck only launching in 4 countries and having portability as its sole selling point (with all of its games being playable on anything else, including other other portable devices like laptops and UMPCs), it already kinda puts itself in a niche for its initial outing.

The limited territory release is a good point but is probably just to test the waters. If it sells well, they'll likely roll out further the following year (which is what they have stated they intend).

As for unique selling point, it's not just the portability, it's the portability in all-in-one, handheld form factor.

Laptops don't offer that and the Deck's only existing direct competitors in the PC space are not mass marketed or mainstream. The Aya Neo, OneXPlayer and Win 3 are supply constrained, considerably more expensive, and/or weaker specc'd, less optimised, lack some of the features such as trackpads, lack the same degree of Steam integration, and can't just compete with Valve in terms of marketing, reach and economies of scale.

All of which leaves, as I said, the Deck as currently the only game in town when it comes to dedicated handheld PC gaming in the mainstream mass market sphere.

 

[Kioku]

Going to throw my proverbial hat into the ring. I wonder just how good of a supplemental device it'll be.

 

[pedro702]

calm tf down bro it was just a joke

yes. nintendo exclusives are lame right now. no one wants to play a giant open world walking simulator when they could play majora's mask or twilight princess. the people that do are incredibly retarded. even if you wanted to you could just put yuzu on this thing and enjoy.
60 dollar games, 20 dollar a year online, and controllers that cost upwards of 80 dollars is not "cheap". you can always just play online multiplayer on the go with this thing (and it's for free too), and you don't really need physical media on a system like steam where your games will always be in your posession and will be easy to install unless steam goes under (which isn't happening for another century at this point)
there are people who are disappointed that the switch can only play 360 and ps3 ports. there are people who don't approve of nintendo's shit business decisons and would like to see the company topple (like, for example, LITERALLY EVERYONE ON THIS GOD DAMN FOURMSITE.). there are people who vastly perfer PC gaming for reasons that don't have to do with 4k 120fps with raytracing and 16k textures. these people are a big audience and i'm pretty confident valve will do well with this if they advertise it aggressively enough and get more people interested. this thing has the potential to dethrone the PSP as the best handheld gaming system of all time, and the potential to completely redefine the handheld gaming space in general. portable PC gaming is not a gimmick. its an innovation. the future is now old man

preety sure the future would turn to clould stream gaming on the average smartphone in the next decade or so this type of handheld pc type of deal will have less appeal the more we move in the future and phones become better and better so the average pc player would stream their game while away and play it on their pc while in he house.

How could this ever redefine handheld gaming? since like you said its just a portable pc sure its smaller than the average laptop but it has nothing unique about it not games, not the from factor(since they exist already), not anything so what would it redefine? i dont get it.


Also why is the psp the best handheld ever? im guessing its your opinion only, because by software sales/hardware sales/number of games available and such it looses every category to the ds and gb by a huge damn margin, just because you liked the catalog more, it there is no fact or value that will ever support that claim.

second this thing is buff and i mean buff you wont just be able to carry this on your pocket so you need a carrying case and by that logic you can just take a small laptop and there are alot of gaming laptops out there to choose from.

The main diference pc gaming is different from console gaming is that pc gamers like to upgrade their hardware over time and this will not allow that, you cant just pick up a faster gpu or cpu and put it in there, this defeats the propose of most pc gamers that keep upgrading their rig and they are many and actually like to do that.

 

[GhostLatte]

Couldn’t even preorder smh