If you thought the Steam Deck hardware would restrict you to less demanding games like older releases and indie titles, Valve has some news that might surprise you. In a new console video with IGN, Valve says it's focusing on making the entire Steam library playable on portable gaming PCs, including recently requested releases and big AAA games. The Steam Deck announcement last week certainly sparked some interest in the upcoming console, with social media comments on Twitter indicating that many gamers plan to use the device as a dedicated indie portable machine due to its low-powered specs when launched. stack against fat. gaming PC. While Steam's platform spec list has since been updated to reflect the machine's four-channel memory (which is much faster than the aforementioned two-channel memory), potential buyers are understandably skeptical about it. handheld capabilities.
More accessible PC games
Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais mentions in IGN's video that ensuring the Steam Deck meets the high standards that have been set has been a challenge, but it looks like the hard work is paying off as major developers Architectural problems of the console prototypes have been resolved. outside. "We've looked at a number of games over the years in the catalog, but the real test for us were the games that came out last year," Griffais said. “They just couldn't work very well on the previous types of prototypes and architectures that we were testing. " In fact, Valve claims that the console has reached a stage of development where it has been able to play every game they've tested on it to a satisfactory level. "This is the first time we've achieved the level of performance required to run truly the latest generation of smooth gaming. All the games we wanted to be playable are actually the entire Steam library. We didn't really find anything we could throw at this device that it couldn't handle. Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat also provided additional information on the hardware that will power Steam Deck, reiterating that the console will use a new AMD APU (Team Red's term for a GPU/CPU combination) that is expected to show performance similar to that of Ryzen .3000 series desktop processors and powerful Radeon RX 6000 series graphics, as well as LPDDR5 RAM, a type of fast memory typically used in high-end smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. Alderhayyat says: “It was only now that we felt that the entire Steam catalog was available to people who own this device.Opinion: Steam Deck isn't a complete gaming PC, and neither should it be
The news that Valve's highly anticipated handheld has been able to run any game its way is certainly reassuring, but expectations should always be low to avoid disappointment. That's not to say the console itself isn't up to the standards, but many new AAA games are better experienced at a higher resolution and on much larger screens. Yes, you'll be able to dock the Steam Deck the same way you would the Switch to play much like a real desktop PC, but the hardware will still limit your output to 720p and 30fps for most demanding titles. This is not an attempt to rain down on Valve's parade. We're very excited to get our hands on the device, and that its affordability could make PC gaming an affordable reality for people who just don't have the money to spend on a gaming PC. However, we want people to be realistic with their expectations about the hardware and the quality of the games they will run. If you're happy to play upcoming titles like Far Cry 6 or Forza Horizon 5 at lower resolution and frame rates, we may have reason to be happy, but don't expect desktop gaming quality from the Steam platform. For now, it's nice to know that playing beefier titles is a possibility, but just because you can play them doesn't mean you should, especially if you have access to better performing hardware. Today's best gaming laptop deals
