Re: Now Even Microsoft Is Making a SteamDeck

On Wed, 11 Jun 2025 09:46:04 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 10/06/2025 16:57, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

 
So the first Microsoft Steamdecks are out*. Well, they're not actually
SteamDecks and, they're not really out (all we're getting is the first
official announcements and specs for the new devices) and,
technically, they're not even Microsoft devices.
 
In actuality, these machines are handheld gaming PCs with XBox
branding being made by third-party OEMS... but they sure as hell look
like a SteamDeck. Like Valve's own device (and its licensed clones),
the Asus ROG XBox Ally is features AMD processors/chipsets and has
button placement remarkably similar to Valve's machine. The higher-end
model (the XBox Ally X) comes with 24GB too, as opposed to the 16GB on
Valve's hand-held.
 
But basically it's just another fairly-standard hand-held PC with the
native XBox app featured front-and-center.
 
Me, if I were Valve, I'd be working hard to make sure the SteamDeck OS
was 100% compatible with the new XBox Ally on its release day. I mean,
c'mon, you know that's what most people are going to be putting Steam
on there anyway. ;-P
 

>
I have seen some reviews of whatever Windows handheld it was that can
now ship with Steam OS. The were a couple of interesting takeaways.
Performance (FPS) was better on Steam OS although if I wanted a handheld
raw performance just has to be good enough and not the best. The biggy
though was battery life, it is a portable after all. It depends on which
game was played but there were some dramatic differences in how long the
Steam OS version lasted.

I suspect whichever model of SteamDeck-clone out there, they will all
be inferior to Valve's design. In part, because Valve was able to
customize their hardware and OS to work perfectly in tandem, whereas
the competitors are just slapping OEM chipsets into a reasonable
fascimile. But also, SteamDeck is a flagship product for Valve,
designed a much to push the idea of Steam as a mobile platform as it
is to make Valve some dosh. Wheras for ASUS and Lenovo and the rest,
this is just a small subset of their overall market, and they'll cut
the hardware to the bone to make it affordable (and profitable).

As for performance, that probably has as much to do with whether or
not the game is running on native code or through Proton as anything
else. Still, the fact that it's possible to get reasonable performance
through (semi-)emulation says a lot for how powerful modern processors
are these day. (On the gripping hand, it helps a lot that SteamDeck
runs at  1280x800, pushing less than half the number of pixels per
frame than even a regular "HD" screen!)

Regardless, it's impressive that Valve has almost single-handedly
created the new "handheld PC" market. Pretty good results for a
side-product developed by a company that's primarily focused on
digital retail!