As we discussed earlier this week, Steam Deck had one hell of a launch year. It’s no surprise, then, that Valve has its eye on the future of its new handheld, which is officially classified as a “multi-generational product.” The company has now revealed what it wants to improve and where it wants to expand in the hardware game.
Broadly speaking Interview with on the edge, Steam Deck designers Laurence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais talked about their ambitions and concrete goals for Steam Deck. Almost a year later, the tech is impressed with its performance Wide selection of games. Still, the areas for improvement are clear: the screen is serviceable, but it’s a far cry from the new Nintendo Switch OLED model. And not only does the battery drain quickly, as iFixit observed in its reviewThis is one of the least fixable things Otherwise repair device. Now we know that these last two points are top of mind for Valve.
Although the company has not disclosed its plans Progression of the screenIt also shared some insight into the battery, its overhaul and how future iterations of the product address areas of concern.
A battery that quickly loses its juice and the nature of such a power source that degrades over time makes poor replacement frustrating. Griffiths said on the edge Because of that Battery expansion is possible“You can’t really have a battery-shaped hole [inside the Deck] Be the same size as the battery” and all the glue that holds it in will prevent it from moving too much.
Concern about a Radley battery was apparently an issue in development. “In some of our early prototypes,” Griffas said, “we had [the battery shifting around] Let me tell you, when you go around and try to use your deck it doesn’t look good. Yang jokes, “You don’t need a steam deck maraca, and you don’t want a battery touching other vital components and pushing them around.”
Therefore, the decision to protect the battery very tightly was necessary to get the tex in a operable, shippable and reliably safe state. Yang revealed that the valve is rolled as a change to geometry [glue that holds the battery]” This allows for easy removal and repair.
To the surprise and delight of a select few, Valve revealed that the company also intends to work on a new Steam controller. The The original steam controller It was a slightly different bird, but its high level of customization certainly attracted the attention of a dedicated, small fan base. We already know a few people who fell in love with it, but the Steam deck continues to prove itself A need for more flexible and dynamic gamepads For PC gaming.
read more: Steam Deck’s funky controls prove that gamepads are outdated
But if you’re willing to throw money at a screen to follow Valve’s owl-shaped controller, I’m sorry to say that it might be a while. “Right now, we’re focusing on the deck,” Yang said. “[A controller is] Of course we would be excited to work with third parties or explore it ourselves.
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