Image: Valve / Sony / Kotaku
As we mentioned earlier this week, the Steam Deck has had one hell of a launch 12 months. It needs to be no shock, then, that Valve has its eye on the way forward for its new handheld, which it has formally categorized as a “multi-generational product.” The firm has now revealed a little bit of what it’s hoping to enhance and the place it’s seeking to increase within the {hardware} recreation.
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In a wide-ranging interview with The Verge, Steam Deck designers Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais talked about ambitions and concrete objectives for the Steam Deck. After almost a 12 months out within the wild, the Deck has definitely impressed with its efficiency and large number of video games. However, areas for enchancment are clear: The display screen is serviceable, however it’s removed from that of, say, the brand new Nintendo Switch OLED Model. And the battery not solely tends to empty shortly however, as iFixit noticed in its overview, it’s one of many least fixable issues in an in any other case repair-friendly machine. We know now that these final two factors are high of thoughts for Valve.
Though the corporate didn’t reveal a lot of its plans for the display screen’s enchancment, it did share some perception into the battery, its replaceability, and the way future iterations of the product are addressing areas of concern.
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With a battery that’s fast to lose its juice, and the character of such an influence supply being to degrade over time, poor replaceability is a disappointment. Griffais advised The Verge that as a consequence of the opportunity of battery growth, “you can’t really have the battery-shaped hole [inside the Deck] be exactly the same size as the battery” and that the entire glue that holds it in place is to maintain it from transferring round an excessive amount of.
Concern for a rattley battery was apparently a problem in growth. “In some of our early prototypes,” Griffais stated, “we had [the battery shifting around] and I’ll tell you, it doesn’t feel good at all when you’re just moving around and trying to use your Deck.” Yang comically added, “You don’t want a Steam Deck maraca, and you don’t want a battery possibly touching other important components and jostling them around.”
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So the choice to safe the battery in place so rigidly was essential to get the Deck in a playable, shippable, and reliably protected state. Yang revealed that Valve has “rolled in a change to the geometry of the [glue that holds the battery]” which ought to enable for simpler removing and repairs down the road.
Valve additionally revealed, maybe to the shock and pleasure of a choose few, {that a} new Steam Controller can be one thing the corporate is aspiring to make occur. The unique Steam Controller was a little bit of an odd hen, however its excessive stage of customization definitely caught the eye of a devoted, if small, fan base. Us choose few who fell in love with it already knew it, however the Steam Deck has continued to reveal the necessity for extra malleable and dynamic gamepads for PC gaming.
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Read More: The Steam Deck’s Funky Controls Prove That Gamepads Are Outdated
But in case you’re able to throw cash on the display screen for a follow-up to Valve’s owl-shaped controller, I’m sorry to say that it would take some time. “Right now, we’re focusing on the Deck,” Yang stated. “[A controller is] definitely something where we’d be excited to work with a third-party or explore ourselves.”
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