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How would you feel if Valve's Gabe Newell appeared at your front door to deliver a signed Steam Deck? Well, some people got to find out. Also, an overview of a recent IGN interview for you.

There's been quite a few reports now of Newell out and about with a Deck in hand, and it's pretty wholesome but it does sound quite a lot like some sort of marketing stunt. Not that anyone will be complaining about it of course, it's a great way to show it all off. Writing on Reddit, user "bitfiddler0" showed off the signed Deck along with a shot of Newell outside:

Across another report on Reddit, user "SeattleRainPidgeons" mentioned: "Saw a camera crew going up to my neighbors house while I was loading stuff into my truck. My roommate recognized the guy being followed as Gaben, I didn't believe him, our other roommate then verified it was indeed Gabe. After delivering my neighbor's Deck, we yelled "Hi Gabe!". At which point he asked how many were living in the house, then he went back to his van and grabbed us each a Deck. Was also filmed receiving ours so I assume these will be used in some promo or online. Very cool day."

Meanwhile IGN managed to get Newell to stay still for a little while to have a chat, here's the full video and below will be some notes on what was said:

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A quick overview for you:

  • Newell feels problems they're solving will help lots of hardware manufacturers in the PC space.
  • Thinks this is a permanent extension of the PC marketplace.
  • Said he wanted a device like this since "forever" (didn't we all?).
  • Expects to see a "wide variety" of hardware devices (meaning more PC portables) and continued innovation in software for it all.
  • He's been playing Final Fantasy online with family on it.
  • Newell thinks the Steam Deck is a "pretty good bargain" on the subject of bridging the gap with the shortages and high prices of other hardware.
  • No plans to increase Steam Deck price.
  • Far more people having been buying the most expensive model, more than they expected. So they will continue to look at the high-end. The 512GB model has significantly outsold the base 64GB model.
  • When asked about new Steam Deck models in future, Newell said "absolutely". Valve plans to ride the wave of new hardware, like newer and better AMD chips.
  • Demand overall is a lot higher than expected.
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denyasis Mar 1, 2022
Quoting: gradyvuckovic
Quoting: mt>"then he went back to his van and grabbed us each a Deck."

Were those extra Decks meant for other people who ended up not getting one, or were those already meant to be for being given away?

I imagine they were fully expecting someone to approach them and say 'Hey can we have a Steam Deck!?' and came prepared just in case.

The more skeptical/cynical side of me wonders if it's all a marketing stunt.

But it is super cool if some random people did get some freebies. Very classy


Last edited by denyasis on 1 March 2022 at 12:50 am UTC
Salvatos Mar 2, 2022
Quoting: TrainDoc
Quoting: Salvatos
Quoting: pseudexI'm pretty sure if there is a deck V2 it will be backward compatible with the first one.
Surprisingly they sold more top tier decks then they thought. So far valve still earns my trust in buying the most expensive one. Unbelievable how open they are with it and the partnership with ifixit is unbelievable good news.
That's what I would call a sustainable product!
Compatible with what exactly? As Liam pointed out, the software itself is already independent from the hardware and runs on virtually any PC.
Commonly known as the Osborne effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
I think you quoted the wrong post.
CFWhitman Mar 2, 2022
Quoting: elmapulactually that is bad...
i cant remember the name, but there were an console in the past that was killed because it announced it sequel too soon.
people stop purchasing thinking: why should i buy an <console_name> if they gonna relase the <console_name2> soon and the one i just purchased will be obsolete? i will wait for the <console_name2> instead!
as an result, the company stop selling <console_name> and went broke before they could relase the <console_name2>...

i'm not saying valve will go broke, but announce an steamdeck2 too soon may afect the sales of steam deck 1.

You're right that announcing a Steam Deck 2 with a release target now would be a mistake. However, he didn't do that. Basically, he just said that they plan to continue with handheld consoles. Yes, you know there will most likely be a Steam Deck 2. However, you also know there will most likely be a Playstation 6. Anyone who is waiting for the final iteration of a console is going to be waiting forever. I'm sure that there are people at Valve talking about what the appropriate length of time is to wait before considering the release of the next iteration.
elmapul Mar 2, 2022
Quoting: CFWhitmanYou're right that announcing a Steam Deck 2 with a release target now would be a mistake. However, he didn't do that. Basically, he just said that they plan to continue with handheld consoles. Yes, you know there will most likely be a Steam Deck 2. However, you also know there will most likely be a Playstation 6. Anyone who is waiting for the final iteration of a console is going to be waiting forever. I'm sure that there are people at Valve talking about what the appropriate length of time is to wait before considering the release of the next iteration.

i hope people dont miss interpret it, i mean, if you count it as an console, then sure the next iteration probably will relase in 5 years, but if you count it as an "PC" then its quite unpredictable.
i hope valve dont plan to do an "steam deck pro" nor "steam deck 2" any time soon, and i dont think they are so stupid, i'm just a bit worried on how other people will interpret that news.
Philadelphus Mar 3, 2022
Actually, announcing a Steam Deck 2 (with no release date) might be a good way to quiet all those people talking about how Valve "never stick to anything" and predicting them to give up on the Deck in a few months.
minkiu Mar 3, 2022
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Quoting: MasterSleort
Quoting: minkiuA V2 with Thunderbolt 4+ (this one could have had it if Intel didn't have the TB4 exclusivity, albeit a bit more expensive) must happen, a decent handheld laptop with eGPUs support, it's a no-brainer.

Not true. For about a year it has been possible to buy AMD motherboards with Thunderbolt 4 support. At some point last year I was about to get an ASUS ProArt B550 CREATOR, which has two Thunderbolt 4 ports built in.

I stand corrected, although I was refering mostly to laptops, at least non of the linux friendly laptop sellers have tb4 with AMD. Odd they didn't include it then...


Last edited by minkiu on 3 March 2022 at 10:59 pm UTC
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