Aside from the ring RGB lighting (which hopefully can be disabled) it sounds like a really interesting device! Probably the nearest I've seen to a proper steam deck competitor in my opinion. Then again I'm just biased because I wouldn't buy a handheld with windows on it. Hopefully the device is well supported. And kudos to Manjaro, winning the honour of first non-steamOS Linux distro to show up on a handheld? Wonder if this thing will be sold in Australia.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Three surveys in a row with Linux over 1.90%. That's a very good sign. 2% in 2024 seems extremely likely. 2.5% by the end of the year? That would put Linux up where MacOS was not too long ago before it started dropping.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

First hint they provide is a dark image showing the RGB colourful lighting rings around what is no doubt the joysticks and already immediately I have absolutely zero interest in the device.

I'm sooooo completely over the overkill of RGB lighting in everything 'GAMERRRR!' related in the world of tech right now. Next PC I buy is going to be a black metal box and I'm going to shop around to find all the components I can get with the fewest number of lights possible, and any lights remaining after that, I'm going to black em out with permanent marker.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I'd love a complete list of every single controller Valve has added support for. The list must be huge at this point.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Stuff like this is why Steam's still ahead of the pack by a mile on PC.
I can imagine that being very useful for stuff like making sure you and all your friends have the same mods when you play an online game together.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I'm sure he'll have some other arbitrary bullshit excuse when Steam Deck has 20m+ users.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Meanwhile Australians just sitting around waiting for Valve to remember we exist..

View this comment - View article - View full comments

And once again Australia is excluded from even competing.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

The combo of Proton and Steam Deck feels like the greatest strokes of genius that Valve has ever had as a company, aside from the Steam Platform itself. The wonders it's doing for the Linux gaming scene can't be overstated but the positive long term impact it has for Valve as a company is also tremendous.

Plus, it is just such a damn good product.

It's not often these days you buy something and feel like you got a particularly great value for money in return. Somehow despite the price tag of the Deck, and even the cost of importing it to Australia, it has felt like 'a bargain' for the amount of use and joy I've gotten out of it.

Part of that just comes down to the degree of thought and effort Valve have put into the design and the quality of the build. They've clearly gotten very good at building hardware and that's encouraging for their future as a company.

The value all of this adds for a Steam user is incredible and really sets Steam apart from any competition. Meanwhile, we're all reaping the benefits of the improved gaming experience on Linux, growing marketshare, and 'the best handheld gaming PC' is a Linux PC with Arch with an amazing UX! What more could we want?

View this comment - View article - View full comments