The exact quote:

It is important to us, and we’ve tried to be really clear, we are not doing the yearly cadence. We’re not going to do a bump every year. There’s no reason to do that. And, honestly, from our perspective, that’s kind of not really fair to your customers to come out with something so soon that’s only incrementally better. So we really do want to wait for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck. But it is something that we’re excited about and we’re working on.

  • Lad
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    11 hour ago

    Might sound kind of stupid, but one thing I’d personally love for the steam deck would be the ability to detach the display from the controls on each side like the Nintendo switch so I could use it like a small tablet in portrait mode. You can already do that, but it’s awkward and bulky.

    I’d actually use it for browsing the web on desktop mode and I could probably get rid of my android tablet.

  • @Wooki
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    224 hours ago

    A desperately needed view in an industry of fashionable e-waste. Apple, Google and now Microsoft: I’m looking at you

  • 𝓔𝓶𝓶𝓲𝓮
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    5 hours ago

    I just sold my 4090 after playing some latest hit AAA games I didn’t like at all and I play only indies on deck, it’s the best gaming device ever

    Also it seems the only games I liked from hundreds of aaa graphics eye candies from recent years are rdr2 and cyberpunk and bg3. I unironically think there are fewer great big aaa games nowadays cmv and I am not planning another xx90 card any time soon

  • @[email protected]
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    157 hours ago

    I really think we’ve already eclipsed that “generational gap” with all the massive increases in efficiency in the last year or so. But I’m glad they’re not updating nonetheless. For a variety of reasons.

    • @WereCat
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      115 hours ago

      Nothing yet surpassed Zen2 low power efficiency in the SD. And by low power I mean under 10W power/performance.

      New chips scale quite a bit better above 10W though.

      Also I’m not sure if that’s actually the HW limitation or just Valve tuning of the power behaviour. It’s possible they can throw in Zen5 and tune it to that efficiency level while getting significant performance uplift over Zen2 at the same power.

      Regarding GPU we will need much faster memory support to get any significant advantages even with RDNA4 as most iGPUs are starved for memory bandwidth anyways, not saying that RDNA4 wouldn’t be an improvement, just that it won’t be as big as a leap as it could be with faster memory.

      • @[email protected]
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        -15 hours ago

        Nothing yet surpassed Zen2 low power efficiency in the SD.

        Qualcomm, Intel and Snapdragon have all released chips that blow it out of the water.

        • ඞmir
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          82 hours ago

          Qualcomm is Snapdragon, and that’s ARM, which means half of your games will crash at random in the first 30 seconds or not boot at all

          Intel has not done what you claim they have

          • @InputZero
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            122 minutes ago

            Intel is claiming that with the upcoming Arrow Lake series of CPUs will seriously cut down the power budget. Important clarifications on that, the TDP of Arrow Lake is still around 150W TDP but that doesn’t mean it’ll pull the full 150W all the time, and wait for third-party benchmarks before believing anything they say. Still if what they’re claiming is half true mobile devices could be getting a huge boon.

        • @WereCat
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          3 hours ago

          As was already mentioned, I’m not discussing ARM. ARM has its own issues with compatibility on top of the Windows to Linux compatibility.

          Not sure what you mean by Intel. MSI Claw showed quite abysmal performance at low power vs SD. Regrading their newest chips, I have no clue as of right now.

          • @[email protected]
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            34 hours ago

            And given some recent news about Valve working on an ARM emulator and funding Arch Linux to help them start supporting ARM as well they might be working towards that. Though if that is for the deck 2 or something else further in the future is yet to be seen.

            • @[email protected]
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              44 hours ago

              It’s rumored to be for new standalone VR.

              But, well, future is a long time, especially on Valve Time. ;)

          • @TheYang
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            14 hours ago

            surprisingly not most of the time I checked.

            Laptop/Mobile x86 seemed rather competetive to Laptop/Mobile ARM in performance/Watt

            • @[email protected]
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              34 hours ago

              Well, let me rephrase it: it’s a completely different discussion if you want to run Windows games on ARM without ridiculous performance losses due to translation from x86.

              Until we get Proton running with near-native speeds on ARM like on x86 perf/watt isn’t really that important.

  • @jqubed
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    1310 hours ago

    I’d like to get a Steam Deck but was wondering if it’s getting close to a newer, better version coming soon. This makes me feel more comfortable, not that I have the budget for one right now anyway.

  • @[email protected]
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    2111 hours ago

    Presumably this will mean a high-performance ARM CPU (comparable to the Apple M series), along with the dynamic recompilation technology Steam have been experimenting with. (It’s unlikely that Intel or AMD will deliver the generational leap they’re talking about.)

    • @[email protected]
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      2011 hours ago

      This reminds me of an old thread on a random forum. Just when Sims 2 was released they were speculating what Sims 3 would look like.

      Someone suggested that the next game will surely be in the source engine!

      While your point is more realistic than that I still don’t think valve could pull this off in reasonable time. Translation for games is extremely hard to do right. I think if at all there will be another generation of decks before we see something like this.

      • @[email protected]
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        1310 hours ago

        Also honestly, proton being basically a public beta on the decks launch was one thing, But that’s going to create even more issues on launch for the newer device unless they have it practically perfect before it comes out.

      • The_Decryptor
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        86 hours ago

        It’s “FEX”, Valve have apparently been testing it with Proton.

        The Asahi Linux team have their own packaging/tooling around it, but theirs is slower at runtime because they have to run the games inside a VM as well.

        • @[email protected]
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          255 minutes ago

          Their stack is so brutal. It’s incredible how they overcame it all.

          ARM instruction set, wrong page size, GPU without documentation for which they reverse engineered a Vulkan and OpenGL driver.

  • astrsk
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    12317 hours ago

    My biggest concern with SteamDeck was that it would become a 1-2 year upgrade cycle device. I don’t expect the hardware to last 7+ years like normal console lifecycles but I’m very glad to hear they’re being patient and aggressively supporting the software side.

    • @[email protected]
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      12 hours ago

      I dunno, I expect the Deck to last far longer than the average console if anything. It’s a PC, so the games are pretty much guaranteed to keep coming for decades to come, as they have for decades past.

      The hardware will fall behind, so I think the point where the newest Triple A games won’t be playable will come within a few years, but I bet whatever visual novels or pixelated indie games release in 2035 will still run just fine on it.

      Plus, it’s designed to be repairable, unlike most consoles. And even if Valve stops maintaining SteamOS for the Steam Deck, you’ll still be able to install other distros, so software support isn’t something I’m very concerned about either.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 hour ago

        Two thoughts.

        1. Space marine 2 didn’t work well so I’m assuming that spankin new games will be hit or miss from here on out.
        2. AAA games have sucked lately. ive played so many good games on my deck that I may have missed on a larger system.
    • @[email protected]
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      11 hours ago

      It 100% could, everyone thinks they need to be able to generate kratos’ abs, Cloud’s spikes and Keanu…but they don’t. (Removed an extra an)

      • bitwolf
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        Agreed. FSR 3 really is amazing and I’d gladly use that to pull a few more years of playing my favorite games on 720p low.

        Upscalers are great for portables I just hope it’s not used to excuse poor optimization.

        That said I only play fps on my desktop, the steam deck opens up an entirely different class of games for me.

    • @KeefChief13
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      5216 hours ago

      It’s kind of just becoming an indie or old game portable pc to me. Don’t personally have much interest in playing modern graphically demanding titles on it.

      • @deafboy
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        24 hours ago

        It’s an excellent thin client as well. I’ve played the second half of death stranding through the free tier of Geforce Now.

      • @[email protected]
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        1115 hours ago

        I’m the same. I play retro and indie titles on the Deck, and more modern and demanding games on the desktop.

      • Björn Tantau
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        516 hours ago

        I was really surprised how well Hellblade 2 ran on mine. And supposedly Until Dawn also runs well now. When you can live with 30fps I suspect that well crafted games will be playable for a few more years.

      • @Hagdos
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        415 hours ago

        Was it ever intended or fit for that? It’s 2.5 years old, where modern games 2.5 years ago that much less demanding than modern games today?

        • Prinz Kasper
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          414 hours ago

          2.5 years ago there were a lot more games still targeting last gen consoles as their minimum baseline. Newer games that are current gen consoles only tend to fare a lot worse on steam deck.

        • @KeefChief13
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          415 hours ago

          I think the goal was to be able to physically run some version of modern AAA titles when it came out. Although generally, those titles would be downgraded graphically and run at a low frame rate, making it a less than ideal situation for those with alternative options.

    • @[email protected]
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      1212 hours ago

      Shoot. My back log on games is so big, I can be happy with this one for another 5 years before I’d need something with more power.

      • @Regrettable_incident
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        16 hours ago

        Yeah same. I got a steam deck maybe six months ago, my backlog is so big I’ve only recently finished bioshock. Seems like a nifty little device and it seems to handle contemporary stuff okay too.

    • @Defaced
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      915 hours ago

      There are a ton of PC gamers who think the only way to play a video game is 1440p 60-144fps and anything below that is unplayable. The reality is the steam deck is a 720p 30fps handheld device that can occasionally make it to 60fps if pushed far enough.

      IMHO a device that can run a game like God of war Ragnarok at 30fps in handheld mode and still play fine when docked is succeeding on the performance front in several aspects. In comparison, the switch version of Wolfenstein the new Colossus had to remove entire sets of geometry to even hit 30fps where the deck can hit that easily with the same settings without removing geometry and using AMD FSR. I think the deck has at least 3 more years in it before we even start to see any needed upgrades at that performance. Only time will tell.

      • @daellat
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        15 hours ago

        Yes but that 1440p 144hz is on a 27 inch display on a stationary computer. Why do you think people that prefer that are mutually exclusive with people that are fine with less for a mobile device with a 7 inch display and a battery?

      • @[email protected]
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        12 hours ago

        Yeah, this is my take at it as well. Sure, your big beefy PC looks better, but can you play CP2077 at 30,000 feet on a transatlantic flight? Because I have!

        Performance could definitely be better. It would be great if the deck could reliably push 720p 60fps all the time, and maybe some day we’ll get there. But for the moment my deck can push most of the games I throw at it to at least 40 fps, and it can hold 45 decently enough, and that’s good enough for me.

        I play during lunch at work, when I go shopping with the wife, family holiday when nothing is going on, busses, waiting for Dr. appointments, the train, all kinds of places. My steam deck opened up gaming to me by making it available in small pockets of otherwise unused time.

      • @[email protected]
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        412 hours ago

        The steamdeck seriously changed my perspective of what power I need for a computer and convinced me that I can continue to run my 1080ti for at least a few more years.

        • @[email protected]
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          410 hours ago

          1080’ties really were legendary cards. Back then I only had a 1060ti as my prior card broke unexpectedly and that was all the money I could spare.

    • @[email protected]
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      416 hours ago

      Honestly can’t see that happening. I think valve will want each upgrade to be significant enough you can feel it

  • thejevans
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    8618 hours ago

    Good. Keeping it the same means that the original Steam Deck will remain a target device for game developers for longer.