Although the economic IT is not yet completed, I have a dream. Switch size game computer "Steam Deck"

You can play PC games on Switch -like!

Valve has released Steam Deck, which allows you to play PC games on small terminals.Gizmodo's PHILLIP TRACY reporter has been using a few weeks earlier, so please!I hope that when you come to Japan, the degree of perfection is increasing.

There is no chance to review devices that revolutionize the mobile game world.But now, a dedicated console that came out of the PC gamer's dream was born.You can play PC games while it is a portable device similar to Nintendo Switch.

Why now?You may think that.One of the reasons is that there has been no technology to pack gaming PCs into mobile devices.But I was convinced that I played for dozens of hours on this Steam Deck and I finally got the necessary skills.By combining powerful and efficient AMD chips with ultra -high -speed RAMs, Steam Deck has a subtle balance between performance, heat, battery life, and has achieved a satisfactory gaming experience while minimizing compromises.is.

And Steam Deck is not just a console.It is a computer with desktop mode, and you can also view web, music streaming, and watch videos.In correspondence with various input methods, you can connect to TV and monitors, and you will have a dock that will become a stationary game machine by placing it there.

I tried using Steam Deck for several weeks, but I still feel that only a part of the potential can be pulled out.Now many of the potential remains untouched.Most of everyone's favorite games still work properly (or at all), and there are many parts under construction.Nevertheless, Valve has definitely achieved a feat, with almost a problem.I was once skeptical, but I was no longer a believer.

Valve Steam Deck

What is this?: Mobile PC game console that can play Steam games

Price: EMMC with a storage of 64GB costs $ 399 (about 46,000 yen), 256GB SSD is $ 529 (about 61,000 yen), 512GB SSD is $ 649 (about 75,000 yen).

Favorite place: There are hundreds of games that have been confirmed, most games can be played in medium settings (720p), beautiful displays, desktop mode, which can be used as a PC, easy to repair, and repair., (Most) buttons are easy to press.

I don't like it: Software bugs, battery life short, slightly heavy, warm, and noisy sounds are noisy.

What is Valve Steam Deck?

I have too much to write, but let's first hold down from the basics.Steam Deck is a 7.0 -inch mobile game console that allows you to play Steam games.The Windows game is operated on Linux by using AMD chips and using Proton compatible layers.The OS is ARCH Linux -based Steam OS 3.0, and it is possible to update more frequently by being based on Arch Linux.

Steam Deck can be used offline because the game moves native.It is said that there is no plan to create a 5G or LTE compatible version, so if you play online games on the go, you need some mobile hot spot.When connected to the Internet, Steam Deck saves the ongoing games in the cloud to enable transition to other Steam devices such as PCs.Just like Nintendo Switch, an official dock that is transformed like a stationary game console will appear in the second half of this spring.Even if you do not have a dock, you can use a USB-C dock with HDMI output (details later).

Official docks include external displays (TVs and monitors), peripherals (mice and keyboards), and ports to connect to Ethernet.Alternatively, you can use Steam Link to wirelessly connect Steam Deck to your smartphone, tablet or TV, and stream game play.

You can also use it as a completely Linux machine with a desktop UI.In fact, Steam Deck can be said to be a computer's mind in a portable game console.In desktop mode, you can browse the web with Steam Deck, play games other than Steam, and move apps.

Price and model

Steam Deck has several versions.The cheapest is $ 399 (about 46,000 yen), with a 64GB EMMC storage.The review machine provided by Valve is $ 529 (about 61,000 yen) in the middle, with a 256GB NVME SSD.The highest model is a model with an NVME SSD of $ 649 (about 75,000 yen) and 512GB.Every model has an SDXC compatible microSD card slot, so you can expand your storage.After that, it is possible to exchange SSDs technically, but I do not recommend Valve unless you are a very familiar person.

The game is downloaded directly to Steam Deck, so it may not be a matter of 64GB model. The 64GB model EMMC has a slower data transfer speed than the 256GB / 512GB NVME. However, the capacity of the game is quite large, so you have to buy an SD card anyway. Many major games, such as "GOD OF WAR" (64.5GB), "NBA 2K22" (115GB), and "HiRMAN III" (60GB), cannot be played without putting other games in storage. I borrowed a 256GB model, but the storage capacity was still full and I had to uninstall what I had in front of to play a new game. If you put a game in an SD card and play it (it's cheaper), consider the performance and choose a fast -speed one.

Hardware: Generally you can do it

You can see that Valve has spent a lot of time, so that Steam Deck doesn't become a first -generation product.I have achieved that goal, but there are some aspects I want to do a little more.

First of all, the most obvious size is its huge size.When I got Steam Deck, I felt like I was holding the handle of the car at 9:00 and 3 o'clock.In other words, it's big next to it.Even though the shape was similar to the Nintendo Switch, the actual size was much larger, almost the same width as the 12.4 -inch Galaxy Tab S8+.

The weight is as heavy as 1.47 pounds (about 669g), but it is well distributed overall, so it feels well balanced in your hands.With this size, playing for hours is likely to be a forearm training.Other than that, I think that it is almost good in human engineering.

When I first had a Steam Deck, my palm was immediately familiar with the shape of the controller, and my thumb was instinctively fit in a symmetrical analog stick.Most buttons (there are many buttons) can easily reach their fingers, but some buttons are unreasonable.To press the bumper button (R1, L1), I had to force my index finger to myself, so I had to extend my thumb to press the Y button.After that, I think that the lower the stick, the lower the thumb will move the thumb to enhance the accuracy of the operation.But I had average hand size, so if I shifted my finger a little, I would like to do it, but I think people with small hands would be harder.

The size is well used, and various buttons and keys are still full.Analog sticks include ABXY buttons, Steam buttons, Quick Access buttons, Cross keys, in -game menu buttons, and view buttons.The trackpad is dual under the stick and can be used for a mouse.The above is a bumper button and trigger, volume control, USB-C port, power button.There are four more triggers on the back (left and right 4 and 5), like SCUF or Xbox Elite controllers.

The comfort is good and bad.The full -size analog sticks have a good response, combining slightly concave shape and edge textures to prevent inadvertent slipping.The trigger button has a good condition, the shoulder button is better than that of the Xbox, but there is no click feeling as much as DualSense.ABXY buttons, cross keys, and back triggers are the same as most controllers, and there is no particular problem.What you care about is the Steam button and quick access button.It's pretty terrible.It's very shallow and hard to push, and I don't know why this passed the test in Valve.Fortunately, it is a button that is not used during the game.

The most amazing thing about this controller is that the analog stick and the trackpad have a capacitance type touch sensor.If you detect the skin with these parts, gyro control will be enabled and you can adjust the aim slightly.

It seems amazing and it actually works as I said, but the body is large and difficult to move, so I don't feel like using it too much.The touchpad was convenient when using mouse in desktop mode, for example, Planet Coaster.Even if I got used to the touchpad, I died in "Cuphead" at the same pace as the analog stick.

If you like DIY, you will also appreciate the approach that emphasizes VALVE repair.First, Valve sells replacement parts to users.The first approval of the replacement parts was approved, disassembled Steam Deck, and decided that thumb sticks and SSDs could be easily replaced by removing some screws.For the right to repair, that is, for users, it's a step forward.

If you do not like the control with Steam Deck, you can connect to the mouse or other controller with Bluetooth.It was easy to pair with the PS5 DualSense controller, and the response to input was quick.However, some games like "GOD OF WAR" could not be played at all, but games like "Portal 2" were able to reproduce their school days who were lacking in PS3.

The screen is 7.0 inches, 1280 x 800 IPS display, and the refresh rate is 60Hz.I was surprised in a good way for the screen of this size, and in a good way for the actual appearance.Although it is not as vivid as the Nintendo Switch OLED model, the color is accurate and the peak brightness of 400 Nito is enough under bright lighting.However, it is important to note that the screen is reflected.The sound quality of the speaker was quite good, the volume was enough, and the load was raised and the fan sounds louder.

I will mention the build quality.Steam Deck is a plastic whole, but still gets a sturdy impression.It is tight, and the housing has a gap in the end of dust, and it is generally clean overall.If you ignore the size and the lower two buttons, Steam Deck is like this and you will not feel the first product.At least about hardware.

Performance: Which game can you play?

Steam Deck's OS is an arrangement of Linux -based Steamos 3.0, and a compatible layer called Proton to run Windows games.Unfortunately for those who expect any favorite games played on Steam, it is unfortunate announcement, but in order to move each game with Steam Deck, you need optimization and testing for Steam Deck.It takes a while when Valve is doing that work with developers now.

Although it is unofficial information, SteamDB has a list of games that can be played in compatible Steam Deck, and according to it, there are more than 500 items that have been confirmed at the time of article translation, and there are more than 400 things that have not been confirmed yet.It seems that.Although it is still a huge steam game, there are hundreds of mobile game consoles' launch titles.However, some (or a lot) of your favorite games have not yet been supported.

In order to see how many of the games I actually play can be played with Steam Deck, I also heard about other gamers.Kotaku's Luke Plunkett reporter has 810 games (!) In the Steam library, but only 59 are guaranteed to work completely on Steam Deck.In addition, 66 copies move for the time being, but it is necessary to have additional work to operate and set, and that 632 have not been tested yet, and it is known that the remaining 23 can never be played.

When I tried it, most of the games I wanted to try right away were "Halo Infinite", "Forza Horizon 5", "FAR CRY 5", "FIFA 22", and "Battlefield 2042". But I downloaded it for the time being, but unfortunately I didn't even start. So, for the time being, it seems better to download only what Valve confirmed. The major points are "NBA 2K22", "Hitman IIII", "CupHead", "Portal 2", "Dark Souls III", "GOD OF WAR", and in the indies, "Stardew Valley", "Grapple Dog", "Loop Odyssey". 。 It is enough to taste lightly, but you need a newer and major game to become a more mainstream. Thankfully, new games have been added more and more, and "ELDEN RING" has come in.

As I wrote a little above, Valve divides the game into four categories according to the status of support to Steam Deck.What is displayed in the library or store in the green check mark is "confirmed", that is, you can play the same as on the PC on Steam Deck.Next, the one that is "playable" has a yellow caution icon, which is "moving, but there is a problem", and what is the problem is written in the detailed information of the game.I am.The rest is "non -support", most of them are VR titles.Finally, the most common is "unknown".VALVE also provides tools that you can immediately see which games in the user's Steam library can play on Steam Deck.

Thanks to the AMD APU with Zen 2 CPU (4 cores, 8 threads) and RDNA 2 GPUs, and the RAM of 15GB high -speed DDR5, the game where the operation on Steam Deck has been confirmed will run smoothly.Roughly speaking of the graphics performance, the processing capacity of Steam Deck is 1.6TFLOPS, which is about the middle of the previous generation console Xbox One S (1.4TFLOPS) and PS4 (1.8TFLOPS).

I played a games of about one dozen, but only a few times had dropped the frame rate.Adjusting the graphics setting does not hinder gameplay.

For example, in "Control", I played smoothly around 30 fps at first, but when a lot of enemies came out, lag began to appear.When the resolution was dropped from 1280 x 800 to 720p, the frame rate returned from the mid -20 fps level to 30 fps or more, and it was saved in the fierce battle scene.Most games I played, such as "Portal 2" and "CupHead", could have 60 fps the frame rate if I set the graphics settings in 720p, but "GOD OFPS", which has a higher load, exceeds 30 fps.Was finally.

However, as with any game console, be careful.If you move a lot of games at once, it will exceed the capacity of Steam Deck.I did it myself, but if I left "CONTROL" on the back of playing "GOD OF WAR", the former crashed and tried to close the latter in a hurry, and the whole system fell.rice field.This was not the first time I had to restart Steam Deck, but the problem usually happened when I left the software.

Software: rapid evolving while roughing

Valve is under construction to fix the software bug, add functions, and improve performance before the Steam Deck reaches the user's hand.Until now, updates have come out more and more, but it is still incomplete overall.But the direction is not wrong.The SteamOS interface has a large icon and has a simple menu and can be operated easily.The pressing comfort of the Steam button and the quick access button is terrible, but thanks to these, connecting to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth devices, and switching in night mode are easier than PCs.

Steamのデスクトップランチャーを使ったことのある人は、Steam Deckに入ってるSteamOSに既視感を感じるかもしれません。ホームページのトップに一番最近プレイしたゲームが表示され、その下には「What's New」「Friends」「Recommended」タブがあります。一番上には検索バーと、Wi-Fi・バッテリーライフ、プロフィールのアイコン。Steamボタンかバックボタンを押すと画面左にメニューが出てきて、そこにライブラリやSteamストア、メディア（スクショや動画キャプチャ）、ダウンロード、Friends & Chat、設定、電源のタブがあります。

Valve is still playing with the details, but the overall layout is good.The icons are large, user -friendly, animation is smooth, and the sound effects of the OS are fun.In fact, SteamOS 3.0 has been a lot of recent corrections because it has been completely overwhelmed until recently.What I think is good is the "currently playing" tab, and you can quickly resume and stop games from there.Another very needed function is a way to buy only confirmed games that can be played on Steam Deck, but it has been added to the store.The details are still coarse, which will be described later, but the major problems have been solved.

Since the core of Steam Deck is a PC, there is a desktop mode.In this mode, you can open Firefox, browse the Web, download the app, install games that are not Steam, connect mouse, keyboards and monitors to use as ordinary computer.

This is really amazing.I read Gizmodo.com on Chrome, listen to music on Spotify, or write this article on LibreOffice.It was a strange feeling, but if I had a touchpad and a Bluetooth keyboard (the on -screen keyboard was miserable and I said it would be fixed), I got somehow.

However, there are many, not to say that there was no problem with the software.I don't know how many times it ended.Initially, some problems remained because they were tattered due to more cut interfaces, lack of performance, and lack of functions.Fortunately, the update has improved a lot, so I feel that the device I'm writing now is even different from being sent first.

But if the STEAM DECK release is delayed a few weeks, I think that a reviewer or early adapter like us will not be a beta tester.For the time being, Valve has published 100 % of the necessary information about the updates sent endlessly, and will solve the remaining problems.

Can also be used even in stationary type

If the 7 -inch screen is not enough, Steam Deck can be connected to an external display.There are several ways to do it, but it's easy but a bit of a problem is Steam Link, which is a way to connect the Steam device and the display by wireless streaming."Portal 2" on Steam Deck was displayed in my Sony Google TV for a few minutes via the Steam Link app.The game was displayed in full -screen mode, and the resolution of the 1280 x 800 was seen without any problems.However, there was a problem with latency, and I wanted to quit the game in a few minutes.

The connection with Steam Link was an effortless, but the attempt to connect to the monitor with a USB-C dock with HDMI output failed.I tried two docks and two monitors, but it was no good.According to VALVE's description, the dock with a multi-display output output like the USB-C Dock G5 on my HP is not supported by Steam Deck, but it will be updated in the future.The best way is to use a USB-C SST (Single-Stream Transport) dock or a USB-C-TO-HDMI cable.

In the latter half of this spring, the official dock for Steam Deck appears, which leads to the "Steam Deck stand, but also external displays, wired networks, USB peripheral devices, and power supply."However, unlike the Nintendo Switch dock, the dock of Steam Deck does not seem to power to the main unit.

Battery life and charging

Steam Deck's battery life has 2-8 hours depending on the game and setting according to Valve.There is a lot of width, but it is accurate when I tried it.In various gameplay and UI operation, I had about 4 hours.In the case of a heavy graphics game like "GOD OF WAR 2", it took about 2 hours to decrease a lot, and it took about 4 hours for a low load like "Portal 2".

Charging Steam Deck is performed via USB-C, and a generic charging adapter is included.According to GamerNexus's careful tests, Steam Deck was able to charge up to 80 % in 100 minutes and add 80 minutes if it was a power -turned and idle state, and could be fully charged.Like recent smartphones and laptops, we try to protect the battery 100 %.

Steam Deck, should I buy it?

If you are a PC gamer who thinks that there is a portable terminal that can play steam games on a moving or home sofa, it is worth considering with the current unfinished Steam Deck.There are hundreds of games that have been guaranteed, and most of them can play graphics with medium settings.The hardware is not perfect, but you can use it properly.

If you're wondering if you want to buy, check if your game has been confirmed for Steam Deck.If you haven't tested the game you want to play yet, you don't have to buy it right now.As a result of the pre -ordered people who want to buy it now, the shipment is scheduled for the second quarter (April to June) this year, and at that time, the necessary updates will be issued, and the original potential.You should be able to demonstrate.