Tag: Steam Deck

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Asus reveals the ROG Ally, its own Steam Deck-esque PC gaming handheld

On April 1st, Asus dropped a trailer for a Steam Deck-esque new gaming PC handheld called the ROG Ally. Naturally, people thought this was just an April Fool’s Day joke, but now, Asus has confirmed this is an actual product.

The Taiwanese electronics giant says the ROG Ally runs on Windows 11 and features a custom APU that’s AMD’s fastest to date. Further, it sports a dual fan design and support for the ROG XG Mobile eGPU to stream your ROG Ally games to a TV.

In a hands-on video, YouTuber Dave2D revealed a few more specs, including a 7-inch display, 1920 x 1080 resolution, 500 nits of brightness and a 120HZ refresh rate. Button-wise, the ROG Ally sports a standard dual-thumbstick, four-face button setup.

However, there are a few big questions remaining — namely, pricing and games. The former remains entirely clear, while the latter is fairly vague. In the reveal video, we see High on Life, Golf With Your Friends and Ghostrunner being played, but Asus simply says it “allows you to pick up and play your favourite game libraries” without naming any.

For now, Asus is simply directing people to a U.S. Best Buy landing page that provides no further details. You can also register for email updates on Asus’ website. Given the lack of information at the moment, it remains to be seen just how much interest people will have in the ROG Ally.

Image credit: Asus

Source: Asus

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Mobile Syrup

dbrand’s latest lawsuit bait turns your Steam Deck into a Switch

Toronto-based dbrand is back at it again, and this time it’s nearly literally asking Nintendo to send an army of lawyers after it.

Valve’s impressive Steam Deck is undeniably very similar to Nintendo’s Switch in several ways, but mainly in its portability and ability to dock and be played on a television. It’s also, in some ways at least, the more powerful “Switch Pro” many people have been asking for.

While there are many things to like about the Steam Deck, it’s also kind of boring looking.

In an effort to spice up the Steam Deck’s design (and troll Nintendo in the process), dbrand has revealed a new ‘SwitchDeck‘ skin package that looks strikingly similar to the Switch’s iconic blue and red Joy-Con controller design. There are even rear cutouts for the Steam Deck’s back buttons and what looks like a censored Switch logo. (Is it blurred out on the actual skin? Who knows!) The Switch Deck starts at $49.95 USD (roughly $66.90 CAD).

Along with the trolly new skin, dbrand has also launched a new ‘Killswitch Case‘ that includes a heavy-duty case, skin and detachable Kickstand. Other Steam Deck protection products include a glass screen protector (I actually own one, and it’s great) and ‘Stick Grips’ thumbstick covers. dbrand’s SwitchDeck Case starts at $45 USD ( roughly $60.27 CAD).

While the Killswitch Case looks great, it’s also kind of bulky, which means the already massive Steam Deck will feel even bigger. I also find it hilarious dbrand seems to have sawed the Steam Deck’s sides off to make it look like a Switch in several promotional images, as seen below.

Switchdeck dbrand

Of course, dbrand recommends that people “don’t try this at home.” If you’re interested in buying this skin, it’s wise to act fast. Likely, it won’t be around for very long once it’s on Nintendo’s radar.

Back when the Steam Deck first released, I described it as the handheld of my dreams but cited several glitches, lack of game support and the difficulty I experienced getting emulators up and running on it. After picking the Steam Deck back up again this past weekend to dive back into Red Dead Redemption II, I’m happy to report that most of those problems have been solved. The handheld has come a long way in a brief period of time.

Source: @dbrand

Image credit: @dbrand

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Mobile Syrup

Valve’s The Game Awards Steam Deck giveaway has been extended

During Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards event, which took place on Thursday, December 8th, Steam was offering users free Steam Decks for just watching the event online.

During the event, Valve was giving away one Steam Deck a minute to a random user. The Steam Decks being given away were the 512GB ones, which normally cost $819 and sport a premium anti-glare etched glass.

Users needed to be in ‘good standing’ and be situated in Canada, the U.S., the UK or EU to be able to participate in the giveaway.

Now, according to the official SteamDeck page, Valve was reportedly “blown away” by the response it received to the event, and it has decided to extend the giveaway.

This time, however, you don’t need to do anything. “We just drew 171 more names from all the registrants who tuned in (over 980,000 of you!),” reads the Tweet.   “Check your email to see if you won!”

For reference, if you’ve been selected for the second round of giveaways, the email you receive should look a little something like:

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Mobile Syrup

Steam will giveaway one Steam Deck per minute during The Game Awards

Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards takes place on Thursday, December 8th this year. You can watch the event live for a chance to win a new Steam Deck.

Valve is giving away a new Steam Deck to a random Steam user every minute of The Game Awards, and users in Canada can participate.

The Steam Decks being given away are the 512GB ones, which normally cost $819 and feature premium anti-glare etched glass. It also comes with an exclusive carrying case, an exclusive Steam Community profile bundle and an exclusive virtual keyboard theme.

It’s worth noting that the Steam Deck giveaway is only available for Steam customers who are in Canada, the US, the UK or EU, have a Steam account in good standing, and have made a Steam purchase between November 14, 2021, and November 14, 2022.

Register for the giveaway here. “You must register to enter the drawing and be watching The Game Awards on Steam to be eligible to win,” reads Steam’s page. “On December 8th when The Game Awards airs, every minute a random name will be drawn from the pool of registrants currently watching the show on Steam.”

The event can be streamed live at https://steam.tv. Winners of the giveaway would be announced in the live chat as the drawing takes place.

Full giveaway rules can be found here.

Learn more about the Steam Deck here.

Image credit: Steam

Source: Steam

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Someone got Apple’s macOS running on Valve’s Steam Deck

This is the latest edition of, just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should.

Following up news that Apple could plan to bring macOS to the iPad, it looks like someone was able to get Apple’s desktop operating system running on a Steam Deck.

Why would someone do this? I’m not entirely sure.

Reddit user Lampa182 posted several images of macOS Catalina running inside of a VirtualBox virtual machine on Valve’s handheld gaming device. To be clear, this isn’t macOS natively running off the Steamdeck and instead of a bit of operating system inception. Still, it’s interesting someone put the effort into making it happen.

According to Lampa183, macOS’ performance on the Steam Deck is mostly normal, but “some animations are laggy” and booting up the operating system (OS) “takes 2 to 4 minutes.” Further, the touchscreen is only “partially” working and “sound, GPU and (for some reason) security settings” still aren’t running on Valve’s portable.

With all of this in mind, it doesn’t seem like there’s a real purpose to getting macOS running on the Steamdeck beyond proving that it’s somethign you can do.

It’s possible to install Windows on Valve’s Steam deck, complete with official driver plugins supplied by Valve, thanks to SteamOS’ Arch Linux-based operation system. This opens the Steam Deck up to additional accessories and, more importantly, installing titles outside of the Steam ecosystem on the device from stores like the Epic Game Store and the Xbox Store.

For more on the Steam Deck, check out my in-depth story about the PC-like handheld.

Image credit: Reddit (Lampa182)

Source: Reddit (Lampa182) Via: DigitalTrends

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Steam Deck now available for outright purchase, no reservation required

Valve’s Steam Deck is now available for purchase without any reservation.

As spotted by Twitter user @Lbabinz, visiting the Steam Deck page gives you the option to ‘Buy now,’ with deliveries estimated to occur within one to two weeks.

It’s a significant move from Valve, which has been operating under a reservation system since last year. Previously, people would have to place a small deposit and then wait any number of months before receiving an email that gave them a small window in which they could complete their purchase and await shipping soon thereafter. For example, a friend and I pre-ordered our Steam Decks in June and just received them within the past week.

Now, though, the supply constraints seem to have improved enough for Valve to do away with this reservation system. That said, it’s unclear how long this might last — it’s always possible Steam could revert to reservations down the line — so you may want to purchase a Steam Deck sooner rather than later if interested.

The base Steam is priced at $499 CAD and comes with a 64GB Embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) and carrying case. However, you’ll likely want to go with one of the other two models, as they’re SSD-powered and, therefore, a lot faster. The middle Deck costs $659 and comes with a 256GB NVMe SSD, carrying case and exclusive Steam Community profile bundle, while the most expensive model is priced at $819 and comes with a 512GB NVMe SSD, premium anti-glare etched glass, exclusive carrying case, exclusive Steam Community profile bundle and exclusive virtual keyboard theme.

You can order the Steam Deck here.

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Mobile Syrup

Valve temporarily pausing Steam Deck order emails in Canada due to backlog

If you’re in Canada and are still waiting on a Steam Deck, we have some disappointing news for you.

Via the official Steam Deck Twitter account, Valve confirmed that Canadian orders for the portable PC have hit a bit of a snag.

“Our distributor has hit a processing backlog for orders to Canada, so folks in this region will see a (very) temporary pause on order emails,” writes Valve. “We’re working on it, and are optimistic we can resume emails to Canada soon. This doesn’t impact emails or shipments to other regions.” That said, the company noted that it still anticipates being able to fulfill all reservations before the end of the year.

In a follow-up tweet, the company clarified that it’s made this temporary pause in Canada so its distributor can make it through the backlog of paid orders here. Once that’s done, it will resume sending emails to Canadian customers.

For the uninitiated, the Steam Deck purchasing process begins by making a reservation for the system with a small deposit via Steam. Later, you’ll get an email saying “your Steam Deck is now available,” at which time you pay the remaining balance and complete the purchase. While there’s no set time frame for when you’ll get the Steam Deck shipped, people online have said it’s generally been between 10 and 14 days from purchase to actually receiving the device.

However, it’s unclear what this backlog means for Canadians who have already completed their purchase. For example, MobileSyrup contributor Andrew Mohan and I both got our availability emails on Monday, September 19th and paid off the system that same day. We’re now awaiting a shipment email. Presumably, we and others in similar situations will be safe since we’re past the reservation stage, but that remains to be seen.

We’ve reached out to Valve for confirmation on who, exactly, is affected by these delays and will update this story once a response has been received.

Source: Valve

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Upgraded versions of Valve’s Steam Deck are coming

The Steam Deck is here to stay, at least for now.

As first reported by VGC, Weekly Famitsu magazine has published an interview with Valve where the publication asked about support for the console’s future.

“Unless something major changes, there will be a next generation of Steam Deck products in the future,” said designer Greg Coomer. “The theme, size and shape will change, and it might even become a streaming machine. Development of the Steam Deck will continue.”

Coomer goes on to elaborate on this statement.

“One reason is that it is an extension of our core Steam platform. The Steam Deck is another PC in another form, but Steam has many other uses besides this handheld device […] and we will continue to work to satisfy our customers as much as possible.”

Future Steam Deck improvements will include battery life and optimization, according to developer Pierre-Loup Griffais. “We have already made improvements [to battery life] between the time of launch and now,” Griffais said. “We’re also constantly optimizing the operating system to reduce battery consumption when playing games that are not too demanding. This will improve the battery life. In any case, battery issues are at the top of our list of future improvements.”

Additionally, Valve told Polygon that there will “definitely” be new generations of the Steam Deck. Further, the company might make streaming possible via the Steam Deck in the future. However, the company has no announcements currently.

For more on the Steam Deck, check out our in-depth look at the powerful portable.

Source: Weekly Famitsu Via: VGC, Polygon

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Valve ups Steam Deck production, says you’ll get it by year’s end

Valve says customers who reserved a Steam Deck should get it by the end of the year. Moreover, those who make a new reservation should also get it by the fourth quarter (between October and December).

In a blog post from the company behind popular PC game marketplace Steam, Steam Deck customers got excellent news. Valve explained that many of the supply chain issues that impacted manufacturing of its new handheld were “clearing up,” allowing it to produce more Steam Decks and do it faster:

“We’re excited to announce that we’re going to be able to fulfill demand sooner than we had estimated for everyone in the reservation queue. Many of the supply chain shortfalls that affect Steam Deck are gradually clearing up, and we’re continuing to ramp production, so we’re able to produce more Decks faster than ever before.”

Specifically, Valve says that everyone “currently in the reservation queue” will get their Steam Deck email this year. It also bumped several customers who were in the “Q4 or later” window got bumped up to the Q3 window.

With that in mind, you’ll want to check your reservation window (you can do that on the Steam Deck page here).

This marks the latest increase in Steam Deck production. The Verge notes that Valve has steadily increased production for the handheld since launch as it worked through supply chain issues.

So far, the Steam Deck has been a hit, offering access to PC games in a handheld console, tons of customizability, and more. MobileSyrup’s Patrick O’Rourke detailed his experience with the Steam Deck, which you can view here. And for those of you who may be on the verge of getting a Steam Deck, here’s a PSA: keep it out of the sun.

Source: Steam Via: The Verge

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Valve doesn’t want you to mod your Steam Deck’s internal storage

Valve designer Lawrence Yang says Steam Deck owners shouldn’t mod their handheld to feature a 2242 M.2 NVMe SSD instead of the 2230 SSD it comes with.

According to Yang, this causes the handheld to get “very hot” and creates power consumption issues for the handheld. He goes so far as to say that this mod will “significantly shorten the life of your Deck.”

In other Steam Deck-related news, Valve recently confirmed that it will ship more than double the number of handheld consoles it planned to in Q3. It’s still unclear when the Steam Deck’s docking station will release.

In theory, this means that Valve should be able to move through its Steam Deck order backlog far more quickly than expected.

Since its release, Valve has dropped several notable updates to the handheld, including game compatibility and performance fixes and a lock screen.

For more on the Steam Deck, check out my in-depth look at the handheld.

Source: @lawrenceyang, @OnDeck Via: Eurogamer, IGN