In an unusual exercise of transparency in the video game industry, Gabe Newell’s company has shown the first designs of the portable console-computer.
This Monday, February 28, the first Steam Deck buyers received their console-portable computer. During the last days, Gabe Newell and the rest of the Valve team have started the advertising campaign for the device: interviews in different international media, analysis of the device , official videos that demonstrate the performance of the games… The company has opened a website of press and in her they have spread the prototypes of Steam Deck , that throughout its creation has gone through very different designs.
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Perhaps the most common thing is to see that they considered releasing Steam Deck with the current design in other colors (white, light gray, dark gray, navy blue), but they also went through different shapes and sizes. There were versions with grips similar to those of a PlayStation or Xbox controller, others with very sharp edges, button configurations very different from those that have finally ended up on the device, additional controls and even machines with removable controllers in the style of Nintendo Switch . You can take a closer look at all of them by clicking on the following image.
Valve designer Greg Coomer discussed these prototypes with PC Gamer : “There were things like articulated handles that had hinges on either side,” Greg Coomer, designer at Valve, told PC Gamer last summer. “A lot of different explorations of the physical form that you hold, and what shape it should take control placements moved around during the development process, the size of the screen varied as we tried different playable prototypes.”
Those who reserved it for the first quarter will receive a confirmation email in the coming weeks
Gabe Newell himself surprised some buyers in the Seattle area where Valve is located by handing out the Steam Decks himself over the weekend. The Steam Decks began arriving to buyers on January 28. Those who reserved it for the first quarter will receive an email on March 7, 14, 21 or 28 to start their orders. In April, reservations for the second quarter will begin to be processed. At this time the console in any of its three models can only be reserved for after the second quarter of 2022.
