Valve's Steam Deck hardware has made waves in the handheld gaming world with its portable form factor and ability to play Windows games, but the device has been met with minor concern from potential buyers. What is currently shown off is impressive, but it may involve a comfort tradeoff compared to its competition.
The Steam Deck is Valve's upcoming handheld gaming PC, and coupled with a new Steam feature that will allow Windows games to run on the device's custom Linux operating system, the device has attracted the attention of many gamers who would like to take their game libraries anywhere. The impressive performance for its form factor is a current matter of critical praise.
The creator of the YouTube channel "Handheld Obsession" decided to 3D print a Steam Deck in 1:1 scale and find out if the ergonomics will get in the way of the impressive amount of games the Steam Deck can run. The video puts worries about the system's thumbstick location to rest, but it simultaneously raises concerns about the B button being too far off to the side. When using the right shoulder button with the index finger and pressing the B button with the thumb, the fingers become too close together to comfortably use either control. The dual touchpads are also brought up as a worry, as they require adjustment of hand position to use comfortably.
While the concerns are valid, a comfort tradeoff for a handheld device can be expected given its odd control scheme. The Steam Deck includes dual touchpads similar to the Steam Controller, but makes their usage optional in favor of including every control a modern game controller would include, most importantly two analog sticks. Especially given that most twin-stick games focus on aiming and using triggers to fire more than button commands, the uncomfortable B button should mostly be a non-issue for those games.
A large amount of the Steam library will work fine on the Steam Deck's control scheme, but not every game will if the design remains the same. The placement of the B button may become an issue for games that use the buttons and triggers in conjunction, such as fighting games. Of course, the Steam Deck is not intended for competitive use, but fighting game fans who prefer to play on a controller over an arcade setup will need to keep this in mind before purchasing.
Despite attempts by scalpers to limit Steam Deck supply, the device remains in high demand and many buyers managed to get their reservations in. Regardless of the system's ergonomics, the ability to play full PC games on a handheld is impressive and will be useful to many.
The Steam Deck will launch in December 2021.
