A new handheld from Valve, the company behind the massively successful Steam, has been doing the rounds lately, with it reportedly codenamed SteamPal. While Valve itself hasn't commented on the matter, it seems that fans will likely get the handheld sometime soon given the company's penchant for dipping its toes in the hardware business.
As soon as reports and rumors have started flooding in, so have the inevitable comparisons to Nintendo's offering in the handheld space. It's most likely that Nintendo Switch and the rumored SteamPal would be two radically different machines, but these comparisons are definitely a double-edged sword.
SteamPal Might Just Benefit From Switch Comparisons
Despite reportedly having radically different features, Nintendo's hybrid Switch console and Valve's codenamed SteamPal seem to have remarkably same form factors. However, this might just prove a blessing in disguise as handheld PCs aren't exactly a new thing. Many handheld PCs boasting similar hardware such as the AYANEO and the GPD Win have been around for some time but failed to gain any momentum.
Much of this can be attributed to these machines being Kickstarters aimed towards PC enthusiasts, and many factors make these handhelds unwieldy for the general consumer. With SteamPal being compared to Nintendo Switch even before confirmation, Valve has a great opportunity to direct the product towards the mainstream market, possibly as an alternative to PC gaming or a companion device for long-term PC gamers with a pre-existing Steam library.
But SteamPal Isn't A Valve Switch
The rumored SteamPal might sound like the Nintendo Switch, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Nintendo Switch runs on proprietary hardware and software, optimized specifically for the console. While some games might run into performance issues, most games available for the Switch should run without any hiccups.
On the other hand, SteamPal would be using custom hardware (most likely AMD) to run games developed for the PC. This implies that not every game available on the Steam marketplace would work well with the hardware, as many high-end games might just prove too taxing. Furthermore, the SteamPal would reportedly run on Linux as opposed to Windows which is the preferred operating system of choice for most PC gamers.
Gaming on Linux has certainly improved a lot in recent years, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. Compatibility layers such as Proton and Wine can run most Windows apps, albeit with varying degrees of performance penalties, but many anti-cheat software are known to be incompatible with the operating system. All these factors add up to the fact that SteamPal most likely wouldn't be able to run every game on Steam, making it radically different from a console.
Marketing it in a way comparable to Nintendo Switch can be seen as misleading. Valve could put in the required work to make it more appealing, but the company's previous attempts at developing hardware don't build much trust. It would certainly be great to see SteamPal be a breakthrough success, but it depends on how Valve decides to position its product first.
