Valve has remembered they have an official YouTube channel with the release of a new advert for the Steam Deck, plus the Steam Deck gets a nod of approval from an unlikely source.
The first video they've put up here since the last CS:GO operation, it doesn't actually give anything new. However, it's another sign that Valve is actually properly marketing the device (unlike the Steam Machines). Claiming it's the "most powerful gaming handheld in the world" and going on to briefly show off a few game clips we've seen before like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It doesn't mention SteamOS, Proton or anything Linux related but simply mentions it runs a "new version of Steam" and ends by telling people to reserve now.
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Additionally, Phil Spencer the head of Xbox mentioned on Twitter about visiting Valve recently to talk to a few developers. Spencer mentioned having access to a Steam Deck for "most of the week" and said "it's a really nice device". It's interesting to see someone from Microsoft / Xbox talk about how well Halo, Age of Empires and xCloud works on a Linux handheld. Just goes to show how exciting the Steam Deck is.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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gradyvuckovic Aug 15, 2021
It doesn't mention SteamOS, Proton or anything Linux related but simply mentions it runs a "new version of Steam" and ends by telling people to reserve now.That is probably the right amount of information for the general public. They don't care how games run, they only care if they do.
35 Likes, Who?
Given Phil Spencer is probably the reason MS didn't back Vulkan but pushed DX12 lock-in instead, it's interesting that he has some positive comments about Steam Deck which relies on breaking that very lock-in.
16 Likes, Who?
It doesn't mention SteamOS, Proton or anything Linux related but simply mentions it runs a "new version of Steam" and ends by telling people to reserve now.That is probably the right amount of information for the general public. They don't care how games run, they only care if they do.
This is exactly the right way to put it. And as often with new versions of software, some backwards-incompatibilities are to be expected, so it should be easier to tell people to wait indefinitely while it's being worked on. It will be interesting to see if games start getting negative reviews for not running on steam deck, like they now do if they don't work on windows 10.
20 Likes, Who?
Given Phil Spencer is probably the reason MS didn't back Vulkan but pushed DX12 lock-in instead,
Not really. DX12 was a thing before he got put in charge of Xbox, and Xbox being a thing to push DirectX ("DirectX box") was a thing long before he was in charge.
it's interesting that he has some positive comments about Steam Deck which relies on breaking that very lock-in.
It's the only good move. If they say nothing about the new gaming hotness then they look out of touch with gaming. If they say something negative about their competitor then they make themselves look bad and give their competitor good publicity. By saying something positive they have an opportunity to cast themselves as the good guys while promoting their own product. Sweeney did exactly the same thing.
16 Likes, Who?
It doesn't mention SteamOS, Proton or anything Linux related but simply mentions it runs a "new version of Steam" and ends by telling people to reserve now.That is probably the right amount of information for the general public. They don't care how games run, they only care if they do.
Not to mention that it works far better as a marketing strategy to precede a new and totally unknown thing with a real-time showcase of how good it is compared to the existing solutions, instead of trying to convince people to trust you and change their habits based only on the potential that this new unknown thing will turn out to be good.
I can't count* the times I've had people asking me to switch them to Linux after watching me working on my PC and liking what they saw, compared to the times I was successful in convincing someone to switch to Linux because "it's better, you'll see".
(*OK, actually I can count the times because they're really not that many, but hopefully you get my drift :P)
8 Likes, Who?
If they say something negative about their competitor then they make themselves look bad and give their competitor good publicity. By saying something positive they have an opportunity to cast themselves as the good guys while promoting their own product. Sweeney did exactly the same thing.
Valve have been working with MS to ensure windows runs smoothly on the deck & that TPM issues are sorted out. Someone said on the initial deck thread that windows 11 won't work on the steam deck because the screen is too small, but that doesn't appear to be the case now. So Im not sure competitor works in this instance.
Xcloud on the deck ? The product here is windows 11 compatibility on the steam deck.
1 Likes, Who?
It doesn't mention SteamOS, Proton or anything Linux related but simply mentions it runs a "new version of Steam"
Spoiler, click me
!link
Jokes apart, I understand that most users don't know nor care about the system it's running inside deck, only if the games are running and if they can install third party apps on it (Netflix/spotify/whatever).
Also "Linux" is still a scary word for a lot of people who never used (or tried and didn't work as their intended) so it's good to omit this kind of information for now until steam deck hopefully establish as a "good console" among the mainstream, and giving something familiar to Windows to not scare non technical users (hence why KDE as default in desktop mode)
7 Likes, Who?
Not really. DX12 was a thing before he got put in charge of Xbox, and Xbox being a thing to push DirectX ("DirectX box") was a thing long before he was in charge.
He became the head Xbox / gaming division in MS in 2014. That's before Vulkan was even announced and during the important period when Mantle was presented by AMD to the industry as a prototype design of a common GPU API. So he totally was in charge of making the decision whether to collaborate or to push lock-in. And we know what MS did.
Even if you say someone else (shortly) before him decided to make DX12 from Mantle, he totally could scrap that and make MS collaborate with Khronos on Vulkan which was still in development phase. He didn't.
Last edited by Shmerl on 15 August 2021 at 4:56 pm UTC
4 Likes, Who?
so they gave him acess for an whole week while journalists had 1 hour with the device?
3 Likes, Who?
valve was quite smarth in only mentioning "it can play steam games" this time.
if everyone purchased with this goal, people would be less likely to install windows on it.
if everyone purchased with this goal, people would be less likely to install windows on it.
2 Likes, Who?
Jokes apart, I understand that most users don't know nor care about the system it's running inside deck, only if the games are running and if they can install third party apps on it (Netflix/spotify/whatever).That last bit is one question mark I still have about this device, actually.
Well, I mean, it's a PC--obviously in general, in the abstract, you can install third party apps (and OSes!) on it. But I'm talking, certain popular third-party things like Netflix, with an absolute minimum of effort, in ways that are downright user-subservient.
2 Likes, Who?
Metal was presented by AMD to the industry as a prototype design of a common GPU API.Mantle*
5 Likes, Who?
Yeah, fixed the typo. Though Metal is in the same boat. Apple pushed lock-in when Mantle was presented and used its ideas too.
Last edited by Shmerl on 15 August 2021 at 4:58 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 15 August 2021 at 4:58 pm UTC
0 Likes
That last bit is one question mark I still have about this device, actually.You can expect youtubers making videos like "HOW TO INSTALL NETFLIX IN YOUR STEAMDECK!!!" which in practice is just they teaching how to get through some aur package.
Well, I mean, it's a PC--obviously in general, in the abstract, you can install third party apps (and OSes!) on it. But I'm talking, certain popular third-party things like Netflix, with an absolute minimum of effort, in ways that are downright user-subservient.
Personally I'm ok with that, This way only people interested in tweaking the device will mess with this part, and can encourage users (who are willing to) to learn something from Linux as result.
And of course, giving a hypothetical success scenario, third party companies will start to support those apps officially.
4 Likes, Who?
He became the head Xbox / gaming division in MS in 2014. That's before Vulkan was even announced and during the important period when Mantle was presented by AMD to the industry as a prototype design of a common GPU API. So he totally was in charge of making the decision whether to collaborate or to push lock-in. And we know what MS did.So you've worked for Microsoft for, what, 25 years? Microsoft have a product already released that's they think is pretty good, and you're put in charge of the department whose primary function is to push that product. And you decide, before a competing product is even released, to say, "you know what? Our product is bullshit. Scrap the whole thing."
Even if you say someone else (shortly) before him decided to make DX12 from Mantle, he totally could scrap that and make MS collaborate with Khronos on Vulkan which was still in development phase. He didn't.
That seems reasonable to you?
0 Likes
So you've worked for Microsoft for, what, 25 years? Microsoft have a product already released that's they think is pretty good, and you're put in charge of the department whose primary function is to push that product. And you decide, before a competing product is even released, to say, "you know what? Our product is bullshit. Scrap the whole thing."
They didn't have anything even planned, let alone released. Mantle came out in 2013. AMD proposed to make it a common API and various industry players had discussions about it, with plans obviously for someone like Khronos to be the steward of that effort which indeed resulted in Vulkan by 2015. MS were there and could participate. Instead, they took the same Mantle and made DX12 from it.
See also this: https://twitter.com/renderpipeline/status/581086347450007553
It totally seems reasonable to me to back the collaborative effort instead of lock-in pushing. But MS being MS decided to be their old self and Phil Spencer was there for that decision.
Last edited by Shmerl on 15 August 2021 at 5:45 pm UTC
4 Likes, Who?
They didn't have anything even planned, let alone released.DX12 came out in
Last edited by CatKiller on 15 August 2021 at 5:53 pm UTC
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They didn't have anything even planned, let alone released.DX12 came out in early 2014. Vulkan wasn't released till early 2016.
Mantle came before and idea of collaborating on it was on the table. MS could join the effort or not. Those who joined used Mantle to make Vulkan. Those who didn't, used Mantle to make DX12. MS were very well aware about what's going on.
Last edited by Shmerl on 15 August 2021 at 5:51 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
You can expect youtubers making videos like "HOW TO INSTALL NETFLIX IN YOUR STEAMDECK!!!" which in practice is just they teaching how to get through some aur package.It's just visiting Netflix with Steam's built-in browser and adding a bookmark.
Hopefully it will get Netflix and Amazon to stop sending Linux users a terrible stream, though.
4 Likes, Who?
They didn't have anything even planned, let alone released.DX12 came out inearly 2014(my mistake, it came with Windows 10 in 2015; it was announced in 2014). Vulkan wasn't released till early 2016.
Those APIs weren't released instantly and out of nowhere. Vulkan took some time to be designed by a whole range or participants. But the effort started obviously before version 1.0 came out. The work on it was happening in parallel with MS working on DX12 and they both used Mantle as a source.
The point of my criticism is MS refusing to join the collaborative effort when they very well knew it was happening, and pushing lock-in instead.
Last edited by Shmerl on 15 August 2021 at 6:08 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
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