The day is finally here. Valve has removed the reservation queue for the Steam Deck, so you can buy it right now. Additionally, the Steam Deck Docking Station is also now available.
We've been seeing reports a lot recently about people being able to reserve a Steam Deck, and get an email within a week or even a few days. So the end of the reservation queue was very much expected. This is great news though, as hopefully people who were sitting on the fence will now just jump right in and order. Some might perhaps jump back to a queue, if they do get overwhelmed by orders though.
Along with the news, Valve revamped the Steam Deck website as well, with a little celebration video of a Steam Deck with fireworks along with the prominent note on the Docking Station too.
As a reminder, the Steam Deck comes in three editions: 64GB, 256GB and 512GB. The two bigger storage models have faster SSDs, and the top-end model has an anti-glare etched glass screen.
Direct Link
Note: the original copy of the above video, featured the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu in an apparent woops by Valve. They re-uploaded to remove it.
Since it's now much more readily available. Do you think there will be another surge in purchases? It's quite likely — I think there will be. We also had news recently from a KDE developer, that Valve had crossed the one million mark in Steam Deck shipments. So things are going very well for Valve's latest hardware entry.
For the Docking Station, it also has a brand new flashy looking official page, which mentions:
Steam Deck™ Docking Station is designed to add extensibility to your gaming setup. Whether connecting your Steam Deck to your living room TV, setting up on your work desk, or charging on your night stand, the Dock is perfect for extending the places and ways you can use your Steam Deck.
Not too big or too small, Docking Station is exactly the right size and shape to hold Steam Deck securely. From the right angle USB-C connector at exactly the right length, to the molded rubber seat to ensure there’s no scratching, the Dock was made for Steam Deck.
Priced at £79 / $89 / €99, it's perhaps a little steep when compared with a number of readily available high-quality third-party docks on the market, however you can't really beat the first-party support we've come to see from Valve. Here's the main Steam Deck Docking Station Specifications: 3 x USB-A 3.1 Gen1 Ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0, USB-C Power Delivery passthrough input (power supply included) and a 6" USB-C captive cable with low profile 90° connector to connect to the Deck.
Valve also posted a Tweet to clarify some details in it:
- MST (multi-stream transport), enabling multi-monitor support.
- DisplayPort 1.4 + HDMI, supports up to 1440p 120 hz, or 4k 60 hz.
- FreeSync support • Easy firmware updates via Steam Deck.
- 45W Type C power supply.
Image Credit - Valve
Their Docking Station will get upgrades too, and they said it might need a firmware update out of the box but updates will happen as easily as plugging your Deck in and following the instructions. When it comes to compatibility, Valve do include a note in the Docking Station FAQ you should be aware of:
Note: There is a known compatibility bug that we're still chasing down. With some LG displays, when the Docking Station is connected via HDMI, sleep / wake can result in visual noise. Another sleep/wake cycle or unplug/plug of the dock cable solves it. We're actively working on fixing this bug and there will be a software update once it's resolved.
I've got the official Docking Station ordered now, so I'll let you know what I think when it arrives.
All good news for Linux Gaming as a whole too, since so much of what goes into the Steam Deck helps Linux as a platform. It's also my own personal choice on where to play my games now, because it's just so convenient.
In case you missed it, another big SteamOS and Steam Deck Stable Client update went live as well. Here's a look:
Direct Link
Finally, I’ll end this with a plea to Valve. Please make a new Steam Controller. Don’t make me beg. You've clearly learned a lot with the Deck, I bet a Steam Controller 2 would be awesome. Do it.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
It is also now possible to talk coherently about things like monthly sales figures and whatnot. Well, if Valve ever tells us any of the information.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 6 October 2022 at 8:56 pm UTC
BlackBloodRum Oct 6, 2022
Quoting: Purple Library GuyEveryone's talking about the dock, but I think it's pretty significant that we've reached the new stage with the deck itself, where people can just buy it instead of signing up for a waiting list. I do think that there are people who don't have that "Oooh, sign up and wait eagerly" enthusiasm who might buy now. It is also now possible to impulse-buy a Steam Deck. Or to buy one for somebody's birthday or anniversary with some confidence that it might arrive at the time you want it to.
It is also now possible to talk coherently about things like monthly sales figures and whatnot. Well, if Valve ever tells us any of the information.
I think it's great the deck is generally available now!
However, in my case I already have my deck so for me personally it kind of makes no difference so my mind went over to the dock, which I've been waiting for (since I deliberately didn't buy any third party docks).
flatpak install flathub net.sourceforge.ExtremeTuxRacerThat must indeed be a great game to use the gyro!
wit_as_a_riddle Oct 6, 2022
Quoting: KacperTheLinuxGamerThe price of the docking station is absurd.
People who keep saying that Valve is "the good guy" will get a rude awakening once more questionable decisions will be made.
I will go with the JSAUX dock instead.
Do you have any inkling toward which questionable decisions you suspect Valve might make?
I imagine them reintroducing Steam Machine consoles and deciding not to undercut the rest of the market by 50-66% like the did with Deck, dastardly! Perhaps even they'll offer something else we have to BUY - IF we want it - virtually criminal! 😯 They may even let third parties sell products specifically designed to run SteamOS.
But perhaps you suspect them of doing something like winning a majority in the PC gaming market share with SteamOS, and then creating a subscription fee to use it. Further, they have root! Perhaps they're going to install ransomware, encrypt our personal information and extort each and every Steam user, probably that.
wit_as_a_riddle Oct 6, 2022
Quoting: Purple Library GuyEveryone's talking about the dock, but I think it's pretty significant that we've reached the new stage with the deck itself, where people can just buy it instead of signing up for a waiting list. I do think that there are people who don't have that "Oooh, sign up and wait eagerly" enthusiasm who might buy now. It is also now possible to impulse-buy a Steam Deck. Or to buy one for somebody's birthday or anniversary with some confidence that it might arrive at the time you want it to.
It is also now possible to talk coherently about things like monthly sales figures and whatnot. Well, if Valve ever tells us any of the information.
Great points! I'll be interested to see if it stays up there in the top sellers list as it has been for 32 weeks now! We can at least extrapolate, maybe a game will publish their revenue and we can compare 😎
RavenWings Oct 6, 2022
Quoting: Liam DaweQuoting: KacperTheLinuxGamerThe price of the docking station is absurd.I don't quite get the outburst here. Yes it's more expensive but it also has DisplayPort (JSAUX don't have that), USB 3.1 (JSAUX has 3.0) and direct Valve support from a much more known company. Naturally, it will also have the absolute best direct support for the Deck, since it was made specifically for it. I'm not a big fan of the price either, but it doesn't suddenly make them some kind of evil. Bit weird.
People who keep saying that Valve is "the good guy" will get a rude awakening once more questionable decisions will be made.
I will go with the JSAUX dock instead.
As an addition: the official Docking Station doesn't even need to be used. It's an added extra, and they continue to improve the docked experience for third-party stuff all the time. You use whatever you want, Valve even made that point clear in their video.
They don´t get any hate from me, but its still a bit shocking and I think it would be great to have another, cheaper (official) option with less features. But on the other hand... the Deck itself is far to cheap already and we do have many options with third-party hardware... if instead of a Steam Deck this would be the "Xbox Series M" or something, we would have to pay 150€ for the offical dock and would need to grind off some plastic-barrier from the device in order to be able to use a third-party solution xD
AdamRHargreaves Oct 6, 2022
Appalling service so far (just lack of sensible communication. I’d even be happy if they sent out periodical spam e-mails with game news and such - but nope!)
Very much not up to the standards required for the market over here.
Oct 7, 2022
Quoting: KacperTheLinuxGamerThe price of the docking station is absurd.
People who keep saying that Valve is "the good guy" will get a rude awakening once more questionable decisions will be made.
I will go with the JSAUX dock instead.
They already have questionable decisions like bias towards Japanese visual novel. There's numerous case for cancelling/rejecting visual release that not even rated for adult, while in the same time Steam have games like Sex with Hitler or other porn games.
Visual novel fans have been criticizing Steam decision for ages.
The last one is Chaos;Head Noah despite having zero adult content
https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/chaoshead-noah-steam-release-canceled-due-to-steam
Article Addition: Steam’s Unfair Visual Novel Bans & Their Inconsistency
https://noisypixel.net/steam-bans-unfair-inconsistent-rules/
It's kind of funny when they want to capture Japanese market with Steam Deck, yet keep making this decision.
Last edited by klepon on 7 October 2022 at 1:20 am UTC
Philadelphus Oct 7, 2022
Quoting: peta77Why did they add a PSU with the dock? Especially if it's the same that comes with the deck? Should be an option. I don't need another one just lying around with no use at all. Would also make it cheaper because a hundred euro is really a lot for that thing...I'm guessing they're expecting that the Dock will sit around somewhere "permanently" with a dedicated power supply, while you might want to bring a second power supply with you if take the Deck on a trip somewhere. How useful any given person will find that depends on their tolerance of plugging and unplugging cables (I tend towards the lazy side) and where the Dock/power outlet are, I suppose. But I suspect there'd be an outcry about Valve price-gouging if it didn't come with one by default. ("They expect me to pay $75 for the Dock and an extra $14 for the charger‽")
Quoting: Purple Library GuyEveryone's talking about the dock, but I think it's pretty significant that we've reached the new stage with the deck itself, where people can just buy it instead of signing up for a waiting list. I do think that there are people who don't have that "Oooh, sign up and wait eagerly" enthusiasm who might buy now. It is also now possible to impulse-buy a Steam Deck. Or to buy one for somebody's birthday or anniversary with some confidence that it might arrive at the time you want it to.Actually, that's a good point, can you finally buy one without needing a second Steam account to reserve it? Because, yeah, even if I were inclined to buy one as a gift before I'm not going to go out and make a second throwaway account for it. Now I can just buy one. (I probably won't. But I could.)
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