#THOSE WHO REMAIN STEAM PC#

On the subject of the touchscreen, itвЂ™s a 7in, 1280x800, LCD number running at 60Hz.

The hottest part of the touchscreen, the top-left corner, wonвЂ™t singe your little fingies either: I measured it peaking at 36 degrees. This means that although the rear panel can hit up to 41 degrees Celsius under load, the parts your hands are actually touching remain a cool 26-28 degrees. And what heat is left over remains largely confined to the centre of the device, away from where you can really feel it. The DeckвЂ™s exhaust fan is quiet enough to be drowned out with the speakers at medium volume, or with literally any pair of headphones or earbuds (Bluetooth or 2.5mm, your pick). Having the space for so many buttons, sticks and pads is one cooling is another. Indeed, there are benefits to a larger frame, even on a handheld. TheyвЂ™re perfectly fine for when a cursor needs pointing, mind, and just like their precusor pads on the ill-fated Steam Controller, they add even more control configuration options to what is already an input-stuffed device. When it comes to using these little squares as direct thumbstick alternatives, IвЂ™m admittedly still torn: with practice they do feel much more precise, a near-necessary quality in multiplayer shooters or other twitchy games like Ghostrunner, and yet my complete lack of muscle memory for them repeatedly had me crawling back to the sticks. I was concerned at first that the thumbsticks might be a positioned a tad too high, but if anything they suited my natural thumb positions more than the trackpads below them. The thumbsticks, too, feel more substantial and satisfying, it not quite as grippy. The contoured grips on either edge help compensate for any unwieldiness, and the shoulder and trigger buttons are much more generously proportioned than the nanoscopic slivers you get on the Switch. Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD (as tested, 256GB SDD and 64GB eMMC also available).

For longer trips away, IвЂ™ve usually been too put off by the sprawling chassis and 2kg-plus weights of gaming laptops to tide myself over with one, but the Steam Deck? IвЂ™d gladly stuff that in a suitcase. I could gladly pull it from a bag to play on the Tube, with the console-style quick suspend/resume feature speeding up the process of bunging it back in as my stop approaches. While itвЂ™s a pocket-upsetting 298mm wide and weighs 669g, nearly 300g more than a standard Nintendo Switch, the Deck just about feels sufficiently portable. But the Steam Deck is more accessible, more affordable, and far more useful to have on a train. ThatвЂ™s in spite of some imperfections, to be sure вЂ“ the software, screen and battery life may disappoint anyone expecting another top-end Valve hardware masterclass to follow their Index virtual reality headset. And it certainly isnвЂ™t twee: from its no-nonsense, all-black design to the performance-tweaking options in its OS, the Deck is a serious device, even and especially when itвЂ™s serious about giving you a good time. Not that the Steam Deck is a nostalgia exercise, given itвЂ™s built to run the very latest AAA games as much as it is indies and retros.

#THOSE WHO REMAIN STEAM PC#

A few minutes into playing on this вЂ“ the first serious attempt at a handheld PC from a major gaming entity - and I am once more a child, alternating between sinking into the sofa to redirect energy into my thumbs and wanting desperately to rush round my friendsвЂ™ houses to show them the cool new thing. Praise and curse the Steam Deck, for it has stolen 20 years of my life.

Those who remain steam