When Valve first announced its upcoming handheld gaming device, the Steam Deck, a few weeks ago, the company has been trying to make sure everyone knows that this is not going to be just a Switch rival. Gabe Newell and co did respond to the Deck being compared to the Nintendo device, and have been quite vocal about how their device is going after the PC market rather than console gamers. The company has now made a further statement, which it hopes will help distinguish its machine from the Switch.
In a statement to PC Gamer, a spokesperson for Valve has said that the Steam Deck will not perform differently whether it's in the dock or being used handheld. The device's designer, Greg Coomer, said that, while the team did consider a higher power mode for when it's docked, they decided against it, adding that the company felt it best to not modify it based on whether it was being played in a dock or as a mobile gaming unit.
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This means the Steam Deck will differ slightly in terms of performance to the Nintendo Switch. When docked, the Switch upscales the resolution of games as opposed to when being used handheld. One fan even managed to get such games as Breath of the Wild to run at 4K resolution, but that's not the proprietary standard. It's not like this with the Deck. Valve's device, according to the interview, will perform exactly the same way in either state, with Coomer suggesting that the company felt most people would want to use it while mobile anyway.
This means that whether it's being played through a home monitor or on the move, the Deck will be able to display 720p running at 30fps. Some people have been concerned about the framerate announcement, though Valve did alleviate worries by saying that 30fps is the minimum the Deck will run at.
Given what's been said about the device so far, it still seems like Valve are struggling to distance itself from Nintendo's console. Although the Deck is much bigger than the Switch, they both do look the same in terms of their exterior design, and the fact that they can both be docked. It doesn't help that the Switch OLED is coming out just ahead of the Deck, but it's perhaps important for people to understand that Valve's unit is specifically aimed at Steam games, rather than it being a direct Nintendo rival.
The Steam Deck is due out this December.
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Source: PC Gamer