Steam Deck: discover all the prototypes that led to the console you know

During the press event for the Tokyo Game Show, Valve displayed the prototypes that led to the Steam Deck current.

These are three years of history in the laboratories of Gabe Newell’s company lined up on a table, courtesy of Pierre-Loup Griffais.

Make a clean sweep of the past

The famous show will sound its kickoff this Thursday, September 15 and will close its doors on Sunday, September 18. The opportunity for Valve to present its PC / console hybrid to the Japanese public and win new followers.

Prior to the event, the local press was treated to a completely different form of presentation: several playable iterations that led to the model we know today.

Pierre-Loup Griffais has thus spread out a series of prototypes on a table, the first of which dates back to mid-2019, for the most curious. It is clear that the overall shape of the Steam Deck has always more or less remained the same.

Note, however, that the final version, decried by some for its imposing size, ultimately turns out to be much less massive when you see the models that preceded it. The most notable differences are actually at the level of the buttons and sticks, but also inside.

The difference game

Before opting for a directional cross closer to that of Xbox controllers, we note that Valve has iterated several times with separate and round buttons.

Same observation with the trackpads, sporting on several prototypes a round shape, similar to those of the infamous Steam Controller, before taking the square shape that we know. The sticks also went through several stages, before the gyroscope was adopted in the latest versions.

As for the interior, the playable prototype with blue buttons apparently featured a Picasso APU. Fortunately, Valve has pumped up the power of its Steam Deck in the meantime.

The presentation of these different iterations imagined over the last three years is perhaps not insignificant. Valve could indeed be inspired by it for the Steam Deck 2, a priori already in preparation in its laboratories.

Source : Pierre-Loup Griffais through Twitter