Information that the developer of Steam is developing a portable PC 'Steam Pal' like Nintendo Switch


by Colony of Gamers

Valve , which operates the PC game sales platform ' Steam, ' is developing a PC that can be carried around like a Nintendo Switch to play games on the go, IT news site Ars Technica reported. The hardware, tentatively known as 'SteamPal,' is expected to appear as early as the end of 2021.

Exclusive: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/05/exclusive-valve-is-making-a-switch-like-portable-gaming-pc/

Report: Valve Is Making A Switch-Like Portable Codenamed SteamPal
https://kotaku.com/report-valve-is-making-a-switch-like-portable-codename-1846967422

Valve's'Project Neptune' may be a handheld Steam console | Shacknews
https://www.shacknews.com/article/124543/valves-project-neptune-may-be-a-handheld-steam-console

On May 25, 2021, Pavel Djundik, the operator of SteamDB , a database site that stores Steam sales information, added the words 'Neptune' and 'SteamPal' to the code extracted from the Steam service. I found. According to Ars Technica, this SteamPal refers to an all-in-one gaming PC with a controller and touchscreen, and Neptune is also related to it. However, SteamPal is just a tentative name, and the official name is unknown at the time of writing the article.



SteamPal is very similar in appearance and function to Nintendo Switch, but it is not designed to be able to remove the controller like Joy-Con. Ars Technica also pointed out that it will be considerably wider than the Nintendo Switch because it has standard buttons and triggers as a game controller, a joystick, a touchpad that can be used with the thumb, a screen with a touch sensor, and so on. In this regard, the overall picture of SteamPal could look like the 'Concept UFO' announced in 2020 by Dell's gaming PC brand ALIENWARE.

You can read the article that summarizes the concept model of the portable gaming PC announced by ALIENWARE from the following.

ALIENWARE introduces Windows 10-equipped gaming PC 'Concept UFO' that can be used as both a portable game machine and a stationary game machine like Nintendo Switch --GIGA ZINE



Detailed specifications such as the screen size, drive time, and storage capacity of SteamPal are unknown, but it is expected that Linux will be adopted as the OS with Intel or AMD chips instead of NVIDIA. It also allows 'docking' to output video to a larger monitor via a USB Type-C port.

Valve's Gabe Newell said, 'By the end of the year, more about that, when students asked about the game console development initiative at a lecture held at the University of Sankt Maria in New Zealand in May 2021. I think you'll come across a good idea, and it will be something you didn't expect. At that time, you should say,'Oh, this is what he was saying.'' As such, SteamPal is expected to be announced by the end of 2021.

Ars Technica said of SteamPal, 'It's still in the prototype stage, and its features are subject to change in the future, as was the case with other Valve products like SteamVR andSteam Controller. That is, SteamPal. I can't say for sure except that it should have a cross key. ' Ars Technica asked Valve for comment, but he said he hadn't received an answer at the time of writing the article.

in Hardware,   Game, Posted by log1l_ks