Dec 15, 2022 08:00:00

Steam official mobile gaming PC 'Steam Deck' setup version, UI looks like this with Linux-based OS installed

'Steam Deck' developed by Valve is a mobile gaming PC equipped with Linux-based

SteamOS , characterized by being able to play PC games anytime, anywhere using the game distribution platform 'Steam'. Shipment of such Steam Deck to Asia including Japan will start on December 17, 2022, but since I had the opportunity to touch the Steam Deck ahead of time, I will try various setups to play first. I was.

Steam Deck
https://www.steamdeck.com/en/

When I turned on the Steam Deck, the Steam logo was displayed on the display.

First select the language.

Select time zone

Wi-Fi network selection

Enter the password for the Wi-Fi network to connect.

Since the display of Steam Deck is a touch panel, you can input by touching the virtual keyboard displayed on the screen.

After successfully connecting the Wi-Fi network, tap 'Continue'.

Steam will restart once.

Since the login screen is displayed, enter the Steam login ID and password and select 'Login'.

User data will start loading.

'Welcome to Steam Deck' is displayed, so press any button or tap the screen.

Buttons and functions are explained briefly. The Steam button is at the bottom of the left grip.

The quick access button is at the bottom of the right grip.

The power button is on the right side of the top.

Volume button on the left side of the top surface.

There is a microSD card slot on the bottom right side.

In addition, you can see what the appearance looks like including the top surface of the Steam Deck by reading the following article.

Portable gaming PC 'Steam Deck' appearance review that allows you to play PC games at any time - GIGAZINE

When the explanation of the buttons and functions is over, 'Please enjoy' is displayed, so press any button or tap the screen.

The home screen was displayed.

Press the Steam button to bring up the menu and select 'Library'.

The games you own are lined up. Correspondence to Steam Deck differs depending on the game, and there are four types: `` Confirmed to work '', `` Playable with Steam Deck '', `` Untested '', and `` Not supported ''. For example, '

Elden Ring ' below is a title that has been confirmed to work and is marked with a green checkmark.

'

Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code ' can be played on the Steam Deck, and a yellow mark is displayed.

'

Shooting skill test ' is untested, ? mark is displayed.

And

Street Fighter V is not supported.

By pressing the X button and using the 'Library Filter', it is possible to narrow down by the compatibility status of Steam Decks.

This time, I will install '

Portal ' which is a title that has been confirmed to work. Select 'Install'.

After the installation is completed, it will change to 'Play', so select this.

The game started successfully. Since the Steam Deck has a display resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, the screen resolution is also automatically adjusted.

Your save data is stored in the Steam Cloud, so you can continue from where you played on your PC. As shown below, I was able to carry over the data I played 8 years ago with the Steam Deck.

In addition to games, you can also add and launch non-Steam apps. With the default gaming mode (described below), you can add the web browser Google Chrome. Select the 'Non-Steam' tab and click 'Add Chrome'.

Since Chrome is displayed, click it.

Click 'Play'.

'Make Google Chrome the default browser' and 'Automatically send usage statistics and crash reports to Google' will be confirmed, so click 'OK' for the time being.

Chrome started up.

I tried to access GIGAZINE. Since the display range is 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, it is not so wide, but browsing equivalent to a general PC is also possible.

Next, press the Steam button and select 'Store' from the menu.

The Steam store page has opened. You can purchase the game directly from here. In addition, titles that have been confirmed to work with Steam Deck were appealing on the top page of the store.

Select 'Settings' in the menu.

In 'General', you can set the language used, battery level display, time display and time zone.

In 'System' you can check for software updates.

Information on the installed OS and the serial number of the Steam Deck were also displayed. At the time of writing the article, the OS was 'SteamOS Holo' version 3.3.2.

The version of Steam is below.

Hardware information was also displayed. The installed APU is 'AMD Custom APU 0405', the CPU frequency is 2.8 GHz, and the RAM is 14.49 GB. The GPU was made by AMD and the VRAM was 1GB. According to the

technical specifications on the official website, the CPU is 'Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz' and the GPU is '8 RDNA 2 CU, 1.0-1.6GHz'.

'Security' can be locked. As a test, try to lock it with 'When the system is restored and when the power is turned on'.

The lock is a style to enter a 6-digit PIN code. You can enter numbers by directly touching the screen, or by operating the buttons corresponding to the numbers.

'Notification' can be set for Steam notification.

The controller allows you to configure and connect the controller. There is 'Use Nintendo button layout' on the setting screen, and you can change the layout of the ABXY buttons to the Nintendo device type.

'Storage' looks like this. There are three types of Steam Deck, 64GB model, 256GB model, and 512GB model, depending on the storage.

Looking at the breakdown, in addition to the already installed game titles, software ``

Proton '' and Steam Linux Runtime, etc. were installed to run PC games developed for Windows on Linux.

And I tried inserting a 256 GB microSD card into the microSD card slot.

However, it cannot be used as it is, so it needs to be formatted to be compatible with SteamOS. To format the microSD card, click 'Format' from 'System' OK.

After formatting, when I restarted Steam Deck, the microSD card was recognized as follows. This also allows you to save game files to external storage.

The Steam button is used to bring up a menu like the one above, but it can also be used for shortcuts. Press and hold the Steam button to display a list of shortcuts. I used it all the way and felt that it was used frequently, 'force quit the game', 'display the keyboard', and 'take a screenshot'. The screenshots you take are saved locally, but you need to upload them one by one to Steam or take out the files directly in desktop mode (described later).

Quick access buttons are buttons for accessing Steam features. Below is 'Notification'

'friend'

'Quick settings'

'performance'

In performance, in addition to frame rate limit, you can also set variable rate shading, power consumption limit, clock control, etc.

Short press the power button to put it to sleep. Then, if you press and hold the power button for a long time, the following menu will be displayed, and you can select shutdown, restart, and change account in addition to sleep. You can also switch to desktop mode with 'Switch to desktop'.

When you select 'Switch to desktop', the desktop screen is displayed. Steam Deck is a 'gaming PC' to the last, not a game machine.

It is also possible to check files directly with a file manager from the desktop screen or launch a web browser. Since SteamOS is a Linux-based OS, the usability is slightly different from Windows.

・Continued
I tried playing various games with 'Steam Deck' where you can play Elden Ring and Katamari anytime, anywhere - GIGAZINE