I just found out the PSP Go was a thing and I really like the idea of having the screen slide up to reveal the controls. I think this would be a great way to make a more compact version of the Steamdeck. I don’t know about the low profile joysticks though. I’ve never used anything like those before and I’m not sure how they’d feel to use. Maybe it would just be something I’d have to get used to. Regardless, I’d love to hear what other people think about this idea. Edit: I think I should clarify. I’m mostly referring to the style with the sliding screen. I don’t think something as small as the psp would be a good idea either
Much of the “slider” form factor died out early for a very good reason.
The simple reality is that the more moving parts you put on something, the more parts there are to break. It’s why phones became boring rectangles, hand-held gaming devices became slightly less boring rectangles, and why physical buttons were phased out of mp3 players, phones, etc…
Physical things cause complexity. Complexity increases warranty claims.
I think the main factors for the size of the Steam Deck and other similar handheld PCs are the size of the APU and heat dissipation. You’d get some serious performance degradation if you went much smaller. Even the Nintendo Switch is a similar size.
The switch is quite a bit thinner, but it’s running decade old arm silicon, so less heat to get rid of.
And you’d lose that slimness if you had to put the controls on another layer behind all the components.
That’s my point. The Switch still is relatively big compared to a PSP or DS despite being relatively low powered (compared to the Deck). For now you have to sacrifice a lot of computing power to hit the form factor of a PSP.
I don’t even think you can call it “relatively low powered”. It’s VERY low-powered. The Switch is about 6 years old now and the chip was about 3 years old when it first released.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s obviously been wildly successful and it still pumps out very playable games.
I expect the new platform to have a similar passively cooled low power (but much higher than current) chip.
I agree, but maybe it’s time for a Linux based Nintendo DS / PSP sized device? I mean, Nintendo has abandoned these truly pocketable consoles. Maybe with a die shrink they could fit something 70% as performant as a deck into that form Factor?
I personally know a lot of people who miss the DS and don’t game anymore now that the platform was dropped. Casual gamer types.
Those already exist based on Raspberry Pis or similar SBCs. I once sold some pretty cheap (cheap, not low cost) ones with the intention of making enough money to be able to afford one for myself. Until I realised that it’s much cheaper to slap a controller on my phone and call it a day.
https://youtu.be/WdHF1x-jK4I?si=yZhogz0lVxeY3Nqw
This thing is larger in size but is a similar form factor. For PC gaming I don’t see anything getting much smaller than this for another few years at least. This thing is really cool though, this to me looks like the most viable handheld for on the go PC gaming I’ve seen. Really short battery life tho.
I think once arm starts to become more common, and/or other RISC based platforms gain mainstream traction, more games will work on ARM based processors, and in turn we’ll start to see smaller and longer lasting PC gaming handhelds with arm based chips. Or at the least, handhelds with PC graphic quality.
But it will happen eventually, you’d blow someone from the 90’s mind if you showed them a 3Ds, it all just takes time.
I agree. I didn’t think it would end up anywhere near the size of a PSP but I thought the sliding form factor would help a bit with compactness. It would help with portability too as you wouldn’t need a custom case or those sticky things to protect the joysticks.
As someone who has a Steam Controller, you’d still need to protect the joysticks and touch pads. They both wear out over time due to abrasion and the oils on your fingers.
I’d much rather have some kind of mechanism built into the shell that improves ergonomics but can go compact for storing in the case.
lol at the sliding form factor for a keyboard you can’t reach.
Looks pretty useable to me
Those keyboards are designed to be used with your thumbs while holding it from the side. They don’t really function any other way. You can’t reach the keyboard from the side because of the width of the controller. There’s no possibility whatsoever that the device will balance if you hold it from the bottom where your thumbs could theoretically reach, ignoring that your thumbs also don’t bend that way.
It’s quite possibly the least ergonomic device ever made.
Looks pretty useable to me
I used to have one of those. It’s was definitely neat, and managed to survive a while, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. The biggest issue with something like this is that it adds more moving parts, which in turn increases wear and tear. For the screen to move, you’d need to either use a ribbon cable, or have weird contact points that only work in certain positions. Both of which aren’t great. Ribbon cables flex for a bit, but eventually tear, meaning no screen. The goofy contacts is slightly better, but eventually the sliding mechanism may go out of whack and now it isn’t making contact correctly.
I think I would still stick to the current form factor. Repairability and comfort are of greater concern to me at this stage in my life than pocketability.
I’d rather have better hand grip and ergonomics than small form factor. I used to play on my PSP and DS/3DS all the time, but yeah nowadays the Steam Deck is the best for my hands
I think not having joysticks would be a dealbreaker
If you like this you should check out Ayaneo Slide
There would be joysticks. They would just be a different style. They’re low profile and slide more than tilt. I don’t really know how to explain them
Low profile circle pads for joysticks aren’t bad at all IMO. Some people dislike them. Depends on the person.
I don’t think I would want a Steam Deck in this form factor. The current Deck honestly feels like the perfect size for me. Not too big to be unruly, not too small to be uncomfortable. I totally understand the appeal of a pocketable device, but I’ve come to realize that I really just don’t have a need for a device that portable and would rather have something bigger. A device this small wouldn’t have the same number of inputs and would greatly compromise on comfort. That’s mostly a me thing, though. Plenty of people want smaller handhelds, so a smaller handheld PC could probably find an audience.
I would love an Android smartphone that’s like this. Not a gaming-centric device like a Retroid Pocket, but something that could be my daily driver smartphone while also offering physical controls for a quality gaming experience. Basically the Xperia Play, but modern. It would be far less cumbersome than carrying around a gaming device in addition to my phone, making it much more practical for me.
I was just about to mention the Xperia Play until I read your post. It wasnt the best phone, but it let you play pretty much anything up to the PS1 era on your phone with a physical game pad.
Its crazy that it still seems ahead of some of the android retro consoles you can find today, given the sliding screen and, at least in my option, decent ergonomics.
Never held a psp go in my hands, but from the videos I’ve seen it looks horribly uncomfortable
I’d love something closer to the vita I think, I don’t need the slide mechanic it’s just something else to break. Pocketable steam deck, hell yes.
It’s a terrible idea even though I love it lol.
It needs the space for battery and cooling.
Technology isn’t there yet.
There’s certainly handhelds in the PSP go form factor already, but they use much smaller OSes than the steamdeck uses, and still have to make sacrifices usually.
Like you’d probably just get a quick-boot to a retroarch variant for emulation and thats the entirety of the OS you’d get.
What do you mean smaller Os? There is a PSP mod that puts a Raspberry Pi inside it. Raspberry Pi runs a Debian fork. Sure it’s not fast enough for Steam games but it’s still a Linux desktop environment.
Technically the mini retroarch is also on linux, but that’s not what people think of when they think “I want to run it like I do the steamdeck”
Like you said, not enough for steam games. technicalities don’t leave people feeling happy.
Yeah but “smaller OS” doesn’t mean shit nowadays when even the slowest device can run a Linux desktop environment.
The GPD Win 4 runs Steam OS. It has a faster processor than the Steam Deck, more storage, higher resolution, etc.
There’s already a few gaming handhelds with a sliding screen. See below:
Nah I’m happy with mine just as it is. Really curious about the Deckard tho
I own a psp go. I think a chunky (thickness) and larger one would be interesting. My psp acts as a clock when docked which is cool. But I think slide is dead as people have said. The buttons on psp are very thin. Certainly be hard to do trackpads etc.
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