Valve has officially released its PC gaming-focused portable handheld this week, and the flexible machine has garnered a fair bit of praise for its performance on local games. However, if you were hoping to play cloud games from Google Stadia and similar services on the Steam Deck, it seems you’re in for a rude surprise.
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Google Stadia launches in just a couple of weeks and the service is set to be the first of a few game streaming options. Now, some unearthed code is suggesting that Steam is working on its own game streaming service to compete with Stadia.
Portal is a beloved gaming franchise for many, and while fans still want a proper sequel to the game’s last release, it’s probably not happening anytime soon. Luckily, Portal is making a return, but by means of Bridge Constructor.
Along with announcing new mid-range devices at MWC 2016, HTC has announced the price for the Vive Consumer Edition and an early April ship date, with pre-orders beginning on February 29. The final headset features better ergonomics, improved controllers, and smartphone pairing.
Valve is known for many games, but perhaps none as well as Half-Life. And if for some reason you have an intense itch to stir up some nostalgia and run the game on your new Android Wear smartwatch… well, there’s a guide for that. But if you’re like me and understand that there’s really no reason to waste time doing this if someone else has already done it for you, then check out the below video…
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Better late than never – PC gamers will be happy to know that Android version 2.0.7 of the popular Steam social network and game distribution store brings with it a complete redesign of the app to follow Google’s Material Design guidelines.
As always, you won’t be doing any gaming from this app as Steam doesn’t sell mobile games and won’t stream desktop games to mobile devices, but you can do just about everything else; purchase games, message friends, access the Steam Guard authenticator, and more. We’ll keep you posted if we notice any other major changes.
For reference, here’s a taste of what the app looked like prior to this update:
If you’ve had any doubts about how far Android has come since 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, let these two (horrifying) screenshots serve as a reminder.
The update hasn’t propagated across Google Play yet, but if you head over to APK Mirror you can download it now (click here).
At MWC 2015 during HTC’s Utopia in Progress keynote, everyone was completely surprised with the announcement of Vive. This is HTC’s amazing new VR headset/experience that was developed in partnership with Valve. Yep. That Valve.
Since the keynote, I’ve actually had a chance to experience Vive and I thought I’d share a little bit of that with you. Let me tell you… It was incredible. This was definitely the most immersive VR experience I have ever tested…
Two of Valve’s most recognizable games are now available for the Android-powered NVIDIA Shield, after being teased last week to several online publications. The above crowbar — a tool that is used throughout Half-Life 2 — was sent to AndroidPolice‘s Michael Crider, depicting both an NVIDIA Shield device and the lambda, which represents the Half-Life series.
Besides Half-Life 2, Valve also released Portal for Android today. Both games are on sale at the Play Store for $9.99, though they are only compatible with the NVIDIA Shield.
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Earlier this week Valve made the first of three big announcements being teased on its website with the introduction of SteamOS: a Linux-based, open and freely licensable operating system that will run any number of devices and deliver the Steam experience in the living room. Today the company announced the second part of the puzzle with the launch of a hardware beta program for “Steam Machines” that will run the operating system:
Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS.
Valve has designed a “high-performance prototype” and it will ship 300 of the boxes to Steam users for free in order to test the platform:
While these products are still in development, we need your help. As always, we believe the best way to ensure that the right products are getting made is to let people try them out and then make changes as we go. We have designed a high-performance prototype that’s optimized for gaming, for the living room, and for Steam. Of course, it’s also completely upgradable and open.
The company is accepting sign-ups for the beta program until October 25. Here’s how to apply:
THE HARDWARE BETA ELIGIBILITY QUEST:
Before October 25, log in to Steam and then visit your quest page to track your current status towards beta test eligibility
1. Join the Steam Universe community group
2. Agree to the Steam Hardware Beta Terms and Conditions
3. Make 10 Steam friends (if you haven’t already)
4. Create a public Steam Community profile (if you haven’t already)
5. Play a game using a gamepad in Big Picture mode
With SteamOS, it’s not just games. Valve could quickly be on its way to making a full fledged Google TV competitor with the Steam Machines it will begin testing for an expected 2014 launch. The company noted that its SteamOS operating system will also include features for other content such as music, TV shows, and movies, and Valve is already in discussions with various media companies to make that happen.
Valve Software’s official Steam client for Android devices has been available in beta since last week. Today, the stable 1.0 version was released on Android Market. You will need a Steam account to use the app that lets you chat and participate in the Steam community from your phone or tablet, get heads-ups on discounts, browse profiles, access latest news and more. Note that the program does not enable mobile purchasing of Steam games nor does it facilitate gaming on the go.
Steam is a digital rights-managed distribution system for cross-platform delivery of games, but it also provides support for features such as multiplayer, automatic updates and in-game voice and video chat. The Android version of mobile Steam client arrived on the heels of last week’s release of a companion Steam app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.
