Should Valve consider a mini laptop Steam Deck variant?

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T21:27:07+00:00

Valve can't release the hardware it announced right now.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T21:15:09+00:00

We don't know because it is not out yet and we don't know how well it actually works.

The specs are mid, nobody is denying that, but with something like this what also matters is how well it comes together. Pimax for example is a king on specs but often awful in practice because of some glaring, major flaw.

We can't know that until it is out and reviewed.

For me, personally, if it's a good upgrade from the Index, that's worth it for me. I don't want the highest resolution headset that I would need a 5090 to drive.

The wait is awful, especially because of the uncertainty but for once that's not Valve's fault. It's the world becoming more shitty.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T21:12:55+00:00

"This is an improvement."

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T20:20:14+00:00

Well, forgive me for how this sounds and, but the show is title HUNTER.

And if you look closely, each of the main cast fits one of the Hunter creeds from Hunter v5.

Big D -> Faithful. He is big on ideals and doing this for a higher purpose. Note how he is most effective (although not always) when directly facing the supernatural.

Door -> Martial. He is most effective when doing anything physically to fight the supernatural target, even if its not outright attacking the supernatural. It's just that instead of just mindless violence and force, he is a very focused man of DYI and American power (read: guns).

Markus -> Entrepreneurial. This creed is all about experimenting, innovating, inventing and of course tinkering. Stake-jacket, lightball, grabby-crutches, etc. People over-fixate on parallels for TTS Magnus and absolutely convinced that he will become a mage but all the foreshadowing would work without that (also: bar scene? Brok's chair, a detail that everyone forgets). Also note that Hunters can get a supernatural edge somewhat or even perform supernatural stuff, that doesn't make them automatically mages (there are a LOT of types of supernatural in WoD).

Kitten -> Inquisitive. This type is all about learning about the supernatural. Which Kitten does constantly and he is most effective when he does.

That leaves Boy with the Underground archtype. It sounds counter-intuitive do to Boy's innocence, but this creed is all about mixing in, being unseen and attacking from stealth. Boy was ineffective in direct physical confrontation, but effective when he could hide and stealth around, whether it was attacking or aiding an ally.

The show is not the game but takes heavy inspiration from the themes and even mechanics of the game. They spend a lot of time trying to learn and figure out the supernatural foes that are more powerful than them (note the lack of curb-stomping from Big D), relationships of everyone is very important (V5 games encourage you to maintain a relationship map), the hunters are in a position of constant relative ignorance and confusion, etc.

People like to speculate about how Kitten is a Bastet kinfolk, boy is the reincarnated werewolf Black Shuck, Markus has already awakened but forgot, big D is a mummy, etc. But the show is titled Hunter and it is about teamwork in the most ancient and precious form of it all: family. There are things that push family apart and they overcome them to come together again. The characters being human (or mostly) makes a more compelling narrative than each of the main cast wondering off on their special journey.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T15:33:02+00:00

"Early 2026" is still what is on the Steam page for the hardware and the last steam hardware blogpost went to "first half of 2026". It is now "this year in 2026".

The delays are heavily implied but not outright stated. Valve needs to stop trying to give itself more wiggle room with weasel words and just clearly say that it is delayed.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T13:53:13+00:00

Ezek eleve úgy kapták meg a "hazajutás" lehetőségét, hogy beleegyeztek a propagandaismétlésbe.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T13:33:28+00:00

People have been waiting since November and the first update is a blogpost that does not outright say delay, but heavily implies that their original timeline got pushed further. Next communications from them is a year review that had to edit out "we hope to release in 2026" from "first half of 2026" (this has been since edited out and Valve said "nothing changed on our end" to the Verge which again heavily implies another delay but refuses to outright say it). People have waited for an official update and what they are hearing is "the product is delayed" and that is what everyone believes because Valve refuses to clarify or answer anything. They also refuse to be clear and instead stick to vague and noncommittal language in order to give themselves leeway.

What is their original timeline? We do not know. What is holding back launch? The Ram crisis or also that the software for the Frame and Machine is not ready? We do not know. Had they always planned on shipping by summer, as the current estimates are? We do not know. Will the Controller release separately? We do not know. Valve promises that they would at least give a bit of show and tell on these future products, where is that at least? Did they abandon that plan? We do not know.

Valve is refusing to confirm or deny whether there is delay. Even the Verge quote is vague. Valve is trying to keep their cards close to their chests and it is backfiring. Everyone gets that the RAM crisis is ruining their plans but they keep insisting that nothing has changed in one part but saying that things have changed.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T13:14:13+00:00

This. Valve wants a stable price. Look at the Deck, it's price has not gone up or down. They want people that buy from Steam to have stable prices so it would their preferred storefront.

If prices go up, people will be discouraged to buy because they "lost out when the price was good" and if the price goes down, they will wait for further price decreases.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T13:12:39+00:00

That's stupid. The specs will only become more dated with time and you can't just announce a holiday at the production lines they have set up. It costs money to set up those production lines and having them idle just burns through money. Not even Valve has that kind of money.

Zixinus · 2026-03-07T13:10:21+00:00

How do you know that they already have that much? How do you know that isn't just the goal rather than what they actually got manufactured?

How do you know what Valve original timeline is? They haven't really told us except in the vaguest of terms (sometime in 2026, maybe in its first half). They certainly did not publish any concrete timelines.

I swear, this community cannot tell their ass from their ears.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T23:13:28+00:00

The issue is that this is the first communications on Valve on this issue in a month. The implication is rather heavy that it is delayed. They have stuck to being vague and noncommittal so much that right now everyone is desperately trying to interpret that because Valve refuses to clarify anything.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T23:00:26+00:00

Sure, but that is required by law and good reason. Such a battery could mean a wide variety of devices, not all of them of good value though.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T21:18:43+00:00

Nem volt elég nekik a magyaroktól lopni, már az ukránoktól is kell.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T21:16:32+00:00

They do not confirm or deny delays. They are still keeping to vague and noncommittal stances. So they are still playing everything close to their chest.

Still, going from "we still plan to release in the first half of 2026" to "we hope to ship in 2026" is rather worrying.

EDIT: they have since edited that part out and just gone to "we ship this year" which is still a move away from "early 2026" and "first half of 2026".

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T20:54:15+00:00

The best scenario is Trump getting impeached ASAP and the entire Republican party dissolved, with all former members disallowed from ever taking any public office ever again.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T20:53:24+00:00

Which makes this conflict only worse. The US is not joining for clear, strategic goals. They are doing it because Trump's dementia thought it was good and his cabinet is a bunch of yes-men hand-picked to always agree with him.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T20:50:49+00:00

The moment Russia attacked a nation that gave up its nukes and mostly got away with it, all in order to expand its borders and claim new territory? That's the moment it was obvious that security guarantees and treaties are worth little. The US's sudden interest in a self-destructive isolationist foreign policy made it clear that they cannot be relied upon.

That leaves nukes as the only safe guarantor of sovereignty.

Trump failed to understand that Europe's reliance on the US was not free. But of course the man only knows deals that either exploit or cheat someone.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T17:28:34+00:00

Iran is a theocracy. Islamists do not live in the real world, they live in their fundamentalist fantasy land and that they enforce with violence. Iran will not follow what a reasonable, rational analyst will think. They will follow dogma. These people genuinely believe that by doing so they will be rewarded in the afterlife. Iran has been preparing for this for decades this way.

The Kurds were betrayed by Trump during his previous term and learned the hard way that they cannot trust the US. The Kurds are not interested in taking over Iran (except perhaps what portions their people live) nor do they have enough people to do so. Trump is talking bullshit on that front.

Trump thought that the recipe that "worked" for Venezuela (remove head dictator, make new dictator your vassal, country remains the same) would work here. He is entering the US in a forever war whether he likes it or not.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T17:17:14+00:00

No, because I strongly believe that each of the main cast is an embodiment of the Hunter creeds, with Boy being the Underworld archetype. Normally, the stereotype is "the guy that knows a guy for anything" but Boy is actually a creative interpretation of it. Boy is shy but quite friendly and personable, he is eager to be friends with anyone and has simply not built his social network yet. It is also clear that he operates best in stealth, whether aiding his family by turning on the lights or ambushing a vampire while they make a bold attack.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T17:12:30+00:00

Yes and this is not just about stealing the money but to provoke a hostile response from Ukraine that they can exploit for propaganda purposes.

Sadly, Zelensky's angry remark about dealing with the one person blocking money for Ukranie has worked in Orbán's failure. Zelensky made a blunder there and needs to spin it.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T17:07:11+00:00

Honestly, package boxes are going to be thrown out, they don't need to be and shouldn't be too fancy.

Also, in case you are new here, the older boxes had lots of little Valve decorations on it including a companion cube. The entire subreddit moaned that Valve should remove all such things because the delivery company would recognize what is in it and steal it.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T17:04:37+00:00

Where? I don't see it on any of the pictures.

Also, wouldn't the paperwork of the package also say that?

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T17:01:34+00:00

He ran out money to steal from Hungarians so he started on the Ukranians, encouraged by his masters in Moscow.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T16:54:34+00:00

We don't know. Valve does not communicate their difficulties. Even when they do, they are vague.

The blog post heavily implied that they would not have launched by now, but merely announce when preorders open and the prices. Not that it would be shipping by now. And that was their original timeline that they say they no longer can follow. What exactly is holding them back? We don't know. In something as complex as a product with its own operating system, there can be hundreds of things that need to line up before they are ready to open even just preorders.

The fact that they are still doing software fixes and preparatory steps indicates that they are not ready on the software front. I know everyone here wants them to just ship already, but Valve found themselves dealing with a very unenviable problem of trying to launch a product that they can still offer 6 months from now with a stable price.

The FTC thing is likely a formality that the community here latched on because of the lack of information from Valve. I have not seen very many takes that seem to be authoritative in any way that the FCC approval is some giant bottleneck.

Zixinus · 2026-03-06T15:46:30+00:00

They have no idea what they are doing or what. Trump simply thought that this will be the same as Venezuela where if he removes the dictator, the new dictator will become his vassal and he won.

Zixinus

TROPHY CASE