New Delhi, Feb 8 :Gaming has evolved a great deal in the past couple of decades going forward leaps, and with the evolution of technology we’ve seen creation of all kinds of gaming engines, game AI etc. However, another area where we’ve seen drastic improvements is in the development of consoles. The leaps in the hardware space have made playing high budget (AAA) titles with mind-blowing graphics quality extremely convenient. There weren’t many popular consoles except the Nintendo Switch, until Valve announced the development of the upcoming Steam Deck. Announced in July 2021, Steam Deck is a handheld gaming console from Valve that will run on its upcoming Steam OS 3.0. In other words, the Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer that’s intended for PC gamers who want to be able to play their PC game library with the portability of the Nintendo Switch. It runs an AMD Zen-based quad-core CPU utilizing a GPU based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of PCIe NVMe storage. It will also feature a 7-inch touch screen with 16:10 aspect ratio is used for the games, and games optimized for the Steam Deck are intended for a resolution of 1280×800 px. There are three tiers of the Steam Deck. The entry-level $400 version comes with 64GB of eMMC, the second tier $530 version has 256GB of the faster NVMe SSD variety, while the highest tier costs $649 and comes with 512GB of NVMe storage as well as a premium anti-glare etched glass. As of now, Valve expects new orders for all three tiers to be available after Q2 2022. Furthermore, it consists of a D-Pad with two analogue sticks, A B X Y buttons, bumpers, triggers, two trackpads, and four assignable buttons on the back. For connectivity, the Steam Deck has dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5, a 3.5mm stereo headphone combo jack, and a USB Type-C port that can be used to output the display on a TV or monitor. It is also both touch enabled and brings in an ambient light sensor and can deliver between two to eight hours of gameplay on a single charge. Steam Deck is scheduled to launch on February 25, but details for the Indian launch are not yet available.(UNI)