Gamezine14, 25-02-2022: Steam Deck & Nintendo Switch Sports, gm918235

Can You Build a Steam Deck? 

Video Credit: TECHNO PREMIUM

The Steam Deck will be the first affordable portable PC on the market. There were portable PCs before, but they are so expensive, it’s safer to buy a phone. Mostly because those portable PCs are made by small companies (sometimes from China) who would go bankrupt if they sell those products at a loss. Valve, which is a private company that operates the best digital PC storefront, is not only able to sell the Deck at a loss, but make it powerful at a reasonable price. The rest is history: Steam briefly crashed due to massive demand, so it clearly has support. But what if people wanna make a better Deck?
With one more weekend to go until the launch day, Valve unprecedentedly posted the Steam Deck’s CAD files on the Twitter pages of theirs and the Steam Deck page. With capable hardware and resources, you can build the chassis of the Deck. You could potentially build a PC with different innards. It could help with making more accessories for the Deck. Or some scumbag can sell you crap inside a 3D-printed fake Steam Deck on eBay. Although… Never mind, I was thinking of making a powerful tablet.
This is one of many great things Valve is doing: they are so open, they’re daring their rivals to make similar portable PCs, hopefully with the same reasonable price. Seriously, making PCs more portable is more manageable, especially with how many components it takes to make one PC. For now, we’re waiting and praying for the Steam Deck to be the next best invention.

iFixit: Official Vendor for Valve Hardware Parts

Video Credit: iFixit

The Steam Deck is proving its worth as a gaming PC, but God forbid something awful happened, where would you take it to repairs? Also, don’t even think of trying to fix it yourself unless you know what you are doing. One piece of equipment is damaged and the whole Deck is doomed. Although, where the heck would you find a replacement piece?!
Through iFixit, that’s where! Valve is partnering up with this global e-commerce website to sell replacement parts for the Steam Deck and the Valve Index. However, you may not see components of the Deck as of now before the official launch, but it’s still a good sign for Deck enthusiasts. Valve even sent a Steam Deck to iFixit for their own teardown video. Here’s some highlights from iFixit:
-The joysticks can be removed without soldering, in case of joystick drift
-If the screen is left alone, disassembly only requires a Phillips screwdriver and a plastic spudger
-Deck components are well-labelled, for easier reassembly
-It’s possible, but very hard to replace the battery
Although it’s great news, you definitely need to be very careful with the Steam Deck, based on the prices of some components.
I appreciate there is a place to get replacement parts, I’m gonna do my darn hardest to preserve the Steam Deck. A piece of tech like this should be respected as much as an Xbox console and a PC. Especially the battery.

Steam Deck Without Fortnite

Video Credit: Brodie Robertson

While Fortnite can be questionable, it's a great success for Epic, even after losing the smartphone (unless it’s Android) as a platform to play the game on. Which is negated if you own a Switch. And since Epic is helping the Steam Deck become compatible with their Anti-Cheat software, it would mean Fortnite may make its way to the Deck, right?
Wrong! Epic’s Tim Sweeney, despite praising the Steam Deck as “an open platform where users are free to install software of their choosing”, has no plans to update Fortnite for the Deck. After some questioning, Sweeney stated that while they are working hard to maximise Easy Anti-Cheat on Steam, Fortnite won’t be part of the games that use the software to be compatible with the Steam Deck. When asked why not, Sweeney replied: “We don’t have confidence that we’d be able to combat cheating at scale under a wide array of kernel configurations including custom ones.” Because Linux, an open-source OS, is more customizable than Windows, it stands to reason Fortnite will be a bigger target of cheating, which even Epic may not be able to keep up. Some people claim they don’t want Steam to benefit from Fortnite, especially when they do things differently from them (Epic Games Store is now home to blockchain games).
It is surprising that Epic isn’t bringing Fortnite to Steam, though probably a moot point since it will be possible to either use Proton to run Epic Games Store or just dual-boot Windows. There is some justification: the Steam Deck is still in its early days, so it is too soon to add Fortnite to the Deck without enough people to justify the costs of maintenance and having to deal with cheaters left and right. But once the Steam Deck catches more and more attention, Epic should reconsider.

Goodbye, Xbox on Windows Mobile

Video Credit: Microsoft

Remember when Microsoft made a line of smartphones? I certainly never heard of it and was probably to compete with Android and iPhones, with Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia as a step in that direction. Guess it didn’t work out, since it only lasted five years, since Microsoft’s share in the mobile space dropped to 1% in 2016. And the latest model was declared end of life in 2020, after which Microsoft prioritized integration and software development on Android and iOS. The only thing that kept Windows Phone alive was Xbox features for games, such as achievements and progress in the user’s Xbox profile. Unfortunately…
Through the Xbox app, Microsoft announced it’s ending Xbox support for the Windows Phone, which is bad news for the community that still uses Windows Phones. All the phones’ operating systems, including Windows 10 Phone, will be stripped of Xbox support on May 16th. Games that don’t rely on Xbox or cloud support (such as games with offline saving) may still work, but Microsoft doesn’t guarantee it’ll be the case. It’s certainly the end of the era, which is for the best.
I have heard bits and pieces about the Windows Phone, but never tried it. But Microsoft going out of its way to keep Xbox on Windows Phone alive for so long is generous. But nothing lasts forever, so it is as good a time as any to put it to rest. I mean, you could use Xbox Cloud Gaming, but it would be pointless since it can be done on Android (or anywhere else with a web browser). Since some rumors circle about Android apps making their way to Xbox consoles, the Windows Phone is now a relic of the 2010s.

Nintendo's New Sports

Video Credit: Nintendo

The Nintendo Wii was a cool concept that worked amazingly well. Everybody got a game that came with the console, Wii Sports, which established the platform as great for a casual audience. The Wii had many games, but none were as intuitive as the Wii Sports, who made better use of motion controls, since it was built with that in mind. It was a great way to play sports indoors and exercise. The game was so great, it spawned many releases, like the latest Wii Sports Club, an HD remake for the Wii U with Wii Remote Plus support. When the Nintendo Switch came out, the only game made specifically for the system, 1-2-Switch, had no sports minigames (it also wasn’t packed in with the Switch; Nintendo justified it as letting the consumer buy whatever game for the system). However…
At the recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed a new game based on Wii Sports, titled Nintendo Switch Sports (seriously?!). In addition to the sports introduced in Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort (except the Swordplay sport being replaced by the similar Chambara), it’ll include soccer (which will use the Leg Strap included in the physical copy, based on the one introduced in Ring Fit Adventure), badminton and volleyball. Six sports will be available at launch, while the rest will be released as free DLC. Sportmates will be new player avatars for this game, but Mii will also be available for those kinds of players! The game will see release on April 29th, but some lucky Online subscribers took part in an Online Playtest, except they can’t say a word about the experience on social media per Nintendo’s request. We can only hope Nintendo is able to further polish the game with what they got, without media attention.
As someone who can’t get out of the apartment much (except for work), especially due to the global pandemic, this is the type of game recommended to exercise the whole body, not just the hands. Unfortunately, since it’s available on the Nintendo Switch, it makes the game passable to what the Steam Deck can bring to the table.

Favorite Game - Sonic the Hedgehog

During childhood, my only exposure to Sonic was Sonic X and some Happy Meal toys. I never tried the original game until I had an iPad, though the ads and the difficulty made me quit (I could pay to remove the ads, but…). However, after purchasing the Sega Mega Drive Classics on Steam (at a sale, obviously), I finally tried Sonic the Hedgehog, which was fun, without worrying about collecting the Chaos Emeralds. Collecting the Chaos Emeralds is the chore: you have to get to the end of the stage with at least 50 rings and jump into a giant ring, which will teleport you to a maze where you have to get to the centre to claim a Chaos Emerald. There’s only 6 Chaos Emeralds to collect, which only alters the game’s ending. In short, the game is enjoyable, but if you want achievements, get ready to spam Rewind a lot. The game, which was originally released on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, has seen many re-releases on many platforms (console, PC and smartphone) separately or as part of a game compilation alongside the two sequels (3, in case you consider Sonic & Knuckles separate) or other Sega Genesis games. All 3 Sonic titles will be available on the upcoming Sonic Origins, remastered and reworked for a new generation.