Playing our PC games anywhere other than a dedicated room full of beige machinery was, not so long ago, a profound and supremely challenging undertaking. It meant carrying around not just the discs of the interactive wonders we hoped to sample in a train carriage or car backseat, but also a gaming laptop whose cooling fans could drown out a fire alarm.
Portable gaming once referred to this very specific thing: a laptop with high specs which you could, in a pinch, use to play games on. Providing the sun wasn't too bright or you wouldn't be able to see the screen. And there was an available plug socket at all times. And you didn't mind being responsible for the sound of a Boeing 747 jet engine idling while you played. Thankfully, technology caught up to our demand for gaming in the wild and found more ways to package up that proposition than is strictly useful. Handheld consoles. Mini PCs. Smartphones. Tablets. Gaming-focused smartphones. And now, portable PC gaming's final form, the Steam Deck.
HIT THE DECK
Steam's latest big project wasn't about changing the way PC gamers play games across the board. If we weren't resolutely stubborn consumers who comforted ourselves in the warm blanket of tradition, we'd have ditched the desktop PC as our primary gaming station years ago. No, that's a red line for us.
Componentry must be stacked within a rectangular tower full of only the drippiest of RGB fans, hooked up to a standalone display, and a mouse and keyboard must be waiting for us on a desk. That'll always feel like home to us, one suspects. The Steam Deck's just an additional part of that ecosystem. Plan B. The thing we pick up when we're going out, heading to bed, or simply can't be bothered to sit upright.
Denne historien er fra July 2023-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
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Denne historien er fra July 2023-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'
