Tag: valve’s
Half-Life 2: Episode Two gets modded VR support, making Valve’s sequel completely playable in virtual reality
Valve’s Steam Deck is on sale for the first time
There’s some good news if you’ve been holding off on buying a Steam Deck. Valve’s terrific portable gaming system is on sale for the first time, just over a year after the company started shipping the device. The price of the Steam Deck has dropped by 10 percent.
The 64GB model is currently $359.10 ($40 off). The 256GB variant has dropped from $529 to $476.10. The 512GB Steam Deck, which has a screen with anti-glare glass and the fastest storage of the bunch, is $65 off at $584.10. As things stand, it should take 1-2 weeks for your Deck to arrive. The discount will apply in all regions where the Deck ships until 1PM ET on March 23rd, when the Steam spring sale that just started comes to an end.
There are currently discounts on hundreds of games, so you’ll surely find plenty of things to play on your shiny new Steam Deck. The deals include Red Dead Redemption 2 (67 percent off), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (70 percent off), Marvel’s Midnight Suns (50 percent off) and NBA 2K23 (75 percent off). All are among the 100 most-played games on Steam Deck to date, but Valve has verified that thousands of titles will work on the portable PC just fine (keep an eye out for green and yellow check marks on the Steam store).
Valve, which has constantly been updating the Steam Deck over the last year, has added another feature. It’ll now be easier to change the startup video that plays when you boot up the system. Valve has created 20 startup videos that you can buy from the Steam Points Shop, but you can easily find other custom boot clips elsewhere.
Meanwhile, in case you’re worried that the Steam Deck will soon be obsolete, there likely won’t be a vastly more powerful second-generation model anytime soon. While Valve might continue to iterate on the system, “a true next-gen Deck with a significant bump in horsepower wouldn’t be for a few years,” designer Lawrence Yang told Rock Paper Shotgun earlier this month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valves-steam-deck-is-on-sale-for-the-first-time-185156337.html?src=rss
Suck it up, Valve’s going to make us wait years for Steam Deck 2
Half-Life mod adds real-time ray tracing to Valve’s seminal first-person shooter
Valve’s unusual corporate structure causes its problems, report suggests
New Report Claims Valve’s Structure And Work Culture Is Hostile To Diversity
A new report alleges Valve leadership blocked internal diversity efforts and halted the company from making a statement on Black Lives Matter. Interviews with current and former employees elaborate on Valve’s famously unconventional structure and how that structure can prevent diverse hires and outright political stances.
YouTube channel People Make Games interviewed 16 current and former employees of Valve, trying to get to the bottom of the gaming giant’s opaque worker culture and decision-making. The video then explores Valve’s worker culture and its effect on the diversity of the company. On paper, Valve has a structureless system, without literal bosses or managers and one in which employees can make their own decisions. Valve also uses its own stack-ranking system, by which employees evaluate each other’s performance and, in an undisclosed way, shape the year’s salary and bonus for each employee.
Multiple interviewees claimed the company has a lack of diversity, even by the standards of the often homogeneous games industry. One former worker claimed that more contractors and lower-level employees were women and/or people of color. She said, “While I was there, there was never more than one female programmer at the company.” More women work in HR and finance, but also are locked into more defined roles and so cannot experience the workplace freedom that Valve touts.
Biggest leak in Valve’s history includes pretty much everything from Half-Life 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2
This $45/£38 Steam Deck dock is a great alternative to Valve’s official model – and I’ve tested it
The official Valve Steam Deck Docking Station looks great, with DisplayPort and HDMI, ethernet, three USB ports and a design that perfectly fits the Steam Deck for £79. However, delivery times are 1-2 weeks, and you can now get a functionally identical alternative for half the price.
It’s the iVoler Steam Deck Dock, which normally costs £49.99/$55.99 but is now down to £37.59 in the UK or $44.99 in the US. I’ve been testing this model for the past few days; here’s why I rate it.