I just found out the PSP Go was a thing and I really like the idea of having the screen slide up to reveal the controls. I think this would be a great way to make a more compact version of the Steamdeck. I don’t know about the low profile joysticks though. I’ve never used anything like those before and I’m not sure how they’d feel to use. Maybe it would just be something I’d have to get used to. Regardless, I’d love to hear what other people think about this idea. Edit: I think I should clarify. I’m mostly referring to the style with the sliding screen. I don’t think something as small as the psp would be a good idea either

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
    17·
    9 months ago

    I think the main factors for the size of the Steam Deck and other similar handheld PCs are the size of the APU and heat dissipation. You’d get some serious performance degradation if you went much smaller. Even the Nintendo Switch is a similar size.

    • peanuts4life@beehaw.orgEnglish
      6·
      9 months ago

      I agree, but maybe it’s time for a Linux based Nintendo DS / PSP sized device? I mean, Nintendo has abandoned these truly pocketable consoles. Maybe with a die shrink they could fit something 70% as performant as a deck into that form Factor?

      I personally know a lot of people who miss the DS and don’t game anymore now that the platform was dropped. Casual gamer types.

      • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
        5·
        9 months ago

        Those already exist based on Raspberry Pis or similar SBCs. I once sold some pretty cheap (cheap, not low cost) ones with the intention of making enough money to be able to afford one for myself. Until I realised that it’s much cheaper to slap a controller on my phone and call it a day.

    • Darorad@lemmy.world
      5·
      9 months ago

      The switch is quite a bit thinner, but it’s running decade old arm silicon, so less heat to get rid of.

      And you’d lose that slimness if you had to put the controls on another layer behind all the components.

      • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
        2·
        9 months ago

        That’s my point. The Switch still is relatively big compared to a PSP or DS despite being relatively low powered (compared to the Deck). For now you have to sacrifice a lot of computing power to hit the form factor of a PSP.

        • helenslunch@feddit.nl
          2·
          9 months ago

          I don’t even think you can call it “relatively low powered”. It’s VERY low-powered. The Switch is about 6 years old now and the chip was about 3 years old when it first released.

          Don’t get me wrong, it’s obviously been wildly successful and it still pumps out very playable games.

          I expect the new platform to have a similar passively cooled low power (but much higher than current) chip.