The Steam Deck is one of those devices that's either going to be the biggest hardware gaming machine of the year, or could be a let-down for fans. It's impossible to say at this stage, but the information that's being drip fed by Valve suggests that it's going to introduce a wonderful way of combining PC gaming with the mobile market, even if the Deck is being compared to the Nintendo Switch. However wondrous it may seem, it sounds like the device went through some iterations before landing on what's been shown to the public.
In a recent interview with IGN, both Gabe Newell and Pierre-Loup Griffais discussed the finer points of the Steam Deck, and what they felt they would consider a success once the device is released. Among talking about how they hoped it would be an intuitive kit that developers could easily make games for, both Newell and Griffais were asked what other names were given before landing on the current one.
Giving a little chuckle, Newell says that a couple of the names suggested were the "Steam Buddy" and "Steam Pal," while Griffais says that early prototypes were not particularly nice looking, so the nickname "ugly baby" made the rounds in the office. Given the current look of the device, especially with the Steam Deck sporting an ergonomic design, even if it is causing concerns about comfort, it's hard to know what early iterations of it would have looked like. With no pictures, the fact that both men in the interview seem open to talking about it with a degree of humor, suggests that it was unlikely to be a look that would have been seriously considered. This information is revealed at around the 8:15 mark of the interview.
That said, it would be interesting to see what the Deck looked like early on in the design phase. Even though it's sounding more and more like an interesting gaming device that brings PC gaming to hand-held hardware, there are some concerns about it. For example, there is word going around that some big titles such as Fortnite and Rainbow Six Siege may not run on the Steam Deck. This is more down to the anti-cheat software not being compatible with Linux, which the Deck is based on for its OS, than it is with the device itself.
Either way, there are a lot of ears to the ground listening intently for more information on Valve's hand-held machine. As it's a device that's going after the Steam and PC market, it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against other mobile gaming units.
The Steam Deck is due out this December.