Yesterday, Pierre-Loup Griffais tweeted showing all Steam Deck prototypes developed since mid-2019. Griffith, a member of the Steam Deck development of Valve, showed off these prototypes at the Tokyo Game Show recently.
Although most prototypes are similar in appearance, all with double thumbsticks and a slanted front edge, there are some significant differences between them. Thanks to its simplified design and circular trackpad, one model in the lineup has attracted attention, reminiscent of those features on the now discontinued Steam Controller.
Griffith also showed the initial startup sequence for running unverified SteamOS versions and Half-Life 2 under the same prototype (minus any actual gameplay), confirming that most prototypes still work properly.
While arguably the most beautiful prototype in the series, Griffith mentioned that its flatter design “teached us a lot about comfort” and that the Picasso APU in it only offers about half the graphic capability design of the custom AMDAerith APU in the final Steam Deck.
In addition, in Griffith's subsequent tweet, the giant Steam Deck handheld model is also displayed. You can see that the buttons and rocker parts have been polished and the construction workers are installing it.
