Monster Hunter Rise no longer works on Steam Deck hardware, after its latest update added new DRM software.
09.01.2024 - 01:51 / theverge.com / Sean Hollister / Deck
By Sean Hollister, a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
MSI just announced the Claw, a handheld Windows gaming PC following the Steam Deck’s lead. It’s destined to challenge the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go at the same starting price of $699 — only this one has an Intel Core Ultra inside, which MSI claims is the clear winner over AMD in performance and battery life.
I just got hands-on at CES 2024, and I can confidently tell you that as of right now, it’s impossible to say whether it’s any good — that depends on performance and battery life, which are not final. MSI is showing off engineering samples here at CES, ones that feel like they need the months of tuning they’ll hopefully get before a first-half 2024 launch.
Here’s the good news: if you like the Asus ROG Ally and wish it were just more comfortable and longer-lived, MSI might have you covered. The grips are bigger and comfier than Asus, without the overwhelming beefiness and dig-into-my-palms edges of the Lenovo Legion Go. In many ways, the Claw feels like it’s cribbed directly from the ROG Ally, save for those grips: it’s similarly shaped, with similar port placement (including an SD card reader right next to a vent), near-identical button placement, and similar screen bezels surrounding a similar 7-inch 120Hz 1080p IPS screen.
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The user interface feels cut from the same cloth and similarly needs creature comforts that didn’t come to the Ally for a while, like the ability to map an Xbox button, and anti-deadzone to counteract joystick oversensitivity in some games.
Importantly though, you get a 53Wh battery, which is larger than the ROG Ally’s 40Wh pack and in line with Lenovo and the Steam Deck OLED. And it’s got Hall effect joysticks like the Legion Go.
MSI says it will even include the Ally’s best feature over the Deck and Legion Go: variable refresh rate, which can make the entire Asus experience smoother.
But smooth is not what I’m seeing from the Intel Core Ultra chip, at least not yet. The Intel Core Ultra-powered engineering samples MSI brought to CES are a bit stuttery in gameplay, with loads of frame spikes. The chip currently defaults to a 24W-27W TDP, which is more than I expected from what’s supposedly a more efficient chip than AMD’s. (Again, engineering samples! Likely months before launch!) The fans do seem relatively quiet under load, though it’s tough to tell in a crowded room.
It certainly isn’t competitive with the Steam Deck at lower wattage quite yet. When I set it to the “Super Battery Saver” 15W mode, like for like with the Deck, it struggled in an Assassin’s Creed Mirage benchmark
Monster Hunter Rise no longer works on Steam Deck hardware, after its latest update added new DRM software.
The latest Steam Deck beta client update is out, and it’s made a pretty neat addition to the quick-access performance menu. A tap of the Y button now brings up a brief explainer for whichever individual setting is currently highlighted, a handy lil’ reference for anyone who wants to customise how their Deck (or Steam Deck OLED) runs without knowing exactly how things like TDP limits and half-rate shading affect performance. Clearly it’s also a brutal attack on the livelihoods of honest hardware editors who write guides to this sort of thing, but whatever, Valve.
The Steam Deck OLED is a substantial upgrade over the original model, but if you already own another handheld, is the Steam Deck OLED worth replacing your current device with? And when choosing between the Steam Deck OLED and LCD, does the former justify the price difference? Let's find out.
There’s some wild rumors out this early that claim to know the specs of the Steam Deck 2.
Following a cryptic tease during CES 2024, Ayaneo has revealed its Next Lite gaming handheld and it's a confusing product, to say the least. It's designed to compete with Steam Deck, but it doesn't run Valve's official SteamOS — rather, it uses a forked version called HoloISO. It will be priced at a decent $299 and while the controls and screen look good, it packs a less-than-potent processor.
A week ago, I told you about how MIS was the next tech firm to be gunning for Steam Deck’s title in the portable PC market, with a device called The Claw. Well, it seems the company is thinking long, long term, with some newer versions of this yet-to-be-released system on the horizon.
The Like a Dragon franchise (formerly known as Yakuza) has gained immense popularity on Steam in recent, to the point where it may very well be one of its biggest platforms in terms of its audience at this point. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is set to launch in a matter of days as well, and for those who are hoping to play it on the Steam Deck, there’s good news.
VVVVVV was part of the initial wave of indie platformers, which means it was released in 2010 and is now a certified classic. To celebrate its 14th birthday, developer Terry Cavanagh has dropped an update which makes it Steam Deck verified and professionally translates it into 21 new languages.
Ayaneo, the company known for making a slew of handheld gaming PCs, has announced its latest product: the Next Lite, another portable gaming PC that is the first non-Steam Deck handheld to run Valve's Linux-based operating system SteamOS.
By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.
Literally a few days ago, there were heavy rumors and leaks suggesting MSI was about to unveil its own Steam Deck rival. Low and behold, it turned out to be true. Say hello to “The Claw,” a gaming device from the laptop manufacturer that’s gunning for a slice of the handheld PC pie.
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