The Steam Deck is awarded a prize. This prompts Valve CEO Gabe Newell to explain how great the computer is. Because only due to the PC could a device like the Steam Deck be created.
On November 22, the 40th Golden Joystick Awards took place. Every year, games, developers, and people are honored here. If you will, it is the “Oscar” for video games besides the “The Video Game Awards”.
This year, Valve’s Steam Deck won the award for “Best Hardware.” Gabe Newell, the head of Valve, personally accepted the award. He took this opportunity to explain why he thinks the PC is so good.
MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann looked into how MMORPGs play on the Steam Deck for you:
The openness of PCs can be found on no other platform
What does he say exactly? In his acceptance speech for the “Golden Joystick,” Newell explained that there is a reason why the Steam Deck was awarded. He stated:
On behalf of all employees at Valve, I would like to thank you for awarding the Steam Deck with the Golden Joystick for Best Gaming Hardware. In my PC, I have an AMD CPU, an Nvidia GPU, the PC itself is from Falcon Northwest, I have a Corsair mouse, a Logitech keyboard, and a Samsung monitor. (…)
And it is this interoperability, this compatibility, this openness that makes products like the Steam Deck possible.
What does that mean? The advantage of the gaming PC is, according to the Steam head, that you can connect anything to your device: It doesn’t matter what hardware it is or which manufacturer produces it.
As a PC gamer, you are completely free to choose which hardware you want to use. And this openness is the advantage of the gaming PC. Those who play on a console like the PS5, Xbox, or Switch know that the limitations are significantly greater.
However, this openness can also lead to problems. Because this freedom causes fear among console gamers of cheaters, so they often disable crossplay to avoid PC gamers.
Without the gaming community, gaming would not evolve
What else does he say? In his acceptance speech, Newell also explained that especially the gaming community has a large share in the development.
He referred to Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida, who accepted the Golden Joystick for his game in 2021. He said:
But above all, I was impressed when I listened to Yoshi P. during his acceptance speech last year, in which he emphasized the community, and I really want to repeat that. If it were not possible, if we did not have the gaming community behind us, driving the entire industry forward, products like the Steam Deck would not be possible. Therefore, I would like to accept this award on behalf of the gaming community.
In a new video that is brimming with insider jokes, you can see Gabe Newell at his daily work. The video is humorously made and is definitely worth a look, even if you are not interested in the game DOTA 2:
Steam: New video shows the most powerful man in gaming in all his tyrannical glory
