Sean Hollister

CNBC, in a story titled “Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever and it’s costing the economy,” seems to be calling people “device hoarders” if they can’t afford a new phone or computer. Here’s just one selection:

Antonio says the heat issue is fixed!

Valve hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat won’t promise anything, but he told us “that is something we are really interested in supporting” during our big Valve trip. It’s not as simple as it sounds, he says: What if users pull it off the dock mid-update?

Valve’s marketing video for Steam Frame is a bit misleading — its monochrome cameras mean you’d see the world around the screen in shades of grey, not color. But I’m hoping that means affordable. Valve’s Jeremy Selan told us:

I brought our Quest 3 to Valve’s offices just in case we’d be seeing the Steam Frame, formerly known as Deckard — and it paid off! I didn’t have time to directly compare optics, but I’d say comfort is superior. It’s noticeably smaller, with controllers that are bigger.

What’s inside Valve’s six-inch cube? We got a dozen photos of the console’s guts, including all six sides.

I told you security guards lined the halls during my Valve visit. CNET’s Scott Stein can back me up. But I’ve never seen guards during previous Valve trips — and maybe they were only there that day. Steve Burke (Gamers Nexus) told me he didn’t see any when he visited.

Since people seem interested on our social media channels: Valve really does have a giant valve at HQ! A huge red wheel that spins in place on a huge screw, anyhow. It’s fun to throw, heavy, lots of inertia keeps it spinning. No word on what happens if you let the Steam out.

IGN’s Wesley Yin-Poole has an excellent interview with Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat, including one reason why they have no news about Steam Deck 2. It’s because yet again, the promised “generational leap” in performance is not yet possible. They haven’t found the right chip.