A Steam Deck owner has given their handheld into an entirely different form factor, reassembling it into a 3D-printed clamshell chassis in the style of the Nintendo DS. One of the key differences between the Steam Deck and other contemporary handhelds is that Valve actively embraces community development and customization of the device, which is precisely what fosters the context in which this fan project is possible.
Though Steam Deck 2 is being worked on, it’s not coming out anytime soon, with the limelight instead currently falling on Valve’s Steam Machine and Steam Frame devices. All this is constrained by ongoing memory supply issues, however, which makes it impossible to reliably predict any sort of hardware release schedule. Fans instead need to rely on their own creativity and wit to come up with new gear, and one modder has done precisely that.
The Steam Deck Supply Situation Just Keeps Getting Worse
Supplies of the Steam Deck continue to remain low across the globe, as the ongoing situation affects customers in more countries than before.
The Steam Deck Can Be Reworked Into a Nintendo DS-Style Clamshell
Reddit user and modder MadMario0_0, also going by the name of Pixel Nerd over on Reddit, has spent a significant amount of time reworking their old LCD Steam Deck into a DS-style clamshell device. Nintendo DS was very popular back in the day, inspiring an ever-growing number of hardware manufacturers to create their own modernized alternatives. As Pixel Nerd has proven, though, gamers don’t need to look much further than the Steam Deck to do much the same. Pixel Nerd has retained every single original part of the Deck for reinstallation into the hot-pink 3D-printed chassis made of PETG. The only bits that couldn’t be reused were the thumbsticks, which were replaced with Adafruit Joy-Cons due to their thickness.
It has taken Pixel Nerd about a year to fully design and build, and they mentioned reaching out to Valve to get their eyes on the project as well. “It was a pure passion project,” they said. There aren’t any immediate plans to ship units, which makes perfect sense given how supply-constrained the Steam Deck is to begin with. Pixel Nerd may consider developing conversion kits if there’s enough demand to do so, however. The important bit is that the proof of concept is out, and that every single aspect of the device (including gyro) works as intended.
What makes Pixel Nerd’s project particularly interesting is that one can order a huge number of Steam Deck parts from iFixit as well. Not the mainboard itself, granted, but SSDs, screens, audio gear, and batteries are all available at fairly reasonable prices. This makes it possible to work on similar projects without actually having to splurge on a full Deck right off the bat, though making these bits to work nicely with other non-Deck hardware won’t be for the faint of heart.
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Pixel Nerd’s clamshell Steam Deck basically goes in the opposite direction of what Valve is currently most interested in. As the inevitable release of the Steam Machine grows near, it’s clear that it and the VR-focused Frame will be the company’s flagship hardware for some time.
