Nvidia Introduces GeForce NOW For Steam Deck

Alongside update 2.0.62 to Nvidia’s game streaming service, GeForce NOW, that allows users to navigate the browser-based app with a gamepad, the company has launched a beta Steam Deck installation method that makes it easier to launch the service in gaming mode.

The beta is just a script that installs Google Chrome and adds the settings needed to make launching and logging into the service from Gaming Mode simple – that means launching the application from your Steam library in full-screen. You will need to enter desktop mode to download the script and then install it from the desktop, but it should be available in gaming mode after that.

GeForce NOW was already available on other handhelds, but it’s nice to have access to the service via the Steam Deck and its unique OS.

If gaming with a solid internet connection isn’t a barrier, installing GeForce NOW is a great way to access third-party game libraries (including Xbox Gamepass) and play games that aren’t supported or offer a poor experience on Steam Deck. It’s a strong alternative to game streaming if your desktop PC can’t be used.

The service also offers a free tier that throws some ads into the experience and limits playtime to one hour, so it’s easy to try out if you’re interested. The first paid tier should unlock everything you need for a good handheld experience for ~$10 per month: RTX features, 6-hour sessions, no ads, 60 FPS.

Steam Client Update Adds Lots of Steam Input Features

A Steam Deck Client update on May 7th introduced a variety of new helpful Steam Input options along with a few fixes.

The new features include the ability to “swap left with right” joy sticks and/or trackpads (which Valve notes should be helpful for left-handed folks), a couple new mouse actions to help orient in-game camera, and a few new FlickStick options – I really need to learn FlickStick…

Always happy to see Steam Input getting more love. If you haven’t dove into it, it’s a very deep control customization menu integrated into Steam – both on Deck and Big Picture Mode in general – that can make games not designed for a controller feel right at home on the Steam Deck or the couch.

Check out the full list of Steam Input changes below, or see the Steam Deck Updates page for the full notes.

• New Configurator feature "Swap Left with Right": While editing a Controller Configuration, you can Swap the behavior of the Left Stick and the Right Stick, or Left Trackpad and Right Trackpad etc. Highlight the source you want to swap in the "Edit Layout" page, and the "Y" button should appear to allow the swap. This should be handy for "South Paws".
• New Mouse Action: "Reset to Horizon". This helper can reset your camera to the horizon by sending 180 degrees down, and then 90 degrees up after a very short delay. This action can be bound to any activator slot.
•New Mouse Action: "Turn Camera 360". By default this will generate 360 degrees of rotation.
•New Mouse Action: "Turn to Face Direction". When activating this, the camera will turn to face the direction you are pushing on the Left Stick (default - Track pads, DPads and Buttons can also be used). Can be combined with "Reset to Horizon" to produce a behavior similar to Splatoon's camera reset button.

•FlickStick mode's templates will now default to binding to the correct "Stick Click", but only in Mouse only or Mixed config templates.
•Added "Invert Command Binding" for FlickStick's Outer Ring Command.
•Added an option to allow the FlickStick to trigger a Flick Turn if the stick is thrown when the action set/action layer/mode shift is activate.
•Fixed SteamDeck Configurator Templates' FlickStick default bindings.
•Gyro Button Picker: you can now choose from any combination of pre-existing gyro enabling buttons. This replaces the "Gyro Activation" Dropdown.
•Config Defaults: Mouse templates, and "Mixed" Mouse and Gamepad Templates now use "Gyro to Mouse" instead of "As Mouse".
•Gyro to Joystick modes now no longer generate haptic events when outside the active range.
(On those controllers with haptics support) a haptic bump will occur when gyroscope is turned on and off due to the Gyro Enable/Disable/Toggle Button, if haptics are not set to "Off". Choose to disable/enable this from the Gyro Button Picker.
•Added Dualsense and Dualshock Gyro Enable/Disable/Toggle "center touch" and "center click" for completeness/to help with certain Paddle Mods.
•Fixed inverted axes when using "Setup Device Inputs"
•Fixed swapped A/B buttons when using Nintendo GameCube controllers.
•UI: Joystick Mouse Deadzone controls now use the common Deadzone Editor.

In Other News…

NonSteamLaunchers Adds Third-Party Remote Play Together

If you’ve been itching for some remote co-op or versus action in a game you have with a third-party store, you’re in luck. NonSteamLaunchers, a handy script that installs the latest GE-Proton and a variety of third-party launchers like Epic and GOG, has added RemotePlayWhatever to v3.8.8.

RemotePlayWhatever simply forces Steam’s Remote Play function to work with any game in your Steam library, including non-Steam games, including emulators. The two scripts seem like such a perfect match. Cheers to the happy couple!

Over 8,500 Yuzu Forks & Clones Hit by Mass DMCA

If you felt confident some Yuzu clones, if not Suyu, would be able to live on unimpeded by Nintendo, your faith may be shaken by recent efforts against the former emulator’s forks and clones.

In early May, a large-scale DMCA saw over 8,500 Yuzu-based emulators removed from GitHub in a mass sweep. Though the Suyu project was already dead, that Yuzu-based source code is still available from a private Git on the Suyu project’s website.

15,000 Steam Deck Verified Games

The Steam Deck has hit a milestone! Steam Deck HQ noticed that SteamDB is reporting 15,000 Steam games are verified and playable on the Steam Deck.

We all know there’s plenty of “unverified” games that work just fine on our little handheld powerhouse, just take a look at ProtonDB if you want to check a particular title’s compatibility, so hopefully that number keeps growing at a steady pace as more developers and publishers take note of the growing handheld trend.

What Are We Playing?

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

I can, at times, be something of a Steam library collector, and missing the train on Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition always bothered me. I didn’t really get into the Souls-like genre until PTD was delisted but I did play that version via Steam Family Sharing, so I had a few achievements from it. I wanted PTD, and the remaster wouldn’t do.

Fortunately, I stumbled onto a fairly-priced physical copy on eBay, and the seller worked with me to verify the GFWL key hadn’t been redeemed on Steam before my purchase. Joy!

PTD edition runs so well on the Steam Deck. Usually, it’s recommended to run a mod called “DSfix” with this edition, and while I run DSfix on my desktop, my experience with the stock software has been flawless on my Steam Deck OLED – despite the delisted version not being Steam Deck verified. Battery life has been excellent, and it was the perfect game for my over 20-hour flight this past May.