Did Panasonic inspire the Steam Deck?
2023-04-07

I can only speculate, but way back in 2010 Panasonic announced the Jungle, a handheld Linux gaming device aimed at playing MMOs on the go. Unsurprisingly this never came to fruition. Back then the most powerful handheld games console would have been the PSP, it's graphics were impressive, but it did not offer any MMOs. Linux has always struggled to gain support from game developers and in 2010 game support would have been even lower than today. This would have most likely created a chicken and egg problem for Panasonic, how to convince game developers to port/design games for an expensive system, whilst convincing players to fork out to buy the system without many games. The most prominent game rumored to be in the launch line up was RuneScape, a hugely popular MMORPG. At least using Java to run in a web browser meant it would not have required much investment to get running on the system. It's popularity though was largely due to the fact that it was free to play. Leading to the question of would this player base be convinced to shell out hundreds of dollars to play a free game on the go?

My initial thoughts were this sounds like madness^[1], yet I can’t help but wonder, what if Valve had been involved? The work they have done on Proton has allowed thousands of Windows only games to be played on their SteamOS Linux operating system, enabling the Steam Deck to have a huge library of titles. Even though the device specs would have been lower, had Proton existed in 2010, I think the ability to play older PC games and less demanding indie titles, along with emulation of at least up to PS1 would have been quite appealing. Perhaps even being able to run a full blown MMO like World of Warcraft could have carried the handheld to success.

The other aspect that links this device to the Steam Deck other than being a Linux handheld is the suspiciously familiar circular trackpad. It can be seen on the right of the device, keep in mind that the steam controller would not be released for another five years in 2015. The trackpads are one of the key features of the steam deck which allow it to play such a wide range of PC games and elevate it above similar devices, so to see this feature on a handheld almost 20 years prior makes you wonder where handheld PC gaming could have been if Panasonic had made the Jungle a success. Especially if they managed to get Japanese audiences on board, where the PC had little relevance at the time.