The list of portable game consoles has been expanded with the Creoqode Lyra+ model. This device with a 7-inch QLED IPS touch display and unusual hardware – inside is a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4. This means that the console has a 1.5 GHz Broadcom BCM2711 Arm processor, 4 GB of LPDDR4-3200 RAM, as well as support for Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. For data storage, a 32 GB microSD memory card is used, but you can put more.

The console will receive a battery with a capacity of 6000 mAh. It is positioned as a solution for retro games in emulators or for streaming games. Declared support for Google Stadia and Xbox Cloud Gaming, you can also stream video from Xbox, PlayStation or PC to the console.

Finally, the console can be used as a general purpose computer for web surfing, media playback, and so on. And with the HDMI port, you can connect an external display.

The novelty is estimated at 380 dollars for the period of crowdfunding, in retail the cost will increase to 560 dollars. Lyra+ will be available in two versions: as a kit for self-assembly and a ready-made version. The release date has not yet been announced.

The PlayStation VR2 virtual reality helmet has not yet got a release date, but its photo has already appeared on the network. Developers from Bit Planet Games have published a photo of new items. True, then they promptly deleted the photo, but copies have already been distributed over the network.

The new helmet is being created for the PlayStation 5 console, although many hope to be compatible with the PC. The novelty is expected to receive OLED displays with a resolution of 2000 x 2040 per eye, support for HDR, a frequency of 120 Hz and a viewing angle of 110 degrees. The novelty is also credited with eye tracking and a single data and power cable, while the new controllers will receive adaptive triggers and an advanced vibration mechanism.

The new helmet is said to support Horizon Call of the Mountain, No Man’s Sky, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners: Retrebution and Resident Evil Village. Other games are also expected to appear.

There is no exact release date yet, it is assumed that the helmet will appear in the first half of 2023. He is credited with a cost of 400 euros.

Valve recently announced that it plans to double Steam Deck shipments in the coming months. However, it seems that this may not be to the liking of users. Reportedly, some new 256GB and 512GB storage Steam Deck models will now ship with PCI Express 3.0 x2 SSD instead of PCI Express 3.0 x4. This halves the read and write speed.

Valve responded to this information and stated that during testing they did not notice any effect on gaming performance. It’s hard to say if this is true yet, but it can be assumed that slower drives will increase the loading time of level games.

It’s funny that this happened in parallel with the company’s statement about why you should not put long SSDs in the console. After all, for this it is necessary to remove the thermal pads, which can lead to overheating of the power system.

To find out which SSD is installed in the console, you need to go to the list of drives and the SSD model will be visible on the right panel. If E13T is not listed in its name, it is most likely a slower version.

Not only Valve creates portable consoles. The Chinese brand Ayaneo is preparing a Next II solution with discrete graphics and powerful processors.