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Steam Deck: First Anniversary

• Razengan 4y ago
  Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bugs (like physics lag even when everything else seems to be running correctly). • If you install Windows, apparently Microsoft doesn't allow you to get updates (on W11) because of the Deck's lack of a "TPM". • There is no higher performance profile for docked mode, and apparently a dock doesn't come in the box. • The haptics aren't so hot. • Valve is almost as infamous as Google for abandoning their hardware and projects. Until there's a Deck 2 with substantial upgrades, it's hard to foster long-term confidence. It DOES seem pretty attractive as a one-stop hub for retro emulation, but it's far from being the "ultimate gaming platform". For anyone who really wants portable "PC" gaming, a laptop would be a much better choice. Heck even an M2 MacBook + Windows VM would do. ♥ Wishlist for a Deck 2: • Fix all the above criticisms. Can leave Windows out if Proton becomes better. • Some Deck-exclusive features and API so that it can be an independent platform in its own right, instead of just a mobile PC. Maybe things like the advanced haptics of the PS5 controller. -- I really wish Sony would reenter the handhelds market. The Vita was and still is an amazing device, and they could make an ever better one with the lessons learned from the Vita's failure and the success of the Switch/Deck, combined with new tricks like the awesome haptics of the DualSense/PSVR2.
  • knome 4y ago
    I did purchase one. Full access to my complete steam library on a device that can be carried around. Plays well. A little heavy at first compared to a switch, but I quickly got used to it. Gyroscopic aiming makes shooters playable. It has the flat mouse trackpad things from the steam controller that make using a mouse with games very nice. Valve will only continue improving wine over time, and if the steam deck is popular enough, you'll see titles account for it as well.
  • pigsty 4y ago
    I’m on the other side. Almost bought a PS5. Or to be more accurate, wanted to buy a PS5, but they were insanely behind with shipping and the little stocks there were got bought up by resellers. Then once Sony managed to get stocks up somewhat, they jacked up the prices (something I don’t recall any other console manufacturer ever doing). I bought a steam deck instead and I’ve been playing basically all I would’ve been playing on the PS5 I wanted to get, plus it’s a nice emulation machine and I’m also catching up on my PC backlog. Compatibility is great in my experience, sleep mode is incredibly convenient, and the only real complaint I have is battery life is basically awful for modern games. You’ll be recharging after any modest length session.
    • Razengan 4y ago
      > I’ve been playing basically all I would’ve been playing on the PS5 I wanted to get One of the most surprising benefits of getting a real PS5 has been the DualSense haptics. It's more than just a gimmick and makes a real difference in games that utilize it well: Demon's Souls, Ghost of Tsushima, Doom Eternal, No Man's Sky... Combat feels so solid, with every hit and clang of a sword ringing in your hand (literally, with the audio from the controller) and guns having distinct effects via the trigger resistance. After you've tried that, playing non-DualSense games feels so dead in the hand. There's almost a physical discomfort from the lack of that extra dimension of sensation and interactivity.
    • ErneX 4y ago
      Consoles are sold at close to loss or even at loss sometimes, inflation has certainly affected their plans. Microsoft has also increased the price of their consoles in some territories. Meta also increased the price of the Quest 2.
  • goosedragons 4y ago
    The Vita was my favorite handheld for a while. The Steam Deck is better. OLED is a nice to have but it's not a deal breaker (I have a Vita first gen). The screen on the Steam Deck is solid although not amaze-balls, I imagine it was chosen to keep the cost down. It's not an awful screen like the original 3DS. And hey, I can use a standard microSD card for $50 instead of importing a custom card from Japan for twice the price of the equivalent microSD! I haven't run into issues like wonky physics and I pretty regularly play "unsupported" games. You can also use literally any USB C hub (~$20) and there's several docks to choose from for like $50. Admittedly the docking stuff needs more work but PC games were not really designed to have the monitor/controller unplugged mid-game so the fact it works at all is amazing. I think using Linux is what allows stuff like sleep to work better. The Windows handhelds seem to have issues with that.
  • wraptile 4y ago
    Most proton games work flawlessly on steamdeck. The only issues after almost a year I encoutnered are related to anti-cheat and DRM. You can dock it with any hub that supports 45W usb c power and hdmi. There are lot of docks and valid cables online - it's really not that difficult to get it. So far Valve's support has been great and I'm not sure I agree that their infamous for abandoning hardware. The steam link has been merged into as a software project and steam controller still receives support though is no longer in production.
    • smileybarry 4y ago
      And ironically some games work better on Proton, partly because Wine shipped fixes for them (like RollerCoaster Tycoon 2) or Valve fixing game bugs on the Proton side (Elden Ring shader compilation stutters come to mind).
  • DRW_ 4y ago
    >• Valve is almost as infamous as Google for abandoning their hardware and projects. In what way? The Steam Machines didn't really take off, but they didn't sell any hardware for that - and they kept supporting the whole software side of things and progressing SteamOS, Proton, etc ever since - making the Steam Deck itself possible. Steam controller and Steam link are still alive, get support and new functionality beyond the discontinuation of the hardware. The stuff they spawned, SteamInput and the Steam Link app, all still there and not abandoned. Their VR stuff still gets updates frequently - the Vive, the Index, all still supported. If anything, Valve are a good example of how to support your stuff long term even when the hardware hasn't sold as well as you'd like. This is really a bizarre view to me and the complete opposite of my experience as someone who owns at least something from every 'category' of hardware product Valve released. None of them feel abandoned whatsoever.
    • foverzar 4y ago
      +1 to this. They've discontinued Steam Controller quite a long time ago, but it is perfectly supported with the new Deck/BigPicture UI.
  • gruturo 4y ago
    As a very happy Steam Deck owner, some of your points are valid, but frankly aren't so important (yes, not all games run, and if this was my only possible gaming hardware I would be upset - but I'm OK with only 70%ish of my catalogue being suitable for the Deck). The native windows option is completely uninteresting to me, but it would largely address the remaining portion of incompatible games, leaving only the performance limitations to contend with - those are quite real and can indeed degrade your experience, depending on what you're trying to play. Given the immense backlog in my personal games library I don't care - it's the perfect excuse to pick up some 4..10 year old titles and enjoy them - but I could be an outlier here. I have racked quite a few hours of Skyrim though, and it's awesome. The docked mode doesn't come with a higher performance profile because you're already pretty much at the power/thermal limits of the device, and AC power won't address those. And the dock not being part of the box is a bit of a non-issue where a 15$ USB-C PD/HDMI hub allows you to plug it into a big screen and use it as a controller. Worth noting: Between the crazy electricity prices in EU (my PC when the 3080 is active uses over half a kilowatt, that's easily 400 EUR/year worth of electricity) and the crazy convenience of instant suspend/resume and being able to play on the go, I find myself using the deck more and more often compared to the PC. --------Editing since you added a couple items to your post: > Some Deck-exclusive features and API so that it can be an independent platform in its own right, instead of just a mobile PC. Maybe things like the advanced haptics of the PS5 controller. Absolutely not! That's the complete opposite of the deck's philosophy.... it's awesome BECAUSE it's "just a mobile PC", and exclusivity deals are absolutely poisonous. It's already an "independent platform" - it's called Steam and millions of people love it to bits.
  • deleted 4y ago
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  • lini 4y ago
    > If you install Windows, apparently Microsoft doesn't allow you to get updates (on W11) because of the Deck's lack of a "TPM". I have installed Win 11 on my Deck because Easy Anti-Cheat does not work with Proton yet and have no issues with updates. The latest firmware (BIOS) seems to work fine for Win 11 requirements and I receive updates for Windows as well as new drivers from Windows Update.
  • smileybarry 4y ago
    > If you install Windows, apparently Microsoft doesn't allow you to get updates (on W11) because of the Deck's lack of a "TPM". False for almost a year, a fTPM was added in a system update in March 2022. It's even a note in Valve's Windows drivers page. > Heck even an M2 MacBook + Windows VM would do. I seriously doubt it, you have questionable GPU acceleration + 2 levels of binary translation + 3 GPU translation layers in the way. (I know VMware's DX virtualization is good but I have no experience with Parallel's) It's also at least 3x the price for meh gaming (on WOWARM64 on VM on DirectX on Parallels on Metal) performance. > Valve is almost as infamous as Google for abandoning their hardware and projects. Steam Link as an app is still fully supported and my Steam Link box not only works but gets updates, still. > Some Deck-exclusive features and API so that it can be an independent platform in its own right, instead of just a mobile PC. That's kind of the charm of it, though. It's meant to be a "play your existing games" type thing. Making more vendor-exclusive garbage won't drive adoption. The mouseaim-like trackpad, analogue triggers and haptics are useful exclusive features already, and they can be implemented by a user instead of relying on the dev. > The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb up here in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? I wish mine was OLED too but I was thankful it wasn't when I had to keep it on for hours to download games. I could look around for a screen-off tweak but I didn't have to worry about pixel burn-in. Maybe someday a OLED screen mod will happen, the entire thing is super repairable and there's already hall effect joysticks available.
    • shanebellone 4y ago
      "I wish mine was OLED too but I was thankful it wasn't when I had to keep it on for hours to download games. I could look around for a screen-off tweak but I didn't have to worry about pixel burn-in." Is this a real concern? I have a 55" 1st gen LG OLED and haven't had any issues. The tv is now 7ish years old and still delivers an amazing picture.
      • smileybarry 4y ago
        Sort-of, a Galaxy S8 in our family had solitaire (and the software buttons) burned into the pixels. Of course, they had the screen brightness to high/max and I think screen off time was very high, so it's definitely an edge case. I know I'm overly paranoid about it, though. But also: OLED TVs don't have much persistent HUD/chromes compared to a PC taskbar, an FPS counter/overlay at the top corner, etc. It might also be a case of "burn-in isn't a concern if the panel is high quality enough", e.g.: iPhone OLED panels compared to $200 Android OLED phones.
  • branon 4y ago
    For most of these I don't disagree, but I take issue with a few: Windows is a distraction and lots of us have spent years decoupling PC gaming from Microsoft. That said I do think first-class Windows support would be a boon for the Deck. Not sure how decent the user experience is on Windows right now. Exclusives are a foreign concept on PC. We do not need exclusives on Steam Deck, that is a console marketshare corralling strategy. PC has been getting ports of Sony titles lately. PC players win when there are _less_ exclusives, not more. In my mind Steam already is an independent platform, so the Deck benefits from that by extension. Steam has an API called Steamworks. Again exclusivity is not needed here, you can add non-Steam games to the Steam client and still benefit from some of the platform's features w/o using the API. As far as Valve abandoning products... they kinda do the opposite of that but I understand the sentiment. I never had a Steam Machine and doubt they're still in support, but Steam Link works great and the Steam Controller still gets firmware updates. Software, too - Source engine games see regular maintenance. Backwards compatibility is taken seriously, platform-wide. Even the Steam Machine could easily be reformatted with whatever OS, and as soon as the Steam client is installed, it instantly becomes a first-class citizen again. It's hard to truly abandon products that run atop an open platform.
    • charcircuit 4y ago
      >We do not need exclusives on Steam Deck, that is a console marketshare corralling strategy. This is a loser mentality for when your platform is unwilling to fund exclusives. Exclusives are a proven strategy for driving market share for any platform. Having Steam Deck exclusive games would cause more people to go out and buy one. Some people will be content with just using their PC or Steam Link and never have a reason to get a Steam Deck. Why experience 720p with weird controls and a limited battery life if you don't have to? Exclusiveness are the way you bring value to the people who choose to use Steam via the Steam Deck.
      • ElectricalUnion 4y ago
        > Exclusiveness are the way you bring value to the people who choose to use Steam via the Steam Deck. The hassle-free portable experience is the Steam Deck killer app and value. You don't need "exclusives", you just need to be plain better as a product. It's less of a pain to use that most linux friendly laptops. It's less of a pain to use that constatly messing around with equivalent Windows-powered or Android-powered tablet-slab devices.
  • cybrox 4y ago
    Small technical nitpick, Proton (Wine) is not an emulator. I don't own a Deck but I've been gaming on Linux using Proton for quite a while now and I have yet to encounter an actual issue with WINEs platform implementation. So far, I'm very impressed with the stability and performance it provides.
  • jgtrosh 4y ago
    - OLED would be nice to have (though it has no impact in comparison with ps5) (same for HDR) - Lack of dependency to windows and dumb windows11 requirements is specifically what makes Steam Deck “ultimate” (or maybe some less absolute term); some stuff has negative impacts via Proton, some stuff runs better via Proton than Windows - There is no higher performance mode for docked because that would be an arbitrary limit to handheld that valve does not impose. - fancier haptics would be nice to have, but they're not really what could break the steam deck as a champion product - as said elsewhere valve didn't “abandon” products in any similar sense to what Google has been doing; and is actively building on prior products - deck-exclusivity would literally break trust in the mostly open platform that valve is pushing. You're mostly talking about hype aspects that really miss on what makes the steam deck stand strong. You'd like it to be more like existing consoles, but it is strong precisely because it is not like existing consoles.
  • baby 4y ago
    I have both a PS5 and a Deck and your comment doesn’t make any sense to me
  • ElectricalUnion 4y ago
    > • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? OLED is very power hungry and gets hot - the Steam Deck is already battery life and thermal constrained without it. Like the Switch, they would need to make the controls further from the screen, making it even bulkier.
• raisin_churn 4y ago
  I know a few people who have the Deck and enjoy it, but "ultimate gaming platform" seems like a stretch. I look forward to Valve continuing to improve and iterate on the platform, though I haven't owned a device exclusively or even predominantly for gaming in about 10 years, so I probably won't ever buy one. Still, the knock-on effects for the rest of the Linux ecosystem are positive.
  • herpdyderp 4y ago
    I used to play games on: a Windows desktop, a Mac laptop, a PS2, a Wii U, a Switch, a GameCube. Now I play all the same games and more on just the Steam Deck. If that isn't ultimate idk what is. Every single other gaming device in my house is toast now.
    • adesanmi 4y ago
      It has one of the worst screens of any handheld gaming device I own. I prefer my Switch OLED, but will be very excited for a future version of the Steam Deck with a screen that isn’t utter garbage. I understand some people don’t mind, but I just can’t immerse myself into the games I play with that bad of a screen.
      • cassianoleal 4y ago
        I know it's only a band-aid but have you tried vibrantDeck [0]? It won't make your screen look like OLED but it definitely helps bring out the colours. I do hope someone comes up with an OLED replacement screen for it, hopefully with thinner bezels (like the Switch did between the original and the OLED) but I find the OEM one pretty adequate. [0] https://github.com/libvibrant/vibrantDeck https://github.com/libvibrant/vibrantDeck
    • raisin_churn 4y ago
      It's still not a target platform (either native Arch Linux or Proton) for very many games, so updates have broken a number of games that were previously rated "playable" or "verified", rendering them unplayable. TBF in every case I've heard of this happening, Valve has been quick to address it, so you may or may not consider that an issue. I don't game much these days, but when I do it's exclusively on my Linux desktop, so I have a high tolerance for troubleshooting occasional issues, but I definitely think it's a stretch to call that "ultimate."
• have_faith 4y ago
  I was a little bit down on the steam deck compared to most glowing reviews but I'm still extremely impressed with what they've achieved. Gaming on Linux has been massively accelerated as a result. Does anyone know of any other companies jumping into gaming handhelds as a result? does Microsoft see the Steam Deck and SteamOS as an existential threat of any kind? as they obviously dominate PC gaming currently.
  • goosedragons 4y ago
    Well we recently got the Logitech G-Cloud and the Razer Edge. Although both are Android devices. There's plenty of Asian companies like Aya, GPD and Onexplayer putting out handheld gaming PCs.
  • ekianjo 4y ago
    Aya Neo has been surfing the wave, but not sure if they came before or after the Steam Deck was announced.
  • cubefox 4y ago
    There are a few other devices, but they're all so expensive that they don't matter. Microsoft is probably not worried by the Steam Deck, since its sales numbers seem to be quite modest (1 to 2 million units, as they guess in the piece).
• goosedragons 4y ago
  I love mine. It's rekindled my interest in PC gaming. Previously I was buying games I had on Steam to play on Switch and now I've started to do the opposite. The fact that suspend works is amazing. Often just alt-tabbing or accidentally hitting the Windows key would cause a game to be unrecoverable in Windows, let alone sleep but it just works. It's really easy to customize controls PER GAME which is awesome when the devs do something dumb and only let you A&B to jump and attack and not A&X. Its also pretty good as a mini PC when paired with a dock. That said it's still a PC and you will occasionally run into little foibles. Docking is not as smooth as a Switch, at least with my monitor the resolution isn't quite right when plugging in and I have to quit to get it to use the whole thing. Sometimes there will be minor issues even in verified games like them not actually using the correct controller layout or occasionally borked sound on resume for whatever reason. But still, it's great. Favorite PC by a mile even if my desktop will curb stomp it visually.
  • acomjean 4y ago
    I like mine as well I’ve used it a quite a bit and it works great after my first one had some battery life issues. I contacted support tried a bunch of things to no avail. But they got me a working one in short order. Minor issues is that it could use a usb a port. One of the things I tried was reinstalling the os from a usb stick for my initial battery issue.. The screen is great. The software sometime asked me how the game experience was as its running under wine/proton. There is https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ for compatability checks but steam now lists games that “run great on the deck” which means new ones will probably test on it. There is a plug-in I was told about that integrates those scores into the steam software. The screen is great except for board games which benefit from screen size, but it’s a portable. Overall a great device, especially if you have a stash of steam games you got and been meaning to play..
• itake 4y ago
  I don’t think they know what “Ultimate” means…
• Balvarez 4y ago
  I'll be the minority here and say for me it is the current ultimate gaming machine. I love that it runs Linux. It's convenient, runs my already purchased library of games and is consumer friendly for modding. On the other hand my PS5 is gathering dust.
  • Razengan 4y ago
    I can't go back to other platforms or even PlayStation games that don't have DualSense support, after trying those advanced haptics features.
• elmerfud 4y ago
  I have to say I'm very happy with it for the price I paid. Could it be better, sure, I wish the screen was better but I'm still very happy with it. I actually bought it on a lark because I'm 49 and I never really hand held gamed. Never got in to it beyond the beep-boop led games of the 70s/80s with boring family road trips. I watched many hand held platforms come and go and never could get in to using them. Always preferred the laptop, probably because with having a game thing I always needed my laptop. When I would travel I carry a work laptop and a personal laptop and... Then lugging around another device, no thanks... Then that changed with the steam deck, my daughter mentioned it and I was like hell I have money to waste so I bought it. For the first few months I didn't do much with it. Kind of shrugged and continued to use my laptop... but one day I kicked it in to desktop mode to load some mods for a game. It dawned on me, I don't need a personal laptop anymore. Now when I travel I carry my work laptop, my portable keyboard and monitor (which I always did anyway) and the steam deck with a dock. This perfect,less weight over all smaller form factor etc... Using the deck with the external monitor and keyboard let's me do everything I needed my personal laptop for, plus portable gaming. It goes everywhere with me now. Could it be better, absolutely, but for the price I'm very happy with it. That's really how I evaluate things price for value. This is way more powerful than a similar priced laptop and more flexible.
  • bergheim 4y ago
    you.. carry a monitor? how is a steam deck, a keyboard and a monitor better than just having a laptop? also how does the monitor survive this, do you put in in the original box? and if so, how big is your luggage? :)
    • WastingMyTime89 4y ago
      Not OP but I guess they carry a portable monitor to use as a second screen for their work laptop. A usb-c powered 13inches portable monitor looks mostly like a tablet. It's very easy to bring with you.
      • elmerfud 4y ago
• pkrefta 4y ago
  I'm in love with mine. • Hardware is good enough and that's perfectly fine • It's repairable and can be easily opened • Software is open which is increasingly rare there days • Ability to play on TV, on couch (with headphones) and on monitor with keyboard/mouse is awesome • Being able to play old games is great (I finally finished Assasin's Creed 2) • It's still a PC where I can switch to Linux Desktop and tinker with stuff • Battery life isn't the best but I almost always have power source near me • Valve did awesome job with handling controls in games with Community layouts etc • I finally found sense in USB-C where I switch between Deck and Macbook with a single cable • Hacker community is vibrant • It's an emulation heaven :)
  • Steltek 4y ago
    I need Thunderbolt! I don't hook up my Deck because my desk is built around a TB3 dock. That and USB-C at 4k 60hz isn't a given. Not that I'd run games at that resolution but it's sure nice for desktop mode.
  • aceazzameen 4y ago
    Me too! It's the handheld gaming device I dreamed about when I was a kid. It's become my favorite platform, especially considering I don't game as much as I used to. It's perfect for a quick pick-up-and-play. I stopped using my PS5 last year, and the one time I did, I used remote play (chiaki) on the Steam Deck. And if I'm playing something that my kids want to watch, I can cast the screen to the TV via steam link. None of the other big companies will ever be able to produce something like this, especially with all the tweaks that can be made.
• diceduckmonk 4y ago
  Has anyone used their Steam Deck with a projector and/or as home media machine (HTPC)? We bought a Chromecast while traveling abroad and took hours to setup Wi-Fi, login with various streaming accounts with arrow keys, then finally hit with regional lockouts (HBO not being available and Netflix having different catalogue). In the end, we just gave up and went to the movie theaters. It’d be great if we had a portable content streaming device that’s a proper computer and where we can have a VPN setup, possibly even with a offline catalogue while we’re on a plane.
  • noxvilleza 4y ago
    Nvidia Shield is pretty good for this IMO. EUR 160/EUR 220 depending on if you want the pro version or not. Runs Android, can have a VPN, can run a {Netflix, Plex, etc} client. Comes with a remote. If you have the Pro version, you can also plug in an external HDD (which I imagine you can use for downloading content onto, although I've not done this myself), and/or wireless keyboard and mouse. Also does 4K out.
  • justinsaccount 4y ago
    FWIW, you can easily install tailscale (and probably other things too) on the chromecast.
  • zaggynl 4y ago
    You can setup a VPN through desktop mode. I've put together a howto for wireguard: https://zaggy.nl/nextcloud/s/yGW9SinMCoWcNZN https://zaggy.nl/nextcloud/s/yGW9SinMCoWcNZN It's no turnkey solution, you can probably find an easier howto for popular VPN services and wireguard. Personally I've been using the jellyfin client on my steam deck, which works well, add the dock and you have a home media machine.
• nailer 4y ago
  As a former owner of a Steam controller: Do games just work like a console? Or do I have to mess around like on a PC? I’m old, and don’t have time to game. I don’t want to spend 20 minutes of the first hour in a settings menu.
  • ekianjo 4y ago
    more like a console, except for games that don't support gamepads at all - but then you will probably have someone who created a specific configuration for them, that's available for the game in question
  • Razengan 4y ago
    > I don’t want to spend 20 minutes of the first hour in a settings menu. Get a console (PS5, Switch, Xbox), they cater to alleviating exactly that!
    • izacus 4y ago
      Haha, until your PS5 demands a 40min patch to start the game. It's become almost a meme.... All the updates if you don't use those regularly and they don't stay in standby.
      • Razengan 4y ago
        > until your PS5 demands a 40min patch to start the game. Never saw that happen yet or even heard of that as a meme. Even if it does happen it would still be less jank than PC upkeep :)
        • yamtaddle 4y ago
          You probably pay monthly for their subscription service. With that, you can have it wake and auto-patch everything at night. At least, when I signed up back on the PS3, a subscription was required for that feature—maybe it's not anymore. Otherwise, it'd just hit you with the update when you tried to play. It'll still happen when you bring a new game home on disk, though. Plug in to play: "hold on while we patch for an hour". More or less, depending on your internet connection speed. Certainly none of the gaming services ever come close to saturating my gigabit connection, though, so there's a practical cap on how much that helps.
• a13o 4y ago
  The next generation of gaming platforms is really going to be heated. We basically have two philosophies in the field now. The Switch and the Steam Deck sacrifice high end hardware for portability and versatility. The PS5 and XSX are about as portable as a LAN party, but can theoretically push 4k@120hz for the cost of a graphics card. Is there room for everyone next gen? Each of Valve, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have the expertise to field a machine serving one or both philosophies. But I don't think the customer base is there to support so many consoles. Which configurations will we see? Is the next Switch as popular when the indie games can release on the much more open Steam Deck instead? Will Microsoft choose to compete with Sony, or with Valve? They've always been after Sony's market, but Steam Deck puts them on defense.
  • ccouzens 4y ago
    The Steam ecosystem has devices in both categories. It's the only ecosystem in the list where you can buy a game and have your progress synced between a performance device and a portable device.
    • Hamuko 4y ago
      Sony used to have hardware and software for this, as you could cross-buy a title for a PlayStation 4 and a PlayStation Vita, and then sync the save data through the cloud. Unfortunately Sony abandoned the handheld gaming market just before the Switch and Steam Deck blew it up.
      • NineStarPoint 4y ago
        Handheld gaming has always been extremely lucrative (unlike their TV consoles which have a spotty record, the worst selling mobile console Nintendo sold was the 3DS at 70+ million.) Sony just couldn’t capture that market, so gave up.
        • deleted 4y ago
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• BooneJS 4y ago
  I’d love to buy one of these, but I don’t understand how keyboard/mouse games translate to a gamepad without software changes.
  • bentley 4y ago
    Valve has an input translation layer called Steam Input, originally mostly used with the Steam Controller, now well integrated with the Steam Deck. Keys can translate to buttons, mouse movements to analog sticks/touchpads, etc. Users can contribute Steam Input configs for a game that other users can try, download, and rate. I’ve used a community layout at length on the Steam Deck (for Subnautica) and was satisfied, though it’s a bit confusing when the game says “press T to do such‐and‐such” and I have to try all the Steam Deck buttons until I figure out what T got mapped to.
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• dadoomer 4y ago
  One of the best purchases I've made. It's so much fun being able to squeeze a few gaming sessions here and there, without having to be in front of a TV. It's not perfect. Maybe the battery could last a bit longer. Maybe it could be a bit more powerful. But who cares? It's a blast.
• jawadch93 4y ago
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• willis936 4y ago
  Does anyone use their deck as a steam link box? I've had mixed success with apple tv (including newest model) when feeding a 4K TV (no 120 Hz support, decoding chokes on resolutions above 1440p regardless of encoded bitrate). I have a 13700k+3070, so it's not for want of encoding horsepower. The most common use case of the deck is similar to mine of the link: couch gaming. It might be nice to free up the living room TV and have a max res/max framerate solution on the deck with little power usage. My main concern is latency. I have scanned through all setting permutations and I can't get what feels like a sub 100 ms experience on an apple tv decoder even when the telemetry reports sub 25 ms end-to-end latency. Now that I think about it again maybe it's the TV not being in game mode.
  • manmal 4y ago
    Have you looked into Moonlight? Nvidia is sunsetting GeForce Experience which would be a convenient streaming server, but Sunshine seems to be almost on par now, latency wise. So you‘d run Sunshine on your host machine, and Moonlight on the Steam Deck. I’ve seen people report a minimal input lag of just 1 frame @ 4k60 (with most recent Sunshine versions, there was a big leap recently) but haven’t tried it myself yet. One big upside of Sunshine is that you can log into your host user remotely. So you could wake up the host with WoL and do the rest on the Deck.
    • willis936 4y ago
      That login ability is nice. I usually have to use a second remote channel. Does Moonlight handle controllers and surround sound well?
      • Dayshine 4y ago
        Not GP, but I use virtualhere to forward my steam controller over LAN to my desktop. Moonlight handles controllers fine, but it's forwarding button presses, not forwarding the USB device. This rarely makes a difference unless you're using peripherals that need software.
      • anotherman554 4y ago
• girvo 4y ago
  First anniversary of Valve refusing to sell Australians like me a Steam Deck. Such a shame too, the device seems excellent, but I’m not going to take the risk on imports when I know Valve won’t honour Australian consumer law (which is probably at least partly why they don’t sell it here).
• unhammer 4y ago
  > It is now possible to order it from most developed markets while rural backwater places like Norway are left out it seems
• trabant00 4y ago
  I would love to hear from Deck owners that have migrated from or also have a 4k capable gaming PC tower. I know the difference in specs and performance and I'm not expecting this to compete. But I'm interested in the experience, how enjoyable it is to play on this compared to the PC. Do you play on a monitor or TV? Do you use the controls on the Deck or attach keyboard or mouse? Is the dock worth it? Things like this.
  • dadoomer 4y ago
    I have not felt like getting the Dock, since the experience has been great out of the box. Maybe if I didn't own a PS5 I'd get the Dock for couch gaming. But some 3D games might suffer in 1080p output. The controls are obviously perfect for games that support gamepads (which is a surprisingly substantial fraction), but even some keyboard and mouse-games can be played, specially those that do not require super fast reaction times and a million keybindings.
  • horsawlarway 4y ago
    I fall into that category - I have two 4k screens and a desktop that I do a good bit of gaming on, I also have a steam deck. I find they excel at different things. I don't feel locked to a desk with the deck - I can grab it and go chill on the couch with my wife while she's watching a show. I can also lug it around on vacation/trips as an alternative to my personal laptop, since it's a real linux machine. I've done work on it while travelling without any problems (although I did have an external mouse/keyboard for that). Where it doesn't really excel is information dense games - I really enjoy rimworld/factorio/ck3/df style games, and honestly - I still prefer playing them on the large screens because it's just hard to deal with the much smaller screen real-estate on the deck. It's doable - but it's not as fun. On the other hand - I hadn't touched a pokemon game since I was a kid, and I've played through several of them on the deck. They're a blast. Most games that are designed for a small screen/controller are really great on the deck. Most rpg style games are pretty solid as well. Again - the only games I've really felt limited on were the ones where I just needed more screen real-estate, because the game was designed entirely around PC play on a large screen. I have not personally bought the dock from valve since I already have a usb-c dock and it works fine with the deck. It handles being docked to a 4k monitor without any issues, although I don't game much in that setup - I mostly do productive/work tasks. As for controls - I think the most revolutionary part of the deck is the control overlay they have going on. Being able to customize any button to almost any input is very, very cool. there's a LOT of power there, and I really haven't felt the need to plug in a mouse/keyboard for gaming (even for very mouse-centric games). The only exception is text input: it's still fairly slow and clunky with the default controls. You won't be playing "Mavis Beacon teaches typing" on it. But it can handle pretty much every other game I've tried (some better than others, but none so bad I couldn't play at all). My opinion: It's a complete steal for the price. I still probably do more gaming on the desktop, but not by all that much, and the fact that it's a true general purpose computer and not a hamstrung, locked-down, consumption only device is a huge breath of fresh air. Makes for a great little travel computer.
• fooker 4y ago
  Bought it today! Arch Linux on a cute handheld you can play games on? Valve made the year of the Linux 'Desktop' happen.
• baby 4y ago
  I got one and it’s amazing. A bit hard to travel with it compared to the switch but besides that it’s the dream portable console
• ustamills 4y ago
  I like my Deck. I wish more games could adjust to the small screen better. TEXT! Text designed for giant flat screen TVs or even just modern monitors cannot just shrink down to that small screen. I do not have perfect eyesight. It is too often unreadable. Do something about the text and the Deck will be as close to perfection as I could hope.
  • gpanders 4y ago
    Thankfully most games I’ve played have an option to scale UI text, which has addressed this for me. Hopefully more games add an option for this. You can also press the STEAM + LB buttons to open a magnifier for reading small text.
• birracerveza 4y ago
  Best portable gaming platform, hands down. Can't wait for the next iteration, will buy it day one.
• laidoffamazon 4y ago
  I had zero expectations for the Steam Deck and thought it was underpowered and silly when it was first announced. Boy was I wrong - I ended up buying it on a whim and I've gotten a ton of use out of it. I played through multiple AAA games that came out just last year on it on vacation without wanting to tear my hair out, and the installation workflow is near perfect. Valve has finally made Linux a console experience.
  • thiht 4y ago
    The year of gaming on Linux has come before the year of desktop on Linux, who would have thought!
    • em-bee 4y ago
      it makes a lot of sense actually, the problem with desktop linux is the GUI. and windows compatibility/similarity, exchange of data (word, etc), user preferences. the problem with games is only windows compatibility. nothing else matters. valve has been attacking that problem head on with proton and financing wine development. GUI or data issues, or user preferences don't matter. Steam is the same on both, the games are the same too, and more and more of them run on proton/linux. Steam users can switch from windows to linux without noticing any difference whatsoever. desktop users can't.
• cubefox 4y ago
  > My wild guess is that there’s between 1 and 2 million units already shipped out there. While there was a lot of initial hype around the Steam Deck, it almost sounded as if it emerged as a serious Switch competitor. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Its sales are around an order of magnitude below the Switch, which sold 13.12 million units in its first year (and 122.5 million total). So despite its modest success, the Steam Deck is still somewhat a niche product. Many people likely haven't even heard of it. I'm puzzled why Valve doesn't want to sell it in stores.
  • mahmoudhossam 4y ago
    Most of that year has been catching up to the orders they already got. My bet is that they can't make it at a big enough scale to sell directly to stores. This is Valve's first success at this whole console thing after all.
    • 2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
      I’ve been casually hitting their website for a year. I can’t buy one even if I wanted to.
      • Steltek 4y ago
        Not sure if there are other circumstances but I ordered mine this month and it arrived in less than a week.
      • fnands 4y ago
        Australia? Otherwise, I ordered mine on a Thursday and it arrived the following Tuesday.
        • 2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
          Yes. Australia. I knew it wasn’t available in my region at first. But it’s still not available after all this time. :(
  • 4y ago
• BizarreByte 4y ago
  It’s the best gaming system I’ve owned and the one I’ve enjoyed the most since the PSP. It’s big, but I love the form factor. Quite literally the last thing I want to do after work is sit at my desk and the with Deck I don’t have to. It’s not as much of a commitment and it’s easier to pick up for ten minutes and then put down. Graphics? Doesn’t matter to me, it’s good enough and being able to use it in the hammock in my backyard is more important. Most of what I play on it is ps2/1 games anyway and it runs them perfectly.
• tonis2 4y ago
  I'm very happy with my Deck, I even use it for doing my development job, using the dock + monitor + keyboard, and have had the need to use my laptop very rarely. I would like to acquire some AR glasses too, so I can just use the glasses while traveling, but I'm not sure what's the quality for those yet, they are quite expensive.
• tristor 4y ago
  I love my Steam Deck. It’s one of the few purchases I’ve made in the last year that is all positives. I still take my Switch with me sometimes, but the Deck is now a constant travel companion. It really is the ultimate portable gaming system.
• kibwen 4y ago
  Using the Steam Hardware Survey to estimate the number of shipped units is clever. For reference, here's the link to the current hardware survey results, narrowed to only Linux: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam?platform=linux https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Softw... (click the "Linux Version" line to expand detailed results). We can see that "SteamOS Holo" is at 22.08% of Linux Steam users, up from 7.6% last July (https://boilingsteam.com/steam-deck-full-overview/ https://boilingsteam.com/steam-deck-full-overview/). If anyone knows of a historic archive of data for the Steam Hardware Survey, it would be interesting to see whether or not the Steam Deck has made a dent in the overall Windows percentage since last year (Windows is still sitting pretty at 96.02%, but that just means there's a lot of room to grow, eh? :P ).
• liprais 4y ago
  [dead]
• bobmaxup 4y ago
  Having used one a lot, I can say that the ergonomics of the Steam Deck aren't there. I could lay in my bed and play switch games for hours without issue, but with the deck, I need to introduce some resting device to not lose feeling in my hands. Also, its awkward for me compared to any other contoller in terms of trigger reach. Other than that, I still enjoy using it quite a bit.
  • cassianoleal 4y ago
    > I could lay in my bed and play switch games for hours without issue, but with the deck, I need to introduce some resting device to not lose feeling in my hands. Interesting. I never found the Switch good for that. I don't find the Deck good for that either. I'm not really complaining though, it's just a generally uncomfortable position for almost anything except sleeping. :D > Also, its awkward for me compared to any other contoller in terms of trigger reach. I find the triggers pretty good. I need to twist my hands a little to press the bumpers though. Otherwise I find the ergonomics quite good!
  • porkbeer 4y ago
    Never had that issue, but my out of shape buddy had the exact same complaint. Might take it as a cue to evaluate your fitness.
    • bobmaxup 4y ago
      I don't think it has anything to do with fitness level, but thanks for your concern.
• kriro 4y ago
  I've had my eye on this for a bit. I'm incapable if deciding which version I want to buy (64GB/256GB/512GB). I'd be happy to hear from anyone who purchased either of these and what their thoughts are. Anyone regretting the 64GB and wishing they got a bigger one for example?
  • WithinReason 4y ago
    64GB is enough, things like shader cache can be put on a cheap SDcard without a performance impact.
  • blep-arsh 4y ago
    64 felt a bit too restrictive, so I've bought a 256GB one but ordered a replacement 512GB Samsung NVMe card later (1TB is also available for about $100 but I'm not sure about Deck compatibility and thermals). I'm glad that's an option. It's a peculiar form factor, though, so it took some figuring out.
  • ekianjo 4y ago
    You can easily upgrade the 64GB if you decide it was too small later on.
  • fnands 4y ago
    I bought a 64 GB and replaced the SSD with a 256 GB ones myself almost immediately. From what I've heard reading from an SD card is fast enough anyway, but if you regret the skew you buy, upgrading is not much of a hassle. That being said, if you are afraid of opening it up, maybe go for 256.
  • mizzack 4y ago
    64gb will fill up with shader cache. But if you don't mind upgrading the SSD yourself, it's always an option down the road and is considerably cheaper than buying the higher end Decks. e.g. a 256gb 2230 m.2 is ~$20 where the 256gb model Deck is $100 more. Also, you can get 1tb and 2tb 2230 drives, which aren't an option for a factory configuration.
• hyperpl 4y ago
  Would anyone recommend this for purely retro emulation via retroarch? I currently have an Anbernic RG353M which is nice but I'd prefer to have a fully customizable device that is developer friendly. Can anyone speak to the ergonomics of the dpad and buttons for unforgiving games like some fighting games and platformers? I also suspect the size and weight might prove prohibitive for portability compared to a much smaller retro device?
  • thedangler 4y ago
    I've seen a bunch of retro gaming with EmulationStation and there a tone of tutorials on how to set it up, best practices. This is what pushed me over the top to consider buying one. Then Ps5's finally came back in stock... I'll be getting a steam deck in the future to try Emulation Station.
  • praetor13 4y ago
    I have a Deck and an RG351V for comparison. The Deck ergos are fine but it's noticeably larger than a Switch which is already too big to just slip in a pocket like the Anbernic. I love the flexibility of being able to play PC and it can run up to lighter PS3 games which is way beyond the RG351 but I would probably want something smaller like an Ayn Odin for purely retro gaming.
    • pks016 4y ago
      You should watch the video from RetroGameCorps, if not already.
• coconut_crab 4y ago
  I really love my Steam Deck, until it suddenly died a few days ago. Couldn't even get to BIOS menu and just a black screen with CPU fan and haptic on, tried everything from reseating battery, putting in battery storage mode, replacing the NVME or even running fsck on another linux machine, nothing works. It seems to be a common issue with the Deck :( Now I have to find a way to RMA it, which will take months as they don't sell it where I live.
• dom96 4y ago
  I guess I'm the minority who's Steam Deck is gathering dust. It is a nice device but it failed to get me to game more (which is what I wanted out of it), mainly because it's rather fiddly, in a similar way to a VR device. It takes effort to get me to pick it up, I have to make sure it's charged, I have to make sure my key bindings are configured correctly, etc. What actually has worked far better for me is Xbox Game pass. It means I can easily give games a try without paying a lot of money upfront to buy them. Instead I can dip my toes in and see if a game takes my interest. Just my 2 cents as someone that has gamed a lot in their childhood but largely stopped past their 20s.
  • bigoljim 4y ago
    I was annoyed by the key bindings/controllers at first as well. But once i found the section that shares community created controller mappings, i have only ran into one game that didn't have a controller config that worked well.
  • anotherman554 4y ago
    I haven't been using mine much either. Steam Deck is in an odd place since it works worse for low end indie games than a Nintendo Switch (it lacks the "it just works" experience) and it's worse for high end games than an expensive gaming PC (which admittedly not everyone can afford.) I like the idea of Steam Deck and there are many games it can handle that the Nintendo Switch cannot, but when Nintendo finally updates their hardware this advantage will be reduced.
  • WithinReason 4y ago
    Try some simple games that are easy to pick up and play and don't have complex controls. Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Broforce. The battery lasts long with them as well.
• pibechorro 4y ago
  Its awesome. Get it. I thought the 7 inch screen would be annoying but it isnt (its close to your face, so it seems bigger). You can also dock it and use a larger one and enjoy a linux operating system to boot.
• SamPatt 4y ago
  Mine mostly stays docked and is used for couch coop games with my kids. They absolutely loved "It Takes Two." I have taken on trips and it works well. Battery life isn't great but it's good enough for a few hours of non-intense games (Slay the Spire is perfect for this). I have had ocassional issues with external controllers. Adding in more than one sometimes fails in unpredictable ways. That is the only issue I've noticed.
• magikaram 4y ago
  I didn't think I'd use it a load when I pre-ordered mine, but I figured it would be great for use when I went to my girlfriend's home, or to visit my own family, and not lug a laptop or PC. Boy I was wrong, I've used it in bed, on planes, couch, and over lunch. Heck, I even convinced my girlfriend to buy one so she could play games with me, and we not worry about Linux/windows compatibility between our computers, let alone this being her first gaming 'computer' to begin with.
• ghusto 4y ago
  I'm catching up on the last 20 years of gaming I've missed for not having a Windows machine :) Bonus points for most of the old games being super cheap now. I'm really happy with mine. Games just work, no tweaking or weird configurations necessary, gamepads and other controller schemes work well, and; it's running Linux in the back! Once you configure something like Syncthing in desktop mode, it carries on working in the regular console mode. I really can't say enough good things about it, but one thing I'm wary of is the DRM stuff Steam uses. Never had a problem with it, but my Switch doesn't need to phone home to believe I own the games I've bought, and it worries me that even the "offline mode" needs to check-in every three weeks :/
  • tylersmith 4y ago
    > my Switch doesn't need to phone home to believe I own the games I've bought However once your Switch _can_ connect to the internet Nintendo can just erase all your games.
    • taeric 4y ago
      Oddly, it also does phone home if you are a family. Having one copy of the game that is shared among the 4 kids at home is insane.
  • metalliqaz 4y ago
    As far as content platforms go, Steam is one of the very few that I trust. So it's not a huge concern in my humble opinion
  • danShumway 4y ago
    The worst part about the Steam Deck is Steam; I'm eagerly looking forward to some more general Linux communities building alternative OS setups in the future, although Steam Input still doesn't seem to have a good Open Source alternative. Aside from that, the device is fantastic, I have very few complaints. The portable form-factor is transformative for a lot of older PC games, it's an emulation powerhouse, gyro controls make first-person shooters actually playable (which was my big concern with not having a mouse). It's repairable, it's running Linux. I don't know if I would recommend it for everyone, but it's pretty much the perfect console for me (or will be if I ever figure out how to replicate the OS experience without Steam).
• packetlost 4y ago
  I finally picked on up second hand in anticipation of a lot of travel this year and a LAN party in a few weeks. I've used it so much just while sitting on the couch or at my desk, it's great!
• atemerev 4y ago
  Ah, the Famous Piece of Gaming Hardware Available Anywhere But Switzerland. I wish to see the day when all stupid regional restrictions will be over. How idiotic is that.
• darau1 4y ago
  My only gripe with my steam deck is that every time I try to configure SSH, or install Syncthing, I get distracted by my games :(
• boh 4y ago
  Valve is a pretty amazing company that consistently innovates and makes long-term, strategic decisions. Its a real model for a great tech company. Its unique capital and management structure has insulated it from any real competition. Companies like EA have to constantly turn a profit, cut corners where they can, and think in very short timeframes. Valve is completely private, with mostly (if not complete), owner/manager ownership. There's no managerial hierarchies. Ideas are both welcome and constantly challenged. If it was a public company we would likely see Google-like growth since its inception. Linux-based gaming became a focus for the company for at least the past ten years. Steam Deck is the culmination of a focused, persistent strategy--the type most highly leveraged, public companies with unreasonable growth requirements are completely incapable of facilitating.
  • nindalf 4y ago
    Valve is cool, but they're only able to afford this style of development because they take a 30% cut of all PC gaming revenue. Not profits, revenue. When you're making that much money you can do whatever you want and still stay afloat. They've mismanaged some games (Dota 2), abandoned other games (TF2) and completely messed up other games (Artifact 1 and 2). They have my loyalty as a consumer because they've treated me right. But let's not pretend that their success is tied to their culture or that the culture would work elsewhere. I reckon you could do anything and be successful if you had Steam's revenue rolling in.
    • eatsyourtacos 4y ago
      >I reckon you could do anything and be successful if you had Steam's revenue rolling in. I disagree completely. Most people in a company like that would completely take advantage of the monopoly they have and make everything miserable as hell for the end user. I'm hard pressed to think of anything else over the past 20 years that hasn't sold out or been turned to utter trash in one way or another. Steam continues to be absolutely top notch. They have essentially lowered the price of all PC games over the years and added great features like family sharing etc. It just works. It's not some convoluted garbage interface that they try to keep updating every year to stay up with the pace of "modern design". They don't bombard you with crap when you aren't using steam, you don't get random pop ups (like Epic games...) and all that. Anyway- I get what you are saying. Obviously they have some massive revenue to work with.. but I don't think it's as easy as you think to stay successful in the way they have to the end user.
• ARothfusz 4y ago
  I find the killer feature to be the ability to pause games. Sure, I could do that on my PC, but since this whole Deck is dedicated to just running the game, and I can set it aside, do the thing I need to do (maybe on my PC) and come back and start right where I left off, it feels different, more integrated, because for a little while, the game state and the deck state are the same. It is less like the Deck is running the game and more like the Deck is the embodiment of the game.
  • yencabulator 4y ago
    My Deck is pretty much never not running a game. It's the complete opposite of what most PCs do, in that sense. It's only out of a game if I left it to restart for a system upgrade. The only way one could improve from that would be instant swap between different games, and that's just technologically impossible at this time.
• netcraft 4y ago
  I am super happy with mine, after having it for a couple months now. There are many games I would not have played otherwise, not to mention emulation. But after spending some time in the last week in the desktop mode, the thing that is striking me is that the steam deck is a serious alternative to the raspberry pi insofar as using it for a tinkering, first computer kind of way. A few years ago I bought my son a rpi and after getting it, a case, keyboard, mouse, sd card, usb hub, etc, plus needing a monitor, it ends up being a few hundred dollars. And at the end of that you still cant really play any games on it. You would still need accessories, but they technically wouldnt be _required_ for the steamdeck. I bet I could use it for a lot of programming without any issue.
• dcchambers 4y ago
  I am loving my Steam Deck. I use it way more than I thought I would (it's a godsend if you want to play games but a wife + toddler prefer you don't hide in your office for hours on end). I would HAPPILY spend money on a more premium version that had a better screen and hopefully a bit more RAM.
  • A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
    I will admit that I used it a lot less than I expected ( my buddies play it all the time instead of playing on their dedicated gaming machine ). I am glad I purchased it, because I am planning some fun mini projects for it this year ( and I want to support open hardware like this ). I love what it represents, but it seems to be gathering dust for me atm. All that said, it is ridiculously impressive. Edit: Kingdom come was a very different experience from PC.
  • prettyStandard 4y ago
    I would be shocked if v2 didn't have the better screen. I don't have one, but wow people can't help but mention it every time the topic comes up.
• jxdxbx 4y ago
  Yeah just another post to say how happy I am with mine. Maybe for a different reason. I'm not a big gamer, but I'd always have to keep some kind of PC gaming situation around (as a Mac user) because of nerd FOMO. Steam Deck is a much more reasonable secondary "PC" than a whole gaming PC or even a laptop or futzing with dual-booting (not even a thing with ARM).
• daedalus_j 4y ago
  My deck has actually ruined gaming on my desktop for me in a lot of ways. There are some games that are just a LOT better on on the deck due to the controls and having the screen right in hand. The gyro controls on the deck are great, and they make a lot of games that I would normally never consider playing on a controller very playable, and in fact even more fun than with mouse+keyboard. (Mass Effect for example) Metal: Hellsinger is another one that's just great on the deck. It feels way more kinetic to be on the deck with motion controls than sitting waving your mouse around. As far as ergonomics go, I find it plenty comfortable to use, and so does my wife, and we're at opposite ends of the human size distribution. I don't really use it lying down like I used to do with my PSP, but that's not much of a loss to my mind considering how much more advanced games I can play with it on the go. I'm a bit bummed that I haven't been able to find a good factorio-ish building/optimization game for it that actually works well without mouse+keyboard, but I'm sure one will show up eventually. I haven't really experimented with an external monitor+mouse+keyboard with it as I'd just switch to the computer at that point. All in all super happy with it, it does what it's designed to do incredibly well.
• Fire-Dragon-DoL 4y ago
  Steam Deck has been a blessing. I've always been a gamer and with children is harder to find time. Now I can play in bed as soon as they fall asleep. I used to travel for many weeks back to Italy and bringing two laptops (one for gaming, one for work) was painful (since they both have to go in the carry on). I don't need anymore, I just need a steam deck with the dock.
• Razengan 4y ago
  Nice to see so many mentions of the PS Vita here. I gotta use this opportunity to start a Vita appreciation thread :) It was an awesome device for its time, and ahead of its time, but hindered by poor marketing, proprietary hardware (those memory cards that nobody had), lack of direction (the "2nd generation" and "PS TV" were actually a step backwards!) and probably internal corporate strife. It had powerful enough hardware, with a vibrant screen, wide array of controls, solid build quality, an OS that was fast and smooth and capable with some innovate UI, and it already had a wide library of existing games through the PSP compatibility. Few people talk about the rear touchpad but I thought it was genius! Even in titles where it had no effect on the gameplay, like the beautiful Knytt Underground, where the trees in the background would sway as your fingers slid behind the screen, it added a nice new layer of interactivity and immersion. Such a shame when products like this with clearly a lot of potential and passion in them get left behind, due to the decisions of a few people who didn't really understand them.
• MattyRad 4y ago
  Getting new hardware+software used to be so exciting- consoles, TVs, phones, the works- anything before ~2015 felt like an upgrade. Mostly that feeling has completely evaporated. New hardware+software instills dread, frustration, mistrust and fatigue. The Steam Deck feels like what it used to be: joyful and fun, a total lack of cynicism.