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Steam deck is an extension of the already existing PC gaming market. I suspect that almost all Steam Deck owners already have a PC they game on. Steam Deck just

Steam deck is an extension of the already existing PC gaming market. I suspect that almost all Steam Deck owners already have a PC they game on. Steam Deck just makes it so those PC gamers will care if a game runs well on Linux. The point isn’t to take over the console market but to defend the PC gaming market from console exclusivity and Steam itself from e.g. Microsoft Store

gpanders 4y ago
>I suspect that almost all Steam Deck owners already have a PC they game on. I don’t know if I’m in the minority or not, but I have never owned a gaming PC, and have not had a console since I was a teenager with an Xbox 360. I’m now 30, and I bought the Steam Deck precisely because of its portability.
pibechorro 4y ago
I dont pc game. I dont have space for a giant tower, etc. My main computer is a laptop (x1 carbon). The steamdeck allows me to enjoy all the awesome pc games, stores in a drawer, its portable if i want it to, and i dont need 4k 1000fps, 1080p and 30 to 60fps is plenty to single play with q screen on my couch. I am not a professional gamer, i dont need a full desk worth of gear. I am also busy, its nice not to worry about hardware, just plug and play (i did upgrade the ssd myself though). Its a great device.
rockostrich 4y ago
I'm considering getting rid of my PC in favor of just gaming on my Steam Deck no matter where I am. If they somehow figure out how to create a dock with an external GPU then I'd 100% buy it and sell my PC since I need to play some games on low to medium setting when I want to play at 1080 to 1440.
ascagnel_ 4y ago
> Steam itself from e.g. Microsoft Store That was initially the case for SteamOS/Steam Machines, but the MS Store has been a _resounding_ failure in the gaming market. It's use is largely limited to PC Game Pass subscribers, who use it as the download backend for the Xbox app (which is the primary interface for installing/managing games). If anything, it's a way for Valve to hedge against streaming platforms.
- baq 4y ago
  Microsoft store is the annoying place where you get Minecraft. Maybe it can be bought in a different place now.
friendzis 4y ago
I think while Steam Deck is an extension of PC gaming market, but more specifically an extension of this market to wannabe casual PC gamers. There is just nothing out there that beats mouse and keyboard for more competitive sessions of dota, csgo, starcraft. For a very long time a €1000/$1000 nominal would buy a rather capable PC gaming rig. Then cryptocoins happened and suddenly it was 1k for graphics card alone. I guess the target audience is those previously gamers with an extensive collection of games to play "someday" who now have kids that would like something to game on. The deck fills this market very nicely and Switch has already paved the initial road.
- swatcoder 4y ago
  That’s a weird elitism to stake out. Countless 1000+ hour per year players aren’t getting caught up in competitive-tier multiplayer content with high performance requirements and yet qualify as something besides “casual wannabe” gamers. The Steam Deck is a nice way to take their serious hobby down the hall or on vacation.
  - friendzis 4y ago
    Where do you see elitism here? Some games are simply designed for competitive play with mouse and keyboard control. These games require a PC and Deck is not really a target for those games/gamers. Would me stating that keyboard players stand no competitive chance against players with steering wheel in Forza be elitism too? There are people who want to play games, but cannot or do not want to spare the expense for a gaming rig. Rising component prices have expanded this category. There is very little overlap between competitive gamers and people wanting to be gamers, some of whom are caught by rising component prices. Again, nothing surprising here. Steam Deck seems to be designed mostly for this market: people who want to play games, have a leaning towards PC games (possibly due to preexisting Steam library), but have no requirement for mouse and keyboard form factor. Steam deck captures the market of people who "would start playing games if cost of the rig was $(cost-of-steam-deck)" AND the market of people "would play PC games if the rig was more portable". I'm pretty sure that if some compatibility layer, allowing to use Steam libraries on xbox/PhlashSpeed and Switch, existed the Deck would be dead on arrival.

gpanders 4y ago

>I suspect that almost all Steam Deck owners already have a PC they game on. I don’t know if I’m in the minority or not, but I have never owned a gaming PC, and have not had a console since I was a teenager with an Xbox 360. I’m now 30, and I bought the Steam Deck precisely because of its portability.

pibechorro 4y ago

I dont pc game. I dont have space for a giant tower, etc. My main computer is a laptop (x1 carbon). The steamdeck allows me to enjoy all the awesome pc games, stores in a drawer, its portable if i want it to, and i dont need 4k 1000fps, 1080p and 30 to 60fps is plenty to single play with q screen on my couch. I am not a professional gamer, i dont need a full desk worth of gear. I am also busy, its nice not to worry about hardware, just plug and play (i did upgrade the ssd myself though). Its a great device.

rockostrich 4y ago

I'm considering getting rid of my PC in favor of just gaming on my Steam Deck no matter where I am. If they somehow figure out how to create a dock with an external GPU then I'd 100% buy it and sell my PC since I need to play some games on low to medium setting when I want to play at 1080 to 1440.

ascagnel_ 4y ago

> Steam itself from e.g. Microsoft Store That was initially the case for SteamOS/Steam Machines, but the MS Store has been a _resounding_ failure in the gaming market. It's use is largely limited to PC Game Pass subscribers, who use it as the download backend for the Xbox app (which is the primary interface for installing/managing games). If anything, it's a way for Valve to hedge against streaming platforms.

baq 4y ago
Microsoft store is the annoying place where you get Minecraft. Maybe it can be bought in a different place now.

friendzis 4y ago

I think while Steam Deck is an extension of PC gaming market, but more specifically an extension of this market to wannabe casual PC gamers. There is just nothing out there that beats mouse and keyboard for more competitive sessions of dota, csgo, starcraft. For a very long time a €1000/$1000 nominal would buy a rather capable PC gaming rig. Then cryptocoins happened and suddenly it was 1k for graphics card alone. I guess the target audience is those previously gamers with an extensive collection of games to play "someday" who now have kids that would like something to game on. The deck fills this market very nicely and Switch has already paved the initial road.

swatcoder 4y ago
That’s a weird elitism to stake out. Countless 1000+ hour per year players aren’t getting caught up in competitive-tier multiplayer content with high performance requirements and yet qualify as something besides “casual wannabe” gamers. The Steam Deck is a nice way to take their serious hobby down the hall or on vacation.
- friendzis 4y ago
  Where do you see elitism here? Some games are simply designed for competitive play with mouse and keyboard control. These games require a PC and Deck is not really a target for those games/gamers. Would me stating that keyboard players stand no competitive chance against players with steering wheel in Forza be elitism too? There are people who want to play games, but cannot or do not want to spare the expense for a gaming rig. Rising component prices have expanded this category. There is very little overlap between competitive gamers and people wanting to be gamers, some of whom are caught by rising component prices. Again, nothing surprising here. Steam Deck seems to be designed mostly for this market: people who want to play games, have a leaning towards PC games (possibly due to preexisting Steam library), but have no requirement for mouse and keyboard form factor. Steam deck captures the market of people who "would start playing games if cost of the rig was $(cost-of-steam-deck)" AND the market of people "would play PC games if the rig was more portable". I'm pretty sure that if some compatibility layer, allowing to use Steam libraries on xbox/PhlashSpeed and Switch, existed the Deck would be dead on arrival.