6 ms·

At this point I'd be hard pressed to consider this over my Steam Deck. We will see the specs later but I doubt it will really compete processing-wise or screen-

At this point I'd be hard pressed to consider this over my Steam Deck. We will see the specs later but I doubt it will really compete processing-wise or screen-wise. The openness (full arch desktop) of the Steam Deck is also awesome while having a great UI that you never have to leave if you don't want to. EDIT: I mistakenly called it "fedora desktop", my bad

parsimo2010 2y ago
For the last few generations (since the Wii), you don't buy a Nintendo for the processing power. They haven't competed on processing power since the Gamecube. After the Gamecube generation, you bought a Nintendo for the exclusive games and that was it. Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and others. Nintendo knows that their draw is just the games, and uses a lot of lawyers to make sure that normal gamers can't play those games on the Steam Deck. If you want to play what Nintendo has to offer on the Steam Deck you have to install an emulator and Nintendo has made sure that normal people would rather drop $300 on a Switch instead of risk legal issues. Edit: I suppose that some people would also say the intuitive controls (motion control introduced on the Wii, dual screens (and touchscreen) on DS and WiiU, and detachable controllers on the Switch) have some draw, but those features have often been under-utilized except on a few titles.
- joshstrange 2y ago
  I agree with you, for most people the Switch is the better/easier option if they are just looking to play a Nintendo-exclusive. Emulators aren't that difficult to set up on Steam Deck and you can easily launch the games from the Steam UI but nothing beats the plug and play of the Switch and double-y so if you are playing networked games.
  - hbn 2y ago
    And let's not forget the size and weight difference. It's a lot easier to slip into a bag, and it doesn't run super hot under load.
- cdaringe 2y ago
  This take is correct as the primary measure. Its certainly why I bought one! However computing juices really started to matter to me since that first buy …8 years ago? Ive been told this by other switch owners too. Some xplatform games get ported to switch and do end up being worse. Witcher 3, which ive beaten on switch, was repurchased on PC to play over steamlink because the switch was slow/choppy/lossy. Switch1 was precovid. Id imagine that many of us now want BOTH. Great content and great specs
- Nifty3929 2y ago
  I am willing to pay $300 for the privilege of paying $60 each for their games. No joke.
- masterj 2y ago
  The Steam Deck (which I have and love) is also far from a great experience docked, though I'm hopeful that a lot of those edges get ironed out over time. I also wouldn't give my young kids a Steam Deck, but they will definitely be getting the Switch 2.
irrational 2y ago
Isn't the point of owning a switch to play games that aren't on the Steam Deck? Zelda, Mario, etc.?
- joshstrange 2y ago
  With emulators those games can also be played on the Steam Deck.
  - cmcconomy 2y ago
    you can see why they are so aggressively pursuing emulators
  - basfo 2y ago
    Obviously there isn't a switch 2 emulator yet, and probably will be a while until one is released. The challenge will not be hardware emulation (if it's a nvidia tegra 2 based SOC that will be easy) but hack the OS/security to make it usable. So don't expect to play mario kart 9 on your steam deck anytime soon. Edit: with easy i don't mean that it will not demand a really top of the line computer to run it. But that isn't completely undocumented or custom hardware, like i don't know, ps3 or sega saturn.
  - xyzzy_plugh 2y ago
    Sure, but you cannot play online, though. You can't trade Pokemon for example. Tetris 99 got a lot of play in our house. It heavily depends on what you're chasing.
    - thaumasiotes 2y ago
      You can't play online on an official Switch either, unless you subscribe to Nintendo's "we give you an internet connection" monthly service offering.
  - SecretDreams 2y ago
    Which is also a gray area. I personally am fine with it for older, depreciated consoles. But I won't emulate current gen games unless I'm also buying the game.. especially on the Nintendo platform where the games still have some "magic" to them, compared to the more generic games on other platforms that prioritize graphics over seemingly all other attributes.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
tapoxi 2y ago
SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience. I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days, and it's much easier for devs to release and patch their games on Steam than it is a Nintendo platform. They also have a much friendlier refund policy. For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc. In terms of hardware it's ARM and Nvidia, which is a solid foundation, and Nintendo titles look great without being technically demanding. I fully expect to see a 60 FPS Zelda game that uses DLSS upscaling to look great on my 4K TV. The Steam Deck is somewhat limited by FSR2.
- joshstrange 2y ago
  > SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience. Oops, edited, thank you! > I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days Same here, I play mostly indie <$20 games and have a blast doing it. These games would (almost) never launch on the Switch (or any console). Either that or I'm playing games that would never work well on the Switch (like Factorio, yes I know there is a port and I've also tried on my steam deck and it sucks, you need a mouse/keyboard IMHO). > For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc. Agreed, this is huge, I wouldn't recommend a steam deck to the average person, just tech people mostly.
- sarchertech 2y ago
  > They also have a much friendlier refund policy. I can see why steam has an easier refund policy. It’s easy to buy a game that doesn’t work well (or at all) on your hardware. But the switch shouldn’t have this issue, and that’s basically only reason I would ever return a game.
  - ikr678 2y ago
    Steam has a refund policy because consumer law requires them to have a refund policy.
codruterdei 2y ago
I hate to be the “um.. actually” guy, but isn’t steamdeck running on read only Arch system rather than Fedora? I have one but I only game on it.
- joshstrange 2y ago
  Oops, edited, thank you!
tedunangst 2y ago
Maybe somebody wants to play assassins creed without uplay bullshit.
thedufer 2y ago
I have both and they certainly each have their place. The Steam Deck has a much wider variety of games and can handle heavier graphics loads, but it is too heavy to be all that comfortable for handheld use, and the Switch is in my mind the undisputed champion of local multiplayer (more portable controllers, controller connections Just Work, good variety of local multiplayer games, etc).
whynotminot 2y ago
The point of a Nintendo system will always be Nintendo games. If that is not enough then by all means press on with Steam Deck.
- coro_1 2y ago
  One might imagine, the design of the games are an intricate part of the companies core competencies. The impressive part is a next generation carrying through with the art.
dangus 2y ago
I think that while this sentiment is very real for a lot of folks who are into the Steam Deck, that doesn't mean the Switch doesn't have its own unique advantages. - The Nintendo software catalog. Sure, you can emulate on the Steam Deck, but it's a chore and far from perfect, and for most people who do it that is piracy. - The Switch is far less bulky, and has better battery life, less noise. ARM architecture is very well-suited to mobile gaming. - The docking mechanism is seamless and the dock is included with the device. Games are designed around that functionality specifically, e.g., you won't have controller or display configuration issues on a Switch because it's all pre-configured. - The price is almost certainly lower. - You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media. - The Steam Deck does rely on a lot on its compatibility software with PC games, and while it's mostly a non-issue there it's not by any means a perfect catalog. If you get a Switch, all Switch software is going to work and was made for and tested on a Switch.
- 3vidence 2y ago
  I think there's also a certain amount of "jank" to the Steam Deck. Don't get me wrong it is a super cool console and pushes a lot of boundaries, but you don't really 100% know whether a title is going to run the way you want it to on the steam deck. The switch is a more curated experience, you can pretty much expect every game to run properly, going to put caveat for very heavy graphic cross platform title like the new Harry Potter game, etc.
  - Rohansi 2y ago
    Steam has a verification process to determine which games work properly on the Steam Deck. If you follow that then you should have no issues playing your games on a Steam Deck.
- autoexec 2y ago
  > You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media. This isn't much of an advantage anymore since they used NAND memory and you get like 10 years of shelf life before bit rot starts to set in. https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_and_ds_carts_dying https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_a...
dietr1ch 2y ago
Nintendo does not compete on specs. They rely on the fact that fun is pretty much orthogonal to bleeding edge graphics. They use that awareness and take advantage of simpler graphics to trade off processing power for features (portability, novelty) and profit (60>=usd games). From time to time they also remind us that little hardware can do a lot if it's not running Chrome on a trench coat, and instead care is put in optimising things.
- Johanx64 2y ago
  For a while Nintendo didn't have a competition in handheld market. If you wanted a handheld gaming device you only had Switch. Now Steam deck easily competes on fun with Nintendo, because a lot of people have massive decades old steam libraries and constant supply of newest and greatest indie games, and quite a lot of power to play fairly modern titles. This is hard to compete with because Nintendo likes you to pay for games you've already bought on their platform in past, including old NES and SNES roms (which are super embarassing to ask money for imo). The only drawback of Steam Deck is that it's a fairly big and bulky. Buying Switch 2 just for a odd once in every 5 years exclusive Zelda game is a pretty hard sell.
- saghm 2y ago
  This is a pretty important point, and one that I'm mystified that a lot of people seem not to agree with. It doesn't matter if you're playing on a glorified smartphone with thumbsticks if the game is good enough. Moreover, having a selling point of state-of-the-art graphics today will turn into a _disadvantage_ in 5-10 years when newer games look even better; something designed to look good today with "lower quality" graphics is going to hold up better because it already is being compared to stuff taking advantage of every ounce of the latest save greatest hardware.
- mitthrowaway2 2y ago
  This is true. But high specs are a big win anyway if it opens up access to a bigger library of 3rd party games.
  - dietr1ch 2y ago
dayvid 2y ago
I have a Steam Deck and agree, but I think this is more for kids and younger people.
- adamors 2y ago
  It’s for people who play Nintendo games first of all.
stiltzkin 2y ago
[dead]
bigstrat2003 2y ago
The only reason I have a Switch is to play Nintendo games. They are only available there, and will continue to be only available on Switch 2. Steam deck offers nothing, by comparison.

parsimo2010 2y ago

For the last few generations (since the Wii), you don't buy a Nintendo for the processing power. They haven't competed on processing power since the Gamecube. After the Gamecube generation, you bought a Nintendo for the exclusive games and that was it. Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and others. Nintendo knows that their draw is just the games, and uses a lot of lawyers to make sure that normal gamers can't play those games on the Steam Deck. If you want to play what Nintendo has to offer on the Steam Deck you have to install an emulator and Nintendo has made sure that normal people would rather drop $300 on a Switch instead of risk legal issues. Edit: I suppose that some people would also say the intuitive controls (motion control introduced on the Wii, dual screens (and touchscreen) on DS and WiiU, and detachable controllers on the Switch) have some draw, but those features have often been under-utilized except on a few titles.

joshstrange 2y ago
I agree with you, for most people the Switch is the better/easier option if they are just looking to play a Nintendo-exclusive. Emulators aren't that difficult to set up on Steam Deck and you can easily launch the games from the Steam UI but nothing beats the plug and play of the Switch and double-y so if you are playing networked games.
- hbn 2y ago
  And let's not forget the size and weight difference. It's a lot easier to slip into a bag, and it doesn't run super hot under load.
cdaringe 2y ago
This take is correct as the primary measure. Its certainly why I bought one! However computing juices really started to matter to me since that first buy …8 years ago? Ive been told this by other switch owners too. Some xplatform games get ported to switch and do end up being worse. Witcher 3, which ive beaten on switch, was repurchased on PC to play over steamlink because the switch was slow/choppy/lossy. Switch1 was precovid. Id imagine that many of us now want BOTH. Great content and great specs
Nifty3929 2y ago
I am willing to pay $300 for the privilege of paying $60 each for their games. No joke.
masterj 2y ago
The Steam Deck (which I have and love) is also far from a great experience docked, though I'm hopeful that a lot of those edges get ironed out over time. I also wouldn't give my young kids a Steam Deck, but they will definitely be getting the Switch 2.

irrational 2y ago

Isn't the point of owning a switch to play games that aren't on the Steam Deck? Zelda, Mario, etc.?

joshstrange 2y ago
With emulators those games can also be played on the Steam Deck.
- cmcconomy 2y ago
  you can see why they are so aggressively pursuing emulators
- basfo 2y ago
  Obviously there isn't a switch 2 emulator yet, and probably will be a while until one is released. The challenge will not be hardware emulation (if it's a nvidia tegra 2 based SOC that will be easy) but hack the OS/security to make it usable. So don't expect to play mario kart 9 on your steam deck anytime soon. Edit: with easy i don't mean that it will not demand a really top of the line computer to run it. But that isn't completely undocumented or custom hardware, like i don't know, ps3 or sega saturn.
- xyzzy_plugh 2y ago
  Sure, but you cannot play online, though. You can't trade Pokemon for example. Tetris 99 got a lot of play in our house. It heavily depends on what you're chasing.
  - thaumasiotes 2y ago
    You can't play online on an official Switch either, unless you subscribe to Nintendo's "we give you an internet connection" monthly service offering.
- SecretDreams 2y ago
  Which is also a gray area. I personally am fine with it for older, depreciated consoles. But I won't emulate current gen games unless I'm also buying the game.. especially on the Nintendo platform where the games still have some "magic" to them, compared to the more generic games on other platforms that prioritize graphics over seemingly all other attributes.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

tapoxi 2y ago

SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience. I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days, and it's much easier for devs to release and patch their games on Steam than it is a Nintendo platform. They also have a much friendlier refund policy. For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc. In terms of hardware it's ARM and Nvidia, which is a solid foundation, and Nintendo titles look great without being technically demanding. I fully expect to see a 60 FPS Zelda game that uses DLSS upscaling to look great on my 4K TV. The Steam Deck is somewhat limited by FSR2.

joshstrange 2y ago
> SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience. Oops, edited, thank you! > I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days Same here, I play mostly indie <$20 games and have a blast doing it. These games would (almost) never launch on the Switch (or any console). Either that or I'm playing games that would never work well on the Switch (like Factorio, yes I know there is a port and I've also tried on my steam deck and it sucks, you need a mouse/keyboard IMHO). > For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc. Agreed, this is huge, I wouldn't recommend a steam deck to the average person, just tech people mostly.
sarchertech 2y ago
> They also have a much friendlier refund policy. I can see why steam has an easier refund policy. It’s easy to buy a game that doesn’t work well (or at all) on your hardware. But the switch shouldn’t have this issue, and that’s basically only reason I would ever return a game.
- ikr678 2y ago
  Steam has a refund policy because consumer law requires them to have a refund policy.

codruterdei 2y ago

I hate to be the “um.. actually” guy, but isn’t steamdeck running on read only Arch system rather than Fedora? I have one but I only game on it.

joshstrange 2y ago
Oops, edited, thank you!

tedunangst 2y ago

Maybe somebody wants to play assassins creed without uplay bullshit.

thedufer 2y ago

I have both and they certainly each have their place. The Steam Deck has a much wider variety of games and can handle heavier graphics loads, but it is too heavy to be all that comfortable for handheld use, and the Switch is in my mind the undisputed champion of local multiplayer (more portable controllers, controller connections Just Work, good variety of local multiplayer games, etc).

whynotminot 2y ago

The point of a Nintendo system will always be Nintendo games. If that is not enough then by all means press on with Steam Deck.

coro_1 2y ago
One might imagine, the design of the games are an intricate part of the companies core competencies. The impressive part is a next generation carrying through with the art.

dangus 2y ago

I think that while this sentiment is very real for a lot of folks who are into the Steam Deck, that doesn't mean the Switch doesn't have its own unique advantages. - The Nintendo software catalog. Sure, you can emulate on the Steam Deck, but it's a chore and far from perfect, and for most people who do it that is piracy. - The Switch is far less bulky, and has better battery life, less noise. ARM architecture is very well-suited to mobile gaming. - The docking mechanism is seamless and the dock is included with the device. Games are designed around that functionality specifically, e.g., you won't have controller or display configuration issues on a Switch because it's all pre-configured. - The price is almost certainly lower. - You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media. - The Steam Deck does rely on a lot on its compatibility software with PC games, and while it's mostly a non-issue there it's not by any means a perfect catalog. If you get a Switch, all Switch software is going to work and was made for and tested on a Switch.

3vidence 2y ago
I think there's also a certain amount of "jank" to the Steam Deck. Don't get me wrong it is a super cool console and pushes a lot of boundaries, but you don't really 100% know whether a title is going to run the way you want it to on the steam deck. The switch is a more curated experience, you can pretty much expect every game to run properly, going to put caveat for very heavy graphic cross platform title like the new Harry Potter game, etc.
- Rohansi 2y ago
  Steam has a verification process to determine which games work properly on the Steam Deck. If you follow that then you should have no issues playing your games on a Steam Deck.
autoexec 2y ago
> You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media. This isn't much of an advantage anymore since they used NAND memory and you get like 10 years of shelf life before bit rot starts to set in. https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_and_ds_carts_dying https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_a...

dietr1ch 2y ago

Nintendo does not compete on specs. They rely on the fact that fun is pretty much orthogonal to bleeding edge graphics. They use that awareness and take advantage of simpler graphics to trade off processing power for features (portability, novelty) and profit (60>=usd games). From time to time they also remind us that little hardware can do a lot if it's not running Chrome on a trench coat, and instead care is put in optimising things.

Johanx64 2y ago
For a while Nintendo didn't have a competition in handheld market. If you wanted a handheld gaming device you only had Switch. Now Steam deck easily competes on fun with Nintendo, because a lot of people have massive decades old steam libraries and constant supply of newest and greatest indie games, and quite a lot of power to play fairly modern titles. This is hard to compete with because Nintendo likes you to pay for games you've already bought on their platform in past, including old NES and SNES roms (which are super embarassing to ask money for imo). The only drawback of Steam Deck is that it's a fairly big and bulky. Buying Switch 2 just for a odd once in every 5 years exclusive Zelda game is a pretty hard sell.
saghm 2y ago
This is a pretty important point, and one that I'm mystified that a lot of people seem not to agree with. It doesn't matter if you're playing on a glorified smartphone with thumbsticks if the game is good enough. Moreover, having a selling point of state-of-the-art graphics today will turn into a _disadvantage_ in 5-10 years when newer games look even better; something designed to look good today with "lower quality" graphics is going to hold up better because it already is being compared to stuff taking advantage of every ounce of the latest save greatest hardware.
mitthrowaway2 2y ago
This is true. But high specs are a big win anyway if it opens up access to a bigger library of 3rd party games.
- dietr1ch 2y ago

dayvid 2y ago

I have a Steam Deck and agree, but I think this is more for kids and younger people.

adamors 2y ago
It’s for people who play Nintendo games first of all.

stiltzkin 2y ago

[dead]

bigstrat2003 2y ago

The only reason I have a Switch is to play Nintendo games. They are only available there, and will continue to be only available on Switch 2. Steam deck offers nothing, by comparison.