Steam Deck

[Kokushibo]

Thoughts on Valve making their own Mobile PC about the size of the Switch but for your PC games.

 

I think the intention is good but I have issues with the size of the hard drive for the cheapest one. 64 Gb for paying $400. I have several games on my PC larger then that so I think the size of that is a bit of a disappointment. What are your thoughts?

[Shagger]

Digital Foundry have uploaded an brilliantly detailed vidoe going through the spec's of the system better than I can, so here's the video.

 

 

It looks promising, but not much more so than other handled gaming PC's that are hitting the market, such as the AYA NEO that was been talked about on the forums earlier in the year. I love the combined integration of a traditional gamepad with the dual touchpads of the steam controller, but I'm not sure about the Linux based OS. And really, to get the best out of this system, I think one would have to install windows on it and ignore the cheapest 64GB version altogether. I like the thing, I really do, but I think wiser gamers will wait about a year before jumping in.

 

EDIT: Another big concern about all these handheld PC's is future proofing. The Switch, for example, was able to have seemingly impossibly ports coming it's way because developers themselves took the time to make thier games work with it's hardware. With these handheld PC's it's unlikely that many dev's will take the extra time they need to really eek the best out of ports for devices like this as all they're essentially doing id making a traditional PC game. If a gamer's hardware isn't up to snuff, it's generally "tough luck" on the part of the customer. Valve will have to convince dev's to put that little bit of extra time, toil and, ultimately, cash into making good ports for this device, especially in the years to come, and I just don't see that happening.

Edited July 16, 2021 by Shagger

[skyfire]

I like how it is giving you option which is not restrictive like the switch. I am definitely seeing better future for game developers and steam connected to already big marketplace steam so it is definitely the future. Restrictive walled garden consoles are as it is not worth it so this is a good start. 

[killamch89]

This is pretty promising if I must say so myself - I mean, you can upload any OS to it including windows and it'll have complete Steam compatibility right out of the box with most of their games and it's far cheaper than any other handheld gaming PC that's currently on the market. However, scalpers have already started to ruin it for everybody as seen here:

 

[skyfire]

Mark my words, someone will come up with the android and the Linux variants that would be usable on the Steam deck based on it's controls. For example Jing OS was created to support the android variant for the raspberry Pi. You can expect the same for the steam deck too. 

[killamch89]

19 hours ago, skyfire said:

Mark my words, someone will come up with the android and the Linux variants that would be usable on the Steam deck based on it's controls. For example Jing OS was created to support the android variant for the raspberry Pi. You can expect the same for the steam deck too. 

Well, because it's such an open platform it'll happen eventually and there are plenty of talented software developers out there so expect it to be done.

[skyfire]

Yeah noticed that there are some forums already poping up on how to hack the deck and how to install different version and use the deck for non game usage. 

[Empire]

I would love it if this was a true contender to fight Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo in their market. If any company can break in to this market and have any real success if would be Valve, but for now I guess we will need to wait and see if there will be any real long-term success for the Steam Deck. Meantime people are buying them left and right at the moment.

Not going to be for me, not for everyone. While this looks really amazing and I love the concept, I will wait until it comes out and see how it goes down.

[Shagger]

1 hour ago, Empire said:

I would love it if this was a true contender to fight Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo in their market. If any company can break in to this market and have any real success if would be Valve, but for now I guess we will need to wait and see if there will be any real long-term success for the Steam Deck. Meantime people are buying them left and right at the moment.

Not going to be for me, not for everyone. While this looks really amazing and I love the concept, I will wait until it comes out and see how it goes down.

 

I wouldn't put so much faith in Valve. Remember the whole "Steam Machine" fad that fizzled away to nothing? That didn't catch on for many reasons, but what it mostly boils down to is when Valve designed the concept they clearly had no clue why people played games on console instead of PC's. They petty much assumed people played on console because they can't build PC's, wanted a box that would fit on a shelf and only played on controllers and that's about all thought process they put into it. This has been conceived with comparatively more common sense, but only because this isn't a new idea. There's other, similar devices out there, this is just the first one from a household name brand like Valve and Steam. This will not be a success if Valve underestimate the target audience again like the did with the Steam Machine.

[skyfire]

21 hours ago, Empire said:

I would love it if this was a true contender to fight Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo in their market.

I don't understand why everything has to fight with titans. I am happy with small product that can does it's job and not tries to compete with big guns. 

[killamch89]

18 hours ago, skyfire said:

I don't understand why everything has to fight with titans. I am happy with small product that can does it's job and not tries to compete with big guns. 

The cheapest version can get further storage form MicroSD cards so it'll likely be the popular choice for most people. Let's just hope Steam supports the platform properly and provides regular updates.

[skyfire]

I am pretty sure they have done their homework this time and also going slow and focused unlike other rushed stuff. 

[Empire]

Well, It's always like I WANT THE BEST and also they look at money, get better product to get more sales and then they make money and get the market. I stick to the 15 key stream deck 😛 

[killamch89]

On 7/21/2021 at 4:36 AM, skyfire said:

I am pretty sure they have done their homework this time and also going slow and focused unlike other rushed stuff. 

As @Shagger said previously, we had something called the Steam Machine with the Steam Controller some years back and the support for it was pretty horrendous to say the least. Hopefully, they would've learned their lesson and they seemed to have done some research this time so it'll blow most other handheld gaming PCs out of the water with its affordable price.

On 7/21/2021 at 5:28 AM, Empire said:

Well, It's always like I WANT THE BEST and also they look at money, get better product to get more sales and then they make money and get the market. I stick to the 15 key stream deck 😛 

You know what'd be funny? If most clueless parents went out their and bought their kids a streaming deck instead of the Steam Deck. I can see how they could be easily confused...

[skyfire]

3 hours ago, killamch89 said:

As @Shagger said previously, we had something called the Steam Machine with the Steam Controller some years back and the support for it was pretty horrendous to say the least. Hopefully, they would've learned their lesson and they seemed to have done some research this time so it'll blow most other handheld gaming PCs out of the water with its affordable price.

I think those sort of the things happen because a lot of makers are outsourcing to china and only designing things in house, which kind of limits their control over logistics, make and other variables which they can't control. I think a lot of brands need to own the total start to end production to have better output though.