Valve Handheld: Steam Deck

Steam certainly can get converts if they play it right.

I do think they are missing some key things if they want to eat into that market share:
  • Size. For a hand-held portable solution, Steam Deck is absolutely huge. Switch has it beat there in terms of form factor and total portability. won't fit non-adult sized hands
  • Price
  • Durability. Would I buy a steam deck for a child? Hell no... Sticky hands? Steam Deck drop test? yikes.....
  • Ease of use (UI, etc.). With flexibility come less stream-lining. The Switch UI is so simple even small children can figure it out. Steam big picture mode is still not there. Drivers? Windows update?
  • First-party, platform specific games
  • Kid friendly. It's a big deal. Just among the kids in my family circle there are 7 Switches, soon to be 8.
It's nice that the specs of the Steam Deck look great. However, I don't think specs were a major part of the value proposition with the Switch to begin with.
No doubt Nintendo has the kids market cornered in this area. Steam should ensure their UI is easy enough for a kid to use though. I'm not a fan of Big Picture mode either, but it sounds like they are building on it for this. Any updates should be automatic/easy to install.

Anything regarding windows (drivers/updates etc...) is on the custom end, so that won't be an issue for them. It's a PC, so that should be fairly simple for pc users.

They have a lot of proving to do still, but hopefully they learned from their failures.
 
Last edited:
Ign will be doing a deep dive on the hardware today, also some info on upgrading the SSD

“We are using a standard M.2 NVMe SSD in there,” Aldehayyat said. “It's a separate module – we went against the trend of putting it directly on the motherboard.”

“The repairability is something we did actually focus on and try to make it as repairable as possible. But, it's really meant for people who know what they're doing, and have experience doing it.”

https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-ssd-upgradeable-valve
 
I don’t want to buy a new PC. Mine is somewhat old but is a Ryzen 5 I believe. It can still jam, but it’s upstairs and the logistics seem difficult. My switch fits right in a cabinet in our entertainment system. Easy to hide.

I have Cartel Tycoon and Civ 6 on my Steam among other RTS games (I think I have a LOTRs one?). But ya, it’s just another way to play those where I don’t have to be sitting at my computer. I’m completely PC/Console agnostic and want to play the best games on each platform.



Maybe, but unless I can hide it, the gf would throw a fit.
I got Civ 6 on my Switch. Haven't touched it on my PC since. There's a lot of games I would love to play while sitting on the couch as opposed to sitting at a desk (Frostpunk/They are billions/Darkest Dungeon).
 
I got Civ 6 on my Switch. Haven't touched it on my PC since. There's a lot of games I would love to play while sitting on the couch as opposed to sitting at a desk (Frostpunk/They are billions/Darkest Dungeon).

Exactly my thoughts. And since I'm WFH for the foreseeable future and my office is in my room, I want to play my games away from my computer and out of my room.
 
Exactly my thoughts. And since I'm WFH for the foreseeable future and my office is in my room, I want to play my games away from my computer and out of my room.
I do most of gaming these days in bed
 
If you want a proper deep dive accept no substitute




Nice, just about to take my half hour work break, may stretch it out lol, so great timing to see this, thx for sharing

I heard that the games running on the games/promo we saw on IGN's video were being played off the SD card.
 
IGN interview with Gabe, 27mins.


The more I hear about this the more I am impressed. I need to hear more hands on impressions of its comfort and control, especially the track pads.

I have so many Steam I'd rather play handheld.
 
so are these called decks because they're the size of a skateboard?
 
More Hands on videos from different outlets coming through now




Yeah, I just watched the first video in your post from giant bomb.

They had a console/switch guy and a PC guy sharing their experience, it's a good take!
 
Of all the videos on it so far, I thought Linus got the most out of his time with it. He installed a game not already on demo (CS Go), played with the web browser a bit/streamed Netflix, played multiplayer with another pc, used some heat sensor thing to check where it gets warm/what temp, and even brought in his own monitor. It's def worth a look if you're interested in this little beast.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top