Steam Deck?
yes, but no
Price(almost 2k ZŁ) is too high price for the 64GB version...also-how much games we can store there-1 maybe 2 AAA titles
Comment has been collapsed.
Not to mention the battery offers... 2 to 8 hours of gameplay. Meaning 2 unless you play a text based RPG or some minimalist pixel art game most likely. 2 hours is probably also from lab tests. Imagine how much battery the never ending Steam updates are going to suck every time you turn it on already.
Comment has been collapsed.
Can't wait to get wrecked by PC players in literally every multiplayer game...
Comment has been collapsed.
The way the Trackpads are located just below the Dir-Sticks.... means we can't rest our thumbs on the actual device without accidental input. Should I grow claws? Looks really weird to me. HANDHELD! You had one job! 🤣🤬
If they removed those damn Trackpads and moved everything else down a bit, for sensible grip and positioning. It would be sooo much more user friendly.
Price is woaw, and "Official Dock Sold Seperately" Jikes :/ Damn I wanted this to be good ☹
Comment has been collapsed.
I wasn't a fan of the trackpad on the steam controller, but at least they are giving us two joysticks this time around instead of 1.
Comment has been collapsed.
Heheh.. 🤣
Well, they really fucked up here too. Their design/usability department needs a proper spanking.
I'm not touching that thing (or the controller).
- Edit: My curiosity defeated my hatred for mr.Trackpad 😁🤞
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah that was my first thought as well. And you probably will brush them even just using the awkwardly placed buttons and sticks.
I don't know. I have a couple of Steam friends who had to stop using the Steam controller because of hand issues from the design. Looks like it was the same designer.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yup.. Incredibly dumb design. I'm shocked this reached the end of fabrication. And the 64gb version is a useless neat little marketing trick to bump the useful, more costly tiers. Plenty of games are bigger than 64gb these/future days.
For these prices, we still need to buy our own storage, and separate docking station?
Ticks me off a lil bit tbh 🤣😁
Comment has been collapsed.
For these prices, we still need to buy our own storage, and separate docking station?
They said in an interview with IGN (I think) that it could be docked with any USB-C dock but that was an interview. Maybe they changed their mind and thought "might as well milk the early adopters for all they got"
Comment has been collapsed.
Oops.. I slipped..
Maybe this will force my silly brain to shove less junk into my body, so I can actually afford this thing.
Comment has been collapsed.
Heh it's good to indulge a little sometimes. Fingers crossed it delivers.
Comment has been collapsed.
Been waiting for something like this for so long. So yeah, hoping it's actually decent 🤞
If it cripples my hands.. I have a feeling it won't be hard to sell anyway.
Comment has been collapsed.
Most of the games on Steam I play are 60+ GBs so I can't see myself paying $500 just for more storage.
Comment has been collapsed.
There is a Micro SD reader though so you can extend the storage even on the "entry" model. (at least I'm pretty sure it's available on every model)
Comment has been collapsed.
In the year 2021, why do they still make 64 gb gaming consoles or iphones? 🤬
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah I thought that too - wondering how much space would really be left for games...
Effective storage capacity subject to change based on size of operating system and formatting technology. All models include a microSD slot for additional storage capacity.
At least there's a microSD-slot :)
Comment has been collapsed.
I mean, microsd cards can go up to a terabyte for around 2-300 CAD, so it's not the worst thing out there.
Comment has been collapsed.
How to stick it to a Quest 2? Suddenly it's not a problem that VR-games are cheaper on Steam than the Oculus store!
Comment has been collapsed.
So basically a switch-hardware-profile Steam Machine? Didn't they basically discontinue the whole Steam Machine / Steam OS idea because almost no games supported it and no one wanted one?
Comment has been collapsed.
This is not another Steam Machine, it is a handheld PC basically, you can install Windows on it if you want.
Comment has been collapsed.
This is not a $5000 device, it is 500 and it is not that inaccessible in Eastern Europe. Expensive compared to wages yes, but nothing out of reach. Portable gaming definitely isn't a fad, Switch is an obvious example and there is probably huge market for it on PC too.
Comment has been collapsed.
A fool and his money are soon parted, and I don't see that not being the case here.
Comment has been collapsed.
64GB is pretty terrible for PC gaming. Gonna need to add more memory right away.
The product is good for people who travel a lot and maybe really like their switch too.
I'd probably prefer this over a gaming laptop.
Comment has been collapsed.
A bit late for an April fools joke isn't it?
In all seriousness though, I am unsure about it - I really like portable gaming and adore my switch but the layout looks uncomfy - especially since I have tiny hands in the first place. I can see it being a success but I can also see it being another one of Valve's not great experiments. I'd like to be able to play my steam library on the go and it would be very convenient but I can't justify spending £350 on convenience alone. I will wait for the reviews to come in.
Comment has been collapsed.
IGN had a hands-on experience with it here. About the placement of the sticks, they say:
"When I first saw the hardware, I admit I was a bit thrown off by its control layout. Primarily that’s because the thumbsticks are in-line with the D-pad and face buttons, which looks a bit odd when you’re used to the more staggered arrangement found on most controllers. However, as soon as I held it myself, the layout felt completely natural: the intuitive hand orientation when you grab the Steam Deck is more straight up and down, like holding the sides of a steering wheel, whereas with a controller your hands are at more of an angle."
Intriguing...
Comment has been collapsed.
That’s what I was imagining, glad to see that’s actually how it works, haha (at least according to IGN).
Comment has been collapsed.
Was thinking of Switch. Will get this instead.
512GB version, I guess for " Premium anti-glare etched glass" and since everyone else will be going for 256GB (I think: 64GB being there just so they can advertise cheaper "starting" price, not really product that you buy, unless you are just for indies), 512GB hopefully is easier to get.
Wonder what's difference between " Carrying case" and " Exclusive carrying case".
Comment has been collapsed.
It occurred to me that the 64GB version is good for loading around the house if you have a primary computer, because you can use steam link to stream from your desktop to your deck
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah, that’s probably the main reason to get a 64GB, as it sounds like they claim it streams well (saving battery life too). And the microSD slot will help if you decide you do want to download some games.
Comment has been collapsed.
I like this conceptually. I think it may be a bit large and bulky for my hands, but I could see it being something reasonable. Costs a lot as well, but a fairish price for a cheaper gaming PC as it is advertised as. I'd be more inclined to have it docked for my TV to play on the couch more often, but I am afraid it will just collect dust like my Switch has. Maybe someday though.
Comment has been collapsed.
Whomever gets it first in their hands, send me pics of playing GnC on it and let me know how well does it work, I'll send you a random steam key back (and not something cheap).
Comment has been collapsed.
I wont be first since I only just reserved a few hours ago. 2nd Q next year.... But, I will have to remember to try GnC on it and send pics. :)
Comment has been collapsed.
Thanks! I can't get it at all in my country, and even if I could it would be out of my price range sadly. Prices increase a lot with taxes and customs and stuff.
Comment has been collapsed.
Gaming on a smol screen? No thank you.
There's only one game I don't mind playing on a tiny screen and it's Tetris.
Comment has been collapsed.
The only one I would consider is the 512GB one. But it still depends on the battery life if I'm gonna buy this or not.
Comment has been collapsed.
From my opinion steam should go for a Gaming Console like Playstation and Xbox. In which steam account is accessible and we can play any steam game from our library
Comment has been collapsed.
If I had the money and it was available in my country I'd buy it in a heartbeat. This thing is basically tailor made as an indie game machine that can also run some AAA stuff, which exactly what I would expect from that form factor.
They're clearly aiming to fill the gap between the Switch and the other high end handheld PCs in the market, at least price wise, and it might work seeing how Nintendo dropped the ball with the new Switch model.
I hope I get to buy one of these in the future and it doesn't crash and burn like Valve's previous incursions into the hardware market. It's just so expensive right now, why does our currency has to be so shitty? A few years ago that price would have been pretty reasonable for me.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm not a fan of handheld gaming, but that looks really good.
Comment has been collapsed.
So I looked into it a bit and have some questions/concerns (in case you know some information regarding this stuff, feel free to reply).
1) Steam (as a service) doesn't have any quality/compatibility checks
Quality - This doesn't have much to do with the Steam deck itself, but... yeah! I can't wait to play "Busty Hentai Mosaic" on the go!
Compatibility - I'm not a Linux user nor do I know much about it (or Proton), but I know how much of a problem (in windows) can cause a missing driver/wrong version of something/etc. Won't this be a problem there too?
I mean, it's all right if you are using Linux and have to fix some problems (because it's free), but if you are buying a machine for 400+ euro, you would probably expect hassle-free gaming.
edit: Alright, this is not really an issue, thanks to Desidiosus for the explanation
2) Steam has no virus/malware checks
Linux is safe(-ish), because not a lot of people use it, so there isn't as much malware as for windows, but if this takes off, there could be an increase in Linux malware or malware included in steam games.
But on the information from the website, it doesn't seem to have any security measures nor does steam plan on checking all the games in the store.
edit:This isn't really true and I have based it on wrong information, (again) thanks to Desidiosus for the information.
3) Charger is not included?
There is a charger behind the Steam deck in one of the pictures (attached down below), but no charger is included?
I understand that most modern phones use USB-C, but still, they could include such a basic thing.
4) Longevity
Tied to the previous point, how long will such a device be in a usable state?
Nintendo switch includes a dock (and HDMI cable), with which you can play on a TV. When it is docked, it doesn't use the battery to prolong its life.
The steam deck doesn't include a dock (at least not in the currently reservable version) and it seems like it won't even include it on launch (it will probably be purchasable separately). How long will the lifetime of the battery be? If you are going to play on and charge it daily, I don't think it will last too long...
The question also is how hard will be to fix/replace parts that can break. If we compare it to switch's infamous joy-cons, you can, in the worst case, buy a new one(s). We shall see how will Steam tackle that.
5) What's in it for the developers?
I would like to know (in case a developer is reading this, feel free to share your thoughts!) if the game developers/publishers can opt-out or have any say on their games being available on the Steam deck.
Unlike Nintendo (which has many first-party titles, which would be enough for some to buy the Switch), Steam relies on others to provide the games for the users (there are few first-party games, but you won't probably buy this to play Portal 2...). Will developers get any cut from the sales of the deck? I doubt that it will increase the sales of any game anyhow significantly at all because, without the deck, people would just buy the games on their computers.
Keep in mind, I don't hate the Steam dock, I would gladly purchase it if I didn't have a switch already, but like this, I would rather just save up for a notebook/laptop. I'm genuinely interested to see what changes will this bring to the gaming industry.
Comment has been collapsed.
2) As far as I understood it youre locked in something similar like the Steam Big picture mode. You'd really have to go out of your way to get malware, and even if you somehow break everything with viruses you can always factory reset. Compared to a regular PC its no effort, because all you need after the reset is your steam login.
3) I agree with you, but many companies sell their cables seperately nowadays. Most companies say its better for the environment, but obviously they save huge amount of money by not including it.
4) According to Steam, you can use your USB-C slot to connect it to a television if you want to do that. Regarding the replacing question: I've heard only good things about the warranty-service from Steam, so if you have any problems, you should be able to easily send it in.
5) There is no relation, Devs dont get anything.
Comment has been collapsed.
2) From the information from the website, you should be able to freely use the Linux system on the computer:
It’s a Linux system, you know this!
The new version of SteamOS is optimized for handheld gaming, and it won't get in your way with other stuff. But if you want to get your hands dirty, head on out to the desktop.
source: https://www.steamdeck.com/en/software (scroll down and click "Hold on to your butts!")
Also, I mainly meant some not-so-obvious malware - crypto mining, data collecting, etc. - which doesn't have to impact you right away but might be a problem in the long term.
I think it's not just "a reset" as your Steam account credentials may be leaked (and it would be annoying to download all the games again).
4) I know you can connect it, but it just doesn't seem like it's made to be docked, more like it can be docked. I wonder, how it will affect the battery life and if it will be a possible replacement of a PC.
5) And I think that's kinda wrong. Most people will buy it to play their games (and most of them are not Steam's first-party titles), so Steam is just making more money off the developers. It just seems... meh (but I'm not a developer, so I can't complain).
Comment has been collapsed.
Thanks for correcting me on 2 and sorry for the false info!
I fully agree with the other points you wrote. Especially regarding 5), thats the problem with having Steam as the one and somewhat only service. I mean, sure, Epic is competition, but they can not beat Steam, thus Steam can do what they want..
Comment has been collapsed.
1) ProtonDB has compatibility reports. The FAQs for the Deck say Valve's goal is to have every game working before launch and they have unreleased Proton improvements in the pipeline and they are also working with vendors on getting anti-cheats working with Proton. For native Linux games, Valve has Steam Linux Runtime, which developers should be building against, and the libraries in that remain relatively static which improves compatibility and ensures the games work on every distro. The drivers that the Deck needs are all included in the Linux kernel and will be updated with the rest of the system. You don't have to go hunting for missing drivers or anything of the sort.
As someone who has been playing games exclusively on Linux for over 2 years now, Proton works very well and some games run even better than they do on Windows. Multiplayer games with an anti-cheat haven't been working, but that shouldn't be an issue by the time the Deck launches. In general, Proton is hassle-free as you just press play on Steam and the game works.
2) Linux is much more secure than Windows and it has nothing to do with the lower amount of users. It has just been designed to be more secure. After all, Linux is used as the server for pretty much every web service and website so it has to be secure. Even Microsoft uses Linux for Azure servers.
On Linux, games (or any software for that matter) can't do any damage to your system unless you explicitly give them permission to do so. You can also run games and other software sandboxed where they can't access anything on the main OS that you haven't given a permission to access. Steam runs native games sandboxed through the Steam Linux Runtime and Windows games run in Proton (also sandboxed IIRC) and they really only have access to the "Windows" provided by Wine. Whatever malware there could be in games wouldn't do anything to your Linux/SteamOS installation since they would have to be Windows malware.
5) You buy the games on Steam just like you normally would and the developers get a cut of that. The developers don't have to do that much work to make their games work with Proton (in most cases, none at all). I don't see why any developer would opt-out of having their game be playable on the Deck. They would just get bad PR from it.
Comment has been collapsed.
1) Oh, alright, thanks for the explanation.
2) Wow, I didn't know that, thanks for the extensive explanation!
5) It just feels like Steam is making more money off the developers, as it doesn't have any titles like Nintendo, because of which people buy the console.
Comment has been collapsed.
5) I take the opposite view - why should players have to pay twice for the same game? Using that as a basis, why should developers get paid twice for the same sale?
One of the great advantages of steam is never needing to buy the same game again, no matter how often you get a new computer. And it’s not like the developer did extra work.
Comment has been collapsed.
Actually, I think we are on the same side.
I'm all in on players not having to buy games multiple times (although it would help the developers).
I meant that Steam could/should decrease the cut it takes or something else to support the developers, because without their games, no one would buy the Steam Deck.
Comment has been collapsed.
The longevity is something to consider, people here are already expecting an upgraded version of the Deck later on. My biggest concern on stuff like this is, until when you're gonna sell battery replacements since that's the beauty of It. It's selling pretty well but If they upgrade the hardware, will they keep selling replacements for the first gen? I just wonder If they thought about "universal replacements". I hope they did, It would be awesome to see the Deck at any Walmart or game store in the future. I still feel this will be something limited but I hope I'm wrong. Gabe Newell want's third parties to create their own Deck (presumably free of charge), smart move if they accept, more money without moving a finger. Praise Lord Gaben.
Comment has been collapsed.
You could buy an Xbox/decent controller + whatever niche thing you want like RailDriver or some Thrustmaster flightsim throttle/joystick for cheaper and it is still a better investment than some glorified mini-PC that you will throw in the bottom of the closet after playing it for two days. Hell, you could upgrade your PC pretty nicely with the money it costs to buy any of the versions.
Plus Valve doesn't exactly have the best history with making hardware and supporting it for more than 1 year.
However, it seems a lot of people are waiting for it, so I wish it will be successful when it launches, don't want anyone to get extremely disappointed.
Comment has been collapsed.
I've got 3000+ hours out of my Switch. If its not for you, thats cool, but dont just assume that nobody would use it.
You also get games way cheaper than on Xbox. Plus, upgrading a PC with 500 bucks in 2021? Would love to see a 3060 for that price. The PC market is currently destroyed, so their timing is perfect.
Comment has been collapsed.
Here is a thing: most people don't give a damn about something being portable and being obsessed about bringing it into the toilet or the store. People want something to run good and even with 500 euros, you can still upgrade your PC modestly, not every single upgrade has to about upgrading to the latest NASA-approved cooler or having a submarine computer level CPU. Even upgrading from 8GB to 16GB RAM can bring significant changes and this is what I wish people understood: upgrading doesn't necessarily mean upgarding to the latest and "best" parts, it can just mean upgrading your RAM to an acceptable level or replacing a broken fan with a better one.
Comment has been collapsed.
I get what youre saying, but for gaming especially the most important part is the GPU.
Of course the latest rtx 3000 series GPU series would be great to have, but even the 2000 series and to an extend the 1000 series are not affordable at the moment. And upgrading other components only help to a limited extend.
And don't get me wrong, I don't expect much from a handheld PC, but being able to play all games out there for 400 bucks is a steal at the moment.
Comment has been collapsed.
I give a damn, actually. I recently bought a Backbone One for my iPhone (had Gamevice before and I still have a big Gamevice for my iPad), and it's glorious. I use it on the bus and train, usually 2-3 times a week. I also sometimes have to travel for work and sleep in hotels. I could absolutely see my using a Steam Deck, even though I don't plan on spending that much money for it now. Maybe next year. Being able to use my steam library on the go is certainly something I would consider.
Comment has been collapsed.
https://www.steamdeck.com/
Comment has been collapsed.