Steam Deck: Handheld Steam console announced

[Mike Strike]

My mind is mental drooling at the prospect of all the games this could play that Switch can't:

-Madden
-CoD
-GTA
-FPWW
-Star Wars KOTOR
-Persona 4 Golden
-Zero Escape series
-Possibly KH if those are just timed exclusive on EGS

[BorneAgain]

Jul 15, 2021 16:55:06 GMT -5 Mike Strike said:

My mind is mental drooling at the prospect of all the games this could play that Switch can't:

-Madden
-CoD
-GTA
-FPWW
-Star Wars KOTOR
-Persona 4 Golden
-Zero Escape series
-Possibly KH if those are just timed exclusive on EGS

And that's not even getting into emulation of their own titles Nintendo isn't interested in putting on Switch in any form. Various people playing old Gamecube titles on their portable consoles via Dolphin would be a hell of a telling scenario about Nintendo's handling of legacy content.

[Chiral]

Playing Vampire the Masquerade on a chill non computer chair sounds nice.

[Deleted]

The visuals of this thing are very, "We wanted to rip off the Switch and we accidentally made a Gamegear."

[Zone Was Wrong]

Jul 15, 2021 17:09:24 GMT -5 Chiral said:

Playing Vampire the Masquerade on a chill non computer chair sounds nice.

Good luck playing Bloodlines without the patches lol

[Mozenrath]

I'm curious, though at the price, I definitely am unlikely to get this anytime soon. I do know they want to get devkits out there for developers to cater their games specifically to this hardware option, so I think this is going to be like the Ouya: sinking or swimming by how people and devs alike get behind it. If they support it, this is probably going to have some loyalists, but I hope Valve is more realistic to think that this is going to be anything but a distant fourth in the console race.

[Ganon83]

Has Valve outlined if third party controllers will be able to connect to this thing?

[BorneAgain]

Jul 15, 2021 18:50:25 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'm curious, though at the price, I definitely am unlikely to get this anytime soon. I do know they want to get devkits out there for developers to cater their games specifically to this hardware option, so I think this is going to be like the Ouya: sinking or swimming by how people and devs alike get behind it. If they support it, this is probably going to have some loyalists, but I hope Valve is more realistic to think that this is going to be anything but a distant fourth in the console race.

If Valve's smart they'll realize the audience for this is more or less older enthusiasts that basically want a Switch Pro equivalent and adjust expectations accordingly. Nintendo has the family (and much of the Japanese) audience locked up, but there's a consumer base out there that can grow if they stick with it for a while.

[xCompackx]

Jul 15, 2021 18:50:25 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'm curious, though at the price, I definitely am unlikely to get this anytime soon. I do know they want to get devkits out there for developers to cater their games specifically to this hardware option, so I think this is going to be like the Ouya: sinking or swimming by how people and devs alike get behind it. If they support it, this is probably going to have some loyalists, but I hope Valve is more realistic to think that this is going to be anything but a distant fourth in the console race.

Eh, given these kinds of "gaming-focused handheld PCs" aren't exactly a new concept (hell, GPD's been cranking them out for years), I'm sure this isn't trying to compete with anything other than probably those other handheld PCs. If anything, this is the Apple method of "Here's the same concept that's been done, but official and less janky".

And from what I've followed of these kinds of handheld devices, it can get pretty damn janky.

[Hurbster]

Jul 15, 2021 18:49:28 GMT -5 Zone Was Wrong said:

Jul 15, 2021 17:09:24 GMT -5 Chiral said:

Playing Vampire the Masquerade on a chill non computer chair sounds nice.

Good luck playing Bloodlines without the patches lol

Maybe it will have a browser built in and access to nexusmods.

[Mozenrath]

Jul 15, 2021 19:24:50 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Jul 15, 2021 18:50:25 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'm curious, though at the price, I definitely am unlikely to get this anytime soon. I do know they want to get devkits out there for developers to cater their games specifically to this hardware option, so I think this is going to be like the Ouya: sinking or swimming by how people and devs alike get behind it. If they support it, this is probably going to have some loyalists, but I hope Valve is more realistic to think that this is going to be anything but a distant fourth in the console race.

Eh, given these kinds of "gaming-focused handheld PCs" aren't exactly a new concept (hell, GPD's been cranking them out for years), I'm sure this isn't trying to compete with anything other than probably those other handheld PCs. If anything, this is the Apple method of "Here's the same concept that's been done, but official and less janky".

And from what I've followed of these kinds of handheld devices, it can get pretty damn janky.

Yeah, there's obviously a market for it, it just needs to have realistic expectations. This is a niche interest at the moment, so I hope they don't just throw up their hands and say, "f*** it" after a year like it feels like happened with the Steam controller.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Jul 15, 2021 19:58:22 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jul 15, 2021 19:24:50 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Eh, given these kinds of "gaming-focused handheld PCs" aren't exactly a new concept (hell, GPD's been cranking them out for years), I'm sure this isn't trying to compete with anything other than probably those other handheld PCs. If anything, this is the Apple method of "Here's the same concept that's been done, but official and less janky".

And from what I've followed of these kinds of handheld devices, it can get pretty damn janky.

Yeah, there's obviously a market for it, it just needs to have realistic expectations. This is a niche interest at the moment, so I hope they don't just throw up their hands and say, "f*** it" after a year like it feels like happened with the Steam controller.

And the steam link.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Set up Retroarch on that bad boy and you're set.

[Zone Was Wrong]

Jul 15, 2021 18:57:37 GMT -5 Ganon83 said:

Has Valve outlined if third party controllers will be able to connect to this thing?

They mentioned it's bluetooth connection ready, so I would assume that include Bluetooth X Box controllers and what not. Least I hope so

[Mozenrath]

Thinking about it while I took a shower, it's coming in at an interesting time. PS5s remain difficult for many to get, for instance, and the graphics card issues with gaming PCs remain a problem, I think, albeit not AS much of one as they were.

I think it's possible this is compelling for people since 400 bucks, even before buying additional memory, is a lot of money, but it's still like the third the price of a lot of high-end gaming laptops. It's really going to come down to system specs, I guess, for if it can compete, but still.

Also, truth be told, it's also probably going to be interesting to see how it competes in terms of another major handhelds niche, the one that keeps Vitas and PSPs as a topic of conversation, or Anbernic handhelds. What it can and cannot do there is also relevant because it is much more expensive than some of the top models in that niche, too, but if it has enough power, it might be the kind of thing a lot of these people have been waiting for since that scene has largely plateaued with what it can do with the current power levels of, uhh, alternative handheld options.

[BorneAgain]

Jul 15, 2021 20:54:55 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Thinking about it while I took a shower, it's coming in at an interesting time. PS5s remain difficult for many to get, for instance, and the graphics card issues with gaming PCs remain a problem, I think, albeit not AS much of one as they were.

I think it's possible this is compelling for people since 400 bucks, even before buying additional memory, is a lot of money, but it's still like the third the price of a lot of high-end gaming laptops. It's really going to come down to system specs, I guess, for if it can compete, but still.

Also, truth be told, it's also probably going to be interesting to see how it competes in terms of another major handhelds niche, the one that keeps Vitas and PSPs as a topic of conversation, or Anbernic handhelds. What it can and cannot do there is also relevant because it is much more expensive than some of the top models in that niche, too, but if it has enough power, it might be the kind of thing a lot of these people have been waiting for since that scene has largely plateaued with what it can do with the current power levels of, uhh, alternative handheld options.

Ease of use for emulators/fan games and the Steam Library may be the deciding factor. PSP/Vita did to better than what popular memory suggests, but their libraries were never quite strong enough to compete with the DS line and the technical prowess believed to be needed to hack them always turned that audience off.

If this really can just be a windows computer in Switch size that people can use to take all kinds of formerly PC/Laptop only, that'll be huge. Just speaking for myself, there's a ton of Steam titles I'm now considering just because I can take them on the go and put time in with much greater ease.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

It's a linux computer... so it can't run all of the games on the steam store... unless you load Windows onto it... which would take a decent chunk of any memory.

[Mike Strike]

Jul 15, 2021 21:13:12 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

It's a linux computer... so it can't run all of the games on the steam store... unless you load Windows onto it... which would take a decent chunk of any memory.

It runs Proton, which gives Linux compatibility with Windows software: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_(software)

[xCompackx]

Yeah, there might be some compatibility issues with some games and I know anti-cheat software gets weird with stuff like this so online games probably won't work without a fix from developers, but I'm sure most games will work fine.

Personally, I'm likely gonna install Windows as 1. I'd prefer to just run everything on actual Windows, 2. I only have GTA V on the Rockstar Game Launcher, and 3. I do have games on Epic's store too. Hmm, though, I'd have to buy a copy of Windows 10 (or 11?); that'd be interesting.

Also! Windows 11 will have Android app support so technically you'll be able to run Android apps on this too. If, y'know, you're into that.

[Banjo Is Broken]

Next up, that remake of the Odyssey I've been pining for.