Advice Should I buy a Steam Deck?

[DaGaffer]

I haven't played PC games properly for years (no time), but I fancy getting back into it. I don't really think I can justify a couple of grand on a new rig, especially with everything going on in the chip market, so...Steam Deck, yay or nay?

I'm well aware I probably couldn't get one now (pre-reg is out to Q2 next year) but I still have a Steam account (I was surprised it worked) so I am eligible to get in the queue.

 

[BloodOmen]

I'd wait and see what reviews say personally.

 

[Ormorof]

Ill wait, if its good and docks nicely with a monitor might get one instead of new PC.

 

[MYstIC G]

I haven't played PC games properly for years (no time), but I fancy getting back into it. I don't really think I can justify a couple of grand on a new rig, especially with everything going on in the chip market, so...Steam Deck, yay or nay?

I'm well aware I probably couldn't get one now (pre-reg is out to Q2 next year) but I still have a Steam account (I was surprised it worked) so I am eligible to get in the queue.

I think it's genuinely an interesting proposition because whilst it's not an entirely unique idea I trust Valve to pull it off and I've always liked their hardware.

Personally I put in a pre order because I want to be able to game without having to be in a room away from the family.

If you're looking to get back in then it's probably a win for you as I can't see it coming with the usual pc bullshit like driver management and Epic just got their anti cheat working on Linux and under proton which the windows only titles will use.

 

[Embattle]

Not yet.

 

[caLLous]

I'd like one for myself (waiting for launch/reviews before deciding) but I'm not sure I'd get one as a primary Steam-gaming device. I suppose it depends on the sort of games you'd be playing on it.

 

[MYstIC G]

Epic just got their anti cheat working on Linux and under proton which the windows only titles will use.

View: https://twitter.com/TheBattlEye/status/1441477816311291906

 

[Raven]

I am very interested in it but waiting for release, I want to see what battery life vs performance is like.

I also want to see how well it works with emulators too.

 

[MYstIC G]

I am very interested in it but waiting for release, I want to see what battery life vs performance is like.

I also want to see how well it works with emulators too.

RetroArch needs to come out of beta on Steam for sure

 

[MYstIC G]

RetroArch needs to come out of beta on Steam for sure

Correction: Came out last week...

RetroArch finally released on Steam! – Libretro

www.libretro.com

View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118310/RetroArch/

 

[Embattle]

Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

Valve’s new video shows off the inside of a Steam Deck.

www.theverge.com

 

[BloodOmen]

Valve opens up a Steam Deck to explain why it thinks you shouldn’t

Valve’s new video shows off the inside of a Steam Deck.

www.theverge.com

Linus Tech Tips reaction to it


View: https://youtu.be/nnyqww4-76A

 

[MYstIC G]

Steam Deck Deposit - Steam Deck Launching February 25th - Steam News

Hello, the day is almost here! On February 25th, we will be sending out the first batch of order emails to reservation holders. Customers will have 3 days (72 hours) from receipt of their order email to make their purchase, before their reservation is released to the next person in the queue...

store.steampowered.com

 

[Raven]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZ4POvk14c&ab_channel=LinusTechTips


I haven't pre-ordered but fuck me I am getting excited.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

I did pre-order, just the cheapest one, and a week in so I'll not be in the first lot that go out. Tbh I wasn't even sure I'd go through with it, I don't want to spend more, and the 64Gb version could have been shite, even with a big SD card.

First tests show Steam Deck SD card speed rivals the SSD

Early Steam Deck impressions highlight surprisingly fast micro SD load times.

www.pcgamer.com

Now I'm thinking I will buy it after all!

 

[MYstIC G]

I did pre-order, just the cheapest one, and a week in so I'll not be in the first lot that go out. Tbh I wasn't even sure I'd go through with it, I don't want to spend more, and the 64Gb version could have been shite, even with a big SD card.

First tests show Steam Deck SD card speed rivals the SSD

Early Steam Deck impressions highlight surprisingly fast micro SD load times.

www.pcgamer.com

Now I'm thinking I will buy it after all!

I'm a mark so put down for the OLED one. It's all interesting stuff so far.

I did love how Epic are basically playing the "we won't stop Fortnite running but we also won't do anything to make Fortnite run" game as well, which is funny because nobody I know who's seen the deck has even bothered to mention Fortnite: Epic won’t update Fortnite to run on the Steam Deck

 

[Raven]

I am not sure how many 12 year olds will be interested in a steam deck to be fair.

Linus has a teardown video now too, but not watched it yet, 2 hours long...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK43RAc90ZA&ab_channel=LinusTechTips

 

[Raven]

Personally I will be waiting a while, I think I have probably missed the boat on early adoption anyway, but there may be some small adjustments after release.

 

[Wij]

I don't see the point tbh. My Windows gaming laptop is portable enough to take to a mate's house easily but can play games at hi-res and hi-fps. I don't want to play keyboard and mouse games on a handheld.

Still, whatever floats anyone's boat.

 

[Starman]

I prefered Gamers Nexus coverage tbh - I do have one on pre-order but who knows when the time comes if i'll pull the trigger

 

[MYstIC G]

I prefered Gamers Nexus coverage tbh - I do have one on pre-order but who knows when the time comes if i'll pull the trigger

It was far more concise if nothing else

 

[Overdriven]

I want one for the sake of having one but I have no idea what games I'd actually play on it.

 

[Wij]

I want one for the sake of having one but I have no idea what games I'd actually play on it.

Could be handy for pr0n.

 

[MYstIC G]

Fucking fuckety fuck fuck

Valve halve Steam Deck SSD bandwidth on some models, say games performance is unaffected

"Some" Steam Deck models with the 256GB and 512GB models will start including lower-bandwidth SSDs, Valve have confirmed in a specs list update.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

Literally got my email this morning...

 

[Rubber Bullets]

I've got the 64gb version with, currently, a 400gb SD card. I imagine that's way slower than even the slower ssd's, and it works fine for me (of course I have nothing to compare it to)

 

[MYstIC G]

I've got the 64gb version with, currently, a 400gb SD card. I imagine that's way slower than even the slower ssd's, and it works fine for me (of course I have nothing to compare it to)

Are you happy with it?

I'm sort of at the point now where I've waited a year to get to this point, so if it's going to be a lower quality version I'm not sure if I should just leave it and see what comes later.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Yes I enjoy mine, though I didn't buy it too play big AAA titles. I have played a bit of Witcher 3, Hitman 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn on it, and they play well. I've also enjoyed smaller puzzling games such as Baba Is You, and Circuit Superstars.

That said I can absolutely see your point of view, though to be fair if you get it you'll be able to sell again for a profit.

 

[BloodOmen]

Hearing good stuff about it, here's to hoping valve support it long term and it doesn't become the new VITA.


View: https://youtu.be/ft5qR9zIG2o

 

[MYstIC G]

Yes I enjoy mine, though I didn't buy it too play big AAA titles. I have played a bit of Witcher 3, Hitman 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn on it, and they play well. I've also enjoyed smaller puzzling games such as Baba Is You, and Circuit Superstars.

That said I can absolutely see your point of view, though to be fair if you get it you'll be able to sell again for a profit.

So just as an update, I went through with it and it arrived the end of last week. When you're right you're right and I'm enjoying it so thanks RB.

First couple of days did played some bits from my library, did some tinkering, followed some of the tutorials for emulators and so on.

Some of the scripts that set up emulators were cool but they made a bit too much mess in the system for my liking so I think I might end up doing that stuff by hand, I need to get my head around the Flatpack stuff though as that seems like it can be a blessing (clean system) and a curse (folder mounting).

Also Steam installed Chrome when I was a bit too "yeah whatever, go away messagebox" and as there's already FireFox on the desktop so that needed undoing as well.

Favourite surprise so far was XBOX Game Pass using Edge. I've been playing Assasins Creed Origins on the Series X and when the wife wanted the TV I just saved where I was, jumped over to the deck and picked it up on the cloud and it was perfectly fine because nobody is caring about "loss of fidelity at 4k resolutions" if they're using the cloud on a 720p screen.

So today I wiped it to clean up the mess (worked flawlessly) put a couple of games back on there and I'm about to put back on Microsoft Edge and the XBOX Game Pass but only after having beaten my personal best on Green Hill Zone Act 1 on Sonic Mania



For me now, this is the evolution of this stuff going forward. If Valve brough out a GeForce Now style streaming system I think they'd have a lock, same library style your games that you buy/own but for a few quid a month you can have cloud power at your disposal. New AAA 100GB game release this week? No worries, buy it, stream it on your Deck whilst it downloads properly in the background to your Deck / PC then cut over when it's finished.

I can't see anyone else really pulling it off successfully, Sony aren't going to make it happen, Valve have the reputation with us gamers plus Gabe doesn't like M$ anyway so fingers crossed!