Steam Deck discussion

[WiseOldApe]

I just bought a Nintendo Switch as a hand held - I already have a gaming PC as a means to play those GPU intensive games.

As an aussie, we can't even buy a steam deck yet, so it's not even an option, but honestly, for the price of the 512GB one, i would probably just save up and buy a laptop that can be used for gaming, instead of purchasing what i consider to be a mini PC.

[Deathstroke]

I would imagine spec-wise it's a breeze, it's a matter of playing WoW without a keyboard.

https://www.dexerto.com/world-of-war...-deck-1886617/


A quick google search, seems like you can and it plays well. Go figure.

Astonishing!!! I’m like 25% sold on steam deck

[JUSA]

So wait you can't connect a mouse and keyboard?

But who was Dota 2? Valve pls

There is an official dock that is in the works. However, there are unofficial ones that are very solid.

https://www.jsaux.com/products/steam...ocking-station

Can hook up mouse, keyboard, monitor -- but the device itself has bluetooth anyway, so not really necessary.

[leafs43]

I don't see the allure of a steam deck.

Most PC games require more inputs than a simple controller set up, so you are limiting your options from the get go.

[WWE-TicK]

I don't see the allure of a steam deck.

Most PC games require more inputs than a simple controller set up, so you are limiting your options from the get go.

Personally, I'll be using it more for emulation. Being able to play PC games on it is just a perk.

[phaginator]

I don't see the allure of a steam deck.

Most PC games require more inputs than a simple controller set up, so you are limiting your options from the get go.

A lot PC games these days are optimized for controllers anyway so not a big deal.

[Sil3nt1]

Thought about getting it for when I start living in army barracks but thought I would be happier with an actual computer setup, going to get a razerblade 15..

[JUSA]

Thought about getting it for when I start living in army barracks but thought I would be happier with an actual computer setup, going to get a razerblade 15..

I just look at that's specs, holy chit, that's a beast.

I don't know how comparable this is, my gaming PC is a 2020 Omen 15, very much a mid-tier for that year and not just a colossus like you're getting, but I found myself gravitating much more to handheld gaming even with a decent rig that could (at least) play any game I was interested in (which is a lot of turn-based strategy stuff, not 60+ fps AAA graphics fests).

So, I use it, mostly to Discord w/ buddies and play Gloomhaven w/ old friends across the state and then as a productivity machine for home use. More often with actual gaming, meaning finding some title and attempting to take it to 100%, I use Switch or even my trusty old 3ds. I just like that handheld and portability of both, no large power bricks, no major production to haul them around anywhere.

Not to poke or prod, but if you can afford that Razer Blade, you can grab a $650 steam deck -- but yeah, that only makes sense if you're like me and like your gaming handheld and on the go. If you prefer plunking down on the couch or desk, it won't add much value to your gaming life.

[Sil3nt1]

I just look at that's specs, holy chit, that's a beast.

I don't know how comparable this is, my gaming PC is a 2020 Omen 15, very much a mid-tier for that year and not just a colossus like you're getting, but I found myself gravitating much more to handheld gaming even with a decent rig that could (at least) play any game I was interested in (which is a lot of turn-based strategy stuff, not 60+ fps AAA graphics fests).

So, I use it, mostly to Discord w/ buddies and play Gloomhaven w/ old friends across the state and then as a productivity machine for home use. More often with actual gaming, meaning finding some title and attempting to take it to 100%, I use Switch or even my trusty old 3ds. I just like that handheld and portability of both, no large power bricks, no major production to haul them around anywhere.

Not to poke or prod, but if you can afford that Razer Blade, you can grab a $650 steam deck -- but yeah, that only makes sense if you're like me and like your gaming handheld and on the go. If you prefer plunking down on the couch or desk, it won't add much value to your gaming life.

military tax free and other benefits cheaper for me

[WiseOldApe]

I just look at that's specs, holy chit, that's a beast.

I don't know how comparable this is, my gaming PC is a 2020 Omen 15, very much a mid-tier for that year and not just a colossus like you're getting, but I found myself gravitating much more to handheld gaming even with a decent rig that could (at least) play any game I was interested in (which is a lot of turn-based strategy stuff, not 60+ fps AAA graphics fests).

So, I use it, mostly to Discord w/ buddies and play Gloomhaven w/ old friends across the state and then as a productivity machine for home use. More often with actual gaming, meaning finding some title and attempting to take it to 100%, I use Switch or even my trusty old 3ds. I just like that handheld and portability of both, no large power bricks, no major production to haul them around anywhere.

Not to poke or prod, but if you can afford that Razer Blade, you can grab a $650 steam deck -- but yeah, that only makes sense if you're like me and like your gaming handheld and on the go. If you prefer plunking down on the couch or desk, it won't add much value to your gaming life.

Yeah, but wouldn't you rather just get a gaming laptop?

I mean, if you're gonna be gaming with the steam deck without being connected to the wall, how long is it gonna last really, unless you're playing super mario cart or something that's no GPU intensive?

Which is exactly why the Nintendo Switch exists.

I'm not bagging out the Steam Deck as I'm sure that I'd like to own one, but I can't help but think that these 'portable PCs' are a gimmick, and at most you will be getting 1 or two hours of playtime when doing portable gaming.

Some of the best ones from Aya or whatever cost MORE than gaming laptops with dedicated RX 6000 or 30xx series GPUs, LOL.

Even with the Nintendo, it's only good because it's designed for traditional 'nintendo exclusives' like Super Mario or Zelda, which don't even waste that much energy, compared to for Control on Steam Deck for example.

[JUSA]

Yeah, but wouldn't you rather just get a gaming laptop?

Dunno, I mean, I have a gaming laptop that is midtier and decent. Any game I might want to play, it can play. I do use it but like I posted above, I find myself gravitating back to handhelds b/c of portability and prefer the experience.

[WiseOldApe]

Dunno, I mean, I have a gaming laptop that is midtier and decent. Any game I might want to play, it can play. I do use it but like I posted above, I find myself gravitating back to handhelds b/c of portability and prefer the experience.

Yeah true, the steam deck does look nice and I was contemplating buying one, but then I'd realised that when it does come out in Aus, it will cost liike 700-1000 dollars, so I got a switch instead.

The great thing about the steam deck and other portables like the Aya is that you can install windows 11 and play games from your libraries on there.

[JayJ350]

Yeah true, the steam deck does look nice and I was contemplating buying one, but then I'd realised that when it does come out in Aus, it will cost liike 700-1000 dollars, so I got a switch instead.

The great thing about the steam deck and other portables like the Aya is that you can install windows 11 and play games from your libraries on there.

With Steam Deck you are better off just sticking to Linux and Steam OS, Windows tends to run like chit on these devices.

[WiseOldApe]

With Steam Deck you are better off just sticking to Linux and Steam OS, Windows tends to run like chit on these devices.

Yeah i've got quite a few games in my steam library - TBH the only reason that nintendo switch is good is because the nintendo exclusives are unique types of games.

They sacrifice graphics and overcompensate with really good story telling and game play - it's like how I think Horizon Zero Dawn has such a great and immersive story that it might probably have been good, even on playstation 2 level graphics.

Honestly though, I'd rather play HZD on my gaming PC - or a PS5, if I had one.

[OneLegSquats]

Yeah i've got quite a few games in my steam library - TBH the only reason that nintendo switch is good is because the nintendo exclusives are unique types of games.

They sacrifice graphics and overcompensate with really good story telling and game play - it's like how I think Horizon Zero Dawn has such a great and immersive story that it might probably have been good, even on playstation 2 level graphics.

Honestly though, I'd rather play HZD on my gaming PC - or a PS5, if I had one.

Once you play HFW, ZD will look like an early PS3 game by comparison. I went back to watch some ZD clips on YT and the animations look bad when you're used to FW's. It still looks very good on scenery and machine textures but FW is truly a next gen upgrade in all areas

[butwhowasfeel]

got my 1tb micro sd in the mail last night. LFG, finna add so many cot damn games

[WiseOldApe]

Once you play HFW, ZD will look like an early PS3 game by comparison. I went back to watch some ZD clips on YT and the animations look bad when you're used to FW's. It still looks very good on scenery and machine textures but FW is truly a next gen upgrade in all areas

I have played HZD on my ps4 AND on a gaming PC, so i am very familiar with how good it is - by ZD, do you mean Zelda?

[JUSA]

Update,

So, paid for this sucker on Monday, 4pm if it matters (pretty much right after getting the email). Shipping status since yesterday is, "Shipping soon". Also Monday evening, I put in a new reservation for a 64gb -- to my shock it was initially estimated to come in by end of September. Shortly after it was changed to Sept-December this year. Got it for my kid if anyone wonders why I'd want two. Kind of thought I should hold off at least until I had mine in hand and showed it to her but she's got a buddy who has come over with one. Showed it to me when she was here and that was when I knew I wanted this damn thing -- felt absolutely perfect as a handheld. Not overly large or chunky but very good. Screen is what the screen is, which is 7", large for a handheld but makes me still nervous about actual PC-gaming here. I still contend if I only ever emulate with this I will be happy, so it's all good.

[JUSA]

No real update, I didn't know or notice, but they give you kind of an update with 4 tiers on the shipping status:

(X) Processed Payment
(X) Packaged Items
( ) Picked up by carrier
( ) Shipped

... isn't picked up by carrier shipped? Well, for me it's neither still but maybe next weekend I'll be singing a new tune.



This looks interesting. Another handheld - this one Windows based but with more power to go that route. Really at this price, it's more powerful than my 2020 gaming laptop by a solid margin and about the same price point. I actually plunked in $200 after I got it to add a TB harddrive, this one specs can get a lot better with 2TB for less than I paid.

Dock that and it's honestly a very decent gaming setup w/ mouse and keyboard attached.

[JUSA]

Update, it's Saturday. I paid Monday late afternoon.

Just got a Valve email, they are officially preparing my item to ship and even provided FedEx tracking #s which currently do not work.

If it's not obvious, I am an old man and I grew up in days where patience was a virtue, there was no clicking a button and hours later chit arrives at your doorstop. We didn't have cartoons on demand, we fuking got up at 7am on Saturday and had four hours to squeeze in that week's worth of Saturday morning cartoons. If you slept in, **** you: no Snorks or Thundarr for you.

So, I am a patient person by modern standards. This whole process to me is just a throw back to yesteryear, waiting and getting excited about something and not just getting everything within seconds of wanting it.

I've seen people whine about it, it is very odd to pre-reserve something, wait weeks or months, and worst: never really know when the journey will end.

I'm obviously very anxious to get my hands on this, which is an old feeling. At the end of the day this is just a little handheld PC but because of this long and unknown journey I do find myself looking forward and thinking about it far more than I would were it just another gaming device that was more easily obtained. Even the hunt for a Switch OLED only took about a week of refreshing various retailers to get it.

Hopefully only one or two more updates and I can actually talk about this damn thing, having it in person to use.

[WWE-TicK]

Update, it's Saturday. I paid Monday late afternoon.

Just got a Valve email, they are officially preparing my item to ship and even provided FedEx tracking #s which currently do not work.

If it's not obvious, I am an old man and I grew up in days where patience was a virtue, there was no clicking a button and hours later chit arrives at your doorstop. We didn't have cartoons on demand, we fuking got up at 7am on Saturday and had four hours to squeeze in that week's worth of Saturday morning cartoons. If you slept in, **** you: no Snorks or Thundarr for you.

So, I am a patient person by modern standards. This whole process to me is just a throw back to yesteryear, waiting and getting excited about something and not just getting everything within seconds of wanting it.

I've seen people whine about it, it is very odd to pre-reserve something, wait weeks or months, and worst: never really know when the journey will end.

I'm obviously very anxious to get my hands on this, which is an old feeling. At the end of the day this is just a little handheld PC but because of this long and unknown journey I do find myself looking forward and thinking about it far more than I would were it just another gaming device that was more easily obtained. Even the hunt for a Switch OLED only took about a week of refreshing various retailers to get it.

Hopefully only one or two more updates and I can actually talk about this damn thing, having it in person to use.

I hear there's an epidemic of people stealing people's Decks. Including the FedEx drivers themselves. They'll say it's delivered, then run off with it. I think a big part of the problem is that Valve ships it in a box that clearly indicates that it contains a Deck. I wonder if they smartened up yet.

I'm probably gonna have them ship it to my local FedEx pickup spot (either the Walgreens down the street or the FedEx Store next to my job).

[JUSA]

I hear there's an epidemic of people stealing people's Decks. Including the FedEx drivers themselves. They'll say it's delivered, then run off with it. I think a big part of the problem is that Valve ships it in a box that clearly indicates that it contains a Deck. I wonder if they smartened up yet.

I'm probably gonna have them ship it to my local FedEx pickup spot (either the Walgreens down the street or the FedEx Store next to my job).

That would not surprise me one bit, but also sounds like city boy problems. While I do not live in a cabin in the woods, I moved in June firmly to the country. I'll feel better on Wednesday, which is my projected deliver date, but until then I'm not getting too worked up about theft.

[FallOutBrah]

just got my reservation email said its time to order now..but what will I do as a the casual absent minded gamer...we shall see..to buy, or to let slide...that is the question...

[JUSA]

just got my reservation email said its time to order now..but what will I do as a the casual absent minded gamer...we shall see..to buy, or to let slide...that is the question...

You get three days to make up your mind, wish I could give you advice. I feel like: If you're like me, you prefer handheld gaming and it's not that expensive for you, knock yourself out. If not or money is tight, maybe not.

[WWE-TicK]

I got my reservation e-mail yesterday. However, I'm going on vacation Thursday and won't be back until Tuesday next week. From a quick Google search, it can take as little as one week from the moment you order it to get it. So I'm either gonna wait until later today or until tomorrow to go ahead and pull the trigger.

Although, like I said, I'm gonna see if I can have FedEx deliver it to a FedEx pick-up spot instead of the house. But sometimes you can't do that, so I don't wanna risk it showing up at my doorstep when I'm not here.

[JUSA]

I got my reservation e-mail yesterday. However, I'm going on vacation Thursday and won't be back until Tuesday next week. From a quick Google search, it can take as little as one week from the moment you order it to get it. So I'm either gonna wait until later today or until tomorrow to go ahead and pull the trigger.

Although, like I said, I'm gonna see if I can have FedEx deliver it to a FedEx pick-up spot instead of the house. But sometimes you can't do that, so I don't wanna risk it showing up at my doorstep when I'm not here.

I paid rather quickly Monday afternoon, got word that Saturday. FedEx has been all over the map, they initially projected Wednesday. Then I got an update it would be early, Sunday. Then I got an update, it would be Monday. Then, next update: Back to Wednesday. It's in Ft. Worth right now @ the FedEx delivery station, so it'll be later today or tomorrow as originally scheduled.

Would suck to have it sitting outside your house for a few days while you're on vacation. I think if you wait last second to put the order in... you should be okay. Looks like they originate out of IL, not sure how that might impact delivering to you.

[WWE-TicK]

Just put in my order this morning. As of right now, it's only passed the "Processed Payment" phase.

And now we wait ...

[JUSA]

Got it this afternoon, no shenanigans. I'm a little tired, not sure how much I'm going to mess with it tonight. Looks good, though, none of the issues some people flagged w/ screen, buttons, knobs, etc...

It feels good in my hands but will take some getting used to. I want to rest my thumbs on the mouse tracks and they're very sensitive. Wish the thumbsticks were switched w them location-wise.

[JUSA]

Still working w/ the Deck, mostly downloading games. 512GB doesn't go very far, but I knew that already. Even w/ an extra 1/2TB sim card, it's going to be gone in short order. I am kind of holding off on deep diving into emulation, waiting for the Dock from Jsaux I'd ordered. I want a keyboard and mouse to work on that, I think.

I just wanted to update, at the time last week I'd gotten confirmation that my 512 was ready, I went ahead and put another order in for a 64 to give to my kid. I was expecting it closer to December/Xmas, but I just got an email an hour ago that it is also ready -- only after barely a week of waiting on that reservation.

So, if you're thinking of scalping: Don't.

If you're worried about a long wait, those days may be behind us or at least right now it's not the case with the 64. And, while it's not for me, a lot of people like to get the 64 and upgrade the memory themselves, it's not too terribly hard. I know you can find 1TB sticks, there might be 2TB ones even.

[JUSA]

I stupidly ordered the Jsaux dock from them directly, didn't even check Amazon (which, it's there), so I've been waiting for it since the 23rd. It's somewhere in NY in cargo. Never ordered chit from Taiwan before, it's not a quick process.

I say all this b/c I'm waiting for it to hook up a mouse/keyboard to really deep-dive into emulation.

I did install some GBA and SNES games. Attempted to get Duckstation working but I can't figure out where to put the bios on that one.

I have to say... the Steam Deck is not really like other consoles. It's very obvious and I knew this already before I got it - but knowing it from experience, which I now have firsthand, the point is all the more clear... you WILL have to tinker around with this.

If you are okay with or even enjoy fidgeting with your console, games, setups and chit... you'll be fine. If you do not want to mess around with anything and want games to just work -- this isn't for you. Emulation, which is not terribly difficult - but does require some time and patience and you will probably at some point consult some Youtube kid to walk you through things. That's fine, anyone who emulates is used to that -- but just running games in general often takes some tinkering. A few games just work great, MANY others will but need some adjusting and then work great.

So that's my take away right now.

I will say, playing old Game Boy Advance or SNES games on a handheld is lots of fun. If you like old Fire Emblem, Ogre Battle and chit like that. Even the action games run beautifully and it's fun for me to have these games all on one handheld with a great sized screen. In a week or so, I'll probably have ****ing figured out Duckstation, Sega Dreamcast, PSP, Vita, 3DS, DS and a handful of Xbox and PS2 games all lined up.