Do we need the Steam Deck?
Everybody and their mom has heard of Steam’s upcoming portable console/PC hybrid by now, and if you wanted to preorder one, you’re already out of luck, you’ll probably have to wait until late 2022.
The question that’s on everyone’s lips right now is whether the device will be successful or not, in the long run.
TL,DR: experts have some healthy doubts given Valve’s track record with hardware. Some think it is a poor alternative for either a handled console or a beefier gaming PC (pick your side and stick to it instead of settling for something that’s bad at both). Others think it fills a particular gaming laptop niche for an attractive price.
Yes, the Steam Deck seems to be selling like hot cakes, but as I recall, similar hype has surrounded other Valve initiatives such as the Steam Link and the Steam Machines at launch, only for these products to flop. Don’t get me wrong, I know people who still have them love their Steam Link, but those have definitely remained a niche product.
Valve are certainly trying to fit a niche market again: The Steam Deck, despite its form factor, is not in direct competition with the Switch. It won’t have any of Nintendo’s exclusives (and don’t be deluded into thinking that running Yuzu on the device will give you the “right” experience). But it is technically a gaming “laptop” at an affordable price. How people will respond to that (beyond the initial hype) will depend on a few things.
Steam Deck – What the press are saying
The Verge say that the Steam Deck will succeed. In essence, they say that Valve has the game catalog and the money to make this thing great. In particular the device will be able to run most Steam games, which was not the case of the Steam Machines. The Verge also emphasize that Valve have the manpower and money to make this a great device, unlike a lot of the “crowdfunded” portable game devices that have seen the light of day in the past decade. In other words, just because your favorite crowdfunded portable gaming device failed miserably last year, doesn’t necessary mean the Steam Deck will see the same fate. They do note that the Steam Deck is priced like a high end console, without having near the processing power of the PS5 or the new Xbox.

Steam Deck performance vs PS5 and Xbox (source: The Verge)
IGN are impressed at the level of effort Valve have been putting into the hardware, but also into a SteamOS redesign, to ensure the Steam Deck will be as easy to use as a console, but also as flexible as a PC [personal take: the risk here is that they go get both wrong]. They also emphasize the contrast with the “walled garden” approach of consoles, while the Steam Deck will let people customize it with existing Linux/Proton tools, or even wipe it out and install a different OS. They have a full article on how Valve are doing their best to avoid the “drift” issues that plague a lot of console controllers. [personal take: the article explains nothing, and Valve’s console will probably suffer from the same drift issues as all consoles, unless they can prove they’re using different components than everybody else.]
Cnet call out that Valve don’t have the best track record when it comes to hardware. They also remind us that the battery life of the device is “up to 8 hours”, with the example that portal 2 can be played for “up to 4 hours”. The Steam Deck is a device to play on your bed, your sofa, or your toilet. Not something you would often take with you on a train or other long trip.
GameInformer share a list of games that will not work on the Steam Deck. A lot of AAA listers in there, mostly online multiplayer games, possibly because their required anti-cheat layer is not compatible with the SteamOS/Proton/Linux environment.
Games you cant play on Steam Deck (list from GameInformer)
- Apex Legends
- Black Desert Online
- DayZ
- Dead by Daylight
- Destiny 2
- Fall Guys
- Hunt: Showdown
- Paladins
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Smite
Writers at Kotaku share multiple concerns. One being that only games optimized for a controller experience will feel nice to play on the device, a second being that the device will be heavy enough to be uncomfortable to use for long periods of time. They emphasize Valves failed hardware attempts in the past. One of the writers compares it to “a handheld PC with a so-so battery and meh-quality screen”, which I think is a very valid concern. The thing could end up collecting us faster than we realize. Other folks at the Kotaku staff however feel that the convenience of being able to play from the couch or the bed is the key selling point of the Steam Deck, and what they are excited about. They point out that this makes it a very affordable gaming laptop, even if everything else fails.
One Kotaku staff mentions that gaming handled PCs already exist, and this is not a novelty. They don’t see how the Steam Deck will truly differentiate itself from this market [Again here, what could make a difference is the level of support Valve offers for the machine in the long run.]
Will the hacking Scene need the Steam Deck?
As far as hacking is concerned, this is where I’m interested to see where things will go.
As we’ve mentioned above, the Steam Deck’s form factor makes us want to intuitively put it into the “portable console” category. The hacking scene loves these devices. But in practice, this will be a PC, and Valve have already confirmed that people can install Windows on it if they want to. I’m sure we’ll see some Linux ports – beyond SteamOS, that is – as well (and some reverse engineering of some of the drivers will be requires there, if Valve don’t provide the info – or the linux port – themselves), but as far as “hacking” is concerned, well… there would be no point in writing “homebrews” or “reverse engineer” anything beyond that.
So, certainly, there will be a community of hackers and tinkerers coming up with tools and software for the Steam Deck, but in my opinion they will not be the same crowd as our usual suspects on the Sony/Nintendo scenes.
Conclusion
It doesn’t mean I’m not excited for the Steam Deck. It’s a very intriguing device, and honestly I just wish they had it up for preorders here in Japan. I could see it replacing my aging gaming laptop, in particular with a deck that would still let me use it as a regular PC for the occasional work related task.
Are you excited about the Steam Deck? Did you manage to snatch one in pre-order?
pre-order for the 512GB version. initially it showed up as Q3 2022, but now it shows up as Q2 2022! excited!
Yes, there is a huge demand for a powerful handheld PC. The GPD Wins are pretty awesome, but their QC, after-sale service and support, and general foul-ups kind of ruined their reputation. I want a Steam Deck, but I think it’s still a bit too under-powered and will wait for benchmarks. I prefer a physical keyboard (clamshell design FTW) and user-replaceable SSD like in GPD’s lineup. I may wait for a newer gen device with Zen 3/4 but at this price point I may become an early adopter. I would love adequate PS2/Switch emulation on the go and interested in how these perform.
Don’t be alarmed just my advice
Well my take is games games games. It is all about the games you can play. At 400 with poor battery life give me a switch anyday. While I am sure it will be impressive for several years the switch has an established library and user base now. Once modded i can run things like android 10 on a switch. Currently I am playing through shining force 3. Heck i can run 3ds games on my switch. Did i mention it is cheaper and has great nintendo games one can play? So mark my words. You can wait till the end of time this will NEVER move more units than nintendo already has and is still selling. The eventual nail in the coffin is the pace of pc game tech. You will quite quickly run into games i feel which won’t play quite “right” on this device. Those games being designed for higher res and more powerful gpu.
Gaming laptops do not truly exist. They cost too much and take too much to power. Due to this they also suffer from poor battery life. This will suffer from similar problems. Problems nintendo has solved.
The cool thing about computers is you can push gaming to the limit. Max out res and textures. You do not want a gimped pc on the go you can also dock. Yes with the shortages is SOUNDS tempting but in the long run i will still be fussing about with emu on a modded switch having tons of fun…likely playing a very similar game library along with tons of big N exclusives to boot on my switch. I pronounce this:
D.O.A.
Dead on arrival..
LOL… Verge still being idiots and not getting their info right. how can you compare graphics ddr6 to the system ram (lpddr5). those are not quite the same thing, in theory yes, but in practical outcome; they’re used differently by the system… ANYWAYS, i have mine already reserved for Q1 2022!!
While there may not be much hacking opportunity there is a lot of DEVELOPMENT opportunity going on here. And what is hacking these days? It’s NOTHING like it used to be. If you remove 4 people these hardware hacking scenes would be virtually dead. It’s seriously that boring and lame. No one can be bothered anymore so you have a handful of geniuses that carry the weight and then some parasites that work off that.
That’s it. The Switch should have been blown wide open already and compared to its audience size and sales, it is a pittance of hacking compared to the Vita. Either people have become too deferential to the corporations and don’t want to “hurt them” so they wait way too long. Or people just don’t care as much anymore because of hardware like this popping up everywhere. There’s little reason left to “hack”.
But to code better compatibility layers or better linux os’ that would give you a nice compact and fast gaming system OS, well I see that being VERY interesting now with such compatible hardware. So long as Valve and AMD don’t act stupid. Which I wouldn’t bet on.
Wow this article is dog ***, did you do any research here or did you just grab sound bytes from other equally unresearched articles.
Valve literally stated they’re working with several common anti cheat developers to make sure their software will work on Linux via Proton.
What “track record” are we talking about here? All the hardware that Valve themselves developed and released, steam controller, steam link, and the index vr headset, has been high quality and valve has decent enough customer support should you run into any issues.
4 hours of battery life playing an older PC game is pretty comparable to the Switch, especially the launch model which got 3ish hours of battery life playing BOTW.
I can go on.
GPD win, Aya neo, OneXplayer cost a fortune, Steam Deck has already differentiated itself by actually being an affordable price. And Valve actually repair their products unlike GPD support who run you around in circles
It’s not a good console, see it in future.
I’m a heavy portable gamer at home. This product is definitely niche but it targets the crowd who likes playing from the comfort of bed, laying or sitting on a couch, or even toilet like you mentioned in the article. I have the switch and vita so it is not really something I need to have. i will probably snag one, once it becomes cheaper. I can see folks not liking this thing in about 2-3 years.
LOL at other handheld PC argument. They all start at 1000 USD and are way slower than Steam Deck which starts at 399 USD. I always wanted to buy GPD or Aya but not for 1k USD. I can afford it but it’s just not worth that much. Deck is better in every way at half the price. If that’s not exciting, I don’t know what is.
And about the Steam Machines. AFAIK the general reaction was completely different than journos say, because everyone rediculed the idea. And now all of the sudden everyone brings that up and say that ppl were excited about Steam Machines LOL. They weren’t! Stop chainging history so you can ‘prove’ your point.
*** are you on about? Unless that RDNA 2 enabled APU in the Steam Deck can be confirmed to have Ray-Tracing support it’s dead in the water compared to my i7 Win 3. 1.6 teraflops for the GPU compared to the i7 Win 3’s 2.46 teraflops (max). 2.4 to 3.6 ghz for the Steam Decks CPU at a default tdp of 15w is certainly easily beaten by the i7 Win 3’s CPU at 2.8 to 4.7 ghz (max). As for the price difference, sure you got a valid point but an extra $249 over the base price for 512 GB NVME storage? That’s downright extortionate. Hey-ho. Your money and choice.
Yea right. Win 3 with its *** GPU and *** RAM. Prepare to be disappointed with your 2000 USD paperweight once the Deck hits the deck. Not to mention that tiny-butt 5,5 inch screen and poor controls LMAO xD
GPD Win 3 Buyers remorse already? The Deck is not even out yet xD
Portables using real time ray tracing, a technology that’s still recent and has opportunity for vast performance increases in future GPU generations? LOL.
The specs of the Win3 are indeed better than the Deck, but the price of the Win3 is 90% higher than the 256gb Deck model.
Also the ‘extortionate’ price increase is kinda crappy, but it’s typical of prebuilt laptops/PCs.
Of course I wasn’t serious, just pointing out that it was technically possible as per the specifications of 1 RT core per CU for RDNA 2.
I have one thing to say about your super expensive Win 3: 5,5inch. Thank you.
Erm, TV out? It is a fixed resolution of 1280×720/800 that both will be gaming at not something super detailed by modern standards. A bigger screen will only highlight how poor that resolution is. And TBH, unless you have poor eyesight it is not a problem. It certainly wasn’t for Nintendo when they release the Switch Light or Sony, when they released the PS Vita with it’s 5 inch screen. Gamers still lapped them up in their millions.
Erm, TV out? So you bought a handheld device to plug it into your TV? You know you could buy a desktop PC, right? And for the price of Win 3 it would be way better than the Win 3.
The screen size has nothing to do with eyesight LOL. It’s about the experience. It’s like saying you don’t need a 65 inch TV cause you could get a 32 incher, unless you have a bad eyesight, then go for the 65 inch xD Vita was 5 inch and 540p. You have 5,5 inch for 720p. I have Linx Vision, it’s 720p/800p and has 8 inch screen and boy, even at that resolution it looks great. I have both Vita and Switch and compared to them I think 8 inch screen is the perfect size and 720p looks very sharp as well. Can’t really go back to under 6 inch now tbh. It’s just different and better experience all together. OFC Linx Vision is just piece of c**p nowadays, but the screen size is perfect. I suspect 7 inch will be great as well. 5,5 inch? In 2021? That’s a huge lol.
You seem to think that above 5,5 inch is too big for 720p. Tell that to people with 55+ inch inch 1080p TVs 😀 It’s basically unusable! 10 times bigger screen and only twice the pixel count. MADNESS! 😀
720p at 7 inch (Steam Deck) is 215.63 PPI. 4k at 55 inch is 80.11 PPI. Man, you really have to hate your 4k TV if you think that 7 inch with 215.63 PPI display looks bad.
Maybe go buy 3,5 inch screen and install it in your Win 3, after all, a bigger screen will only highlight how poor that resolution is. Your words, not mine 😀
Erm, TV out? So you bought a handheld device to plug it into your TV? You know you could buy a desktop PC, right? And for the price of Win 3 it would be way better than the Win 3.
The screen size has nothing to do with eyesight. It’s about the experience. It’s like saying you don’t need a 65 inch TV cause you could get a 32 incher, unless you have a bad eyesight, then go for the 65 inch. Vita was 5 inch and 540p. You have 5,5 inch for 720p. I have Linx Vision, it’s 720p/800p and has 8 inch screen and boy, even at that resolution it looks great. I have both Vita and Switch and compared to them I think 8 inch screen is the perfect size and 720p looks very sharp as well. Can’t really go back to under 6 inch now tbh. It’s just different and better experience all together. OFC Linx Vision is bad nowadays, but the screen size is perfect. I suspect 7 inch will be great as well. 5,5 inch? In 2021?
You seem to think that above 5,5 inch is too big for 720p. Tell that to people with 55+ inch inch 1080p TVs 😀 It’s basically unusable! 10 times bigger screen and only twice the pixel count. Madness.
720p at 7 inch (Steam Deck) is 215.63 PPI. 4k at 55 inch is 80.11 PPI. Man, you really have to hate your 4k TV if you think that 7 inch with 215.63 PPI display looks bad.
Maybe go buy 3,5 inch screen and install it in your Win 3, after all, a bigger screen will only highlight how poor that resolution is. Your words, not mine.
Mods are sleeping? It’s the 3rd time I post this comment and still nothing.
APU with RDNA 2 VS trash intel integrated gpu xD
Nothing is ever future proof so it’s not a fair comparison as the Steam Deck was not available until after the Win 3 was finished and being sold.
Typical AMD fanboy attitude.
You do realise that the win 3 has the tiger lake intel XE iGPU right? this isn’t just some nothing intel HD from a few years back. the 96EU one in the i7 is more powerful than their dedicated GPU they put out for OEMs to be ripped off with.
Not to mention that the 96EU XE is actually about 10% more powerful than that RDNA 2 APU. The major plusses with the AMD APU are the LPDDR5 RAM (which is BIG), AMDs drivers are better than intels and Valves price – which is basically unbeatable.
Bottom line is; learn your *** before trying to trash talk, before going ZoMg InTeL tRaSh hUeHuEhUe.
NOT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!
*** yeah *** we need it you shut up rn
btw valve’s hardware has always been good, idk if they can be considered flops, valve just didnt see enough sustained profit to keep going with them, the products themselves are great
Personally as someone who already games on Linux, coincidentally (arch + KDE Plasma) I would feel right at home. I would probably use it during my daily commute, in bed and on vacation. So even if it’s less successful, it’s a great device for me personally.
However, for long term success, the most important things Valve really needs to get right is this:
Stability of the system, game / steam freezes / plasma crashes are a pain on a system like this. Where on a desktop / laptop killing the process is easy enough, on these handhelds less so.
I see threads about running Windows but personally I don’t think it’s well suited for a device like this at all. On Windows nagware / updates popping up on a game console are unnecessary and annoying, if you just want to run your game on steam. A clean Linux distro is just going to give you a much nicer experience. Providing the game actually works on Linux.
With shortage of chips components, the ps5 or xbox series x, steam also run with this situation is very hard to buy.
Screen must be OLED panel. i don’t want to lcd screen in 2022. we can use oled in vita already.
Lol at Wololo censoring the posts by removal. Whatever.
My plan is to have No Man’s Sky and Nier Automata playable without being tied to a desk or TV. Anything else is just a bonus after that. I don’t have a plethora of graphically intensive games. Mine are more Shantae, Neptunia, River City Ransom/Girls. This will be perfect for any of these type games that haven’t already been ported over to switch.
looking forward to see it being exploited one day to make a great emulator. specially for PS2 and gamecube
I’m just excited to use it for emulation. The portable emulation scene isn’t the best. 3DS and Vita are too weak. Switch is decent, but finding one that can be hacked is hard and ends up making it much more expensive than it’s worth. Laptops aren’t portable in the practical sense.
You’re basically restricted to Chinese handhelds that run old versions of Android. Like the GPD for example.
This seems like something that will be powerful enough to emulate any system, besides the most intensive (PS3, 360, cycle accurate emulators) all for a good price. And you don’t even have to hack it, since it can run Windows natively.
MicroSD storage will be great for this too. Not great for actual games, but more than fine for ROMs.
I guess we’ll see how it goes, but this is the first piece of tech I’ve been excited for in many years.
These were also my first thoughts. Emulation on other portable devices is fragmented, usually down to the OS and hardware limitations. This potentially has the power to run systems to around PS3 era (PS3 emulation has really come on the last 12-24 months), for a portable device, this is very tempting. Having Windows available as an officially supported OS makes this way easier for your average user to modify things too!
The issue I have with this OP is the bias, and failure to compare with devices of the same portable category. We have the PS5 and Xbox, both fine devices designed to play the latest AAA titles (in a fixed location). The Steam Deck is potentially so much more than that. If a dock is available, it could well be a Switch killer, sure playing the latest Nintendo Switch games on the Steam Deck may be possible, its not going to give the same experience, but throw in the ability to play a huge library of titles from a verity of systems from the genesis of video games, is way more appealing than the Wii recycled stuff often thrown our way. We’ve not even started on customization!
To think of the Steam Deck as just a portable AAA games console is very short-sighted.
Having hardware specifications of other portable devices would be far more helpful and transparent, comparing with such a range of home consoles is rather pointless. One as a “benchmark” sure, come on guys, open your mind (Insert total recall meme, lol)
Honestly, I would rather add a few more bucks and grab a decent gaming laptop, more screen real estate, more processing power, and definitely more storage
if it runs better than my i5-3210m laptop it’s chaper to buy this than to replace my laptop
Mini handheld PC for only 400 dollars ? Yes i need. All games from Steam. Install windows and you have Battlenet, Epic Store and others.
Nintendo switch no more need it. Witcher low resolution low grpahics, 25fps drops, same for Doom.
I dont play Nintendos exclusives. So for me its a great alternative.
Its a great Switch alternative 400 dollars.
Nintendo OLED with specs from 2016….for 350 dollars. Bad ports and useless Mario and pokemons games.
You should have mentioned that Valve is working hard on Proton to support anti-cheat systems so that all games are compatible when Steam Deck launches. That’s their promise. Mine is ready to arrive in December, I cannot wait 🙂
If this allows me to play Yakuza series on the move, then it’s day one buy for me
Shut up! You’re not my real wallet!
I wanted a steam portable console based around the steam controller idea since 2016, when the steamboy was first announced. I’m not sure if it’s needed. I’m certain of it.
Beside both it and the smach zero died in a fire because of incompetence, so might as well let the pro do it instead.
This comparison is completely stupid.
You should not compare a stationary Console with a Handheld.
The PS5 and Xbox Series Devices would drain the Battery of the SteamDeck within some Minutes completely. And the cooling solution of the SteamDeck would never be able to cool (and probably run) the APUs in the other consoles.
Your comparison is also stupid, just because one is “portable” doesn’t mean that he can’t compare the power, it’s the same architecture tard.
Of course, you can compare it, but it is a completely unfair comparison.
The APU in the SteamDeck will run on a way lower Power-Target. And it will never reach the performance of a same-gen non-portable System. The Battery and Colling System cannot handle those APUs.
The Xbox Series S will consume about 40W just sitting in the Dashboard doing nothing. While the SteamDeck APU is designed to run at max 15W.
I’ll have mine Q1 next year. I am most excited to load up Windows 11, with the Android apps, and all the emulation possibilities.
Moonlight and other streaming programs exists for exactly the bed/couch/bathroom scenario described, and can just borrow the power of my PC to play my whole collection on a Vita, so a big part of the Steam Deck’s use case is lost there for me.
That said, the expanded input options, general PC functionality, emulation potential (while not streaming), and potentially cool user interface could still bridge the gap. I’ll wait and see.
Hi, as a fan of playing online games in my free time, I always really appreciate such posts, this information helps me to quickly understand trends and their features. As a rule, gambling is in my top. The online casino space is an interesting one because so many options exist. Slots, blackjack, roulette, poker, baccarat, and live dealer casino games are all the rage these days and that is before you consider they are not all from the same software developer. You have Microgaming, NetEnt, and so many others who offer their versions of pokies and other games.
Gambling can be a little confusing, but with reviews from such sites as Aussiebestcasinos you can change the game for yourself and others who may need your help, I find these reviews quite enlightening because they delve into a casino welcome bonus, what to look for in a regular casino bonus, the various online casino deposits and withdrawals that you can make from a casino and more about mobile gambling. Speaking of mobile gaming, Aussiebestcasinos delves into the various forms of it you get when you check online. There is mobile casino, iPhone casino, and tablet casino because game developers use HTML5 these days to develop these options. What I like most is the compatibility with iOS and Android that then means I can place bets on either. eWallets, as explained in the Economic Times, are quite many these days and they make gambling such a bliss as you do not have to use your bank details all the time.
Need? No. Want? OH, SO VERY MUCH.