The Steam Deck: The most gaming power you have ever held; 499$ coming next December

@xantufrog: Yeah, but now phone can play so much of what’s on PC. That’s another reason Valve is out of touch.

Remember when Valve tried to sell you a PC? Now they trying to sell us a wannabe Tablet? It’s absurd.

Its still cheaper than average GPU post bitcoin minners. also cheaper than next gen consoles while running game equvalent to high-end PC.

Kudos to valve for making PC gaming affordable.

It's always been popular.

Snakes to Pokemon GO... Mobile gaming is popular, BUT its 90% casual gamers.

This thing is for the core audience.

Remember what core audience numbers look like?... Look up Wii U sales then compare it to a Switch or Wii.

Good for you that you like mobile games, but don't act like we can't see through you, you literally said your buying a Switch OLED and now are playing down a hand held device 3-4x the power of it for $50 more?...

Stop it.

Might actually pick this up. I’ll need to see what gaps I call fill with this considering I already have all 3 consoles, PC’s and Mac’s. I like that I could hook it up to my TV instead of a tiny lame monitor. If it’s got some games I can’t get elsewhere it might be worth it. Would opt for either the mid-high priced models though.

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: Yeah, I want to play Metroid Dread. But what I’m not gonna do is buy something my IPhone 12 does way better and way more.

Who the hell would buy this if they have a gaming phone or tablet?

Nobody will want a steam dick except steam turds who like intrusive drm clients. No way they'll allow offline play, so this handheld will be worthless as a handheld. Steam box part 2.

I don't think you understand a thing about sales of a product.

Everything competes with everything, people do not have a infinite supply of money and they don't compartmentalise their spending money.

Its why mobile contract's exist... Go ahead and release a new iPhone the same time a PS6 comes out without a contract and see what happens to iphone sales.

It won't sell because it doesn't have selling power, it has no name brand that average Joe is aware of... Its not because of competition or its price. This thing could be $200 it still wouldn't sell to average Joe.

Average Joe is where the money is at and to get to him you need to be popular or a brand name.

Steam allows offline play.

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: That’s another good point on why it will fail. Average Joe has no clue what a Valve is. Average Joe knows who Nintendo is cause his kids won’t shut up about them.

For what? Five minutes? lol

Friendly reminder that the Steam Linux library hasn't changed all that much (if at all) since 2015. I still think that they need to spend large cash sums on Linux ports of games that'd otherwise never be on PC.

Iphone does not play anthing on PC natively, it running Steam link.

Go ahead and take that iPhone abroad away from your PC and turn on Steam Link and see what happens.

Steam Deck is a PC, you can play the games natively. The two are completely different things.

@shadyacshuns: Most intrusive DRM comes around Steam than Steam itself.

See Resident Evil 8 and what a fucking joke of a mess that is.

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: I can play tons of games natively on my IPhone also.

Well, it remains to be tested in the field, but they address this: it comes default enabled with a new Proton. I've been playing a lot of "unsupported" AAA games on Linux for a while now with the "old" Proton and it's pretty good.

By and large, I anticipate some bugs and suboptimal performance on a variety of games - but if they are telling the truth and are launching with an updated Proton it's easy to imagine a largely unlimited experience

https://www.protondb.com/

Steam Linux library =/= games that run on Steam in Linux

So the Steam Deck is redundant because of mobile gaming yet the Nintendo Switch isn't? Interesting logic some people are using here.

Anyway this looks interesting I would definitely get the base model and add a 400gb sd card to it. I already own a gaming laptop so I I am not in a hurry to get one though. Funny thing is yesterday I was riding a bus to Boston and I had my gaming laptop on my lap and I was playing Doom Eternal and I was thinking it felt a little cramped compared to how it would be if I was gaming on a phone or handheld.

Considering that we are talking about a handheld device, performance overhead will be far worse than on a desktop, which actually has me questioning the sustainability of Proton. I would imagine it'd be more productive for Valve to give up-front monetary incentives for developers to make native Linux versions of their games, and for stuff like Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, Gundam Extreme VS Maxi Boost On and pretty much all of PlatinumGames' titles, having those games on the SteamDeck might actually be a more optimal experience than a Windows desktop.

Pretty much, if Valve can get a solid launch lineup, their first set of bribes will likely be the last one that they'd need.

lol the Steam Deck really has gotten sheep so upset that they're now hiding behind mobile gaming. This is great timing considering a week ago Sheep were trying to justify the Switch against mobile gaming.

@NoodleFighter: Switch has amazing exclusive games that we love to play and buy our kids. If this Steam thing played games my IPhone 12 couldn’t, it wouldn’t be so out of touch. But it doesn’t.

@flashn00b: no doubt - they do need to push for native support if they are going to go in on this whole-hog. I think most devs don't bother because 1) nobody is giving them money to and 2) the target market is miniscule. But this device could in fact end that disincentive by increasing the target audience a lot (if it sells, of course, lol) and potentially getting valve to front money to sweeten the pot further as you say

I can eat off the floor, doesn't mean I want to.

Mobile games don't hold a candle to the quality of games you get on desktop/consoles.

Name me one game that can compete with Rainbow Six Siege, GTA 5, Fallout 4, Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Doom Eternal, Dark Souls Remastered... The list is endless.

The power of this thing and price is spot on, I'll be all over it. I don't care how much it sells... To me its what the Switch should have been minus the Nintendo games.

Dude, paying extra 20USD to my phone plan will not kill me financially LOL and I get a top notch gaming device, which I can painlessly replace in 2 years with a new one. How is that a bad thing? And how exactly Steam portable will compete against that price wise?

If it's 0% interest then it's always better to pay in multiple installments than full price, mostly because inflation will actually make it slightly cheaper for you in 2 years.

@mesome713: The Steam Deck can play every game that is available on Steam and then some, there are plenty of games that aren't on the Switch and mobile that can be played on the Steam Deck.

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: Yeah, those games are fun on my IPhone also. Plus I’m balling with a 4K Oled. You know how we do.

And Bro, my IPhone 4K Oled looks amazing while gaming. Even better looking than my 4K Oled tv, can you believe it. Tech these days.

I've been wanting a decent Steam handheld for a few years so hope this turns out good...

I'd mostly play old stuff/ indies on it so I'm not that concerned about power.

@NoodleFighter: Yeah, I play them on my IPhone 4K Oled since my Switch don’t play them. Plus I FaceTime my momma with it also. It’s fun.

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: No one said people wouldn’t buy it. I just stated would be silly when they can get a IPhone 12 that does so much more. Valve is out of touch with this one. It will fail just like Steam Box failed.

Yeah, i think that's Valve's responsibility tbh. People seem to think that blind worship of Valve like they're an actual pantheon of gods will somehow make this thing successful. To which I inquire why their gods haven't released Half-Life 3 yet, which should be a very simple task for a group of omniscient and omnipresent beings.

As for a miniscule market, i feel like that can be corrected by having a good enough launch library of games that can get the average user to hop on board. Last i checked, people are pretty frustrated with the Switch's OLED Model and I think that's a frustration that Valve can exploit if they're willing to spend the money to do so.

Going the top model, 17:00pm GMT for anyone wondering. Don't understand the hate from IOS users, both have their places.

It's not very portable device either. You, at least, need a backpack for it. It will not fit the pockets and will be an extra wait carrying around.

And who wants to play freaking portal for 10th time in 2021

If i need to carry anything extra around i would rather take my tablet for book reading, netflix watching and some casual gaming.

It's 650USD for 500GB model. That's a ridiculous price to play some old ass SteamOS games.

Nintendo Switch doesn't fit in pockets but that hasn't stopped millions upon millions of people buying it and gaming on the go. Considering how small it is I doubt the "extra weight" you'll be carrying will be noticeable or a big deal. You can play things besides Portal, the video showed other games you could play like Control and Doom Eternal.

@NoodleFighter: Kids have never been able to fit a Nintendo in their pockets. They have small pockets. And kids don’t want to play old Steam games from back in the glory days before they were born.

Well, this is why i take only my phone when i go somewhere and leave my switch behind LOL. Nintendo switch portable goes for 200USD though and has unique exclusives. If you want to take it somewhere, you will need a protective case not to screw up the sticks in your bag, which diminishes portability even more. Talking from my own experience.

That's fine, I find smartphones and Nintendo stuff pointless purchases.

Ive been Looking at other forums and social media outlets, and the announcement looks pretty positive. I see alot of People seem responding well to a much more powerful handheld that can play their steam library and gamepass for $50 more than a switch. Time will tell if it sells well, but initial reactions look surprisingly positive.

@rmiller365: People were positive about Steam Box too, just nobody bought it. Phones are more powerful than Switch and can play Steam and GamePass games too. And everyone has a phone, even my grandma has an IPhone 12. She doesn’t game on her amazing 4K Oled screen, but o boy if she did.

The point I'm trying to make is that even though you don't find it portable enough plenty of people still do. The Steam Deck's cheapest model is $399 and gives you access to the entire Steam library with a lot of unique PC titles that aren't on the consoles.

@NoodleFighter: You can get a nice phone for that price and play the exact same games and way more.

Remember IPhone is just an overpriced name, so can get tons of good phone for a lot cheaper. And will fit in your pocket and have tons of amazing cool controllers.

@NoodleFighter: That's a good point, actually.

Steam games by comparison to Switch are incredibly cheap, and even then, have the ability to use key sites.

In the long run, it may end up considerably cheaper than any of the current consoles.

Also allows access to other services on top. And generally, open access.

@uninspiredcup: That is a good point. I get super cheap games that I play on my IPhone cause of the keys I buy. Plus I have a data plan so I can game and watch Netflix on the go. Something these cheap devices can’t do.

Yet another reason this device will fail. No data plan. On my IPhone I can play Fortnite on the go using my data.

64GB is not good for anything bruh

Looks pretty badass to me, and you can dock it and play it on a monitor or a TV just like the Switch. I'm probably going to be in for the top model. Portable PC gaming and the ability to play Hearthstone and other games on the TV? Yeah, I'm in.

Now to see if I can actually get a pre-order in when it's available...

@WitIsWisdom: Its fun to dock them. I dock my IPhone 12 to my TV and Clmouter all the time and play my Steam and GamePass games.

You play Hearthstone too? I play it a lot on my IPhone 12, it looks amazing in the 4K Oled. You should play it on your phone mate, just hook your phone to your tv, it works great. You have a phone don’t you?

@mesome713: Yeah, yeah, you've parroted that as you've sprayed vitriol all over the thread all day. I think everyone reading the thread has established your feelings. You should let people get excited and enjoy things, even if you don't have any interest in it. It's the non-toxic adult thing to do.

@rmiller365: My bad. I was just trying to educate my fellow Hearthstone friend that it amazing to play on 4K Oled screens. Also how fun it is to dock these cool devices. Docking my 4K Oled brings excitement each time I do it. Hybrid devices are the best.

And Oled is amazing for gaming. That’s why I bought the Switch Oled. Once you go Oled it’s hard to go back to old tech.

@girlusocrazy: Yeah you can, you can play all of them on phone. My IPhone 12 4K Oled is a gaming dream machine.

If this thing were running games tailor made for it those specs would be great, but given that it's going to be trying to run games made for full fledged computers, I question the viability of the hardware.