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New Steam Deck - handheld gaming PC

Started by Pete23, July 16, 2021, 11:54:26 AM

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Pete23

Coming end of the year, probably around £400 (with a TV doc as extra): https://www.steamdeck.com/en/hardware

Must admit I'm tempted as I've always struggled when I've tried to set up PC's for gaming, but I'm a bit worried that none of the games will be optimised for a small screena and you'll need a microscope to read all the menus.

MojoJojo

I also find myself tempted. I've realised I mostly like smaller titles now, and while the switch has a lot of them they aren't very well curated and you miss out on mods, as well as them costing an annoying amount more. But now I spend all my days sat in front of my PC for work, I don't want to do it for leisure time as well.

I think the price is a bit much for me though.

Pete23

As games are always a lot cheaper for PC, it's a big cost up front but you'll save £10 - £20 per game which should help the wallet over the long term.

peanutbutter

Tempted but the price is probably too high for me too.
I assume this'll be able to quite comfortably emulate PS2/Wii/Wii U? If it takes off at all it'll presumably become a massive hub for homebrew stuff in general


Quote from: Pete23 on July 16, 2021, 11:54:26 AM
but I'm a bit worried that none of the games will be optimised for a small screena and you'll need a microscope to read all the menus.
Seems like machine is built with 720p performance in mind so that shouldn't be too much of an issue?

Imagine people are gonna be unreasonably underwhelmed with the 1080p/2k/4k performance of this thing.

Jerzy Bondov

It looks hideous and stupid, the entry level model has a pitiful amount of shit quality storage, and if it doesn't sell incredibly well immediately Valve will lose interest in it. But by fuck I really really want one

Bently Sheds

It looked like it would make your hands really hurt after a couple of hours of gaming, especially with the positioning of the D-pad & buttons that look like they are trying to escape the front of the device.

madhair60

Basically everything I've ever wanted from a handheld. Just put my Switch out with the empties.

Jerzy Bondov

They should call it the Steam Lynx[nb]this is clever joke[/nb]

I became disillusioned with handheld gaming relatively early on in life.

I've always loved the idea of it, but the reality is far less glamorous.

I'd much rather talk, or look out a window, or read a book and wait until I got home. Save my gaming for when I'm in front of a nice big, fast monitor with a decent input device that hasn't had to make any concessions to portability.

Having said all of that, of course I still want one :D
The whole dock thing makes it a decent option, an alternative to a laptop or a sffpc for when you're away from home.

What I'll probably do is put down the 4 quid reserve tonight if there's still any left when I get back and then talk myself out of buying one come december :D

Only having a matte screen on the most expensive model is a cunts trick.

Definitely only interested in the cheapest model. emmc is plenty fast enough for me, and I don't need lots of it. I only play little indie games which are like sub 100mb at times.

edit: Oh, hang on, if you're wanting to install windows on this and have it as the emulation handheld of dreams, you'll need at least 32gb just for that, won't you?

Zetetic

Not clear why you'd need to install Windows on it to run emulators.

I know steamOS is technically "just linux", but is it as easy as just getting the linux builds of all your favourite emulators and installing them?

I suppose you can actually get a lot of emulators on steam nowadays, as well.

Zetetic

Quote from: ImmaculateClump on July 16, 2021, 01:59:23 PM
I know steamOS is technically "just linux", but is it as easy as just getting the linux builds of all your favourite emulators and installing them?
I doubt it, but I suspect people will work to make it quite straightforward pretty quickly.

Valve are clearly doing a lot work on 'Proton' still, the Windows-compatibility-layer (presumably derived from Wine).

Yeah. It would be nice just to leave it with the steamOS, I think, so long as it's capable of running everything I'd need.

Chedney Honks

Can I dock it and put it on my telly? I never use handheld.

Jerzy Bondov

Yes but you have to buy a separate dock

Chedney Honks

OK well it depends on the price. It is looks like shit as a handheld, where the fuck are those  sticks positioned 😂😂😂

Zetetic

Quote from: ImmaculateClump on July 16, 2021, 01:59:23 PM
I know steamOS is technically "just linux", but is it as easy as just getting the linux builds of all your favourite emulators and installing them?

Quote from: Zetetic on July 16, 2021, 02:01:06 PM
I doubt it, but I suspect people will work to make it quite straightforward pretty quickly.

Actually, it's increasingly looking like I was wrong and it will be fairly easy from the off to treat it just as a Linux PC if you want to.

"But if you want to get your hands dirty, head on out to the desktop."

MojoJojo

Quote from: Chedney Honks on July 16, 2021, 02:14:54 PM
OK well it depends on the price. It is looks like shit as a handheld, where the fuck are those  sticks positioned 😂😂😂

£350 for the base 64GB model. And yeah, I'm definitely going to have to wait to hear about how well the controls work. Valve have fucked* that up before.

(*well OK, maybe trying to map mouse and keyboard to something that you can't rest on a table is just a difficult problem)

AsparagusTrevor

Quote from: MojoJojo on July 16, 2021, 03:39:18 PMI'm definitely going to have to wait to hear about how well the controls work. Valve have fucked that up before.
[Citation needed]

Presumably the Steam controller which was an attempt to bring mouse and keyboard control to a gamepad.

Clearly this isn't doing that. It's got all the traditional bits you'd want, plus a couple of trackpads.

GoblinAhFuckScary

gamepads for pc games is a big nah, tho the positioning of the sticks solves the big problem i had with the switch, where the stick on the right hand side being below the buttons made my thumb bend about in horrible contortions

Quote from: Chedney Honks on July 16, 2021, 02:11:45 PM
Can I dock it and put it on my telly? I never use handheld.

Yeah, you can just use it like a regular pc once it's docked. Plug it into your telly, get your arcade stick in there or pad or whatever, you're off.
I think it's looking like it'll be decent value for what you're wanting it for, a mini gaming pc for next to the telly, the cheap one at least.

Quote from: Chedney Honks on July 16, 2021, 02:14:54 PM
OK well it depends on the price. It is looks like shit as a handheld, where the fuck are those  sticks positioned 😂😂😂

I don't have a problem with the sticks, that seems like the best place for them, no?

I remember the wii-u pad thing being very comfortable, especially with that little shelf on the back for you to put the weight of it across your fingers.
Only that'll have been a lot lighter, of course!

It's the d-pad I'm worried about. That's been relegated to "people'll only use this to get their torch out in l4d" position by the looks of it. I don't think that's in a position that's gonna be comfortably useable for any period of time.
All those buttons on the underside as well, even though you can unbind them, that's gonna do my nut in keep fingering them all the time.

Reminds me of the time the microsoft wheel mouse optical got an "upgrade" they put some extra buttons on the side exactly where you rest your thumb and push the mouse around with at times. Dogshit.

Chedney Honks

Cheers, yeah, sounds exactly what I'd be looking for. I'd only use it for emulation and indie shmups most likely, but seems much better than my micro PC thing.

JamesTC

The Steam Controller is great. Still use mine regularly.

Will wait for reviews for the Steam Deck before deciding on buying it.