Steam Deck

[Schmo Diddley]

Anyone getting one?

[JamesTC]

I did end up putting in a pre-order. Late enough that I will have six months of reviews to decide whether to get one but soon enough that I'm not waiting too far into the second half of next year for it.

I'm due a bonus in March, and I got a high performance rating so the extra should cover the cost of it.

If I'm honest, I'm already buying a few games for it. Guacamelee 2 and loads of tower defence games that I think will be good on it. Loads more to get in the Steam Sale due today.

[Famous Mortimer]

Anyone getting one?

Almost certainly, although I need to make sure I've got enough to cover it in the bank before I put the pre-order in (I don't want to be searching down the back of the settee for 300 quid next summer).

[madhair60]

Yeah. Got one pre-ordered. Might cancel if reviews like "hang on, this is pure shit"

[Jerzy Bondov]

Yeah I've ordered one, but I dragged my feet so it'll be a while before I see it. At least then I'll get to see the reviews first. Looks mint though, can't wait

[ImmaculateClump]

Yeah, I preordered one when the hype train rolled through town. I might cancel it or give it to my nephew.
I'm not big on handheld gaming, though I figured the price for the base model was a steal for a decent, portable small form factor pc.

I'm assuming this proton compatibility layer will add a significant dollop of input lag, which is a big no no for the games I play so I might just install windows on there right off the bat.

It was a cunts trick of them to make only the most expensive model have a screen with an anti glare coating. A matte screen is essential for a handheld, I reckon, unless you're just gonna play it in a cupboard.

If I don't cancel, I'll give it a bash when I get it, I'm guessing it'll be too heavy to be workable as a handheld, gash battery life, and the screen will piss me off, so I'll either get the dock and use it as a desktop or see if my nephew is into it, or sell it on.

[racecar bed indy 500]

I've considered it but I don't have a lot of money and have more important shit to save up for. If it starts going for cheap at some point like systems usually do after a couple years I'll absolutely get it bc theres a ton of games on my steam I haven't played yet bc my PC simply doesn't have the space to even contain all of them + all my other important files and programs.

[JamesTC]

Wavering now. I'm building a PC and the only thing I'm waiting on is for a 3070ti to become available (I'm on a Telegram group that notifies you when they drop). I can just about justify £1500 for a new PC but adding on the Steam Deck so soon after and it becomes a problem.

[Gurke and Hare]

Launching 25th February.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675180/view/3117055056380003048

[H-O-W-L]

Will deffers look into picking one up once the reviews are in and it's not "FUCKING HELL IT'S FULL OF WASPS!".

[evilcommiedictator]

Can't wait to hear the squeals about all the games it can't play, or games it can only play whilst on AC power.
When it turns out it's only slightly more powerful than an Aya Neo, it'll be even more hilarious

[JamesTC]

It is known that it can play some of the most graphically intensive games on lower settings with decent FPS. Cyberpunk 2077 is one I have seen can play on it.

One thing to remember about the Steam Deck, it is running at 800p due to screen size.

Steam are ensuring the 100 most popular Steam titles are optimised to work outside the box from launch. It was reported in December that 80 were already optimised and the final batch are probably ready with the anti-cheap workaround they have come up with.

[ImmaculateClump]

I don't think I'm anywhere near the front of the queue, but I've got like 100 quid in my bank account at the minute and I was a lot more flush when I put down the deposit.

I'll probably have to cancel because this really was a frivolous purchase for me. I have a desktop pc and I don't need this. Just got caught up in the hype.

We'll see, things might have changed by the time I'm front of the queue.

Play this when you get one, you can play it with one hand and it's waaaay more fun than it has any right to be :D I think it'd suit the steam deck well - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1794680/Vampire_Survivors/

[Chollis]

thread titles for boxing day shit

[Cold Meat Platter]

Eurogamer reckon this thing is more powerful than expected. Doom Eternal on ultra locked at 60fps.
Most other big newish games (God of War, Control) pretty much locked to 30 at medium/high settings.
Performance on par with or better than PS4 versions of games but with higher detail, albeit at lower res.
They're saying it's not for beginners as it still requires configuration and there are still problems with lots of games but... early days.
Totally have no need for this at all but starting to want one.

weaknesses are the screen (average) and battery life when playing very demanding games (but this can be ameliorated by configuration to a certain extent).

[Jerzy Bondov]

Good review on Arse Technical as well, making similar points. Bit disappointed about the screen to be honest but otherwise I'm happy. By the time it gets to me hopefully they've ironed out a lot of the software trouble. Not fussed about the battery life, I never really play handhelds out and about.

The benefit of it being the same configuration for everyone means you'll just need to search and find someone who's already worked out the best settings for each game.

[Famous Mortimer]

Good review on Arse Technical as well, making similar points. Bit disappointed about the screen to be honest but otherwise I'm happy. By the time it gets to me hopefully they've ironed out a lot of the software trouble. Not fussed about the battery life, I never really play handhelds out and about.

The benefit of it being the same configuration for everyone means you'll just need to search and find someone who's already worked out the best settings for each game.

Agreed. By the time I've saved up for it, hopefully there's a perfect retro gaming setup for it too.

[Famous Mortimer]

Interesting article about the Steam Deck on The Ringer today.

https://www.theringer.com/2022/3/4/22961168/valve-steam-deck-console-handheld-pc-gaming

[Pinball]

Agreed. By the time I've saved up for it, hopefully there's a perfect retro gaming setup for it too.

For retro a CFW Vita OLED would be better IMO.

[JamesTC]

For retro a CFW Vita OLED would be better IMO.

Unless that retro includes GameCube, Wii, WiiU, PS2 and potentially PS3. The Vita was great though.

Mine is showing as Q3 2022. Considering my very good financial news this week and the potential for very good job news in the next few weeks, I look in a good position to be able to buy it without any guilt.

[ImmaculateClump]

I have money now too! Mines still saying "Your expected order availability: Q2 2022", but I did go for the base model without the SSD. Maybe that's the part they're having trouble getting a hold of?

Still think I'll cancel mine. I just can't see me getting any use out of it to be perfectly honest. I don't really like handheld gaming and even if I got a dock for it, I don't really need another pc.
It'd come in handy for travelling, but I don't like doing much of that neither if I can help it, and I've already got a shitty laptop gathering dust in the cupboard.

[JamesTC]

I'm planning on using it for certain types of games. 2D platformers, strategy and tower defence mainly. All being played cosy in bed.

I'll save shooters for the PC I've just finished building.

[Consignia]

My reservation for basic model has come through now. Not sure I really want to complete though.

It looks generally great and all, but I'm not sure I can really justify it. I just don't play enough games on it, even if it does open more of the hithertoo out of reach PC market for in pog handheld form.

[ImmaculateClump]

Yeah, I cancelled mine a while back. I knew all along it wasn't for me, just got swept along with the hype.
I do have the money at the minute, but I just know the novelty would wear off quickly and I'd never use it.

[Gurke and Hare]

Are they tied to the purchaser's steam account? Seems like you'd be able to flip it without any trouble (although I realise you might not want to profiteer).

[JamesTC]

I'm still pumped for mine. Got loads of games ready. Even got two Steam categories, one with the priority games and one with the other games earmarked for it.

I've got the games I've played before (mainly on console) but think would be great on the Steam Deck: Guacamelee, No Man's Sky, Defense Grid 1 & 2, 7 Day to Die, Gemcraft, Halo Wars, Hexcells Infinite, Slay the Spire, Sonic Generations and Sonic Mania.

Then there is the games new for this: Guacamelee 2, Bloons TD 5 & 6, Cooking Simulator, Morrowind, FTL, Katamari Reroll, Huntdown, Prison Architect, Project Cars and Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair.


Can see it ending up as just a Slay the Spire machine but that isn't such a bad thing.

[Benjaminos]

Mine arrived on Monday, and I can confirm that it is, in fact, brills.

The thing I'm most pleased with is the emulation performance, weirdly - stuck EmuDeck on it and dove back into my favourite Gamecube titles. 60 FPS Wind Waker looks fantastic on the Deck's screen.

Haven't got anything properly current-gen to test it with, really - Spyro Reignited runs really nicely on it though, in case you were thinking of buying one just to play that.

[bgmnts]

It looks massive for a handheld console and is way too pricey but I imagine it is a very competent machine.

[Gurke and Hare]

Holy shit, my number's up. Got 3 days to decide whether or not to spend the money, which I will, obviously. Could have done with it being another week so that it would appear on the following month's credit card statement though.

[JamesTC]

Mine should be available in the next two months (late Q3, I'm thinking).

Just ordered a 256GB SD card. Got a 512GB Deck so the card will be used for retro games. Already downloaded most of the games but I just need a few PSP games and a load of PSX games. I'm planning on running the PSX games using DuckStation so I think I need a specific ROM type.