Valve just announced their new Steam Deck and honestly, I’m quite stoked. For anyone that hasn’t caught the news yet, it’s essentially a handheld PC by Valve. A lot of people say that Valve stole the idea from the Switch but… Nintendo didn’t invent the handheld consoles, as far as I know. Sure, they popularized it with the Game Boy in 1989 but they didn’t invent the concept of taking games with you. Either way, before the Switch came the PSP and the NDS and all of that. Before the Switch Pro was announced to have OLED, Sony already did release the PS Vita in 2011… So, I feel like the comparison of the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch is kinda… weird. It’s just another handheld console after all… but it’s not.
My issue with the Switch was that the price point already was quite steep for me as a student. But the console wouldn’t be the only thing that would cost money since I’d also need games that would all sell for 60 bucks. But I liked the idea behind the Switch and that you could dock it to anything and take your games with you and stuff. I wanted to Steam Controller because of that, too, and I’m not too aversed to Cloud Gaming as a concept… but since I have a PC, I never thought I’d need another console or whatever. Instead, I just wished that I could take my PC with me, which obviously doesn’t work… but this here does probably work. Like, I won’t know until I try or until the reviews come in but essentially, the issue of not being able to take my PC with me wherever I want is solved by this. I’ll have my Steam library available everywhere technically. I’ll have access to my huge backlog everywhere!
The Steam Deck will essentially have a bigger price point than the Switch but it’s certainly cheaper than a Gaming PC or whatever. At 419€ up to 679€, the Steam Deck is essentially gonna be quite expensive, overall, but you won’t need new games for it if you’re already a PC player. Steam is integrated. You can even run Uplay, EGS, Origin, GOG, etc. on it and take your games with you on 64GB, 256GB, or 512GB Storage plus your SD card. It has internet connectivity and you can dock your mouse and keyboard to it or run your games on it solely and dock your monitor to it.
I wonder if I could in theory let games run through the Steam Deck with my normal rig running as the Stream Set-Up. I feel like theoretically, that would work quite well. From a specs point of view, I’d imagine that the Steam Deck could very much be the alternative to a Gaming PC for many players. We live in a world where “having a gaming setup” seems like the norm, but in the end, those setups are quite pricey. The Steam Deck will run most “newer games” without any issues, which is an interesting prospect that could really work as an entry point for new people to join the world of PC Gaming.
The Steam Deck also has four assignable buttons, a touch screen, blue tooth, internet connectivity, two to eight hours of battery life, and you can get an exclusive Steam Community profile bundle for the middle price point that I reserved, which is… nice.
I am quite excited about this. Sure, some comparisons can be made to other current-gen consoles or handhelds but in the end, this will run all of my games even when I’m at my parents’ or on the train. I could play Necrobarista, Hades, Disc Room, or Monster Train while I’m outside of my own four walls and not at my desk. I could hunt monsters while I’m sitting in my bed or I could look after my little shade in The Longing while I’m outside (which would be kinda ironic, wouldn’t it?).
What I’m trying to say is, I have this huge library and I couldn’t play all of these games on a Switch but the Steam Deck sounds obviously quite good, especially for mobile gaming. It’s powerful enough to run most games I own and I’m quite stoked for it even if it ultimately is a bit expensive, I guess, in contrast to other consoles. I hope this one doesn’t fail as I could really imagine that this could be nice to play local co-op games with friends that don’t have a PC, for instance. It could be cool at parties. It could be fun while I’m out of the house or when I wanna snuggle up in my bed. It’s a nice idea and overall, I’m just kinda hyped but I’m keeping my expectations low. Just in case. They can still be exceeded.
What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? I feel like a different name would have been quite nice like the Valve Machine or whatever. I mean, the Steam Machine failed probably because most PC players didn’t need a console, I guess? But this here is a product that packs up your PC and lets you leave the house while still enjoying some Isaac and whatever. :) Does that make sense? Did I get across my excitement? What do you think? Will you get the Steam Deck? Let me know!
Cheers!
This post was first published on Indiecator by Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken. If you like what you see here and want to see more, you can check me out on Twitch and YouTube as well.
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