Steam Deck Announced - Reservations Start July 16th

[Sega Dreamcast]

Valve has announced a new portable gaming console, named the Steam Deck.

Reservations start tomorrow, July 16th at 1pm EST, with Valve saying they'll start shipping in December. Reservations cost $5, limited to one reservation per account. Steam accounts created after June 2021 have to wait until Sunday to reserve one, as a way to mitigate the resellers.

Introducing Steam Deck

PCMag article with some more info

Thoughts, opinions?

Click to read more...

 

[syz]

Oh hey, there's that Switch Pro people were talking about.

Some specs



$400 entry level price point is nice but you straight up just won't be able to install some games with only 64GB storage. The $529 model is really the cheapest option here imo.

 

[Sega Dreamcast]

I was a little surprised to see the touchpads after the Steam Controller came and went without much fanfare.

For those unfamiliar with the Steam Controller, it's just a matter of fact that playing some games with the controller is a massive pain in the ass if not downright impossible.

Sure, there's a dock and you can plug in peripherals, but advertising it as "Steam without compromises" is a little dubious.

That being said, I'll probably reserve one just for the hell of it

 

[Sega Dreamcast]

$400 entry level price point is nice but you straight up just won't be able to install some games with only 64GB storage. The $529 model is really the cheapest option here imo.

Each model does have a high speed SD card slot, but I kinda agree that the $400 model is a little underwhelming with only 64GB of eMMC

 

[The Crypto Guy]

So you can play any game that is on steam on this?

 

[Mikeaveli]

I'm quite interested in this, the price seems reasonable compared to other handheld gaming PCs.

So you can play any game that is on steam on this?

Yes its a handheld PC. Some games might not work out of the box as it runs SteamOS (Linux) by default but you can install Windows yourself.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I'm quite interested in this, the price seems reasonable compared to other handheld gaming PCs.

Yes its a handheld PC. Some games might not work out of the box as it runs SteamOS (Linux) by default but you can install Windows yourself.

Oh wow, that’s pretty sick. There are a ton of good games on steam!

 

[Commander Clueless]

Really cool. Playing your Steam library on the go.

Not sure what my use case here would be, exactly. I don't travel all that much, and I do have the Switch for those instances.

But....I kinda really want one.

 

[Brown Cat]

Oh hey, there's that Switch Pro people were talking about.

Some specs



$400 entry level price point is nice but you straight up just won't be able to install some games with only 64GB storage. The $529 model is really the cheapest option here imo.

Is there any option for upgradable storage? I have ssd/nvme lyinbg around that I can just pop in if I needed to.

 

[Brown Cat]

Really cool. Playing your Steam library on the go.

Not sure what my use case here would be, exactly. I don't travel all that much, and I do have the Switch for those instances.

But....I kinda really want one.

Playing games in your bed dude. Been trying to get a hacked Vita and nvidia streaming to work, but it's a bit laggy. A dedicated pc handheld would be a dream come true.

 

[JWK]

Want

 

[Commander Clueless]

Is there any option for upgradable storage? I have ssd/nvme lyinbg around that I can just pop in if I needed to.

I don't believe so, no. Would be nice, though.

I think the only storage upgrade is microSD.

Playing games in your bed dude. Been trying to get a hacked Vita and nvidia streaming to work, but it's a bit laggy. A dedicated pc handheld would be a dream come true.

Yeah I could see that. I tend to sleep in bed and game at my desk or couch. I know, I'm weird.

On that note, though, maybe hooking it up to the TV with a controller...console mode?

 

[Shareefruck]

I've been wanting an all in one device that hopefully will eventually work as an emulation box for all archived older games as well, and while it might not be there now, this is very promising in ways that other consoles aren't and probably won't be for a while.

 

[Osprey]

I've been wanting an all in one device that hopefully will eventually work as an emulation box for all archived older games as well, and while it might not be there now, this is very promising in ways that other consoles aren't and probably won't be for a while.

Earlier, I couldn't see myself ever wanting one of these because I'm a pretty diehard mouse and keyboard player, but that's an interesting thought. If it could be used to run emulators so that I could play NES and SNES games on it, that would be appealing to me and mostly what I would use it for. In fact, for that purpose, the cheapest model (plus a microSD card) would probably suffice (though $130 more for the next model would likely still be worth it).

 

[Shareefruck]

I couldn't see myself ever wanting one of these because I'm a pretty diehard mouse and keyboard player, but that's an interesting thought. If it could be used to run emulators so that I could play NES and SNES games on it, that would be appealing to me and mostly what I would use it for. In fact, for that purpose, the cheapest model (plus a microSD card) would probably suffice (though $129 more for the next model would seemingly still be worth it).

Yeah, I'm kind of the opposite of that-- I'm pretty much strictly a console/arcade-style gamer and am not into online mouse and keyboard stuff at all (although I thought this device lets you plug those in?), but the way that most consoles only exist for the lifespan of a single gaming generation and then you need to start all over while the old stuff becomes hard to continue to manage and maintain annoys the living crap out of me-- every device ends up at best being useful to me for holding only the half dozen games I care about from that particular company and era, plus some ports that I would need to frustratingly re-purchase every time.

A dedicated device that hypothetically plays all the non-exclusives that other consoles do, that has the convenience and reliability of consoles, but that is also breakable so that the entire backlog of past generations (especially those Nintendo/Sony exclusives) is also freely accessible without compromising the device itself, AND that I get to keep my entire library of when that hardware inevitably needs to be replaced sounds very very appealing to me.

I just want a single box with all of my favorite games on it, regardless of when or where it came from, basically.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

I like the look of this. Especially because you can link it to a monitor/TV. My "gaming" laptop is old and dying, this is a cheap way for me to upgrade so I can play Paradox games.

 

[aleshemsky83]

The 64gb model is compelling as a cheap gamecube/ps2 (or even wii u) emulation device, but the emmc is a dealbreaker for any modern games. Yes the switch also has emmc but its playing switch games not pc games. PC games are gonna be loading in much heavier assets. Would expect to see very long load times. If it was regular sata III speeds Id have no issue but emmc is a gutpunch. For any regular steam games, the 530 dollar model is the minimum viable option.

So theres that. On the other hand, this basically puts GDPWin and those types of products out of business. This basically undercuts some of those products by as much as 50-60% and is significantly more powerful.

 

[Osprey]

I finally watched the video and I really like that it's a full blown PC and that Valve even says that you can install Windows on it. That makes me feel more confident that I could find a use for it.

I like the look of this. Especially because you can link it to a monitor/TV. My "gaming" laptop is old and dying, this is a cheap way for me to upgrade so I can play Paradox games.

I imagine that any similarly priced laptop would handle Paradox games just fine. They're not demanding enough that you should need an expensive gaming laptop to handle them. I see this device as being a smaller, more convenient alternative to a laptop, not really a cheaper one.

BTW, you might, right now, consider trying out GeForce Now, which is Nvidia's cloud gaming service. That should allow you to play games on your old laptop that ordinarily wouldn't run very well. You just need a good, uncapped internet connection. I see that several Paradox games are available, and if you've already bought them on Steam, you shouldn't have to re-buy them.

 

[Beau Knows]

Earlier, I couldn't see myself ever wanting one of these because I'm a pretty diehard mouse and keyboard player, but that's an interesting thought. If it could be used to run emulators so that I could play NES and SNES games on it, that would be appealing to me and mostly what I would use it for. In fact, for that purpose, the cheapest model (plus a microSD card) would probably suffice (though $130 more for the next model would likely still be worth it).

You could probably play up to Wii U/PS3 on this.

Installing Windows and then Launchbox as the shell would make for a really powerful emulation box with a nice interface.

 

[Osprey]

You could probably play up to Wii U/PS3 on this.

Installing Windows and then Launchbox as the shell would make for a really powerful emulation box with a nice interface.

For sure. I mentioned NES and SNES simply because those are the only consoles that I'm familiar with and have nostalgia for. I've been 100% PC since. Speaking of which, this thing could even run DOSBox, though playing most DOS games with a controller might feel unfamiliar. Launchbox, as you mentioned, would at least make them easier to launch, though.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Now this is something I would have gleefully drooled over a few years ago. The Switch has mostly taken up this role and gets most of the indies I'd wind up playing this way though...the few PC games I still play are ones that pretty much require the keyboard & mouse set-up.

I'm all for a new generation getting the chance to experience Persona 4 Golden the way I did with the Vita, though. That's the kind of game best played handheld that just feels clunky when sitting in front of a monitor, at least in my opinion.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Well the first wave reservation process today was chaos, at best. Steam crashed. A lot.

I did persist and managed to get a reservation for the 256GB model, so that's pretty cool.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

I gave my nephew my Switch because the games for it were so damn expensive. I already have a huge Steam library over 1900 games. I'm pretty much exclusively a PC gamer at this point anyway. It'll be nice to have a portable system that I already have all the games for. I ended up preordering one pretty much immediately when it went on sale this afternoon. It'll be awesome to have for trips.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I’m curious, but I’ll take a wait and see approach on it.

 

[93LEAFS]

You could probably play up to Wii U/PS3 on this.

Installing Windows and then Launchbox as the shell would make for a really powerful emulation box with a nice interface.

Aren't PS3 games an absolute nightmare to emulate due to the cell architecture of the system?