Steam Deck Announced - Reservations Start July 16th

[Beau Knows]

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

It's come along way, but yeah the emulator still very much in development. Maybe this thing won't be powerful enough, or only some games will run at an acceptable level, will be interesting to see.

 

[Supermassive]

I use a GPD XD Plus for emulating everything up to Dreamcast on the go. A good Samsung tablet or phone can do up to PS2. I ordered this to really beef up my Steam gaming, as I have an account and several games, but I am not a PC gamer at all. Computers to me are for work, and I’m way too cheap to invest in a gaming PC. I won’t be installing Windows on this thing, just enjoying all the glorious PC games that I refuse to sit at a computer to play, lol.

 

[Shareefruck]

^ Yeah, on top of that, on a superficial level, I've never come across a gaming PC or laptop that didn't look aesthetically obnoxious to me.

 

[aleshemsky83]

^ Yeah, on top of that, on a superficial level, I've never come across a gaming PC or laptop that didn't look aesthetically obnoxious to me.

I think razer makes good MacBook form factor gaming laptops, though whether or not you find it obnoxious depends on how you feel about the bright green logo on the back.

 

[Beau Knows]

I use a GPD XD Plus for emulating everything up to Dreamcast on the go. A good Samsung tablet or phone can do up to PS2. I ordered this to really beef up my Steam gaming, as I have an account and several games, but I am not a PC gamer at all. Computers to me are for work, and I’m way too cheap to invest in a gaming PC. I won’t be installing Windows on this thing, just enjoying all the glorious PC games that I refuse to sit at a computer to play, lol.

That's why I have an HTPC, I usually just want to play from the couch as well.

 

[guinness]

I think razer makes good MacBook form factor gaming laptops, though whether or not you find it obnoxious depends on how you feel about the bright green logo on the back.

Some of the Alienware laptops aren't horrible either, but I don't understand why OEMs can't do the subtle, sleeper PC vs RGB vomit...Acer and ASUS come to mind.

As for this, this seems pretty cool, but I haven't played any games in probably a month or two, and I don't have a commute to play it on the go...but even then, I almost put a reserve down on one.

 

[Commander Clueless]

It's very hard to even buy "gaming" parts for DIY that aren't rainbow puke by default.

 

[Lame Lambert]

I’m super excited for this thing. I grabbed a Q2 2022 512gb reservation.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I use a GPD XD Plus for emulating everything up to Dreamcast on the go. A good Samsung tablet or phone can do up to PS2. I ordered this to really beef up my Steam gaming, as I have an account and several games, but I am not a PC gamer at all. Computers to me are for work, and I’m way too cheap to invest in a gaming PC. I won’t be installing Windows on this thing, just enjoying all the glorious PC games that I refuse to sit at a computer to play, lol.

To me, the other cool thing about this is that if you decide you wanted to play a game with a mouse and keyboard (say a strategy game or the like), you could hook it up to your work setup and off you go.

Not really a use case for me since I have a self-built gaming PC, but I could see it if I didn't.

I think this thing will be a great thing for me to enjoy my Steam library (vast majority of which is indies) and some emulation on the go, as well as possibly docked on my TV rather than moving my PC over every time I want a couch rather than a desk chair

We will see how much I end up using it, but at the moment I am excited.



As a nerdy aside, can I also add it's pretty cool to see a gaming PC running Linux? I really, really hope it works as well as Valve thinks it will. I've been tempted to run SteamOS for some time but it never quite met the bar. I'm hopeful for 3.0

 

[Mikeaveli]

To me, the other cool thing about this is that if you decide you wanted to play a game with a mouse and keyboard (say a strategy game or the like), you could hook it up to your work setup and off you go.

Not really a use case for me since I have a self-built gaming PC, but I could see it if I didn't.

I think this thing will be a great thing for me to enjoy my Steam library (vast majority of which is indies) and some emulation on the go, as well as possibly docked on my TV rather than moving my PC over every time I want a couch rather than a desk chair

We will see how much I end up using it, but at the moment I am excited.



As a nerdy aside, can I also add it's pretty cool to see a gaming PC running Linux? I really, really hope it works as well as Valve thinks it will. I've been tempted to run SteamOS for some time but it never quite met the bar. I'm hopeful for 3.0

I don't think it will do well gaming on displays above 720p but for those with gaming rigs already this thing will be perfect for using Steam Remote Play to play on a TV like you mentioned or handheld in bed or something.

 

[The Head Crusher]

Wonder how it will handle mods for games, I would love to put CK2 or 3 on one and fire up the Game of Thrones Mod for them on this.

 

[Dolemite]

It won't play Destiny 2 or other games with anti cheat? Hard Pass.

 

[Osprey]

Wonder how it will handle mods for games, I would love to put CK2 or 3 on one and fire up the Game of Thrones Mod for them on this.

You could always install Windows (plus the Steam client) and then install the mod the usual way. It's just a PC.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I don't think it will do well gaming on displays above 720p but for those with gaming rigs already this thing will be perfect for using Steam Remote Play to play on a TV like you mentioned or handheld in bed or something.

I don't think you're going to want to render higher than 720p, no. But you can always upscale.

TVs tend to be quite good at this, at least in comparison to your standard gaming monitors (take the Switch for example). Other techniques such as AMD's FSR tech could help in the future as well.

You're not getting top of the line PC graphics for that price point, but even playing at 720p on a 1080p or 1440p screen is doable.

 

[Osprey]

It'll likely depend on the age of the game and how demanding it is. I imagine that it might handle up to GTA V at 1080p, but not much newer AAA games. It'll likely also handle most arcade, platform and roguelite games, even newer ones, at 1080p. For example, I doubt that Hades would be any problem at 1080p. You could probably even get away with a lot of strategy games, like Civ VI and CK3, especially since those don't need high framerates to begin with. In all cases, you shouldn't be expecting 60fps at 1080p, though. You'll probably be looking at a lot closer to 30fps, but I would consider that playable enough, at least to anyone would buy such a device in the first place. If 1080p @ 60fps is a necessity for you, you'll buy a desktop or laptop, not this.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I'm kind of flip flopping between buying the 256 GB version or putting that money towards a GPU.

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

RPCS3 emulates them pretty well, but i dont think a 4 core 15 watt cpu is gonna cut it for the forseeable future.

It'll likely depend on the age and complexity of the game. I imagine that it might handle up to GTA V at 1080p, but not much newer AAA games. It'll likely also handle most arcade, platform and roguelite games, even newer ones, at 1080p. For example, I doubt that Hades would be any problem at 1080p. You could probably even get away with a lot of strategy games, like Civ VI and CK3, especially since those don't need high framerates to begin with. In all cases, you shouldn't be expecting 60fps at 1080p, though. You'll probably be looking at a lot closer to 30fps, but I would consider that playable enough, at least to anyone would buy such a device in the first place. If 1080p @ 60fps is a necessity for you, you'll buy a desktop or laptop, not this.

Assuming theres no throttling, it got similar raw horsepower to the ps4 (and obviously the CPU is way more powerful), but the PS4 draws like 100 watts when its really revving, vs again a 15 watt handheld.

 

[Commander Clueless]

 

[aleshemsky83]

I still dont get why emmc. Like a 120 GB sata 3 drive is literally $20. I know its way more bulky but the emmc feels like its trying to push people to the way pricier 256 gb option (which it did for me)

 

[Mikeaveli]

I still dont get why emmc. Like a 120 GB sata 3 drive is literally $20. I know its way more bulky but the emmc feels like its trying to push people to the way pricier 256 gb option (which it did for me)

They had to find some way to push the cost and price down without ruining gaming performance. The fact that there is even a $400 SKU is pretty insane when you compare it to similar devices on the market.

 

[Mikeaveli]

Anti-cheat software BattlEye and Easy Anti-Cheat will support Steam Deck

 

[aleshemsky83]

You know, I actually cancelled my pre-order on this because I discovered how useless Steams Library share feature is. I shared my steam account with my older brother to play some RTS games, and I discovered that sharing your steam library still only allows one person at a time on the account. It doesn't matter if you're playing different games it gives the other person 5 minutes to save their game and the closes the game.

I mentioned this on the steam forum and people thought I was a complete moron. Like of course library share only allows one person per library, they couldn't believe I would even ask. Except, Sony allows you to share your entire library it doesn't boot you if the other person starts playing a different game.

There is actually a way around this by physically switching off the wifi/unplugging the ethernet cable and starting up the game in offline mode, thereby not booting the other person, but I'm not sure I'm up for that.

 

[RandV]

You know, I actually cancelled my pre-order on this because I discovered how useless Steams Library share feature is. I shared my steam account with my older brother to play some RTS games, and I discovered that sharing your steam library still only allows one person at a time on the account. It doesn't matter if you're playing different games it gives the other person 5 minutes to save their game and the closes the game.

I mentioned this on the steam forum and people thought I was a complete moron. Like of course library share only allows one person per library, they couldn't believe I would even ask. Except, Sony allows you to share your entire library it doesn't boot you if the other person starts playing a different game.

There is actually a way around this by physically switching off the wifi/unplugging the ethernet cable and starting up the game in offline mode, thereby not booting the other person, but I'm not sure I'm up for that.

I wouldn't expect this to be available on Steam, but giving a more nuanced view it comes done to PC vs console. In ye olden days, sharing on console meant you'd pass your disk/cartridge around between friends and family. So when consoles start their move towards digital purchase, they had to take this culture into account and accommodate it.

PC games on the other hand, 'sharing' a game meant one kid bought a copy of doom then before long everyone in town was playing a copy of that copy. PC games had to find ways to restrict sharing from the start, 'DRM' before "DRM" was a thing. So when Valve launched Steam in 2005 or whenever, way ahead of the console competition, there was never a thought among them or the community that you would 'share' games from your account, just like you couldn't resell them. This all was easily accepted by the community, as 'PC gaming' was being abandoned by the market at that point and Valve gave much better value with their big Steam sales.

So nothing wrong with thinking you'd get some sort of sharing going in or asking about it, but that's why it's not available and won't be available in the Steam ecosystem. Even if they're making something that's a bit more like a console.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

So the first batch of emails went out to customers on Friday and review embargoes were lifted.

All in all, people seem impressed, with a few gripes here and there. Alas I'm "after Q2" in the line.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Shame I had an alarm for when to preorder it and while the servers were bad right when preorders were opened, I got my preorder in almost immediately. Doesn't look like I made the first wave because I didn't get an email for it.

 

[Beau Knows]

My brother who isn't into PC gaming because he doesn't want to ever have to mess with settings, drivers, etc, was interested in this because it looked like a console that would let you play PC games.

But from what I gather it doesn't have any kind of steam deck specific configuration that it applies to every game. It sounds like you still need to tweak settings yourself for each game before they're guaranteed to run well?