Valve Steam Deck • Hacker News Board

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#131

Post by davidwparker » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:41 PM UTC

ezoe wrote: post #55

>SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based) What? So they ditched Debian? >1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio) Yeah... that's like 2000s. Seriously who what this? For those who can spend fortune for the PC games, they have better options. Those who can't spend that much, Nintendo switch is probably better for the gaming.

Probably someone like me. I have a pretty crappy PC for gaming, but I have 100s of games via Humble Bundle I've bought over the years. I already have and enjoy my Switch, but having another option (plus all the games I have already) would be nice.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#132

Post by TinkersW » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:41 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #54

This looks like it will trounce the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo doesn't even have new hardware in the pipeline other than an iterative OLED screen. Now that Nintendo depends on a single portable console, is there a risk that they'll go the way of Sega?

It has solid hardware for the price, but if I was forced to pick one I'd get a Switch, hardware specs don't matter that much.

This thing has many things working against it..

1. Games were designed for Windows, but are now running Linux--some are buggy or don't work

2. If they have controller support it isn't always 100%

3. That SSD will fill up in no time

4. With Switch you can get split screen multiplayer, not many PC games bother with that.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#133

Post by AceJohnny2 » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:41 PM UTC

Curious what the battery life will be.

Bummer the charging port is on top. That's inconvenient if you're playing and charging at the same time.

Still, an exciting device!

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#134

Post by RankingMember » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:41 PM UTC

deeviant wrote: post #67

I really wonder what the point of this is. Mobile gaming is a meme at this point. It's a thing but phones and tables have it well catered too. We don't need another mobile gaming thing that will surely be in the bargain bin in as couple years.

This is clearly influenced by the Nintendo Switch, which has proven that if mobile gaming is "a meme", it's a supremely popular one.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#135

Post by css » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

From the FAQ [0]:

- What OS is Steam Deck running?

SteamOS 3.0, a new version of SteamOS based on Arch Linux.

- Will people be able to install Windows, or other 3rd party content?

Yes. Steam Deck is a PC, and players will be able to install whatever they like, including other OSes.

[0]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/faq

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#136

Post by gigel82 » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

I try Proton a few times a year and the experience is almost always disappointing; I'm not even a hardcore gamer, so mostly playing 2-3 year old games which I'd expect good experience with.

However, if they ramp up investment and actually make Proton viable for the majority of titles, this is very bad news for Microsoft / Windows.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#137

Post by fermentation » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

legitster wrote: post #76

As a long-time user of Big Picture Mode, I am pretty skeptical how happy I would be long term with one of these. When it comes to things like basic controller support or options for unusual resolutions, it's still the wild west in the Steam library.

Agreed, support is very much not standardized across games. If this thing takes off then I'm sure the story will be different in a few years, but the early adopters will surely face some headache in games that aren't "officially supported".

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#138

Post by disgruntledphd2 » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

eloff wrote: post #114

Bringing PC gaming to a portable form factor will probably be successful, but I don't game on my phone, so I don't think I'd buy this. I am in the market for a gaming laptop that can dual boot Linux as my work machine. If they did an Alienware or ROG style build I'd very likely buy that. Btw if anyone has recommendations for me, I'm looking right now. Looking for a 15-17" heavy ass laptop with minimum 32gb ram, quali…

Get a Thinkpad. You probably want one of the W Series.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#139

Post by toddmorey » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

I know from first-hand experience as a dad of a gamer that AAA PC games aren't optimized for space in any way and 64GB of storage is nowhere near enough. I know they are trying to hit a price point, but for all practical purposes, this thing starts at $529 (where you get what I'd consider the minimum of 256GB).

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#140

Post by boomboomsubban » Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

dralley wrote: post #118

caslon wrote: post #38

First impressions: Really good hardware for the price. They fixed the worst thing about SteamOS: It's now got an Arch base. They're definitely overcharging for storage, but I imagine it'll be easy enough to modify one, so it probably doesn't matter much. Why is any company having more USB-2 slots than USB-3 these days? Going with a relatively low resolution compared to modern ones is actually a surprisingly smart mov…

>They fixed the worst thing about SteamOS: It's now got an Arch base. I'm a little surprised they didn't go with something like Fedora. The kernel / drivers are kept just as up-to-date as Arch but the rest of the system is a little more stable.

Aren't up-to-date libraries fairly important for steam?