Valve Steam Deck

Sega Nomad. Sega GameGear.

I would not classify the Switch as portable gaming. It definitely acts more like a console.

Of course this is ultimately a definitional issue, but there is IMHO clearly a difference. I think rather than "mobile" the distinction might be "touchscreen only" gaming; contra some of the wild predictions I recall on HN about a decade ago, "touchscreen only" has failed to displace all other input mechanisms, because it's honestly not all that good. It works, and can be better than nothing, but I think it's hard for touchscreen to ever attain that transparent "flow" state where controls just disappear, and is table stakes for being a 'core gaming' platform.

They have a great track record with hardware. They have a poor track record of hardware adoption.

I have the Steam Controller: it's fantastic, so versatile, and everything it claimed it would be. I have the Steam Link: works great, brings my desktop to any TV in the house. I haven't used their VR equipment but from those that have, seems like basically the reason get Oculus instead of Valve is because of Oculus exclusives.

I've been dying for this form-factor for years, since long before the Switch came out. Valve has been losing tons of money from me in the form of purchases, because games in their library haven't been in the right form factor, so I've bought them for mobile and for Switch, when really I'd rather have bought them in Steam with a mobile-play option.

I've explored the mobile-phone-with-controllers-streaming-from-a-desktop option, and it's just not what I'm looking for. I've been looking for a feasible option in this space since the Razer Edge came out in 2013, and there just hasn't been a good one...not with phones-with-controllers-attached (have to stream), not with mini-laptops (bad ergonomics and performance), etc. I've looked into a number of homebrew efforts to try and get Steam games onto my Switch (streamed or otherwise) but it's just not worth the commitment of time and effort when I could spend the same $10 for that indie game I want on Switch instead of on Steam.

I reluctantly got a Switch two years ago. I was reluctant because although I've been wanting this form factor for years, I also wanted a device that was compatible with my Steam library. Since buying the Switch, I've only bought Switch games (and not a single Steam game) mostly because being able to play on that form-factor is worth the price-premium to me.

It's Valve's excellent record of delivery on hardware that makes this a pre-order for me. Super excited about this.

I dual boot windows and linux, but have not booted into windows in years. I can play many games on linux now, but having a completely separate system means I can keep games and work separate. The dock also means it can be used as a real gaming computer. I also refuse to play mobile games, but might make an exception for the ability to play full pc games on the go. Normally I would never consider such a device, but the price point, size, and the dock makes it almost a no-brainer.

You can install any OS on it, it's just a PC.