Valve Steam Deck

The intention is to use it with a usb-c dock, which I already own. Will probably buy the steam dock depending on what it offers and if it overlaps with my needs. Or if it is just plain sexy compared to the boring old usb-c dock then I'd rather buy that. The intention is not to get work done on a 7" screen, but on an external display + keyboard/mouse.

The Valve Steam Deck is pretty exciting and well timed.

The Nintendo Switch it the largest console market > 50% and mobile is the biggest market in gaming. So going with that model but with gaming selection of Steam is a smart timed move.

The size of gaming markets are mobile first as the biggest, then PC, then console in terms of gamers with revenues about split in thirds equally across mobile, PC and console -- including handheld the biggest part[1]. Mobile has a bit more than the others and when handheld it not included in console then it is the top. Mobile has 2.2 billion gamers, PC has 750 million, console has just a bit less than PC around 700 million [1]. Though each stationary console has had less than the last in total players, most players are still growing on mobile and even PC [1]. There are also more game developer on PC by 2 to 1 over other platforms, mobile second then console. Developing for console is costly and time consuming.

Consoles that go handheld are smart, even better if they are more open and allow game studios of all sizes to launch on it, games will be better at the high end, even if there are more bad games.

Since consoles like Microsoft Xbox, Sony Playstation and Nintendo are so locked down and hard to enter for indies/small/medium players, PC going handheld/mobile is going to be great for indies/small/medium game developers extending the PC player base. Mobile opened up stores for everyone in 2008-2012, Steam opened up 2012+ and game markets should be more open, especially console as you want to sell hardware and the more games the better.

The first iteration of the handheld hardware may or may not hit, even the WiiU failed initially, but the beauty of Steam is there are no games you can or can't play on specific consoles. They don't need launch titles. Steam Deck gen 1, 2, 3 will all have the same games. Steam has a competitive advantage here on selection due to their openness.

Consoles and PCs are stationary and that is why mobile does so well, you can play anywhere. Handheld does well as well because you can take it with you and can game at a desk or on the couch or at work. Game streaming changes this a bit allowing you to game on your devices on the go, but having a beefier device that can play all types of games is surely going to have at least some market. Lots of times I am working on my PC and shutting all down to game seems too tasking but you could play Steam games on the Deck while keeping work open or allow gaming to fit in your day more when you aren't at your PC.

Very, very excited for the larger potential market for PC games on a handheld console! This massively helps indie/small/medium players get more gamers and handheld is a unique new market for PC games.

[1] https://www.gamingscan.com/gaming-statistics/

I'm looking forward to the 2nd generation of Steam Deck. There won't be a 3rd as we all know.

Imagine if Apple made the Steam Deck with the M-series processors. Would probably have more power with 2x the battery life and 200g less weight.

But you'd be stuck playing p2w RTS games and gachas.

> The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty standard.

I'm surprised, I found it very easy to get into Arch linux. But I came from distributions like Slackware & Gentoo where it was common to do the installation almost entirely from commands in the terminal.

IMO distributions that keep the installation primarily command-line focused are a good way for beginners to get started, it gives them a real grasp of how linux works, and how to change things to suit.