> The Steam deck doesn't just threaten the outdated hardware of the switch in terms of games and gaming performance, it threatens Nintendo's platform on its own turf.
I really doubt it.
- It doesn't include a dock or any external controller without paying more. This was the entire pitch for the Switch
- It's more expensive and has worse battery life. Better graphics don't matter that much on a tiny screen. (Game Gear anyone?)
- Valve has a bad track record for committing to their own hardware. Remember how everyone also thought SteamOS was going to be the big takeover and it barely even happened?
- It runs linux. I run linux and love it, but running specific games, correctly interfacing with a variety of inputs and displays, it's just not going to be as smooth as a console with a dedicated OS. I'm guessing lots of people will install windows.
- Their marketing is basically non-existent next to Nintendo. It's impressive how successful Steam is without really marketing, but that won't fly in the console space. Having a successful console launch is incredibly hard. Nintendo only manages it about half the time.
- From what I've read, the emulation isn't perfect. Switch emulators even on desktop hardware can't necessarily handle every game well, why would the Steam Deck be able to?