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Steam Deck: First Anniversary

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Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#151

Post by kobalsky »

cubefox wrote: post #75

> My wild guess is that there’s between 1 and 2 million units already shipped out there. While there was a lot of initial hype around the Steam Deck, it almost sounded as if it emerged as a serious Switch competitor. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Its sales are around an order of magnitude below the Switch, which sold 13.12 million units in its first year (and 122.5 million total). So despite its modest success, t…

Nintendo is a household name with a widly successful portable history and an insane amount of IP. The Switch was day one buy for a lot of people and it's on the road to become the best sold console of all time.

I don't understand how you can call a product that is one magnitude off it a niche product. Valve probably didn't dream of being this close.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#152

Post by NineStarPoint »

ekianjo wrote: post #138
NineStarPoint wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft is definitely pivoting towards making most of their money from their subscription game pass, with the idea that even if their consoles do sub-par they can also gain money from PC users and try and eat into Steam’s market share. Given how many game studios they’ve been buying, I don’t know whether it’s smart to bet against them (even considering their spotty history with studio acquisition). While I have a h…

I don't think it's fair to categorize the first PSP as a failure. It did very well market-wise, even though it did not sell as much as the DS.

You’re right, actually even the PS Vita sold more than 10 million which is better than I expected (It was a WiiU, not a Sega CD/Virtual Boy) . I’ll have to remember that in the future.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#153

Post by anotherman554 »

herpdyderp wrote: post #16
raisin_churn wrote: post #3

I know a few people who have the Deck and enjoy it, but "ultimate gaming platform" seems like a stretch. I look forward to Valve continuing to improve and iterate on the platform, though I haven't owned a device exclusively or even predominantly for gaming in about 10 years, so I probably won't ever buy one. Still, the knock-on effects for the rest of the Linux ecosystem are positive.

I used to play games on: a Windows desktop, a Mac laptop, a PS2, a Wii U, a Switch, a GameCube. Now I play all the same games and more on just the Steam Deck. If that isn't ultimate idk what is. Every single other gaming device in my house is toast now.

When Breath of the Wild 2 comes out, I'm definitely going to be playing it at launch on the system it was built for, rather than trying an initially buggy emulation experience for bragging rights.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#154

Post by SamPatt »

Mine mostly stays docked and is used for couch coop games with my kids. They absolutely loved "It Takes Two."

I have taken on trips and it works well. Battery life isn't great but it's good enough for a few hours of non-intense games (Slay the Spire is perfect for this).

I have had ocassional issues with external controllers. Adding in more than one sometimes fails in unpredictable ways. That is the only issue I've noticed.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#155

Post by WithinReason »

dom96 wrote: post #133

I guess I'm the minority who's Steam Deck is gathering dust. It is a nice device but it failed to get me to game more (which is what I wanted out of it), mainly because it's rather fiddly, in a similar way to a VR device. It takes effort to get me to pick it up, I have to make sure it's charged, I have to make sure my key bindings are configured correctly, etc. What actually has worked far better for me is Xbox Game…

Try some simple games that are easy to pick up and play and don't have complex controls. Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Broforce. The battery lasts long with them as well.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#156

Post by praetor13 »

hyperpl wrote: post #117

Would anyone recommend this for purely retro emulation via retroarch? I currently have an Anbernic RG353M which is nice but I'd prefer to have a fully customizable device that is developer friendly. Can anyone speak to the ergonomics of the dpad and buttons for unforgiving games like some fighting games and platformers? I also suspect the size and weight might prove prohibitive for portability compared to a much smal…

I have a Deck and an RG351V for comparison. The Deck ergos are fine but it's noticeably larger than a Switch which is already too big to just slip in a pocket like the Anbernic. I love the flexibility of being able to play PC and it can run up to lighter PS3 games which is way beyond the RG351 but I would probably want something smaller like an Ayn Odin for purely retro gaming.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#157

Post by WithinReason »

fluoridation wrote: post #142
ekianjo wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm puzzled why Valve doesn't want to sell it in stores. Selling in stores comes at a price (retail will easily charge you 20 to 30% for the privilege) and my guess is that Valve has fairly limited production runs anyway which makes the proposition unattractive.

Valve is such a weird company. They've been raking in the dough for years with Steam and they still act as if they're on a shoestring budget.

The margins with the 64GB Steam Deck are likely razor thin

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#158

Post by anotherman554 »

willis936 wrote: post #77
manmal wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you looked into Moonlight? Nvidia is sunsetting GeForce Experience which would be a convenient streaming server, but Sunshine seems to be almost on par now, latency wise. So you‘d run Sunshine on your host machine, and Moonlight on the Steam Deck. I’ve seen people report a minimal input lag of just 1 frame @ 4k60 (with most recent Sunshine versions, there was a big leap recently) but haven’t tried it myself yet.…

That login ability is nice. I usually have to use a second remote channel. Does Moonlight handle controllers and surround sound well?

Moonlight only supports Xbox controllers or making a different controller (like a PS5 controller) appear to Windows to be an Xbox controller. You can't use a PS5 controller natively, instead windows sees the ps5 controller as an Xbox 360 controller.

It's fine for most cases but not for motion controls.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#159

Post by mizzack »

kriro wrote: post #109

I've had my eye on this for a bit. I'm incapable if deciding which version I want to buy (64GB/256GB/512GB). I'd be happy to hear from anyone who purchased either of these and what their thoughts are. Anyone regretting the 64GB and wishing they got a bigger one for example?

64gb will fill up with shader cache. But if you don't mind upgrading the SSD yourself, it's always an option down the road and is considerably cheaper than buying the higher end Decks. e.g. a 256gb 2230 m.2 is ~$20 where the 256gb model Deck is $100 more. Also, you can get 1tb and 2tb 2230 drives, which aren't an option for a factory configuration.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#160

Post by WithinReason »

kriro wrote: post #109

I've had my eye on this for a bit. I'm incapable if deciding which version I want to buy (64GB/256GB/512GB). I'd be happy to hear from anyone who purchased either of these and what their thoughts are. Anyone regretting the 64GB and wishing they got a bigger one for example?

64GB is enough, things like shader cache can be put on a cheap SDcard without a performance impact.
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