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Steam Deck: First Anniversary

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Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#201

Post by eldaisfish »

cubefox wrote: post #90
Kukumber wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both Nintendo/Sony sold ~3x more than Microsoft last month Steam Deck numbers are nothing compared to what these 3 are selling, if i remember correctly, it was 1 million reservations total for a whole year, that sounds like a flop to my book when you compare with the 3 existing players I think next gen we'll see Sony getting back into the handheld market, Nintendo coming up with a second version, and Microsoft coming…

Sony building a Switch competitor for the next generation, in addition to a PlayStation 6? That sounds very unlikely to me. With the Switch form factor, it would have to be a lot closer to the PlayStation 6 than the small PSP was to the PlayStation 3. I don't think Sony wants to have two similar consoles on the market; they would compete with themselves. And the memories of the PSVita misfortune will deter them furth…

The PS Vita was ahead of its time. I own a secondhand OELD model and the hardware is AMAZING, considering it is a decade old. The home brew community added lots of value with the emulation ability and the fact that sony abandoned the console.

Yes, the vita was a flop at the time but i am convinced that if sony released a modern equivalents, it would sell like hotcakes. Where i am less certain is of what this means for sony’s strategy - and there i agree with you. Two consoles with two different graphical capabilities could be a disaster. Or it could not? I don’t know.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#202

Post by nindalf »

COGlory wrote: post #193
nindalf wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve is cool, but they're only able to afford this style of development because they take a 30% cut of all PC gaming revenue. Not profits, revenue. When you're making that much money you can do whatever you want and still stay afloat. They've mismanaged some games (Dota 2), abandoned other games (TF2) and completely messed up other games (Artifact 1 and 2). They have my loyalty as a consumer because they've treated…

It's not like they have some artificial monopoly though. Developers put their games on Steam (well, some do) because Valve has a huge audience. Valve's audience exists because Steam is a good client and has excellent features, and places the consumer first. Valve has no artificial monopoly, does nothing to keep people on their platform, refuses to even do things like sign exclusivity agreements, and the past decade h…

Big publishers came back because Valve offered them a sweetheart deal, much better than what's offered to small devs.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120577/valve-steam-gam...

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#203

Post by goosedragons »

COGlory wrote: post #198
goosedragons wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Nintendo first party titles hold their value well but you're not playing those on Steam either. 3rd party titles will often be the same price or close enough with the exception of super recent ports of old PC games. Definitely NOT 4-5x more expensive unless you're only comparing to full price not on sale eShop titles to best possible discount on Steam.

If you want to play Nintendo 1st party, you have no choice but Switch. But if you want to play any of the many AAA games that release every year, you can do that on Deck. If we ignore that each is exclusive to the other's platform (i.e. Switch 1st party don't go to Deck, many huge games Deck can play Switch never gets), and just compare the average cost with sales of those "exclusive" games, you high quality games on…

That may be true but they did say that the same game will be 4-5x more expensive on Switch which is just rubbish.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#204

Post by baq »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #172
ushtaritk421 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam deck is an extension of the already existing PC gaming market. I suspect that almost all Steam Deck owners already have a PC they game on. Steam Deck just makes it so those PC gamers will care if a game runs well on Linux. The point isn’t to take over the console market but to defend the PC gaming market from console exclusivity and Steam itself from e.g. Microsoft Store

> Steam itself from e.g. Microsoft Store That was initially the case for SteamOS/Steam Machines, but the MS Store has been a _resounding_ failure in the gaming market. It's use is largely limited to PC Game Pass subscribers, who use it as the download backend for the Xbox app (which is the primary interface for installing/managing games). If anything, it's a way for Valve to hedge against streaming platforms.

Microsoft store is the annoying place where you get Minecraft. Maybe it can be bought in a different place now.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#205

Post by COGlory »

nindalf wrote: post #202
COGlory wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like they have some artificial monopoly though. Developers put their games on Steam (well, some do) because Valve has a huge audience. Valve's audience exists because Steam is a good client and has excellent features, and places the consumer first. Valve has no artificial monopoly, does nothing to keep people on their platform, refuses to even do things like sign exclusivity agreements, and the past decade h…

Big publishers came back because Valve offered them a sweetheart deal, much better than what's offered to small devs. https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120577/valve-steam-gam...

That article is from 2018. Ubisoft just came back this year. I'm going to guess they're not directly correlated.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#206

Post by yamtaddle »

hbn wrote: post #113
NineStarPoint wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s important to recognize that while the Steam deck is awesome, it’s sold 1 million compared to the 100 million of the Switch. Nintendo has massive name recognition and exclusives of course, but also price. The cheapest Steam Deck is 400 dollars, whereas the Switch is 300. For people who don’t already have big steam libraries and don’t care about open hardware, the Switch is where they’re going to go for a mobile c…

> The cheapest Steam Deck is 400 dollars, whereas the Switch is 300. The Switch's entry price is actually $200 for the Switch Lite. I think it's even had small discounts on occasion too.

The Lite is the portable-only version that's mainly for solo play. Doesn't come with a cradle, can't slot into a cradle and TV output is disabled, so no TV out, integrated controls (no detachable joycons, so you can't do that thing where you take your switch somewhere then pop the joycons off and play 2-player games)

Not countering what you wrote, just clarifying what that device is.

(personally, if they didn't deliberately cripple its ability to do TV out at all, I'd buy a lite instead of the regular Switch—I hate using joycons so we have like three pro controllers anyway, and the joycon dock points have proven a highly-breakable weak spot on my Switches so far, under actual use by kids)

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#207

Post by ranger207 »

trabant00 wrote: post #54

I would love to hear from Deck owners that have migrated from or also have a 4k capable gaming PC tower. I know the difference in specs and performance and I'm not expecting this to compete. But I'm interested in the experience, how enjoyable it is to play on this compared to the PC. Do you play on a monitor or TV? Do you use the controls on the Deck or attach keyboard or mouse? Is the dock worth it? Things like this…

I have a capable Linux gaming desktop, a decent enough Linux laptop, and a Deck. The Deck doesn't really compete with the desktop as much as it competes with the laptop. While I'm at home for the most part I prefer the much larger screen and multiple monitors of my desktop, especially for information-dense games like Factorio or Terra Invicta. Most of what I use my Deck for at home are lighter games that don't take as much brain power and I can play while in bed or whatever.

However, one niche that the Deck is definitely better than my desktop at is emulation: projects like EmuDeck have everything set up to be a (mostly) slick plug-and-play experience once you have it installed, with the result being that I can drop a rom into a folder on the SD card, refresh the game library, and it'll be ready to go, often even with community Steam Input configurations for that specific game. This is significantly better than on my desktop.

Away from home the Deck is far more comfortable to use than my laptop, even with an external mouse. I don't typically use my laptop for info-heavy games like on my desktop anyway due to the lack of extra monitors, but even for mouse-heavy games like Shadowrun the Deck is better.

I do still carry my laptop on trips and use it in bed, on the couch, etc because it's much easier to use for productivity and web browsing. I could carry an external monitor and keyboard for my Deck but why, when a laptop takes just as much space as those?

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#208

Post by boh »

nindalf wrote: post #185
boh wrote: post #178

Valve is a pretty amazing company that consistently innovates and makes long-term, strategic decisions. Its a real model for a great tech company. Its unique capital and management structure has insulated it from any real competition. Companies like EA have to constantly turn a profit, cut corners where they can, and think in very short timeframes. Valve is completely private, with mostly (if not complete), owner/man…

Valve is cool, but they're only able to afford this style of development because they take a 30% cut of all PC gaming revenue. Not profits, revenue. When you're making that much money you can do whatever you want and still stay afloat. They've mismanaged some games (Dota 2), abandoned other games (TF2) and completely messed up other games (Artifact 1 and 2). They have my loyalty as a consumer because they've treated…

EA and Activision are a great counter-example of how "you could do anything" with revenue can vary from company to company. I think Valve's success being tied to their culture is pretty easy to prove, since as you say "they have my loyalty". How many other gaming platforms have done the same (particularly those aged 25< years)? I'm sure developers would love to pay less than 30%, but how is that cost compare to Valve's competitors? Valve is a for-profit venture and make their decisions based on the current economic environment.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#209

Post by netcraft »

anotherman554 wrote: post #153
herpdyderp wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I feel the same way - but its leading me to some different conclusions - my previous switch has been completely taken over by my kids at this point, so I had planned on buying a new one to play ToTK when it comes out in May. I played hundreds of hours of BoTW. But after having the steam deck for a few months, I cant really imagine playing on the switch much anymore. Theres no other games I can see coming that I really care about that are switch exclusives. To the point I might just skip out on the new game for a while till the emulators catch up.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#210

Post by bombcar »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #32
bergheim wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you.. carry a monitor? how is a steam deck, a keyboard and a monitor better than just having a laptop? also how does the monitor survive this, do you put in in the original box? and if so, how big is your luggage? :)

I think op meant they were carrying a portable tablet like monitor anyway (not a 27inch monitor and stand :).

Yep, it's really great. I would buy the latest iPad in a hot minute it if had a way to be an external monitor (the software-based sidecar is 'ok' but not the same thing).
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