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More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

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Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're comparing sales of a product in a nascent category (PC gaming handhelds) produced by a company with near zero retail presence with a marketing campaign almost entirely focused on their existing (Steam) user base to Nintendo , a long standing retail giant that has dominated the market for decades who follow an entirely different business model. That's not to say they're incomparable , particularly in how they p…

> Valve might not directly profit from the sale of GPD, Aya or Asus PC gaming handhelds, but they still get their percentage from every Steam software sale made on them But those handhelds, being quite expensive, almost certainly sold much less than the Steam Deck, which itself didn't sell overly well.

You're missing the point, it's not Switch vs Steam Deck, or even Switch vs Steam Deck and PC Gaming Handhelds.

It's Switch vs. Steam, which is available on desktop, laptop and handheld form factors and in the future likely a lot more (see box86/FEX, Chromebooks, Deckard). Valve doesn't care where you buy your games, they care that you buy them from Valve.

Valve don't need Steam Deck to become as big as Switch, Steam as a whole already is.

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#402
post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s simpler than that. They looked at the Nintendo Switch and decided to copy it, but for the PC. Nintendo was the genius involved. What Valve did is why Microsoft is successful. They executed someone else’s idea very well. Which isn’t that easy to do.

Khm, PSP, Gameboys, etc. Handheld gaming devices have quite a lot of history.

None of them plugged into your TV and worked nearly as well as a non-portable console. Neither did the old handhelds allow you to play two player on the same handheld on the go. Not to mention it pretty much allows you to play AAA games on the online from anywhere you can hold the thing. There’s no shortage of innovation or exceptional execution with the Switch.

The history of handheld gaming pretty much is Nintendo. I fully realize the history (and recognize the innovation. That is the Switch). I had the original Gameboy back when it was a new product in the 80s.

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#403
post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Khm, PSP, Gameboys, etc. Handheld gaming devices have quite a lot of history.

None of them plugged into your TV and worked nearly as well as a non-portable console. Neither did the old handhelds allow you to play two player on the same handheld on the go. Not to mention it pretty much allows you to play AAA games on the online from anywhere you can hold the thing. There’s no shortage of innovation or exceptional execution with the Switch. The history of handheld gaming pretty much is Nintendo.…

I don’t know, these doesn’t sound too innovative to me, just the results of the advancements hardware made.

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Gaming is Five Times Bigger Than Movies Now" https://gameranx.com/updates/id/416500/article/gaming-is-fiv...

Unfortunately a lot of that is ad filled P2W shovelware

Many people only play free phone games. It tracks. I know people on the internet constantly discount it, but mobile is much too big a platform to ignore in discussions like these

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#405

It's an astonishing achievement from Valve. The plug-and-play nature is truly miraculous...I expected to have to do a ton of hackery to make games work but the vast majority of things I want to play work great out of the box. I'm a very happy Deck owner from day one, despite having a relatively powerful gaming PC and a Switch. As a dad with two very young kids I don't get much time for gaming, but the Deck helps me f…

There's so much discourse focused on playing the biggest games on max settings that it can be easy to forget the sheer number of older or non-AAA games that work just fine on modest specs. Or games that work fine if you bump down to medium/low.

Oddly enough that is partially to the credit and fault of Sony/Microsoft. games have been stuck targeting 2013 hardware for a very long time, longer than any other generation prior. But it was also needed in a way; the cost/speed ratio of storage was woefully behind the power advancements, and we see that with the crazy load times in the mid-late generation games of gen 8.

On the same end, mobile has been advancing in huge strides and there were more x86 hardware that could run on lower wattage. Valve simply saw a hole that only certain Chinese manufacturers were trying to fulfill, and they used their market advantadge to slash prices. Honestly surprised Microsoft didn't try this first, given their dabbling with Surface (I know Sony has long since been burned out on handheld gaming)

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#406
post #259

Valve had a sequence of strange failed experiments -- the Steam Controller, Steam Machines/SteamOS, Steam Link. But somehow these all came together to make the Steam Deck which is an astounding success. I don't know if Valve are geniuses or just incredibly lucky.

>Failed Experiments Lessons Learned. The Steam Deck is the culmination of previous iterations. Even with the flop of the Steam Machines, The Steam Controller and Steam Link have ended up as Cult Classics, and there is the possibility they'll get revisions down the line, even if they end up minor niche releases.

I wouldn't be surprised at a Steam Controller successor. I think the Steam Link as dedicated hardware is a finished experiment, though. they long since decided to focus on integrating the software into mobile (and probably the Steam Deck as well).

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Valve might not directly profit from the sale of GPD, Aya or Asus PC gaming handhelds, but they still get their percentage from every Steam software sale made on them But those handhelds, being quite expensive, almost certainly sold much less than the Steam Deck, which itself didn't sell overly well.

You're missing the point, it's not Switch vs Steam Deck, or even Switch vs Steam Deck and PC Gaming Handhelds. It's Switch vs. Steam, which is available on desktop, laptop and handheld form factors and in the future likely a lot more (see box86/FEX, Chromebooks, Deckard). Valve doesn't care where you buy your games, they care that you buy them from Valve. Valve don't need Steam Deck to become as big as Switch, Steam…

By that Logic, Windows is the ultimate winner in the console wars. But people don't seem to compare hardware to software that way.

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But were they failed experiments if they led to this? Apple did the same thing with random features like LIDAR scanners in phones that you have no reason to use. Everyone questioned their thinking. Turned out they were doing that in order to make the best VR headset ever made.

Kind of wild that Apple have built up so much of a reputation that you're calling it the 'best VR headset ever made' without it even being released yet. This just proves that good products are like 70% perception, and its why we continuously drink Coke even though there's so many better healthier, tastier drinks

>and its why we continuously drink Coke even though there's so many better healthier, tastier drinks

mostly because it's cheaper and everywhere. Even water these days can cost $2 in a standard 16.9 oz bottle. You don't go out to buy a coke because you want the finest drink in the land.

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#409

Valve had a sequence of strange failed experiments -- the Steam Controller, Steam Machines/SteamOS, Steam Link. But somehow these all came together to make the Steam Deck which is an astounding success. I don't know if Valve are geniuses or just incredibly lucky.

You only need to get lucky once, so if you can only afford one lotto ticket the odds are against you. What amazing things do we miss out on because not everyone has a infinite well of capital to draw from?

Electric vehicles felt like that for decades upon decades. Sustainable energy still feels that way despite gaining headway this decade.

Re: More than 75% of Steam games tested are playable or verified on the Steam Deck

#410
post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Khm, PSP, Gameboys, etc. Handheld gaming devices have quite a lot of history.

None of them plugged into your TV and worked nearly as well as a non-portable console. Neither did the old handhelds allow you to play two player on the same handheld on the go. Not to mention it pretty much allows you to play AAA games on the online from anywhere you can hold the thing. There’s no shortage of innovation or exceptional execution with the Switch. The history of handheld gaming pretty much is Nintendo.…

>Not to mention it pretty much allows you to play AAA games on the online from anywhere you can hold the thing

That was simply a tech issue. The PSP in 2004 was capable of playing games from last generation. it was pretty high tech for its time, and sold for about the cost of a Steam Deck's cheapest variant after inflation.

It also fit in your pocket, very comfortably. The one thing I feel handhelds gave up in their attempt to reach parity with modern consoles (and partially why I rarely take out handhelds anymore, in lieu of phones). I ultimately bought a GPD Win 4 because it was the smallest form factor while keeping those specs, but It fits in my pocket about as well as my high school jersey fits on my body 12 years later :(

>either did the old handhelds allow you to play two player on the same handheld on the go

That's a usability issue, not so much a hardware issue to innovate around. Even if the PSP was like a Switch, we're comparing a 4.3 inch LCD screen to a 6-7" switch/SD screen. over double the screen estate.

I think the real let down here was Sony not having the kinds of party game software that let multiple PSPs play with one cart, like some DS games did. Or at least, they weren't well known if they did exist.

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