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Do you think the Steam Deck is going to revolutionize the handheld gaming industry?

Will the Steam Deck revolutionize handheld gaming?


  • Total voters
    203

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Frankly, since i first laid eyes on this thing it's been the best handheld since the PSP in my eyes. It's frankly the endgame of videogame handhelds. Having the biggest game library on the go is pretty much the peak. How do you go any better than a handheld that can play almost all of the Steam games? It's already causing a lot of competitors in the PC handheld industry to come up, although none can compete in bang for buck sadly. But, i know that not everyone's as optimistic and stupid as I am, and i haven't seen the same outright blind enthusiasm across places like Twitter and Discord. What's your thoughts on this thing? Do you think it can truly make a change? is it useless?
(Also, the chip shortage is over at this point. Valve needs to dump the preorder system already.)
 

Imtjnotu

Member
No Way Reaction GIF



Solid state batteries will revolutionize the handheld industry. Not the steam deck
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Looks cool, but it's too big.

I also like playing PC games on a monitor or a big screen. Haven't tried the Deck myself but I can imagine some games might no be optimised for a small screen and have small font sizes and shit like that. (Hopefully I'm wrong)

I might get one if they release another model, smaller, and with better specs.

Also, while I already have a beefy PC, I don't see the point of getting one. It looks cool for parents or people that might travel a lot tho.
 

Omali

Member
Will it revolutionize handheld gaming? Probably not. It's a hell of a value for people who want a pretty hefty piece of hardware they can take out of the house, but I don't see it making big waves in the industry in terms of altering how games are developed or hardware is released.
 

Onironauta

Member
I love the idea of the Steam Deck (waiting for a smaller and more powerful iteration though), but people here keep forgetting that products can't be (massively) successful just because they appeal to gaming enthusiasts with niche preferences.

Most handheld sales come from kids and Nintendo/Japanese games fans. But the Steam Deck is too expensive and complicated for kids and casuals. It also doesn't have any exclusives unlike the Switch. And most PC gamers would rather invest that money on a new GPU.

I really hope it will be a success but I doubt it will sell more than 10-20 million units.
 
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Fbh

Member
In its current iteration I see it being a successful niche product.
It's too big and bulky, too expensive and not streamlined enough to get mass market appeal.

I still think gaming on the go will eventually go the streaming way.
 
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chixdiggit

Member
I voted for the first option because I agree with the statement but do agree that it probably needs to be smaller to truly take off. For what I want it for though it's perfect.
 

Holammer

Member
It's a very unique product, competing in ways the opposition cannot. Software is completely open, no difficult jail-breaking required. For the time it's mostly a product for the choir, but if people from the outside starts buying it? That's when things get spicy.

Whether it succeeds is unimportant, the device is a hardware & software testbed for a proper upcoming Valve branded SteamOS PC console.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
nah, it's not good enough yet. maybe Deck 2 or 3...if Valve don't get bored with it and kill it.

they need to improve battery life significantly and of course they need to work on making more games playable on it.
 
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rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Other handheld pcs didn't before, why would Deck? Just because the price?

PS: but being able to play the entire PC library on a cheap, affordable handheld is amazing!
 
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cireza

Banned
Meh. It is enormous and games aren't even optimized for handheld screen anymore. I suppose some are, but a ton of them must have unreadable text.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Will it revolutionize handheld gaming? Probably not. It's a hell of a value for people who want a pretty hefty piece of hardware they can take out of the house, but I don't see it making big waves in the industry in terms of altering how games are developed or hardware is released.
How isn't it currently? For one thing, for a while the only PC version of elden ring that didn't have any stuttering.... Was the steam deck. not to mention that a lot of developers have commented on how they didn't even need to port the games to the deck in order for them to be playable. Which isn't a thing with the switch, as that has completely different (and far weaker) hardware that requires its own dedicated porting team to be made
 

Midn1ght

Member
Specifically in the handheld industry? They have the best handheld device out there so in that regard, yes.
Will that have any major impact in the gaming industry as a whole? I don't think so.

In my opinion, it isn't about how good the SteamDeck is but about how much time and money Valve is ready to invest to go mainstream.
Sadly, I don't think Valve has any interest at taking a leading role in the industry whatsoever.

They have the best storefront for PC games and are releasing cool stuff every now and then, I think they're fine with being just that.
I only hope they'll come up with new version every 4-5 years and not give it all up like they did with the Link, the Controller and the Machine.
 
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Romulus

Member
I don't know about revolutionize but its magnitudes better than switch. The thing will almost run Half Life Alyx VR at an acceptable level, which is bonkers.
 

bender

What time is it?
I mostly want one for retro games and that's a bit of an issue with my digital libraries split between Steam, GoG and other storefronts. Compatibility with my library is another issue. The nice thing about the deck is that it's just a PC so you can probably get anything up and running to your liking but it just seems like too much of a hassle.
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Other handheld pcs didn't before, why would Deck? Just because the price?
I dont even understand what i would look at in the Steam Deck to think its revolutionary.
i havent paid too much attention to it since announcement and those initial teardowns.

But what features does it have that would have people think its some sort of revolution?

Unless its all about the brand recognition of Steam being behind it so it has software support directly from Valve, cuz otherwise havent we seen everything it does done before, and with APUs getting more performant, screens getting better and better, battery technology advancing it wont be too long before its easily bested in basically every category.
ONE-XPLAYER-Mini-20220112115538-1024x683.jpg



OneGx1_Pro_mini_notebook_now_available_for_purchase_mid_December_2020.jpg



AYA-NEO-NEXT-7.jpg



9QJdHN4A4H9oaThgYAZF4Cedn4v7vWzk0eIm2fP-Alc.png
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
with APUs getting more performant, screens getting better and better, battery technology advancing it wont be too long before its easily bested in basically every category.
for one thing, those same handheld PCs are 3x the price of the steam deck. It's because of the price mainly, but also the fact that valve is backing it
second, what makes you think valve just won't make another one a year from now titled the "deck v2" with a better APU and battery life? then what the fuck will AYA, GPD, tencent, and all the other handheld PC manufacturers do then?
 
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rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
I dont even understand what i would look at in the Steam Deck to think its revolutionary.
i havent paid too much attention to it since announcement and those initial teardowns.

But what features does it have that would have people think its some sort of revolution?

Unless its all about the brand recognition of Steam being behind it so it has software support directly from Valve, cuz otherwise havent we seen everything it does done before, and with APUs getting more performant, screens getting better and better, battery technology advancing it wont be too long before its easily bested in basically every category.
ONE-XPLAYER-Mini-20220112115538-1024x683.jpg



OneGx1_Pro_mini_notebook_now_available_for_purchase_mid_December_2020.jpg



AYA-NEO-NEXT-7.jpg



9QJdHN4A4H9oaThgYAZF4Cedn4v7vWzk0eIm2fP-Alc.png
What is the last one?
 

Fredrik

Member
No. I love mine but I think it’ll be an extreme niche product, at best it’ll sell a couple million. Hopefully Valve keeps on doing new models, I can see myself updating to new Decks at the same frequency as graphics cards.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
The 2nd option was the closest for me, the issue is you specifically call our issues you think the console has, I don't think for example think it needs to be any smaller, but an increase in battery life I believe is required.

In general I think like most things this is the version that's going to have the issues that a steam deck 2 will all resolve. The only way to truly find out what something needs is to have it on the hands of consumer, right now the low battery life and lack of support for titles on steam deck are glaring flaws, which will take time to fix, and by that time there will be a better steam deck available or the product will have failed resulting in the issue of support not ever being fixed making the original pointless.
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
for one thing, those same handheld PCs are 3x the price of the steam deck. It's because of the price mainly, but also the fact that valve is backing it
second, what makes you think valve just won't make another one a year from now titled the "deck v2" with a better APU and battery life? then what the fuck will AYA, GPD, tencent, and all the other handheld PC manufacturers do then?
Ahh so it is the price that will revolutionize the hand held gaming market?
I dont see it, but atleast I get your point.

As for the Deck V2 getting a new more powerful APU and how other manufacturers will respond?.......maybe just maybe they will get a new more powerful APU....but hey I dont know anything about building new more powerful machines whenever the technology allows, because its such a weird and out there concept.
What is the last one?
GPD Win 3
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
As for the Deck V2 getting a new more powerful APU and how other manufacturers will respond?.......maybe just maybe they will get a new more powerful APU....but hey I dont know anything about building new more powerful machines whenever the technology allows, because its such a weird and out there concept.
Still though, the point here is that the deck could become sort of a series with new deck models coming out each 2 years similar to graphics cards or CPUs. These new machines are more powerful for the time being but when valve outdoes them at a cheaper price point, they're screwed.
 

Codes 208

Member
Nah, for one its too expensive to be the next nintendo.

And secondly, the general concept is pretty niche. I expect that for the price, most people would rather just buy a laptop or desktop.

And third: its about convenience. You cant buy these at your local walmart. Hell, due to the queue system you can hardly buy these on steam in general.

Its a great product, but to be completely honest i would be impressed if it can actually outsell even the vita.

Off-topic: Also, stop with the specific poll options. Just say ‘yes’ ‘no’ and ‘other’.
 
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Holammer

Member
for one thing, those same handheld PCs are 3x the price of the steam deck. It's because of the price mainly, but also the fact that valve is backing it
second, what makes you think valve just won't make another one a year from now titled the "deck v2" with a better APU and battery life? then what the fuck will AYA, GPD, tencent, and all the other handheld PC manufacturers do then?
The thing runs with a built to order custom CPU at 1/3 the price of the competition and twice the performance. Not to mention feature rich and open OS build for gaming.
The competition is getting curbed and it's putting a lot of pressure on Nintendo's next outing.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Nah, for one its too expensive to be the next nintendo.

And secondly, the general concept is pretty niche. I expect that for the price, most people would rather just buy a laptop or desktop.

And third: its about convenience. You cant buy these at your local walmart. Hell, due to the queue system you can hardly buy these on steam in general.

Its a great product, but to be completely honest i would be impressed if it can actually outsell even the vita.

Off-topic: Also, stop with the specific poll options. Just say ‘yes’ ‘no’ and ‘other’.
for the second one, you can't really get a laptop for that cheap. Also, laptops have a completely different usecase. They're not in the handheld gaming market lol
Also, just because the box says PC gaming doesn't mean the usecase is niche. IF valve did nothing to market the steam deck other than say "it plays GTA 5 on the go" it would sell like hotcakes. PC gaming isn't niche, and the desire to play big budget triple A games on the go definitely isnt
for the third one, that's honestly my major issue with it. I hope valve stops with the preorder stuff and just starts shipping them to target or something.
 
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Codes 208

Member
for the second one, you can't really get a laptop for that cheap. Also, laptops have a completely different usecase. They're not in the handheld gaming market lol
Also, just because the box says PC gaming doesn't mean the usecase is niche. IF valve did nothing to market the steam deck other than say "it plays GTA 5 on the go" it would sell like hotcakes. PC gaming isn't niche, and the desire to play big budget triple A games on the go definitely isnt
for the third one, that's honestly my major issue with it. I hope valve stops with the preorder stuff and just starts shipping them to target or something.
Pc gaming isnt niche, the idea of playing pc games on the go is whats niche. Also no amount of gta 5 is going to make someone fork out $400 for one game they know they can just play on their ps4
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
the idea of playing pc games on the go is whats niche
except it isn't. Even if people don't specifically want to play RTS games on a steam deck, or competitive games on a steam deck, there's still the large library of indie and AAA games that haven't hit the switch yet. the desire to play those games on the go is far less niche and a far more mainstream desire. It's not just GTA5 but a slew of other games out there that will never see the light of day on more proprietary handheld gaming devices like the switch due to a lack of power. Elden ring, GTA5, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, COD, Forza, ETC. A big majority of gamers out there would definitely want to play those games outside, if nothing else
 

AndrewRyan

Member
Just moving mainstream users to Linux is the beginning of a revolution that if continues will certainly change gaming forever. Fast forward 10 years and they'll be dozens of hardware manufacturers making SteamOS devices. All of them competing and experimenting so expect some wild innovations and tons of choices depending on your gaming style.
 

Codes 208

Member
except it isn't. Even if people don't specifically want to play RTS games on a steam deck, or competitive games on a steam deck, there's still the large library of indie and AAA games that haven't hit the switch yet. the desire to play those games on the go is far less niche and a far more mainstream desire. It's not just GTA5 but a slew of other games out there that will never see the light of day on more proprietary handheld gaming devices like the switch due to a lack of power. Elden ring, GTA5, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, COD, Forza, ETC. A big majority of gamers out there would definitely want to play those games outside, if nothing else
People can already play a lot of those games for a fraction of the price via mobile cloud gaming. How well has that taken off?
 

cireza

Banned
If you already have a huge Steam library
I don't like much the device (too big for me), but this is definitely a very good reason. If you have huge library, you can be sure that some games will run well on the device, and be well adapted for handheld gaming.

If Microsoft was to make such a handheld, that can play Xbox One games for example, I would probably be interested for all the smaller/indy games I own. However I don't see how a handheld Xbox One could be any smaller anyway.
 
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Robb

Gold Member
No, I don’t think so. How much has it even sold? I haven’t heard much since launch, feels like a super niche product.
 

Foilz

Banned
When the steam deck can run for 5-6 hrs while gaming then maybe. But this 1.5-2.5 hrs isn't cutting it. I cancelled my order
 
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ViolentP

Member
No. It's a means to portably play an established game library. It's not meant to change anything, it's a QoL product and it does what it does well.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
People can already play a lot of those games for a fraction of the price via mobile cloud gaming. How well has that taken off?
Not well, but not for the reason of "no one wants to play these games on the go"
Mainly cuz the infastructure isn't there yet, phones just aren't a good option to play games on, and people generally like ownership of their games. there's already a GAF thread talking about Xcloud which is probably the best cloud service around and people still don't think it's a great way to play games. Cloud regardless of portability or not would not take off
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Still though, the point here is that the deck could become sort of a series with new deck models coming out each 2 years similar to graphics cards or CPUs. These new machines are more powerful for the time being but when valve outdoes them at a cheaper price point, they're screwed.
A true revolution for mobile gaming....being cheaper than the competition?

Is the Deck awesome...sure.
Is it going to revolutionize handheld gaming.....i dont see why it would.

Maybe you need to express why think it will better?
 

ToTTenTranz

Banned
If we're talking about the device itself, Steam Deck 1.0 then no, because Valve isn't going to do like Nintendo and sell the exact same hardware for 6 or 7 years.
Up until 2024 at the latest, they'll start selling Steam Deck Pro or 2.0 which is going to be a lot more powerful and more optimized than this Deck 1, then up until 2026 they'll sell another follow-up, etc.

Though if we're talking about the concept of a gaming-focused handheld PC being made widespread by the Steam Deck then yes, absolutely.
My bet is Microsoft is right now developing a Win11 user interface specifically for handheld gaming PCs with 7-9" screens, and a bunch of the larger PC manufacturers (HP/Omen, Dell/Alienware, Lenovo/Legion, etc.) are already hard at work to release handheld PCs similar to the Deck.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
No, because there's not much revolutionary about it. Handheld gaming PC's were already a thing before Steam Deck. The main thing it does that sets it apart is give you better support for your library without having to use Windows. I have a feeling that the compromises in terms of resolution, features and frame rate will turn off most PC gamers. I mean it mostly targets 720p/30.

This is great for people who really want to have a convenient way to play games on the go and aren't satisfied with what Switch offers. There are probably several million people like that. But I feel like this is going to scratch an itch more than it will start a revolution.
 
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