- cross-posted to:
- steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
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Nobody ever seems to point out the various features like trackpads, back buttons and all the software goodness that you don’t get with the competition. That’s the main selling point of the Deck for me.
The back buttons were a genius way to make some PC games with no gamepad support playable. Really the whole customizability of the controller mapping is awesome
The inputs plus what you can do with Steam Input is the real kicker for me. Means you can play any game even if it only works with a keyboard. Not saying the experience will be as good as with a keyboard and mouse but you can get really creative and play a lot of games unexpectedly well.
Now that I’ve used it, I don’t think I could move to any device that didn’t have literally all the inputs that the steam deck has including gyro, double touch pads and back buttons. You can just do so much with it.
It’s basically a beefed up steam controller and while that one had its problems, it’s still the only controller im willing to use because of it’s many features.
Author can’t seem to understand that Valve’s the only company that can properly do the console-style “subsidize hardware cost based on the cut you’ll get from selling the games” method in the PC space. Asus, Lenovo, Ayaneo - they don’t have the luxury of maybe taking a bit of a haircut on the hardware and then more than making it up on the back end via software sales. They only get paid for the initial sale and then they’re done, so their devices are going to have to be more expensive.
If they were to cooperate with valve and/or epic they could pull it off to some degree. Basically a fixed return from valve/epic per unit sold.
The big question with that plan, though, is what’s in it for Valve/Epic? Valve has no incentive to let anyone else in on their cut, and Epic’s is so low already there wouldn’t be any room to let anyone else in on it with them.
I suppose Epic could try to get a deal in place where EGS is installed as the default store on the Ally or Legion, but it’s not like anyone’s going to just stick with the default - first thing anyone will do is just install Steam, and everyone knows it. I don’t see a way for a deal like that to make sense for Epic to even bother with.
What’s in it for valve? More games sold. They don’t seem to mind steam keys being sold on aggressive sales through other platforms. Partnering with another hardware manufacturer for a revenue share doesn’t seem like an extreme stretch. Unlikely? Sure. Impossible? No.
Author can’t seem to understand that Valve’s the only company that can properly do the console-style “subsidize hardware cost based on the cut you’ll get from selling the games”
I disagree on Valve being the only company. I don’t think your traditional PC hardware companies could pull it off, however I think a company that has an successful enough online store could do it. Microsoft could do it If they wanted to. They might already be in that path as the Xbox becomes more PC like. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was an option to buy Windows for the Xbox.
Also depending on your definition of PC, love them or hate them but Apple potentially could do something like that. However I would be very surprised as Apple isn’t in the business if subsided cost on hardware lol.
Epic or Amazon also come to mind.
Fair points, yes, but I was speaking within the context of companies that are actually producing handheld PCs. None of the other potentially capable companies you’ve mentioned have shown any indication that they care to enter the space.
I’ve bought so many more steam games since getting the deck. They know what they’re doing.
Budget? It’s $600 for a device that’s already worse off then a console power wise. You can’t use discs and do pay more games. In what world is this a budget device?
If you want to game on a budget gamepass+ gamefly + Xbox is the cheapest way to game hands down.
Here in Germany I can get it certified refurbished for 340€ (64gb), 440€ (256gb) or 540€ (540€). You can go for the cheapest and upgrade the storage. Seems affordable to me.
First of all why are we comparing a handheld to a console? That just doesn’t make any sense.
And since when are games for consoles cheaper anyways? Seems like PC games go on sales much faster.
For any PC gamer with an existing library (or any pirate) you already have plenty of games to play on the steam deck. No need to buy anything new.
Also don’t some games on the playstation for example need a subscription for online play?
That said you are right that if you want access to a large variety of games then game pass+Xbox is a solid option. But look at streaming services and mark my words: this won’t last forever. They WILL enshittfy it eventually.
Why am I comparing a console to a handheld? I’m not. The deck was presented as a budget option. I agree mobile devices typically aren’t budget friendly and I’m providing an alternative.
As for cheaper games it’s because the console still has a rental and resale community. Unless you are actually buying 3 games a year and putting hundreds of hours into them; it’s far cheaper to rent or buy and sell on Amazon. I played well over 30 games last year and spent about $250. Had I purchased them it would be well past $2000 a year. Even if I wait 3 years for every single title to hit $5 (which never happens in practice for many games) I’ve still spent $200 on those discounted titties.
I’m very sure most people don’t buy a new game every month. I don’t even know how you would find the time to finish them that fast.
Edit: I just noticed 30 games a year means more than 2 new games a month. Are you speedrunning them or something?!
Not at all. The vast majority of games are doable in 30-40 hours or so. Yeah there are a few long ones but the short ones even out. I’ll usually get 2 hours after the kid is in bed, maybe an hour before they get up if I’m lucky, and then probably 10 over the weekend.
I’m not saying I’m casual in anyway, most folks will be about at 10 I’d guess. And the math still works out.
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discs
What are you even on about?
Fairly trivial and well known concepts. I’m not even sure what you could possibly be confused about 🤷♂️
How tf is a disc supposed to fit in a handheld? It would have so many downsides and people haven’t been buying discs for pc games for years now
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Oh for a handheld, whatever move to a cartridge, that’s some pedantic shit right there.
And yes, valve did fuck up and trick PC gamers into accepting games you can’t resell. And yes, that’s why it’s cheaper to play on consoles and rent. That was very much the point.
I’m pretty sure there are no cartridges for PC games at all
Yas. ThatsThePoint.txt. No discs. No cartridges. No resale. DRM single license only.
No portability, either, though that’s kinda irrelevant if you’re using a steam deck in the first place.
More importantly, no ownership. Steam, or any other digital media outlet, can just invalidate the licence, change the terms of the license, invalidate the account it’s under, etc.
While physical media has risks of its own, you are as much in control of those risks as you want to be. You only really have to worry about theft and catastrophic damage to the media, as those tend to be beyond complete individual control. With proper care, even discs can last a lifetime at least. Cartridges can last longer in theory.
We haven’t run into it yet problems with it, but what about inheritance? There are people today that inherited games and consoles. That’s not an exaggeration, there were adults around for the first gen consoles that bought them, and have died in the last ten years. Their kids or grandkids now have them.
There’s zero way to prevent inheritance of physical media. But licenses? Once some of the accounts get old enough, I guarantee that there’s going to be a wave of those accounts being shut down for bullshit reasons that are just an excuse to prevent anyone from passing the games down (and I’m as confident that, unless legislation occurs, Google and apple and whatever other companies use digital sales will find a way to ban inheritance of digital media).
I’m not saying I object to the lack of physical media in every case, and a portable unit is a reasonable thing to not add the extra ports to (unlike a larger console, imo). There’s a use case for that. But the attempt to kill physical media sure as hell isn’t a good thing, it’s driven by what benefits the companies, not what’s best for customers.
I haven’t had a device with the ability to read discs in over 10 years. The last portable gaming device that could read optical discs was the PSP, as far as I can recall. Which came out in 2011.
Again, what are you on about with the steam deck not being able to read discs as a criticism? It’s outlandish. To the point where I’m not even sure you know what a steam deck is.
Disc, cartridge, same shit. You are focusing on the media because the lot of you don’t understand what it is to be able to resell it rent games.
The simple fact remains I play more games that I want than you for cheaper by renting them. And this pisses people off here. I haven’t even brought up $400 GPUs into the equation 🤣.
Disc, cartridge, same shit. You are focusing on the media because the lot of you don’t understand what it is to be able to resell it rent games.
Your criticism was specifically with the fact that it didn’t have the capability to read discs. Something concerning the medium by which you can get to a game. I commented on that. If you want to talk about the latter than I place more value on owning my games and I’d rather not rent. Also, it’s not worth the effort for me to try to sell a physical copy of a game.
The simple fact remains I play more games that I want than you for cheaper by renting them. And this pisses people off
Why would that piss anyone off? Why would anyone even care? The way we consume media is personal and different for everyone. You seem to place a lot of value on the amount of games you’ve played over the course of a year. Other people, shockingly, might not.
Yet the comments here calling me a liar and people telling me I’ve been tricked.
You’re just dumb as fuck, every single comment you’ve made here has made that more and more obvious. It really looks like you’re consciously trying to be wrong and fail basic comprehension.
You’ve done a very good job of talking past me. Perhaps learning how to converse with others before engaging might be beneficial for you
$400 GPUs for what? What exactly do those have to do with the Steam Deck?
Not sure why people here are all arguing about why you would want to use discs, rather than the fact that the Steam Deck is a PC, of course you can absolutely used discs. All you need to do is plug in a USB disc drive, and it’s ready to go. I’ve installed a bunch of my older PC games from CD/DVD that way, and it works great. Even under Linux, applications like Lutris make installing Windows game discs pretty easy, and once they’re installed, you’re ready to go.
Yeah I guess that’s true if you only play 20 year old games. Fair enough.
Damn get a load of this guy listing physical discs as if it’s a good thing in 2023. The experience of owning a game on Steam is so seamless and convenient I couldn’t even handle the frustration of SD cards on the switch let alone a full on disc!
Of course the situation would be different if you live somewhere with a poor internet connection and you play mostly AAA games, then I understand the appeal of having physical media.
EDIT: Also have to add, $600 for a device that can play literally every game I’ve purchased for the last 20 years anywhere I go is a damn bargain. Consoles have their place and their own advantages but there’s really no other device that can do that.
That’s fine if you value that experience.
That’s an expensive trait to value. I’m happy to rent games, wait a day for them to arrive, and enjoy much lower running costs.
The value lies in its flexibility. And it’s mainly targeted for existing PC players. I can play my whole 150+ games steam library on it. I can easily emulate my favourite childhood games. Also, the smallest version with like a 256 or 512 GB SD card is perfectly fine and a lot cheaper than 600$.
There are use cases where a traditional console is cheaper of course, but you can’t get AAA handheld gaming for less money.
