Steam Deck

johnny_ultimate

As previously reported, Valve is launching a portable Steam console / Switch-like.

Looks like a nice bit of kit, but certainly on the pricey side - €419 for the cheapest, €549 / €679 for the ones with actual storage - and the price doesn't include the dock.

Definitely keen to see a robust tech analysis of the performance we can expect, mind you - definitely something I'd be interested in in theory, but all depends on performance.

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/

wes

This looks very interesting, and it is running steam os. So I guess that is good for Linux adoption, and you can dock it like the switch and have a full functional PC.

CastorTroy

But can it run Crysis?

I was looking at the specs, but I'm not exactly someone who can translate them. Anyone with better knowledge able to give an idea of quality to be expected when playing on it?

dreamers75

Is this going to be streaming games rather than download and play?

512gb is nothing if it can play Control et all

CastorTroy

https://youtu.be/oLtiRGTZvGM

A hands on.

I'm sure it won't be easy to get one

Taylor365

Looks great for little indies on the go.

Steep price to pay though.

johnny_ultimate

Don’t think it’s aimed at streaming, seems to all run from the hardware. The 64gb model in particular would be incredibly limited storage wise without a big SD card.

IGN have a few performance tidbits: https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-hands-on-impressions-details-valve-handheld-gaming-pc

Targets ‘medium to high’ settings at 720p for games like Control. No indication if that’s 30 or 60 FPS. Also it’s just a camera pointed at a screen, but the Death Stranding footage looks fairly iffy on that monitor. Could be a perfectly solid handheld, but perhaps rather underpowered by even last gen console standards for a docked experience. As said, likely will shine as a handheld for indies that can play AAA titles ‘well enough’ on the go.

It does at least allow other game stores to be installed, which is a big bonus - maybe best treated as a portable PC!

super_furry

I'm going to try to get one. The €549 model seems like the sweet-spot - 64gb is too small.

CastorTroy

That ign video compared it to PS4/XBox One specs. Maybe a bit better

Grumpypants

Much more impressed with it than I though I would be.

Since it runs Google Chrome, that means you can stream both Xbox and Stadia in the browser and get next Gen quality games running on a switch sized machine without any concern for storage space. Xbox have just bumped their cloud to use series X too.

Day 1 purchase. If I can get one.

Drexel_3

Very tempted by this I have to say. Pc games from the couch sounds great!

I got the steam link before and was a bit disappointed with it. Only seemed to work half the time for me

dreamers75

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117617405#Comment_117617405

Im the opposite I have no interest in this and I **** loved the steam link, Steamlink is a tablet.....i can play my steam games on any tablet anywhere as it is, I was hoping Steam would make it better I guess.

DeSelby83

Looks like reservations start at 6pm this evening. One per account.

Mr.Fantastic

Tempted to get this myself , don't have a pc build , but have ps5 , series X and switch.

So kinda feel it'd pointless but looking at the specs and the potential for emulation looks great . Put my email in would defo go for the 540 one think 64gb is not enough storage

earthwormjack

It's very decently powered for a handheld. From all accounts I've seen online it seems to be at least base ps4 level. I'm pretty sure this is going to relegate my Switch to a 1st party only machine. Can also install any other store on it too, so that's a sizeable library of games available to me on day one.

Doomofman

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117616342#Comment_117616342

I kinda feel like that was intentional, have a crappy low end model and a pretty expensive highend model to nudge people towards the middle option

Mr Crispy

Have you all made a purchase on Steam before last month? :thisiswherepacwouldhavegone:

Mr.Fantastic

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117618619#Comment_117618619

Yeah I think I bought star wars collection back in 2017 played that and before that I bought shadowrun and dragonfall I played it on my **** laptop.

Thargor

I thought it was going to be a Google Stadia competitor which would be a seriously good idea if it was compatible with the Steam catalog when I first saw it but apparently not, thats very 2010 both the concept and the looks.

That B button doesnt seem to be in a very comfortable spot either, its falling off the edge.

1huge1

Same, I thought it would be a device that could stream your steam library on the go. So was initially a bit disappointed when this turned out not to be the case (how fast would the hardware become obsolete for example).

However, after watching the IGN videos, I'm very impressed, essentially a portable gaming PC, they are also doubling down on their mouse like pad they used for the Steam controller which is interesting. A battery life of 2-8hrs is quite a wide range but understandable given what it may have playing it.

For me the best option of the 3 is the base 64gb model using the Micro-SD card to expand memory, You can pick up a 512gb Micro-SD card from a quality brand for less than €100 these days.

BUt the big thing that stills to be determined in my opinion is how comfortable is it to use over an extended period of time, IGN seem positive but would need more real world opinions.

Grumpypants

They say you can get about 4 hours of Portal running at 720p 60fps out of the battery. That isn't a lot. It sounds like loads but from my time with the OG switch, you would be surprised how quickly that 4 hours pass.

GeoForce Now might be an option to Stream your Steam games from the cloud

megaten

I'm going to put in a reservation anyways. Looking at the steam you can buy hardware with your steam wallet so I should be able to buy steam credit using a one4all voucher I got from work to offset most of the price.

I've had devices in the past that were similar like a windows 8 tablet that had a detachable controller and a gpd win but there was always some sort of serious flaw with them. Hopefully something from a big company like valve will be more reliable.

Markitron

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117619421#Comment_117619421

Is there any reason why this couldn't act like a steam link too?

I'm sure that it will be able to do streaming also - it's a no brainer.

Fair dues to Valve for trying to give pc gaming a handheld offline option - I hope that it succeeds.

Certainly blows the existing niche players in the market out of the water.

Some interesting points here

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2021-valve-steam-deck-spec-analysis

super_furry

6pm when reservations go live. Really think it's the perfect machine for me right now, especially as I no longer have any kind of gaming PC.

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117620232#Comment_117620232

It's a GameGear!

Skerries

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117618619#Comment_117618619

maybe 1 or 2 😁

RobertFoster

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117619963#Comment_117619963

Where do you get Steam credit using a One4All voucher?

TitianGerm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117620986#Comment_117620986

Tesco?

super_furry

Got in and out relatively easy. My reservation was stuck on 'working' during the checkout but I got a receipt emailed through and then it just clicked.

Seems like Steam is being hammered right now though.

Drexel_3

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621077#Comment_117621077

Mine was stuck on working for ages. Then gave me an error. Kept going in and out and getting the error when paying each time. Now it's telling me I've tried to make too many purchases and to wait.

Disappointed

Dr Bob

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621077#Comment_117621077

getting hit with that same Working thing myself at the mo ..no mails yet though

johnny_ultimate

Got a deposit through anyway, very likely I’ll back off in the end but hey it’s €4 to buy some decision-making time ;)

cnocbui

I managed to get a reservation in for the expensive one.

Sonics2k

I am super dubious about this, especially as a former purchaser of Valve Hardware. While yes, it looks great from the outside, so did the Steam Link (occasionally use this), Steam Controller and the Steam Machine and a few years later they're largely forgotten.

I can't help but feel, especially looking at Reddit, that a lot of the old Valve's good graces are still going strong and the PC community is willing to go exceptionally easy on them as a company, despite previous failures.

super_furry

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621164#Comment_117621164

The thing is, there's a huge audience for this kind of device even without the Valve edge. SBC gaming, retro handheld and the newer Windows based handhelds are becoming a major market and for the spec of the device, it's really a great price. Chinese handhelds like the GPD WIN 2 and Aya Neo AMD can cost you upwards of a grand and by the sounds of it, won't have as much grunt as this device that's half the price.

Skerries

well that's funny

Your account is too new to reserve early. Reservations will open for you on Sunday July 18th, 10am PDT

Edit: got it now

megaten

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117620986#Comment_117620986

I thought gamestop did them? Its a 4 euro refundable deposit so no loss if I can't make it work.

Sonics2k

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621177#Comment_117621177

Oh I totally get what you mean, but I'm still not exactly inspired about the product, even with the Valve name on it. An awful, awful lot of handhelds don't last long, they'll easily run into hardware and battery issues.

I'm not saying at all that this will be a bad product, I think it looks really interesting and hopefully it's amazing, but I think you'd be as foolish to pre-order this as pre-ordering the Stadia.

Cina

Daaamn. Had it in payment and it took my 4e and all but just never made it past the "working" bit on the screen. Looks like I didn't get one.

Dr Bob

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621178#Comment_117621178

apparantly thats a bug thats hitting a lot of people , retrying a few times aooarantly works

https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/oll4hq/your_account_is_too_new_to_reserve_early/

earthwormjack

Trying since the very second it went live and had no luck with errors. Now I'm locked out of purchasing it for an unknown amount of time. Good stuff.

Locking people out of purchasing because they tried to get in early is some bullshit though 😐

Grumpypants

Getting the same too new error. Account 10+ years old with loads games.

I'm sure it's bots smashing the site.

Drexel_3

I still have one in my basket. I'll keep seeing if it goes through during the evening sometime

johnny_ultimate

Im definitely in the ‘need more info before committing’ camp, but the one big difference for Stadia is that it requires Google’s notoriously flaky commitment to keep the service live, which is a big disclaimer. This is reliant on just Steam, the most omnipresent and reliable service there is, and operates as a little PC on its own terms. It’ll still be a potentially very useful device if Valve do a Valve and stop making them.

The big questions are around performance and hands-on hardware comfort / quality, rather than Valve’s commitment. The sheer vastness of Steam’s library means you’ve got a great range of games on this thing no matter what happens.

super_furry

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621231#Comment_117621231

Check your email. I was the same and got my receipt for it while it was still stuck on working.

johnny_ultimate

It’ll also show on the store page whether you have one reserved, so worth checking there too.

megaten

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117621164#Comment_117621164

I'm not too worried about this. Even if the device is a vfailure the innovations from these devices always get put back into the main steam pc client. Steam machines gave us big picture mode and steam controllers gave us steam input. I think this device mostly exissts an platform to push their proton solutions for playing games outside of windows.

Mr.Fantastic

Got mine , pretty much an impulse buy , but can't wait to get some serious emulation running on it and my laptop is near 5 years old so will get the dock.at some stage to

TheValeyard

Is there even a market for this?

TheValeyard

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117620716#Comment_117620716

Definitely reminds me of the Game Gear. Short Battery life n all!