Can the deck compete against Nintendo?

I've been thinking that the deck will sink nintendo, but no matter how amazing the deck is, or the huge catalogue of cheap pc games, the one thing that keeps popping in my head is Pokémon. It feels like Pokémon will keep nintendo alive no matter what. People will look at the deck, then look at the switch with Pokémon, then go for that instead.

However it's true that nintendo will be put in a tough spot. There's a bunch of indie games that are dirt cheap on pc but nintendo has the sack to ask double or triple for a far inferior version. I wonder what nintendo will choose to do.

We can look at the psp and vita as casualties of nintendo. No matter what sony did, they couldn't do a single thing to the Pokémon machine. Now the vita is about to be discontinued. Even the servers for vita games are being pulled.

Compete commercially ? probably not

But quality and consumer friendly wise ? Id be willing to bet it will do quite well

Different devices with different intended markets. Switch is a "that will do" device for fans and casuals, Deck is a high-end device for enthusiasts who want "more." The PSP/Vita's failure was because Sony didn't know what they wanted it to be.

Therefore, they can coexist.

PC gamers in the past: PC is the best! 30fps sucks!

PC gamers now: I'll take 30 fps!

Simple answer: Nope!

There's just no way it will sell in the vicinity of a Nintendo handheld.

However, it's not "for" Nintendo's core audience per se. It's for a subset of pc gamers who want a handheld PC. That's a small market, but one I think the steam deck will dominate.

As for the Indies - yes, Nintendo needs to slash its prices to the level in the rest of the industry. Steam deck may help encourage that, but see answer above ^

Whilst there's overlap in the market, there really isn't any direct/strong competition for these units.

@madrocketeer: sony wanted it to be a portable multimedia machine, a mini playstation. That was the original vision for the psp. They were ahead of the curve in some ways, beating out smart phones as mobile multimedia device. But smart phones caught up, and the only thing they had left was gaming. So with the vita, they simply had no chance against nintendo if we compare gaming libraries.

Nintendo though is a super scary company. Many of their innovations were years ahead of the competition. The Nintendo DS had dual screen, claim shell and touch screen in 2004. If Nintendo ever decided to enter the smart phone race back then, Apple would have been in big shit. Even now if Nintendo releases a handheld that's a smartphone, I feel like Apple will be in trouble.

It sounds funny but Nintendo might be able to rule the world with Pokémon.

Highly unlikely. Also there’s a lot more going on for Nintendo then just Pokemon.

No, I recently saw a 1.2k handheld, and it was nothing special. Looked boring.

The Deck is an expensive piece of tech made for adults. The Switch is made for children that play every and each rehashed Pokemon game. Which do you think will sell more?

The Switch is like a dumb emote in Fortnite sold for $5. The Deck is like a quality full game sold for $60. Which will sell more?

One is a quality product while the other is just junk that might as well be sold exclusively on aliexpress. Junk outsells quality because its cheap, allowing everyone who doesn't know any better to own one.

@lundy86_4: both are handheld that game. Both can be docked to play on TV. Isn't that enough? But software wise, you're right that they are different. Either way, it's going to be super interesting to see.

@Archangel3371: they have more going for then, but Pokémon is like nintendos ultimate trump card.

@hardwenzen: I want to know, what did nintendo do to you? I thought at one point you hated resident evil the most, but nintendo seems to be at the top of your list.

I agree they're not dissimilar, hence why I expect somewhat of a market overlap, but they're definitely addressing different markets overall. Nintendo holds their lions-share with exclusives, like they always have.

@hardwenzen: Now try saying all that without the tears in your eyes. 😅

Looks like the sheep didn't like what i said. Some might even remember my post before going to sleep😊

I wouldn’t really say that’s their ultimate trump card myself. Their top selling Switch games right now are:

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 38.74 million
2. Animal Crossing New Horizons - 34.85 million
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 25.71 million
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 24.13 million
5. Pokemon Sword and Shield - 22.64 million
6. Super Mario Odyssey - 21.95 million

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/software/index.html

@Archangel3371: come on man (jb) we both know sword and shield released 2019, while mariokart released 2017. Nintendo never makes more than one mario kart every gen, same with supersmash, Mario tennis. Even Zelda botw2 I'm a bit skeptical of it releasing on switch....I mean maybe it will release end of the switch life, right when switch 2 releases. The new Pokémon games just released...in 2 years time I'm guessing another 20million will sell easily. Maybe 50 million copies of Pokémon will be sold for the switch life cycle

It would compete a lot better if it would actually release.

Pretty much.

I don't see anyone accepting 30fps on the Steam Deck, there was a lot of out rage when people thought that the Steam Deck couldn't do more than 30fps when Valve stated that it was their target for most games but then explained that it was actually just the minimum. I saw people that were hyped for the Steam Deck turn on it in an instant when there was the confusion of it being a device only capable of 30fps.

What does jb mean?

Not entirely sure what your point is here. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe isn’t even a new Mario Kart game. What does BotW2 releasing on Switch or not have to do with anything? Are you trying to suggest if the Steam Deck can compete with the Switch instead of Nintendo itself in general? If so then that ship has looooong since sailed. The Switch is what, 100 million units and still going strong. I doubt Sword and Shield will sell 20 million more. The new Diamond and Pearl games just released and will likely sell on par with Sword and Shield. Arceus will likely do very well and perhaps even do a bit better but you can’t just lump all those Pokemon games together like that anyway.

Anyway just pointing out how well a number of Nintendo franchises perform similarly if not better then Pokemon. Enough so that I wouldn’t say that Pokemon is Nintendo’s “ultimate trump card”. They have a selection of “ultimate trump cards” in my opinion.

Absolutely not. I doubt the steam deck will even sell marginally well.

@Archangel3371: my point about Zelda, Mario kart, smash etc is that these are games nintendo will release once per gen. Pokémon for Nintendo is the ultimate cash cow. They can release 3 different pokemon games every generation and people will eat that up. Compared Pokémon to Mario bros. Nintendo might release a few Mario games but traditionally only the most popular one will sell by the boatload. The other mario games sales drop off big time. For Pokémon they can milk and milk and milk, it's like Crack for people, they keep coming back again and again.

I'm honestly happy to see them remaking advanced wars, which was a game I loved back in the day. Hopefully they can bring golden sun back too and fzero. I'm not holding my breath though...Nintendo is sloppy af they probably don't care. They are the brink trucks after all.

It already won.

Depends on how well it runs Nintendo emulators.

@SolidGame_basic: 'PC gamers in the past: PC is the best! 30fps sucks!

PC gamers now: I'll take 30 fps!'

On the go...

lol it will be sold out. to scalpers or not, it will be sold out and you won't be able to buy it for msrp.

No. They have completely different markets and market share. The Deck is for more hardcore handheld gamers, people who want steam games on the go. The Switch is for people who want Nintendo exclusives, Nintendo exclusives on the go, and core gaming on the go at a low entry point.

In terms of sales. no. not even close. Unlike the switch, the Deck has to sell on its own merit. it is competing directly against laptops and desktops. they will all play the same games at the end of the day. as valve keep reminding everyone: the deck is a PC. How big is the market for a handheld gaming PC? currently its small. but its a growing niche. GDP and AYA already make them and valve have seen enough to think its worth them taking a punt too.

but if valve sell only a couple of million over its life does that make it a dismal failure? also no. the PC hardware space is not like the console space. its a market of 1000 niches and is a place where even very small companies can find a place (not that valve are small).

i think it will be one hell of a gaming device though. i have loved the idea of a proper handheld gaming PC for a while now. i nearly backed the Smach Z (great idea, i just had little faith in the people executing it.). i have been very tempted by devices from AYA and GPD but they just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

On a side note: i also hope either AMD or Valve (i dont know what the licensing story would be there) also make the deck SOC available to third parties. Valve have mentioned that they are open to the idea of other companies building deck like devices. the AYA Neo and GPD are kinda held back by being limited to using more off the shelf parts. they tend to be a bit too heavy on the CPU and light on the GPU (since those SOCs are made more for office scenarios rather than gaming).

There are definitely areas where other companies could compete. from making a more premium version made with better materials, making one that is more upgradeable and easier to upgrade, making a cheaper version with the touch pads and touch sensitivity removed to one with a better screen and so on.

Switch has already and will continue to trump it in sales.

But as a device? For what you're getting? I find it very hard to argue the Deck isn't objectively better in practically every regard.

You can lit play almost all of Nintendos games on it as well with minimal effort with Steam conveniently adding Retroarch as they announced their wonderful subscription service.

Which also coincided with Youtube disabling thumbs down.

Fair enough but that seems like a different tangent then “can the Steam Deck compete with Nintendo”. What you’re saying is that Nintendo can still make money from a certain segment of its audience. That’s not the same as talking about a system competing with another system or company. In my mind this thread is questioning the Steam Deck’s ability to sell as many systems as Nintendo has or can.

720p 30fps for the prices they are charging, no thanks. Plus it just plays pc games no exclusive to make it worth while. I have a pc already that plays those games in the way they should be played and that isn’t on a handheld at 30fps

Can it compete against the Switch?

Well yeah I expect it to run Switch games way better than the Switch. kek

I think its exciting.

@blaznwiipspman1: "I've been thinking that the deck will sink nintendo"

Woah, woah, woah.

Calm down with that, it's not even competing with Nintendo. I think it'll have a bigger impact on gaming laptops tbh.

Nintendo isn't even going after the same demographic of gamer.

Cows in the past: PS is bestest! 30fps is fine fps doesn't make a difference.

Cows now: ewwww 30fps.

:-S

I mean throwing stones in glass houses.

No, different demographic. Nintendo fans love playing games on the go or on their small screens. They dont mind limitations and most love nostalgia and pokemon.

PC players will buy it and will sit there collecting dust. They will say it's better (because it is) but it's not for them. They rather play on their nice monitors with high fps and graphics turnt up.

@TcNemesiz: that pretty much sums it up. Ironically this thing has to sell to casuals or it won't survive.

No chance. They need to make a cheaper model for that to be possible.

I do hope it makes Nintendo sweat... but I'm not holding my breath.

Sales wise: No, it will get buried, as Switch is the go to for parents with kids who want to game

Performance wise: Yes, it will destroy the Switch

Value wise: Yes, cheaper games, no need to rebuy the same software again, and no DLC locked behind toys, and no monthly online subs.

Game catalogue: Yes, Full backward compatibility, access to all the games you already own, and a library going back two decades on release, Access to both Sony and Microsoft titles, and it can emulate Nintendo's games and play them better than the Switch. Steam Deck will have access to more games from more platforms on release than the Switch will have in it's lifetime.

I'd say the Steam Deck's main competitor is gaming laptops, not the Switch, but if the two need to be compared, Switch will sell better but won't be the better product of the two.

this^^

As long as the Steam Deck is advertized to appeal to enthusiasts instead of the broader demographics which the Nintendo Switch does, it will not able to compete effectively against the latter. I cannot imagine younger children, women, and girls will find the Steam Deck appealing to them and the enthusiast demographic the device will appeal to is predominently men.

Until Valve decides to broaden the demographic appeal for the Steam Deck, it will fail competing against the Switch, unless it intentionally decides to appeal only to the narrow, enthusiaist demographic. The Steam Deck and Switch may be comparing apples versus oranges.

It already won.

Compete how? In sales? Lol no.

Quality? Already surpassed it, I believe. Better hardware, better battery, better screen (not counting OLED), better price.

Also doubt the Deck has drifting issues. And if the games don't play as they should, you can fix them whereas you're stuck with unstable 30 fps on some Switch games.

Who the heck is gonna buy an led gaming handheld in 2022? People aren’t that stupid. Go buy you a new Oled IPhone. It’ll play games 10x better than this outdated tech.

Two different systems with games you cant play on either, how can it compete..i find these topics pointless.

@com2006: you want it to have exclusives that aren't available on PC and are upset it "only" has PC games (aka 99.9999% of all games)? I'm sorry, but what a ridiculous thing to say. It IS a PC and that's its greatest strength.