DF: Too Big For Steam Deck

Some people have talked about how the Steam Deck is good because it can introduce people to PC. I am not sure how anybody could use this as their entry into PC gaming. It's terrible. Also, what is the point of using this to play games on the go if they look and run like shit?

Not a line of text in the OP. 😏

Its too big for the outdated Ghost's PC as well😅😅😅

@BassMan: lol, another butt hurt handheld bashing thread from bassman.

Actually I want to know, what is your opinion on the rog ally?

Wow the performance difference between it and the ROG Rally is starting to make the Rally look more appealing. Shame it doesn't have trackpads though.

Did better than I expected in fairness. It's a portable PS4-ish at the end of the day. Ultra performance FSR on a 800P screen though...yeeash.

But it's a handheld. On the one hand it's neat that the deck can even run those types of games at all. On the other hand, and maybe i am out of the loop here, why? Why would you play those games on a handheld? I kinda half agree with TC here (i don't agree that handhelds are merit-less garbage). Those games are for the big screen experience.

I love my deck and love to see a surge in these PC handheld devices, but I use it to play smaller games and more arcadey games that are quick to play. Or turn based strategy games. Stuff of that nature (and it's really good at it). The PC library has a metric crap ton of games that shine on a handheld.

I just don't see the appeal of playing AAA blockbusters on a 7" screen at low resolutions and settings. It's like using a Top of the line PC on a super high res screen with a focus on high refresh rate to play....solitaire (Note to self: get solitaire for the deck).

At the end of the day though...play whatever you want on whatever you want. Should go without saying.

@BassMan said:

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Some people have talked about how the Steam Deck is good because it can introduce people to PC. I am not sure how anybody could use this as their entry into PC gaming. It's terrible. Also, what is the point of using this to play games on the go if they look and run like shit?

And lets not forget, what is the point of using it on the go, when battery dies within an hour and a half? What kind of a gaming session is that?

The Steam Deck can run most games just fine. Extra fidelity does nothing for most people. Personally I love the comfort of sitting outside and playing games. I would rather take the comfort of lying in my bed, or sitting outside than a few extra pixels which I wont notice, let alone miss if they were gone.

Steam Deck is too big for Australia. 14 months later and it still hasn’t released here.

The steam deck's screen is equivalent to a 720p HDTV. So I primarily use it to run those Xbox360 era games that were made to fit such a resolution.

I also keep dreaming about how we one day might get the Xbox control scheme for AOE II on Steam Deck, so I can play Age of Empires II wherever I go.

lot of peeps have been saying that 40hz 40fps cap is pretty sweet spot on the deck

While it's certainly got issues with some the latest games. I'm very happy with my Deck actually. I purchased it to play older games which run pretty well on the Deck. It's also pretty excellent at emulation. Don't need to buy an Evercade EXP when you've got a Deck.

@hardwenzen Retro gaming gets a good 6hrs out of the battery. It's NOT a locked 1hr 30 or two hours. Less demanding games need less power hence longer battery.

I'm not sure I understand the point of this thread. As new games come out that push the envelope for what technology can support, lower power platforms and parts will struggle. It's always been this way. In the PC world older hardware just slowly starts to show its age vs new game releases with an inability to keep up high frames...then not even mediocre frames...then when you find yourself under 30fps you gotta move on. On consoles, they just stop making games that support your hardware. Hogwart's Legacy isn't available at all on PS3, right? You just get cut off.

The Steam Deck is a 7W-15W APU system. It was never recommended that someone buy a Steam Deck to play the newest, most demanding games at high frame rates in perpetuity. If it could do that for a little while on low settings, cool. But that was always been considered a cherry on top, not some sort of expectation. The expectation here was the ability to run a lot of new stuff really well and almost all of the stuff released prior to the launch of the Deck (say, PS4 era and back). It does all of that.

Is it a great introduction to PC gaming? It most certainly is. The hardware is excellent, thousands of games are compatible with it, games are generally less expensive, you can stream to it, you can install games from any other storefront, use virtually any USB-enabled input device released in the last 25 years, dual boot Windows if you want, and it is an emulation monster to boot. Hell, it plays Switch games better than the Switch, and puts out graphics that the Switch can't even approach.

But it's not great if your only intention is the play the newest, most demanding releases in the world of gaming. Then again, you're not going to have a good mobile experience with those games on PC outside of a laptop with a proper discrete GPU at 3x-10x the price. Maybe the Asus Ally at 2x the price? IDK.

Yes, of course some old relics would last longer. Talking about titles from the 21st century here.

Don't really care either way, not interested in handhelds.

But most people play potato games anyways, even on their stationary PCs. Even on their high end stationary PCs. Personally, RE4R is the only looker I've played this year. No other demanding game on the horizon has my interest.

Obviously there are handheld gamers who would like to play it all, but I'd imagine most understand the shit has its limits. And still have an ocean of games to enjoy regardless.

And yeah, think it's still a fine intro to PC stuff. Everyone has their interests, but while having the best graphics is a nice bonus, that shit is way down the list of what I enjoy about PC gaming.

It got me into pc gaming....again. I hated the world of pc gaming when I realized I had to build a rig and upgrade parts. Yuk. So I stopped. Big rigs don't impress me whatsoever. Waste of money in my world. Just give me a flexible handheld that can play a ton of content and we're good.

Games aren't going anywhere, I've got a huge backlog and broken pc games are too expensive to buy on day 1 anyway. It's like paying more money to be kicked in the teeth... What WILL happen is that a few years from now I'll have an even better steam deck and all those games you're spending 70 on will run beautifully on my new steam deck at 1/10th the price. I'll take that all day.

People can buy a pre-built PC. Any future upgrades are up to the individual. They can always just buy a new pre-built PC again if they want, which is just like replacing a console. It is nice having the option to upgrade, especially when it is cheaper than buying a whole new system and you can upgrade at your own pace. You are not waiting for the next system to release if you want better quality.

It is good to have a system that is capable of not just running old games, but the latest and demanding games at good quality. Steam Deck launched with outdated hardware specs that cater to previous gen games and the quality is lacking. I would honestly recommend a console like XSX or PS5 prior to recommending Steam Deck. While they are not great compared to a good gaming PC, they are certainly more capable and deliver better quality than a Steam Deck.

I am all for playing old games like you said as they are usually patched and cheaper, but I wouldn't want to be limited to them. It's funny how you don't like upgrading when it can solve your problems. Apparently, you are fine with not being able to play games at all or at unacceptable quality levels due to shit hardware. Buying a new system that can't even run all the games properly certainly seems like a waste to me. Especially when you are using it as your primary platform.

Probably because Gabe knows we have higher standards here.

I'm using Deck to play older /indie games. I get 60 fps and am happy.

I have a Series X and Desktop if I want to play something more demanding. (Which is pretty rare of late)

But yes if you spend more money, you get better graphics. Happy?

TC has a point, poor people shouldn't be aloud to play games and just go work 18h shifts at the shit factory.

@BassMan: Hey as long as the Steam Deck can do this then everything is cool.

All handhelds are trash for gaming properly Switch included, why?... Batteries and TDP, APU's are not even enough to play games at 1080p unless those games are old or indie games.

Even gaming laptops with 99wh batteries 4x the size of a handheld and 6x the weight struggle with heat, battery, and fan noise.

Gaming on a battery with AAA games is a no go. Hand helds are for indie games or Nintendo.

The steam deck is not for an introduction to PC gaming. Its for PC gamers with already a giant library on steam.