Topic: Is The Switch 2 Worth It???

There's so many reasons to recommend a Steam Deck over Switch 2 depending on what's important to you.

Benefits of Steam Deck:

• You can play games from any storefront. Indie games from itch.io, or DRM free games from GOG, for example.
• You can modify controls in any way you want. You can even make the trackpads or sticks trigger UI elements with hotkeys you specify. All shareable online, so you can also use shared presets if you want.
• You can mod games
• The games you buy for it aren't held hostage in the future when you upgrade your hardware and want to utilise its full potential for your existing games library, unlike Switch where most titles require the developer to specifically update their old games to fully utilise the Switch 2 hardware, and usually, you have to pay them something for it.
• You get to change the settings in games. Don't mind shorter battery life for better visuals that demand higher power draw? You can change it. Particularly nice when at home and the console is connected to power.
• Don't like the tradeoffs the developers made for Steam Deck? Again, you can change it. Maybe you don't care so much about fidelity and just want to hit 60 fps rather than 30.
• It's a computer you have full access to. You can boot into desktop mode and have a desktop OS to work with for anything you need, like running modded Minecraft via Prism, or using it for game development on the go, like me.
• It's your hardware and you have full control over all its features, down to the operative system you run on it. It's completely open.

Depending on how much these things matter to you, Steam Deck might have significant benefits over Switch 2.

Another subjective benefit to me is the ergonomics: Steam Deck is very comfortable in my hands despite the size, and the placement of the sticks are so much better for my hands. Switch 2 is uncomfortable at best. Again, very subjective, but it's a significant pain point in my case with S2.

@Misima the GabeCube is going to expensive tho. I think it was Digital Foundry who met with them and asked about the price and if it's be console priced like 500 bucks and they acted shocked to be asked the question. I think it specs out as a little weaker than the PS5 base unit. If both those things are not true I'm getting one. Like if it was a little stronger than the PS5 pro and around 700 hundred I'd be down. But I bet it'll be closer to a 1000 and not as strong as a series x or ps5

What people game on what console is their choice. People here are making false equivalence that does neither console any services. People game on Switch2 and that is their choice people need to stop thinking they make the choice for what platform they game on. Also whoms selling more console? Switch2 at 15+ vs Steam 5 mils?

@Dang_69 Everything is going to be expensive. I actually wouldn't be surprised if the switch 2 gets more expensive soon. Even if the system is expensive, it doesn't take many games to cover the price difference between a Switch and a hypothetical 600or 700 dollar Gabe cube. Sales just happen way more often and to an extreme on Steam.

Simply put right now the games are subsidizing the cost of Nintendo and Sony systems. But that's not the case for Steam so the games will be cheaper and the system will be more expensive.

@FishyS I wouldn't buy a PS5 at any price because I dislike the controller and the company and the price. But again, that's fine for whatever people want themselves. But I imagine that steam games have more value than PS5 as well.

@Misima
Every console manufacturer is gonna have to get creative with their pricing structure in the months ahead due to the insane price increases coming down the line on RAM and solid state memory.

Will be interesting to see what Nintendo and Sony choose to do, in particular. So far, I support Nintendo's approach: make the accessories, amiibo, and even the games 10-20 bucks more in order to keep the actual console price stable. It's getting people in the door in the first place that is most important, after all.

I don't know much about this new Steam console or whatever, but yea, it's definitely not a great time to be a console manufacturer looking to source components.

Going from NS1 to NS2 feels like you're getting a NextGen 'sequel' to NS1, which is fine, I'm cool with that this time around, and that's exactly what most Nintendo fans wanted. But I don't understand the people saying it's like the equivilant to going from an NES to an SNES.

Going from the NES to SNES in 1991 was like entering an entirely whole new world of gaming. it was mind blowing and ground breaking. Visuals were a massive substantial leap for their time, the sheer amount of colors that could be displayed at once on screen made Genesis games color pallettes look like a joke, the 16-bit audio and distinct unique orchestrated-styled sound chip separated itself from the competition(as did Genesis, NES & C64 etc), The controller design was wildly different, with shoulder buttons, a unique diamond 4-button face layout, neither of which existed prior, and the shades of purple & grey's were a massive departure compared to the color scheme and overall design and aesthetics of NES.

The game cartridges were rectangular and completely different in style, including the SNES boxes themselves along with their bottom plastic dust covers, and whatever else.

Going from the NES, to Genesis, to SNES, to Saturn, to PS1, to N64, to Dreamcast, to GameCube, DSLite, Wii & 3DS all felt incredibly diverse, boasted tons of character and were wildly different from one another. It's not like that anymore. Although NS2's Dual Mouse-HD Rumble 2-Gyro controls are something kind of new, and we now have HD Rumble 2, but it's not quite on par with what the haptics in the DualSense are capable of. Also, ever since CD Audio debuted back in the early to mid 90's, video game consoles no longer had their own unique distinct sound.

Controllers these days either mimick XBOX360 or the DualShock, there's no more motion sensor bar/reference for pint point relaible pointer motion aiming, physical video game media typically look like bland vaccant throwaways and graphics just never really impress me anymore simply because we've come so far. Switch 2 will obviously be the last substantial or noticeable leap in power from the big N. But we've seen similar-ish results from the PS4 Pro years ago, and now we're getting nearly a generation beyond that with PS5.

But as everybody knows, Nintendo has so much artistic merit, and this includes HAL and Retro Studious. Prime 4 being one of the recent greatest examples, and even Kirby Air Riders.

And what's so exciting about future VR/MR tech is that it can even emulate a size adjustable flatscreen OLED screen, but it can apply stereoscopic 3D or forced/automatic S3D, or just 2D, aside from offering top down VR, 3rd person VR, SideScrolling VR etc. The technology can do anything, and every genre you can think of better, and it will in the future as the tech continues to get better and better, until it's perfected and without a single barrier.

If Nintendo mimicked Valves upcoming Steam frame, but got rid of the stand alone tech-junk inside, it would cut the cost down dramatically, and possibly reduce the weight and size even further. If I could use that thing, with it's 6GHZ dongle for wireless connectivity for NS2, and play titles like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond in first person VR, I'd be over the moon.

I want a Super Hybrid. A Switch 3 that gives us > TV, Handheld, Table Top, VR, MR and forced Stereoscopic 3D for every flat game with an MR size adjustable Micro-OLED 1080p-4K screen in your living space. Steam Frame and Samsung's new headset supposedly will automatically apply S3D if you want it to every Steam game you throw at it. Probably won't be as good as the real deal with games being designed with S3D in mind, but it's probably better than nothing. With a Super Hybrid, everybody wins and nobodies left out or forced to play a certain way they don't want to play. Play the same game on a TV, or handheld, or play it in VR etc. Options options.

If I could play Prime 4, with even 2K per eye @60fps in VR , with a Micro-OLED display, Pancake Lenses, while offering the light and small form factor of the upcoming Dream Air which is 140 grams light, with 6ghz wireless connectivity to NS2, and with ring-less VR controllers that completely surpass the Wii remote plus & Nunchuck, i could never go back to playing it on a TV. And we're not even talking 4K per eye at 90-120fps. That would require a super beast 5090 at this point.

Maybe the PS6's AI upscaling future-tech wizardy can pull of some crazy results in tandem with a PSVR3 if it ever see's the light of day.

@Misima yeah but if it's weaker than the PS5 and way more expensive what's the point? Yeah the sales are better but still

People shouldn't buy consoles based on how fast it is, RAM capacity, and all that stuff, people should choose their game console based on the games they want to play. Every console has their exclusives and also multi platform titles, but at the end of the day its about what games you want to play and which console has those games.

Me, I'm a Mario and Zelda fan so I choose Nintendo Switch, because that's where those games are.

Personally I think the Steam Deck is pointless, games on Steam are made to be played on Laptop/PC, you can use Mouse, Keyboard or Gamepad. You could get the same portability using a Tablet and a wireless gamepad.

I think at this stage what you need to ask yourself is do you feel there's value in it now at $450 vs paying $500+ at this time next year for the same console? With tariffs, inflation, and component prices going up due to the AI boom, hardware isn't going to get cheaper any longer as the generation progresses like it did during the 8th gen and back. You've got a new gen console that's been out for six months and has some worthwhile games so far, is near 100% BC with the previous system where many of those games run better on it, and is going to be the focus of Nintendo for probably at least the next 5 years.

Sure they may do a portable only Lite or a Switch 2 Pro/OLED a few years down the road, but I feel the amount of gameplay you'd get out of the hardware for a few years imo would justify that cost cause of how much I've played my system to date. I like the look of the new Yoshi game coming out next Spring and you can probably imagine Nintendo has the next 3D Mario in the pipeline for holiday next year especially coming off the release of the Mario Galaxy movie next Summer. To me getting the hardware now while it's cheaper beats spending even more on it next year even if I wouldn't play it as much until more games drop even if that hasn't been the case for me personally.

@Dang_69 That's what I am saying. It might be the case.

Because Sony collects a bigger portion of money from each game than steam does, according to some articles I read. Now I can't say if this is truly correct or not, but you can see hardware is going insane because of the AI bubble. Ram that cost 100 dollars now costs 400, so there's no way that all systems aren't getting more expensive, but all of these companies can decide to sell at a loss and recoup it with games. Steam has said they don't wish to do that so they will have to communicate that you're going to get games without a big licensing fee attached.

You're not wrong to worry but we have no idea what gaming will look like soon.

I can promise you that the corporations aren't going to let their profits fall for your sake.

From everything I've seen, the default across PlayStation, Switch and Steam eshops is 30%. Steam however charges less for games which earn 10s of millions of dollars (which presumably rarely affects indies). Nintendo and Sony have special non-public agreements with some big devs so it's hard to know what they are charging those same mega sellers.

@FishyS Definitely have no idea. I am just parroting what I have read about the difference between console and PC digital marketplaces.

@OmnitronVariant

Also the steam deck benefits are;

A much smoother and responsive gameplaying experience with much lower input lag

16GB rather than 12GB memory

Much larger battery capacity, at least double. 19.2Wh vs 40W or 50Wh

Huge compatibility with emulators up to Switch/PS3 level. Also high output resolutions for older systems up to 8K 60Hz on an external display, super nintendo etc. I'm unsure how powerful a system you can emulate at full speed at 8K 60Hz but definitely the 16bit generation and possibly some of the 32/64bit generation. Not that I have a 8K display myself just 4K.

Much lower software pricing

4.5x the CPU performance of Switch 2 with the Steam deck at 9000 passmark CPU score vs around 2000 (1900-2100) on Switch 2. That is a generational difference between them, as the difference between Switch and Switch 2 CPU performance is only around 3.2x.

More powerful portable GPU, the Steam Deck is at 1.6-1.7 Teraflops where as the peak portable figure for Switch 2 is around 1.2/1.3 Teraflops however it is likely far below that probably sub 1 Teraflop in portable mode. However Switch 2 is around 2-2.4 Teraflop docked which is more powerful but as a portable system less powerful. However I totally accept fixed platform optimisations can deliver a good chunk of extra performance just like a PS4 over a similar spec PC. Also of course the Switch 2 has DLSS upscaling technology but there has been some very good progress in bringing FSR4 to Steam Deck.

Lets also not forget the Steam Deck is on a 7Nm fabrication process for the original Steam Deck and 6Nm for the OLED version where as the Switch 2 is on a mainly 10Nm fabrication process. So the technology is more power efficient.

Disadvantages of course are slightly bulkier, 800p screen vs 1080p screen and no access to Switch 2 first party titles. I would argue that even the Steam Deck LCD has a better screen than Switch 2 in colour accuracy, reduced lag and smoothness and that 800p is a perfect resolution for that display size. Of course the OLED display goes beyond that with a fantastic display and a 90Hz refresh rate that can be widely used in games. Also many games on Steam Deck now are using AI upscaling to take a native resolution of 640x400 to 1280x800 where as the performance option for many Switch 2 games are rendered at 640x360 and upscaled to 1280x720 so below the resolution of the Steam Deck on the 1080p screen. It does make you wonder if the Switch 2 Lite will have a 720p screen as that would be perfect for Switch 1 games and running the performance Switch 2 games and then have a downscale for Switch 2 1080p games which wouldn't matter anyway on a smaller Switch 2 Lite display.

As it stands at the moment the only game I consider superior on Switch 2 is Outlaws. Cyberpunk has had recent improvements on Steam Deck with much better upscaling and input lag is far less on Steam Deck. Tomb Raider and Skyrim are noticeably far inferior to Steam Deck but Outlaws seems to be really good and they have optimised it to minimise input lag it seems. However it has been a commercial failure so far and here in the UK the game has been heavily discounted. I think at one point it was £19.99 but currently best I can see is £26.49. However bear in mind the Switch 2 has not been the commercial success it has been in the USA and Japan, the system is priced ridiculously highly in Europe. Since launch there has been a lot of un-optimised Switch 2 conversions as if publishers are adapting to low sales figures on Switch 2 and reducing their development costs.

Ultimately I strongly believe the Steam Deck is superior to Switch 2. That doesn't mean everything is superior of course but the overall package with far better controls, less input lag, more responsive screen, less likely to have frame rates collapse under load and the huge library of software support which really only excludes Switch 2 games and the rare exclusive games on PS4, Xbox One, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. It also doubles up as a fairly decent desktop PC, just add a mouse and keyboard.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/star-wars-outlaws-gold-editi...

Why would you want to play old 16-bit or 32-bit games with 4K or even 8K resolution? Unless the games are modded somehow, wouldn't they still have the original, lower-resolution graphics? Which can look awful (especially pixel graphics) if theyre AI-upscaled to a higher resolution.

Upscaling can be brilliant for both 3D and 2D games and AI upscaling even better. Lot of emulators can increase their rendering resolution dramatically. In another thread I showed an image of how Metroid Prime 4 is emulated with a much higher native resolution and the results look better than the Switch 2 graphics. As this small section of a 4K screen shows.

Even 2D pixel art can be AI upscaled with dramatic improvements.

It's all down to how much performance you have in the system to do these tasks and emulate at the same time. Can you do it without introducing additional input lag etc. It feels like older 8bit and 16bit systems are fairly easy to enhance visually but as you go into 32bit systems it gets a little bit more difficult. This is something that will improve as performance of systems improve. There is a huge improvement in Dolphin emulated graphics if you can render beyond normal native resolution and go to 720p or beyond.

@Polvasti You can integer scale the pixel graphics (no processing) to nearest neighbour then output a clean 8k signal on an OLED TV and it'll look incredible with the crisp pixels.

As someone who grew up with 8-bit and 16-bit games, to me those examples don't look like "improvements" rather than the AI altering the graphics to have a specific, soft and air-brushed art style which obviously isn't there in the original games. So it's not just about upscaling rather than the AI actively interpreting what the game's visual style should be like. It might be fine if you like this kind of air-brush art, but to me they look meh.

Also, I wonder how the upscaling would work with a more cartoonish 8/16-bit game like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World, since the art style seen in those examples would obviously look kinda stupid with such games.

Interesting, are there any video/image examples of what this looks like?

@Polvasti Sadly you can't really convey it in photos or videos, you have to see it for yourself. The principle is easy: Output pixel art that's scaled to full pixels only, no decimal (ie. half-pixel) scaling.

I made sure to support this on small games I've made, and fans appreciate it so much. If done right it is practically free computationally as well, because you're just rescaling a 1:1 pixel framebuffer without any interpolation each frame, it's basically free on any GPU.