Topic: Valve's Steam Deck console Thread

@JaxonH so there is hope that those games will be playable with the mouse pads All I want is to sit and chill playing Heroes of Might and Magic

@Zuljaras
Ya. Mousepads or analogs. You can map to either depending on how you want to play. Steam Input is awesome like that.

It was fortuitous Steam Controller released a few years back and resulted in a decade's worth of Steam Input Configs being created by game devs and users, because now with Steam Deck suddenly all those configs translate to options on Steam Deck. It put us years ahead of the curve.

Also, plenty of untested games work fine. They just haven't been officially verified yet. If a game isn't multi-player focused, there's a good chance it'll run just fine. You may have issues with text size (newer games typically offer settings to enlarge text size, but older games not so much- however, most text size of older games scales with resolution, so the 800p of the Deck means it shouldn't be too small)

@JaxonH that "untested may work fine" sounds awesome because it will be terrible if games are blocked by the SteamOS just because they are not officially supported

Someday I will own that piece of fine gaming hardware

Nah, the games won't be blocked, @Zuljaras .... Untested just means exactly that! Which Heroes of Might & Magic game, in particular? You probably mean from quite a few years ago?

@BruceCM from 2 to 7 literally! I love all of them! Same with Disciples 1 and 2.

Those games made me skip sleeping many times.

If you create a Steam account, you can add your GOG library..... They don't seem to be in the verified list but they promise they are going through the entire Steam catalog!
They're certainly not the most demanding & intensive games, in the ways that would be likely to cause issues, though

I plan on getting the steam deck for the definitive version of certain indie games. Stuff like Terraria and Rivals of Aether.

Also, Street fighter v is the only Playstation game that I play online, and it would be nice to play that on the deck and cancel my plus subscription.

While I plan to mostly play docked, I will be frequently switching between multiple tvs / monitors which makes a steam deck a lot more manageable than a gaming pc. Plus there's that huge price difference between the two (I don't currently have a PC).

The initial reactions to the Steam Deck are interesting to me.

While it seems to be certainly a step beyond the Switch, playing games the Switch probably couldn't even think about handling, it still looks like you will need to make significant compromises to play most games on the go.

Maybe that is to be expected, but it has me questioning the point of the Steam Deck, overall.

If both the Switch and the Steam Deck come with considerable compromises, while the Switch may have to make the greater amount of compromises, you will also be playing games on the Switch that were built with the Switch and it's hybrid manner in mind.

Whereas on the Steam Deck, you are gonna be playing games never designed for a handheld, squashed down to some upscaled 1080p on a tiny screen, barely maintaining 30 fps on low settings, while the console turns into a radiator in your hands and the battery lasts about an hour.

Like this seems kinda worthless to me?

I guess if you have absolutely no alternative, but isn't this like the same price as a Series S? I appreciate that is not a handheld, but if you have a Switch already, why do you wanna pay to play a bunch of non-Switch games in seemingly their crappiest version, just because you take them on the go?

@Pizzamorg
Seems about as portable as a gaming laptop to me

@Pizzamorg

There are plenty of non-Switch games that don't require beefy rigs that can now be played on the go with Steam Deck. This is especially true for older Steam games. Plus, don't underestimate the value of mod support for games as well. Also, if Valve is able to get game pass natively working on Steam OS, that would be a huge deal.

@NotoriousWhiz
Basically everything can be played, provided it's not VR or multi-player focused (some games have compatability issues but if they're not in one of those two groups it should get ironed out).

Steam Deck basically makes Xbox and PS exclusives hybrid handheld with gyro aiming, and it makes all the big AAA games that can't run on Switch hybrid handheld with gyro aiming.

I have a massive backlog of games I want to play on SteamDeck, and some new games releasing as well.

• Batman Arkham Collection (unless it comes to Switch, which it was leaked for)
• Bioshock Collection (no gyro aiming in Switch version)
• Alan Wake (unless it comes to Switch, which it was rated by ESRB for)
• Halo MCC
• Halo 5
• Halo Infinite
• Gears Ultimate
• Gears 5
• Gears Tactics
• Forza Horizon 4
• Forza Horizon 5
• Monster Hunter World
• Wolfenstein New Order
• Wolfenstein 2 (Switch version takes too much of a graphical hit)
• The Outer Worlds (Switch version takes too much of a graphical hit)
• Trials Rising (played the heck out of it on Switch but will gladly play again on Deck)
• Trials Fusion
• Persona 4 Golden
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
• Cyber Punk 2077
• Dragon Age Origins
• Dragon Age II
• Dragon Age Inquisition (already beat the game but may play again)
• Doom (love on Switch but, I'll take 60fps 720p with gyro)
• Doom Eternal (love on Switch but, I'll take 60fps 720p with gyro)
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition
• Assassin's Creed Origins
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Death Stranding
• Read Dead Redemption 2
• Call of Duty WWII
• Elden Ring
• Borderlands 3
• Ni No Kuni 2 (Switch version has framerate issues)
• Ys IX (Switch version has framerate issues)
• Trails of Cold Steel
• Trails of Cold Steel II
• Tales of Berseria
• Tales of Arise
• Resident Evil 7
• Resident Evil Village
• God of War
• Control
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Final Fantasy XIII-3 Lightning Returns
• Final Fantasy XV
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Tomb Raider (already beat but may play again)
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Mirror's Edge Catalyst
• Days Gone
• Fallout New Vegas
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
• Dark Souls 3
• Vanquish
• Yakuza Like A Dragon
• Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Street Fighter V
• Street Fighter 6
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Scarlet Nexus
• Nier Automata
• Nier Replicant
• DMC
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• Metal Gear Solid V
• Metro Exodus
• Splinter Cell Blacklist (already beat but may play again)
• Dishonored
• Dishonored 2
• Deathloop
• Deus Ex Human Revolution
• Deus Ex Mankind Divided
• Dying Light 2
• Soul Hackers 2
• Rayman Origins
• Sniper Elite 5
• Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
• Titanfall 2

And tons more games that will release this year, and next year, or make their way over from the Epic Store.

SteamDeck is where it's at!

@blindsquarel I'd think the key differences to a gaming laptop are that it weighs a heck of a lot less and you can pick it up and hold it in your hands while you play. From my experience with the GPD Win that's a pretty big deal; you'll be able to use it in a lot of situations where a laptop would be impractical.

Still, given the size of it, you're most likely looking at having to carry it around in a bag so it's not really any more portable than a laptop in that sense. Given that the laptop will offer far better graphics, a bigger and better screen and a full keyboard that's a significant trade-off.

That said, low end gaming on the PC is way better than people tend to believe. You absolutely can play almost all modern games on an entry level graphics card, or even integrated graphics with a bit of work, so I'd still think that most people will be pleasantly surprised by what the Steam Deck is capable of.

@Matt_Barber
I won't be carrying Deck in any bag.

It comes with a slim case that's basically the same size as my Switch case I use when I have Binbok joycon attached. Small handle on the top, can carry with a pinky finger and still have keys in your hand, coffee cup in the other hand... no problems taking it to work each day just like that.

And at 540p to 600p with FSR across the board, with a frame limiter for 30fps, on Low to Medium settings, you can juice this puppy with any AAA game on the market and squeeze 3 hrs battery life from it.

As long as I can play WoW Classic, the old Heroes of Might and Magic games the older Sims games (Sims 1, 2, and 3), and the Sierra City Builders series I will be all over this.

@JaxonH While that might not strictly be a bag, it doesn't look much smaller than the carry case for my laptop.

The Steam Deck is, after all, almost as wide as a typical 14" laptop and nearly three times as thick on account of the protruding grips and sticks. It's going to be at least as bulky, even when in the snuggest of cases, and that's all I'm getting at.

But if you were just going to use it for older games or indies, they are probably on the Switch already and you get the bonus of the Nintendo first party stuff, too. I've yet to see a unique benefit to the Steam Deck.

As others have said, gaming laptops and hybrid tablets have already existed for a long time, seem just about as portable as the Deck but will be a way better gaming experience. I guess they are technically more expensive, too. But why would you want to pay anything for a compromised experience anyway, which is what the Deck seems to offer?

@Pizzamorg I think it's obvious why someone would want to pay $500 for a Steam Deck versus 1000$+ for a gaming laptop. Money is still an object for most people. If money were no object, then you are correct that a Steam Deck is unnecessary. The amount of older titles / indies on Steam far exceed what's on the Switch. And then there's the big list that @JaxonH posted earlier. There are significant advantages to having a Steam Deck in addition to the Switch.

I can't see that list sorry, that person has me blocked or ignored.

But yeah, I wasn't aware that the Steam Deck had enough additional indies/oldies people were desperate to play on the go, for someone to justify this purchase. I still think it is a big rip off.

@Pizzamorg

That is just a big list though, doesn't mention anything about the performance of those games on the handheld or the performance of the handheld itself while trying to run those games.

That is the point I was making originally. I thought the Steam Deck was going to cement itself as the Switch Pro we should have gotten, but from all reports I've seen so far, it is more powerful because it can run games the Switch couldn't even think about, but it is running those games in pretty much their worst possible form.

This might be to be expected, but who wants to play like 15 year old games, in upresed 720p, on a tiny ass screen, while the game chugs at like 20 fps, the console overheats and the battery runs out in like an hour. That experience just sounds awful to me.

I guess you have to make your peace if this is your only alternative and portability was a necessity, but I just personally don't see the long term viability in a world where the Switch already exists.