Steam Deck Thoughts

I'm not huge on PC gaming. I find it to be a very obnoxious part of the industry due to the elitism of the hardcore gamers. This has been on full blast for a long time and it was shown a few weeks ago when Steam announced Steam Deck. I decided to wait until the fanboy hype died down a bit to put my thoughts about it. I think the concept of playing PC on a true portable could be possible. Now, there are laptops, but people are not using them solely for gaming unless they were designed specifically for them. But they are bulky.

People want this to overtake the success of the Nintendo Switch. I'm guessing because of all the indie games that have been put on it and combine it with the modern hyped up titles that go onto computers. There are several models and the cheapest is at 400 dollars with 64 gigabytes. That's really good. For the one that is into indies, it's all they need potentially. The most expensive is a 650 dollar one with 512 gigs. According to PC Gamer, microSD cards can be used to add more storage. It will have stuff like Wi-Fi and controller connectivity, HDMI output. It's covering the bases enough. Battery life might be a hassle.

There are two things I would have concern about. One is upgrading. Since the days of the DS and PSP, systems and handhelds have had updates. PlayStation 3 had one back in June for compatibility with movies. Everything currently on the market still gets updates. How long does Steam Deck get updates for its three models? And if so, how long until there are games that can't work on it? Switch doesn't have to worry about that. Neither does PlayStation or Xbox... kind of with some models. People can upgrade with graphic cards and what not, but I can't imagine most will. Why mess something up with your computer and it doesn't do any of the basics.

Two is Valve. They don't have a track record of supporting stuff for a long time. How they handle reception and marketing it will determine if this even survives for a year. I would imagine this would do okay and be out there for a few years. But will the double dipping occur? I have a hard time thinking people will ditch what they have. Anything can happen, though. Other platforms like Windows can be put onto Steam Deck. This comes out next year. PC Gamer said in the second or third quarter for anyone ordering. I'd predict just before next year's summer sale that it will show up on customer's doorsteps. This will not overtake the Switch or any console. It will find an audience, How big it will be will be based on Valve plays their cards.