Official Steam Deck thread. Steam handheld gaming device.

spliz

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Got mine today. I've downloaded and installed 13 games. It has crashed and rebooted 5-6 times in fewer hours of use. The hardware is very nice, and it feels good in the hands, but if the game isn't listed as verified, you are lucky to get past the game's start menu. It's like using a pre-honeycomb Android Tablet. It's got tons of potential, but it's still a hot mess. I'm going to wait until after the weekend before I truly judge it. Right now, I believe many youtubers are understating the poor game compatibility

#Update#
My unit has been crashing like crazy. Any game that was incompatible would lock up the entire device. It even occurred with at least 4 Verified games. A few times, I would hear the unit reboot just sitting there downloading games. So I contacted Valve for an RMA. When it works it's a game changing device. So I definitely want a replacement and not a refund.
U should try to reflash the software before u RMA.
 

Cakebatter

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U should try to reflash the software before u RMA.
Thanks for the advice. I hard reset, removed my SD card, booted into battery utility, and even reimaged the device. The locking up and random rebooting only got progressively worse. Thankfully, they provided an RMA after only 2 days of communicating. I shipped it out, and the facility received my unit on Friday. So I'm just waiting for a new unit. From what I have read, the RMA process can be long, which is ridiculous, given they aren't repairing units, just swapping them out.
 

spliz

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performance was trash when i tried it lol.. but i didnt mess with settings and shyt
kirby and crash racing worked great tho
Performance is great. U gotta fukk wit the settings and make sure u run it Vulkan. Also. Use the Wii U version of BOTW. And use the uncapped mod which lets it run up to 60fps. It hovers around 50fps tho but once u bring the screen refresh down to 40 it’s FAR better than the Switch.
 

winb83

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I can play literally most games at 60fps. And if not I can dial it back to 40fps and get that same smooth experience. The switch runs like shyt. Even on 1st party software. So I don’t even know what u mean like that. The games look great on that 7 inch display. And there’s no handheld on the market right now that plays AAA games better than it. Even handhelds that cost double, triple, and quadruple the price. If u actually have been using the device u would see how much support Valve has been giving it so to compare it to any other Steam machines n shyt like that and is off the mark completely. I can tell u haven’t been using the device. I have been using it since launch. Ur phone can’t play ur entire Steam library. And it’s portable. Not pocketable. The Switch isn’t pocketable either. Something like the Vita is pocketable. If that’s what ur looking for.
A closed box portable console has guaranteed support for its full life and a standardized experience.

This is a mediocre gaming PC in portable form. Support is going to be all over the place. There may be games on your Steam account that aren't made compatible. It's the wild west and no company is going to force standards and universal compatibility.

If I bought one of these for myself it would be after at least a year or two of proven consistency in developers supporting it. Unfortunately in a few years it's specs will have further aged.

PC gaming isn't the place for a closed box dedicated handheld.

In the next few years, probably within 2, I'd expect a Switch successor. I'd rather buy that and have a closed box portable. Really it isn't even a fair comparison this to 2017 hardware. The Switch was $300 and has been fully supported for 6 years. In 6 years if there isn't a new Steam Deck you gonna be running games on lower settings on this one if you aren't already.
 

Cakebatter

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A closed box portable console has guaranteed support for its full life and a standardized experience.

This is a mediocre gaming PC in portable form. Support is going to be all over the place. There may be games on your Steam account that aren't made compatible. It's the wild west and no company is going to force standards and universal compatibility.

If I bought one of these for myself it would be after at least a year or two of proven consistency in developers supporting it. Unfortunately in a few years it's specs will have further aged.

PC gaming isn't the place for a closed box dedicated handheld.

In the next few years, probably within 2, I'd expect a Switch successor. I'd rather buy that and have a closed box portable. Really it isn't even a fair comparison this to 2017 hardware. The Switch was $300 and has been fully supported for 6 years. In 6 years if there isn't a new Steam Deck you gonna be running games on lower settings on this one if you aren't already.

The Switch was created in the hopes for developers creating games for it, and its closed ecosystem successfully supported and fostered that. By contrast, the Steam Deck was designed for a pre-existing library of games. Game support comes in the advancements in Proton's compatibility tools and anti-cheat software compatibility. I don't foresee any future problems there. Steam currently has the largest game library of any gaming ecosystem, smartphones withstanding. So the 3 month old Steam Deck already has 1000 verified games plus 1000 games listed as playable. Those are native games. The 5 year old Switch has a library of about 2500 native games. Yes, fools are smoking Hopium thinking the Steam Deck will play UE5 based AAA titles 3 years from now, but it won't matter as much in 3 years, when the Steam Deck has the largest library of games of any gaming device in history. Add in its capabilities to emulate older consoles and arcade machines, and the hype of the Steam Deck is wholly justified.
 
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Deafheaven

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Switch shouldn't even be mentioned here. that console is the only tech regret I have had in the last 5 or so years. absolutely pitiful system. Even playing games on low-mid portable will look better than the best shyt switch can do. Never mind you can apparently emulate a switchh on it anyway :mjlol:

will def cop when they are readily available.
 
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