• Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    The Steam Deck is nearly everything that the Steam Machine and the Steam Controller wanted to be, somehow in a single package.

    Valve’s work into Proton and the Steam Deck are the best things to happen to spur Linux adoption in the gaming sphere and support from devs. It’s made enough noise that putting intrusive DRM, anticheat and things that would make it incompatible with Linux would shut devs out of a sizeable demographic that will pay for good games that run well on Steam Deck. Previously Linux and their <1% share of users were an afterthought if anything. Honestly the main reason I preordered my Steam Deck was to support this, even though I’ve used mine just on and off and not much lately.

    • JDubbleu@programming.dev
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      6 months ago

      They’re so user friendly we opted to get my brother’s girlfriend’s 10 year-old sister one instead of a Switch. So instead of having 2-3 $40-$70 Switch games she got access to my Steam library through Family Share (limited to ~60 age-appropriate games), and 20 Switch games emulated through Yuzu setup by EmuDeck.

      We’re also teaching her how to do all of this which will give her a huge advantage when it comes to using computers in the future, and allow her to emulate any games she would like going forward.

    • V ‎ ‎ @beehaw.org
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      6 months ago

      I’m excited for what comes out in a year or two. Maybe a Steam Box 2.0 with console-like qualities but tinker-friendly? A hardware refreshed Deck? Anti-cheat compatibility with more games?

      • MDKAOD@lemmy.ml
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        6 months ago

        If you pay attention to the Deckard rumors, the current guess is a console+wireless vr combo. A physical device that matches Valve’s patent has been seen in “Half Life Alyx: Final Hours” on a shelf behind someone in a vr helmet.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
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      6 months ago

      Also, I have a Steam Controller and now a Deck, and the touch pads and gyro on the Deck are better in every meaningful way. It’s just a better experience all around.

      And I felt better shelling out the money, because I knew at least some of that would wind up as a development investment in the Linux community.

  • Vorthas@lemmy.ml
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    6 months ago

    The Steam Deck was an amazing purchase for me. I put on EmuDeck and a bunch of ROMs and can play those from the Steam interface while also playing many of my Steam games and it’s now a great all-arounder.

      • Vorthas@lemmy.ml
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        6 months ago

        Right now I’m mostly playing Pokemon Prismatic Moon (a difficulty ROMhack of Ultra Moon) but I got Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Xenogears, Xenosaga (all three), Xenoblade Chronicles, and a good number of other Nintendo games and games not on Steam.

  • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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    6 months ago

    I’m shocked we haven’t even seen rumors of an Xbox handheld.

    Playstation at least did something.

    • echoplex21@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I think internal docs showed that Microsoft is leaving that to other vendors. I have the Legion go and it’s been amazing with GamePass. But I’m starting to buy more games on Steam now 😂

    • silentknyght@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I heard a reliable rumor that the Asus handheld was supposed to be essentially that, but Microsoft dropped the ball with the OS support

    • money_loo@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      And I’m really enjoying the Portal, it’s everything I could hope for in a simple remote play device.

      • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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        6 months ago

        It’s okay. I’m opposed to it only for it’s forced anti-consumer linear capabilities.

        There’s absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be able to run Xbox cloud or Steam Link or use Bluetooth headphones. And the inability to run it on public WiFi is absurd.

        But for $200 I can only complain so much.

        • money_loo@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Well it’s not made for those things, so I’m not upset it doesn’t do them.

          And there actually is a reason it doesn’t use Bluetooth headphones, because Bluetooth adds latency and there would be a delay trying to use them for gaming.

          You can see this happen now with a lot of VR headsets, the delay from Bluetooth is really noticeable enough to break immersion.

          • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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            6 months ago

            Well it’s not made for those things

            Yes that’s the problem.

            And there actually is a reason it doesn’t use Bluetooth headphones

            Yes, because Sony wants more of your money.

            because Bluetooth adds latency

            My guy we have had low latency Bluetooth standards for a long time. You are being duped by corporate propaganda. Do a Google for “AptX LL”. I use Bluetooth headphones on my SteamDeck all the time with no observable latency.

            • money_loo@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              Yes that’s the problem.

              Yes, I understand some people wanted it to do or be more, as I said I am not one of those people. I just wanted an awesome remote play device because I was tired of connecting my phone to various things just to get a weak facsimile of my PlayStation.

              I won’t be mad if they update it to do more, but I’m certainly not knocking points off the thing simply because it isn’t a Swiss Army knife for gaming. I could use my SteamDeck for that.

              My guy we have had low latency Bluetooth standards for a long time. You are being duped by corporate propaganda. Do a Google for “AptX LL”. I use Bluetooth headphones on my SteamDeck all the time with no observable latency.

              And yet when I use it I do notice a tiny bit of latency, which is fine for the most part in nearly everything I play, but I’m not sure I’d want to play a rhythm based game on it.

              I’m not alone in this either: Steam Desk - Bluetooth audio latency issues

              • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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                6 months ago

                I’m not alone in this either: Steam Desk - Bluetooth audio latency issues

                You can see the solution in the first reply. The Steam Deck is not a ground-up gaming device, it’s a handheld X86 PC, and that’s great but also makes it harder to do a lot of the things people have come to expect from something like a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation or Xbox.

                In short, this is not a limitation of Bluetooth itself, but rather of configuration, which should not be an issue on a single-purpose game streaming device.

                Again I would encourage you to look up aptX LL, it’s only 40ms of latency.

    • smort@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Yeah I’ve used my Deck as an xcloud terminal quite a bit. If I was only interested in the Xbox ecosystem, I’d definitely go for something like PlayStation’s handheld terminal but for Xbox/xcloud

    • V ‎ ‎ @beehaw.org
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      6 months ago

      The logic over at Xbox might be that Xbox games already come to PC, and their OEM partners are already shipping devices. Unfortunately the fact is that the problem is Windows itself. The thumb controls on them sucks to use in Windows. Go try an Ally or a Legion. As soon as you leave Armor Crate or Steam Big Picture the experience falls apart. Windows also insists on doing Windows things like updating and rebooting when it feels like it, and on a few occasions I’ve been kicked out of big picture mode because something stole focus.

    • meliaesc@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      You can already play Xbox games on PC, and even VR now, with their game pass. Microsoft and plenty of companies already sell windows hardware.

      • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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        6 months ago

        Yes but you can’t play on a PC with the Xbox OS, which is actually what is desperately needed because Windows currently blows on a handheld.

  • fri@beehaw.org
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    6 months ago

    I got my Deck around May, and yesterday I’ve finished 18th game this year, played exclusively on Valve’s handheld. 2 games last week, since it was a holiday break.

    I’ve finished Wall World + DLC, Spyro 1 (and started 2), Tunic, Contrast, A Short Hike, Cloudpunk, Assemble With Care, Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Vampire Survivors, Webbed, The Last Campfire, and Sable. Replayed older games like Linelight, Expand, Scrapland, MDK 2, and Gift. Started Obra Dinn, Grim Fandango, Dome Keeper, Gunpoint, Ctrl Alt Ego, and Zelda BOTW.

    This device is such a delight. It plays overwhelming majority of titles out of the box, while older titles like Gift and MDK 2 only require a few minutes of tinkering to get right, plus maybe adjust the control scheme for gyro aiming the sniper mode in MDK.

    I wouldn’t get even close to this number of titles on a classic PC. My gaming computer is at the same desk where I work from home, creating this unpleasant mental image that I’m still “at work” when gaming - so having an external device that handles AAA games like Hogwarts Legacy with ease is a godsend.

    My desktop PC was down for two weeks due to fried motherboard. I connected the Deck via a simple JSAUX cable that has HDMI out and USB-C for charging, paired a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, and it worked perfectly as a replacement. I could play Soldat 2, design in Figma, and watch movies - because it’s a regular PC, just in an unusual form factor.

    I’m definitely getting a SD2 when it comes out in a few years.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
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      6 months ago

      I’ve noticed I’ve been playing more frequently but in shorter sessions. I will still play “more involved” games on my desktop, but a lot of the games I would have avoided on desktop, because I didn’t want to hunker down at the desk for a few hours, are getting played.

  • Lettuce eat lettuce@lemmy.ml
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    6 months ago

    Got two friends to buy one after I got mine. Love it so much. I didn’t think I would use it much when I first bought it, but I have played on it more in the last several months than my actual gaming PC.

    Such a fantastic device, I stream movies and shows with it, listen to music while I game, go to LAN parties, use it with my family for couch co-op, play all my old GBA games on it, it’s just awesome.

  • books@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Mad props to those that have it and use it.i just can’t find a use case

    We play lethal company as a group and one of us plays on a steam deck. He can’t use the monitor or figure out the walkie talkies, but he can at least play with us, so it’s a win.

  • numberfour002@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    The Steam Deck was probably my favorite tech purchases in the past few years, and I’m looking forward to checking out the linked article to see where it goes with things.

    I had been mulling over the idea of getting a portable for awhile, and truthfully Asus and Lenovo’s offerings are pretty nice. I felt like they were all good enough, performance-wise, for the types of games I play, but battery life was a big enough concern for me that it held me back from actually buying one of these systems. After the OLED Deck was announced and specs on battery life were released, it eased my concerns enough that I felt like now was the time.

    I do wish they had handled the launch a bit more gracefully, particularly as far as the limited edition goes. At this point it doesn’t really matter, but it did etch away at some of the “magic” initially and undermined my confidence slightly when they couldn’t keep the store operating, then said the special edition was out of stock, only for it to magically come back into stock after I’d already purchased the regular/standard Deck. Oh well.

  • Anamnesis@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I have no idea why anyone would want a shittier PC with a tinier screen to play their steam library. It seems totally pointless to me. The only people I know who seem to rave about them are dads who can’t get away to game except in half hour increments on the couch. I guess that’s better than nothing, but fuck, that’s a bleak gaming experience.

    • zaphod@lemmy.ca
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      6 months ago

      “People aren’t like me and I just don’t get it!”

      You know, empathy is a skill you can learn. You may consider working on it.

        • PilferJynx@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I don’t like being tied down to a single location for too long. There are plenty of games that run fantastic on the deck. The screen size isn’t an issue because it’s close to the face. Sounds like you play demanding games, and that’s okay, the deck wouldn’t make sense in that case.

    • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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      6 months ago

      Because some of us leave the house from time to time and it’s kinda hard to fit a desktop PC, monitor and keyboard in my backpack so I can play games on my lunch break at work. Much less a car or a plane.

    • Lettuce eat lettuce@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      This is going to be pretty shocking to you, so brace yourself…Some people actually leave their gaming chairs to go into other rooms in their home. There even some folks, (this will really blow your tiny mind) who actually leave their homes sometimes but still want to play games!

      Those are the strange creatures that like to play games even though they are away from their main PC. Now pick up your jaw off your Cheeto-covered gaming desk and pipe down, the adults are talking.

    • potustheplant@feddit.nl
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      6 months ago

      On several occasions I wanted to play a game for a while but did not want to sit at my desk to play so I ended up not playing at all. Now, with my steam deck, I often play for 15 minutes to about 1 hour or a bit more from my couch or my bed next to my gf and it’s super easy and enjoyable.

      If you don’t like it, great. Just don’t try to shit on the millions of people that do. Cheers.

    • Baguette@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      Its a portable handheld, it’s not meant to be a replacement for a pc. You could use it for playing games on a commute or during your lunch break. Nothing wrong with using it on the couch either, sometimes you want to be outside of your room.

      • NAM@lemmy.ml
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        6 months ago

        Literally viewing this thread while laying in bed with a FFXIV cutscene playing on my Deck right now.

        It’s so cozy playing stuff on this thing, even when I have an extremely powerful gaming PC less than 5 feet away.

        And when I go over to my girlfriend’s house, I just bring it with me, instead of having to lug a whole laptop over there and get it set up just to mess around with something casual that I wouldn’t wanna run on my phone.