Steam Deck

[GlennN]

Re: Steam Deck

So, I've had a complete 180 since I purchased it a week ago. I will say the system is quite impressive and the potential is through the roof. With that said, I have come to a few conclusions for myself.

Number 1. For newer games, higher visual type games, I much prefer to game on my big screen tv. Maybe it's me getting older and my eyes not as strong as they once were playing on handhelds, but I just like the overall experience more.

Number 2. I'm not as retro as I once was. There's an overwhelming number of games I could play, but do I really want to put the effort in? Unfortunately, I had issues getting the emulators to work and it was more trouble than it was worth. The Steam Deck wasn't necessarily geared towards me I suppose.

Number 3. I guess it's the same reason I don't own a gaming pc. I just expect the game to work rather than having to mess with several settings. And yes, I knew this going in, but didn't think it would an issue. It's more of a "me" problem.

Number 4. The work, life, balance thing really had me questioning exactly when I was going to be able to really play this thing. I was reaching for the remote to watch college football, baseball, tennis, etc. more so than I wanted to sit on the couch and game.

Number 5. Lastly, I like the smaller footprint of my Switch oled with my satisfye grip. But more than that, it's the perfect little system for indie style games. I pick and choose more carefully now-a-days and get as much or more enjoyment out of a small indie title than a AAA title.

In the end, I sold my Steam Deck a couple days ago. I wasn't able to sell my Switch bundle to offset the cost. And that turned out to be a blessing. 75 percent of the time, I'll opt for the Series X or PS5, with the Switch being a nice back up.

p.s. I'll miss Vampire Survivors and hope it'll come to the Switch sometime soon.

Sorry to hear that, but that's why they make chocolate and vanilla! As to the emulators on Steam Deck, I am probably the least tech-savvy guy you know, and I managed to get them working (eventually - not saying it wasn't a struggle). I am sure I did not do it "correctly," but it works.

[fsufan4423]

Re: Steam Deck

Sorry to hear that, but that's why they make chocolate and vanilla! As to the emulators on Steam Deck, I am probably the least tech-savvy guy you know, and I managed to get them working (eventually - not saying it wasn't a struggle). I am sure I did not do it "correctly," but it works.

Did you use EmuDeck by chance? I downloaded it, but haven't had time to deep dive into it.

[GlennN]

Re: Steam Deck

Did you use EmuDeck by chance? I downloaded it, but haven't had time to deep dive into it.

I don't think so (see, no tech knowledge!). I went to the Discover icon and just loaded the emulators from there. For me, I don't think any other method would have worked. I have no idea how to do it any other way.

[sportdan30]

Re: Steam Deck

I tried using the Emudeck. It was pretty straight forward, but my problem I think was I didn't have the bios files. All I had was the roms files. I made it more complex than it probably was. In the end, I didn't want to mess around with it for games I'd likely play for just a short while.

It was definitely a chocolate vs. vanilla analogy for me. I know I'm in the minority as this portable pc has been receiving rave reviews and for good reason. I think if I was 15 years or so younger, I would be crazy excited about the Steam Deck. For me, it simply doesn't fit in to my life when I already have the Series X, PS5, and Switch. I hardly have time to play those consoles.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Steam Deck

Well.. I'm happy
Got gamepass working and playing The Show

[fsufan4423]

Re: Steam Deck

I tried using the Emudeck. It was pretty straight forward, but my problem I think was I didn't have the bios files. All I had was the roms files. I made it more complex than it probably was. In the end, I didn't want to mess around with it for games I'd likely play for just a short while.

It was definitely a chocolate vs. vanilla analogy for me. I know I'm in the minority as this portable pc has been receiving rave reviews and for good reason. I think if I was 15 years or so younger, I would be crazy excited about the Steam Deck. For me, it simply doesn't fit in to my life when I already have the Series X, PS5, and Switch. I hardly have time to play those consoles.

Not having time to play is understandable. I have a Series X and PS5 I never play. I have a PC with a 3090 and 5950X that I game on mostly. When the Deck was announced, it seemed crazy to think I could play all my PC games on a handheld. I still have my PSP, Vita, and Switch which I would play occasionally, so of course I was excited about the Deck.

Although the time it took to receive it killed the excitement, I'll eventually get around to putting some time into it. It's such a neat device, it would hard for me to let go of it.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Steam Deck

So far I've gotten GameCube, NES and PS2 games working. So far so good. Def need to grab a nice large micro SD card if I keep going.

[sportdan30]

Re: Steam Deck

Not having time to play is understandable. I have a Series X and PS5 I never play. I have a PC with a 3090 and 5950X that I game on mostly. When the Deck was announced, it seemed crazy to think I could play all my PC games on a handheld. I still have my PSP, Vita, and Switch which I would play occasionally, so of course I was excited about the Deck.

Although the time it took to receive it killed the excitement, I'll eventually get around to putting some time into it. It's such a neat device, it would hard for me to let go of it.

That PC you have sounds sweet! Maybe eventually that will be the route I go. Enjoy the Steam Deck!

[GlennN]

Re: Steam Deck

Not having time to play is understandable. I have a Series X and PS5 I never play. I have a PC with a 3090 and 5950X that I game on mostly. When the Deck was announced, it seemed crazy to think I could play all my PC games on a handheld. I still have my PSP, Vita, and Switch which I would play occasionally, so of course I was excited about the Deck.

Although the time it took to receive it killed the excitement, I'll eventually get around to putting some time into it. It's such a neat device, it would hard for me to let go of it.

Agreed on the issues that limit gaming (how do we let life get in the way of gaming?). I have a PS4 I barely play, and my most-played console for the past several years has been my trusty Vita. To be able to use a handheld to play the games that can be played on a Steam Deck was a no-brainer for me.

[bo_jax2000]

Re: Steam Deck

SteamDeck supply seems to be improved. I reserved one on Saturday. Received email to purchase on Monday. Should arrive next week.

[fsufan4423]

Re: Steam Deck

I finally got around to exploring all the cool customizations you can do on the deck. From themes, plugins, boot animations, etc. I've been racking up on some older titles which run great on this device.

Most of the games are cheap also. Just got Lost Planet 3 for $4 and it runs so smooth. Just a all around excellent device.

[nickerous]

Re: Steam Deck

I've had the steam deck for a few weeks now. Got ps2 running, but ncaa football 2004 is not working well. I was able to create a school, start a dynasty, even play a game with good results, but the next game in my season was at a bigger stadium in the rain. The framerate took such a hit. It's like I'm playing in slow motion. Found a reddit post about settings to get 2k5 running better, but those made ncaa 2004 run worse.

[fsufan4423]

Re: Steam Deck

I've had the steam deck for a few weeks now. Got ps2 running, but ncaa football 2004 is not working well. I was able to create a school, start a dynasty, even play a game with good results, but the next game in my season was at a bigger stadium in the rain. The framerate took such a hit. It's like I'm playing in slow motion. Found a reddit post about settings to get 2k5 running better, but those made ncaa 2004 run worse.

What version of PCSX2 are you running? I installed mine from the website and installed it through desktop mode. Do you use Emudeck? I just tested NCAA 2004 in Michigan stadium with heavy rain and stayed around 60 fps. It did dip in the loading screen and warm up, but that's it.

Also, do you lock the GPU Clock Frequency at 1600 under the Performance tab? It helps a lot.

[tc020791]

Steam Deck

Was just recently gifted a steam deck. Probably one the best gifts I’ve ever gotten. It’s definitely worth the $400 (64GB) for what this thing can do. It’s probably, no definitely, the most versatile gaming device I’ve ever seen.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, this thing is lightweight, doesn’t get too hot, has a decent size screen and is very portable. It does exactly what you’d expect a portable gaming device to do in that sense. But then it turns things up a notch or 10.

Not only can you obviously play every single big AAA game on steam, but you also get all the PC exclusive games you’ve always missed out on, you can get emulators to play old games, and then on top of that you can also remote play your Xbox and PS. So now you can play both anywhere you want in your house without having to move the system. I’ve tried to do this with an iPad and controller before and it did not work nearly as well as the steam deck. Not to mention that you can also play it in docked mode and get a pretty good PC gaming experience.

The possibilities with this thing are through the roof. The support and community behind it are both tremendous as well. There are so many guides and tutorials to make your deck exactly how you want it. I’m not saying it’s perfect but for $400 (plus $50 for a 512GB SD), it’s really really hard to beat the value.

[allBthere]

Re: Steam Deck

Was just recently gifted a steam deck. Probably one the best gifts I’ve ever gotten. It’s definitely worth the $400 (64GB) for what this thing can do. It’s probably, no definitely, the most versatile gaming device I’ve ever seen.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, this thing is lightweight, doesn’t get too hot, has a decent size screen and is very portable. It does exactly what you’d expect a portable gaming device to do in that sense. But then it turns things up a notch or 10.

Not only can you obviously play every single big AAA game on steam, but you also get all the PC exclusive games you’ve always missed out on, you can get emulators to play old games, and then on top of that you can also remote play your Xbox and PS. So now you can play both anywhere you want in your house without having to move the system. I’ve tried to do this with an iPad and controller before and it did not work nearly as well as the steam deck. Not to mention that you can also play it in docked mode and get a pretty good PC gaming experience.

The possibilities with this thing are through the roof. The support and community behind it are both tremendous as well. There are so many guides and tutorials to make your deck exactly how you want it. I’m not saying it’s perfect but for $400 (plus $50 for a 512GB SD), it’s really really hard to beat the value.

almost bought one from FB marketplace just for undisputed, but read that people tried it and it wouldn't run...now I'm reading that people are indeed playing it on there. I agree with all the points you made and that it provides a unique experience that you can take on the road as well - so I still may get one depending on how things shake out.