It’s pretty awesome that the steamdeck is now basically a viable and far less limited alternative to consoles for around the same price as one.
This was already true for x86 handhelds, companies like Ayaneo and GPD have been around for quite some time. However, removing Windows from the equation and the huge resource overhead it causes, and making Linux a viable alternative with their work on Proton, has absolutely shaken the industry up. It looks like Microsoft is going to try and release a hybrid Windows/Xbox OS for OEMs. I did try out Win11 on my Lenovo Legion Go for an hour or so and it was just awful compared to Bazzite (that uses the Steam Deck UI). So all up it’s a pretty exciting time for handheld and low power gaming!
After the Switch 2 reveal I saw the writing on the wall that console gaming was going to be too expensive for me, but I still wanted a way to easily play on the TV with a controller. The Steam Deck has been awesome for that. I’m fine with playing older games on it and reserving the rare new demanding games I actually want to play for the PS5. Next gen I might just move to PC for demanding games the way things are going.
Hoo boy. If you think consoles are getting too expensive, it might not be the best time to consider PC gaming.
Oh, I know everything will be affected by the coming price increases. But the thing is, on PC you have a lot of options as far as getting games to play compared to consoles where you’re locked into their ecosystem and have to pay whatever price they want you to. So it’s a higher up front cost for less cost later. And you can choose to pay less for tech that’s older and will run things at lower settings. With consoles you have no choice.
It’s about the only affordable gaming PC right now.
As an added bonus, maybe devs will keep targeting lower end hardware because of it.
Finally, the year of the Linux Desktop is upon us
Well the year of the Linux desktop will have to wait a few years considering Valve time.
I’ve waited so long
Give me the desktop version! I’ve got an old SFF pc ready to become my home console, since I never got an Xbox Series or PS5
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The Steam Deck kicked off great however, I see people flocking to the Windows alternatives like the ASUS ROG Ally because they don’t want to deal with Linux or the Bash shell.
Edit; I don’t know why this is being downvoted, I haven’t touched SteamOS so I’m comparing it to Debian 12 where BASH knowledge is essential.
I’m not sure this is true. From a non-technical user perspective Linux is as visible on the steam deck as FreeBSD is on the PS5. Yah it’s there, but you don’t see it unless you try.
It’s still crazy to me how since PS3 Sony has been using FreeBSD as their basis for an OS.
In my mind it’s always been this network traffic or datacentre thing.
It really is a full desktop os. Not a bad one either.
The main limitations is hardware / driver support and proprietary software support.
Neither of those things are really a problem when you use it in an embedded system like a console though.
I bet they used freeBSD over Linux for licensing reasons.
100%. If they used Linux they would actually have to contribute their improvements back. Because Sony went with FreeBSD they get to use all that community code and build their product on top of it. Win win for Sony as a corp. not so great for the rest of us.
Imagine if FreeBSD had all the graphics pipeline improvements that Sony undoubtedly have added in house.
I’m one of the most bash shell persons who ever bashed a bash shell, just for the bash shell of it.
But I have never opened the bash shell on my SteamDeck.
I did once, for some reason. I think to install maguri mod for ff9.
Otherwise? Nah, this ain’t thinkin’ time.
It’s a super polished and easy to use OS. I don’t think I’ve even touched command line or shell. It functions like Windows without any bs.
What? You don’t have to deal with any of that if you don’t want to lol
That could be the reason why someone is going that direction though even if it’s not an informed decision.
Why is it not an informed decision?
Because they might think they need to use the terminal a bunch when in reality they don’t. They might have the wrong impression about how much terminal work they need to do and use that incorrect information to make a decision. I’m saying they could have wrong information to make a decision which would be an uninformed decision.
they don’t want to deal with Linux or the Bash shell
I’m a professional software developer that runs Linux on all on my devices. So I could “deal with the bash shell” if I needed to for sure. But im not interested in doing anything but running games I bought on steam.
Not once have I even opened desktop mode on my steam deck for anything other than checking it out.
It’s completely possible to stay 100% in the main SteamOS environment which is basically “Big picture mode”.
Normal users literally would have no idea they are using Linux. It operates exactly how you would expect a handheld game console to operate.
More likely the opposite because they don’t want to deal with Windows 11
For me it came down to affordability more than anything else. The cost of the other PC handhelds don’t make sense to me considering the battery life. Might as well get a laptop at that point. The fact that the Steam Deck doesn’t use Windows and has the best community support were bonuses.
My Steam Deck is by far my preferred PC now. I dread having to use my Windows laptop.
I don’t know why this is being downvoted
Oh quit your whining. Stop making excuses.
I opted for the ROG Ally X. A couple of things swayed me. My ability to hold it in store and the tech specs for future proofing were both reasons. But I never planned for this device to be a Windows only handheld. I specifically bought it for the few games I own that can’t run Linux and I run everything else in Bazzite. If it had come with Steam OS I likely still would have bought it and done a dual boot. I don’t think it’s fair to assume that people are buying non-steam handhelds just because they don’t want to deal with Linux. They likely have no idea what Linux has to offer and are going with what they can buy in store.
