They are, in almost every way, taking the console model approach. Updates when there is a significant generational leap and not just yearly updates because AMD made a slightly faster APU (though they did the switch to switch OLED thing but no one complained about that because they kept the LCD models for sale and the OLED really is nicer), selling at a loss (and making up for it in game sales) and of course, the ease of use that a console interface offers over a traditional PC interface.
Then they step it up beyond that by making it as open as possible (software/emulation, games from any source, it’s really a PC) and making the hardware repairable (making parts available and easy to fix in the first place,) and of course, cheap games and practically every game you’d ever want.
What the other handheld PC companies are lacking is (with some exceptions) repairability, that console experience, and price. Us nerds that can do whatever with technology will do it, so a legion or an ally or a gpd will sell just fine to that demographic, especially for the frame rate chasers. But for most of the rest of people, they would just get a switch or a PS5 or Xbox because it’s just plug in and game, and at least in the case of a Switch or Xbox S, the cost of entry is way lower than a PC, be it a gaming desktop/laptop, or even many of the handheld PC competitors. Yes you can build comparable cheap PCs to an Xbox or PS5, but that means building a PC, and most people don’t want to do that (I’m not talking to you, I know you have a sweet rig.) Yes I know games on PC are usually cheaper especially Steam sales or key seller/bundle sites, but console gamers often don’t consider that, and initial cost of entry is very important to non-enthusiast type people in any given hobby.
There’s a reason why Nintendo consoles sell so well despite being behind the competition in raw horsepower. It’s the console model (and in their case aggressive exclusivity of their famous IPs)
The things keeping Sony and Microsoft in the competition are basically the console ease of use, and their all you can eat subscriptions. Even they both realized that they can get more sales putting their games on PC, but that still means forking over MSRP for a single game, so those ps+ and gamepass subs are keeping them afloat at this point.
I’m a huge tech nerd and have been deep in related industries for over 20 years. I know how to do whatever I want with any pc hardware or software, I own a steam deck, and a rog ally, a proper beefy gaming desktop, a gaming laptop, a Switch, and a PS4. Despite all that, in the past 2 years, easily 90% of my gaming has been on the Steam Deck. It does everything I need it to and more, and it does it anywhere, anyhow. If I want to tweak and tinker with it I can, but more importantly, I can just PLAY GAMES with almost no friction. At home, on a break at work, at the airport waiting for my flight, cozy in bed, wherever, whenever, and fast, and easy.
The Steam Deck is the swiss army knife game device that childhood me always dreamed of, and now it exists. That is why it’s outselling it’s competition, and genuinely making PC gaming a viable thing for the masses. No it won’t beat Nintendo anytime soon, but it’s gaining steam on them and other consoles faster than any other attempt ever has before, and it will only get better.
The ease of use of the Steam Deck cannot be overstated. Yes you can tinker with it a bunch but if you just want to play your games, you download and play. The windows handhelds will never be as easy since windows is just crap for this (and MS is not interested in improving).
If you’re just looking for sales numbers, which we haven’t had much of for a long time, the long and short of it is:
4M Steam Decks since launch, 2M of all of its competitors combined; expected that all handheld PCs sharing this AMD tech will sell about 2M more this year.
To put it in perspective there are 150 million Switches and 75 million PS5s out there. And 15 million Wii Us, if anybody is counting. This puts PC handhelds some ways ahead of the N-Gage and well behind the Game Gear.
I’m less concerned about who’s ahead in the handheld PC market and more interested on whether it’ll ever become a mass market space. I think a lot depends on prices for integrated GPUs not skyrocketing like their desktop counterparts and their performance stepping up a notch or two. We’ll see.
I think it’s very interesting to note that mainstream consoles like the Switch or PS5 have massive ad campaigns behind them, expensive television spots, and a constant churn of new exclusives that they’re using to keep themselves in the conversation. The Steam Deck certainly had an ad campaign, but it feels impressive to me that they managed to make those numbers happen mostly just through throwing up an announcement on the Steam front page and then having it review well once it found its way into critics’ hands.
It’s worth keeping in mind what’s different here though. If the Steam Deck came out in the early 90s, it wouldn’t be analogous to the Game Gear; it would be competing with the Nomad. It plays the same games as a PC but handheld, so it’s capturing specifically the market that wants to extend that library to be handheld as well. Every Switch sold is handheld, but outside of the Switch Lite, we don’t know who values that system for its handheld capabilities (I basically never used my Switch handheld back when I actually used it). There was also literally no competition for it when it launched, so it will be interesting to see how many opt for a handheld PC instead when the handheld part is what they’re looking for.
Additionally, there’s this rising market segment of mini PCs that are powered by the same tech that’s in these handhelds. I’ve got one that I like to bring around for local multiplayer games, and if you only ever intend to use a computer at a desk for basic documents and web browsing, they can undercut low-end laptop prices for the same level of power and run the same operating system. Based on recent rumors, this tech could wind up in a new crop of Steam Machine-esque consoles very soon but with the library problem more or less solved compared to ten years ago.
They got the formula right on this space:
- Linux, not Windows–Windows provides little that can’t be done on Linux in this space
- AMD, not Intel–AMD just has better products at this level (any level at this point, really)
- 720p–going higher doesn’t provide much at this size except suck battery life and requiring a more powerful GPU
- Price
Now, price is partially because Valve can afford to subsidize the cost and expect to make it up on Steam sales. I’d be remiss to ignore how they’re making their money. Still, they’re also able to have a good price because they didn’t try to make it as powerful as it could be, but as powerful as it needed to be.
I wonder how many people, like me, who really use their Steam Deck as a Pirate Deck.
If I see a game I like on Steam Store I simply go to STEAMRlP and grab it pre-installed. Then I run it through Wine/Proton. Installing dependencies is very easy, thanks to steamdb.info + Wine-/Protontricks.
Now, some games I do buy afterwards. KCD2 is one example. The Last Flame another. When I know that I enjoy it, I know what I get for my money, then I can make the decision to buy it.
Is there a guide you’d recommend following?
I am currently editing the guide, will finish tomorrow. but you might have luck following it already. Check out https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/38810596
I’ll reply tomorrow with a guide. Gotta create a Lemmy community for it and then I’ll make a post-guide on how to!
handheld pc gaming
Sounds impressive until you see the qualifier
pc
Not that impressive.
Compare it to the whole handheld gaming market!
If you mean the switch, then it has been thoroughly squashed. If you mean phones, well I think we can agree they are not really competing for the same customers, and if you think they do, most people are buying phones for reasons other than gaming. So you’d need a way to section the market for “gaming phones” (yes, that’s a thing).
Hahaha You are delusional. Switch has sold over 150million units.
Yes, it squashes the steam deck, that’s what I said.
The whole handheld gaming market is pretty small. There’s the Switch which outsold the last couple gens of Xboxes and PlayStations. Good luck beating that. Besides that you have smartphones which just about everyone owns and only a handful of brands being especially popular. Then you have dedicated Android having handhelds and handheld emulation machines which are extremely niche.
So either you’re looking at extremely popular and widely owned handheld devices with extensive histories and customer loyalty or extremely niche devices. Not really a great comparison.
the whole handheld gaming market is pretty small
Wat!
Sourced from wikipedia: switch has sold over 150 million units.
150 million
small
Small as in not a lot of competitors…
Its no different to the console market. Essentially a duopoly
Personally, I think the Deck is too big for my tastes, but the beauty of the ecosystem is that anyone can make one while still having almost all the Deck features.
I’d love to have a Vita or even PSP sized Steam handheld with a great screen for smaller titles, but that comes with its own problems
At some point you’re going to struggle to put a capable x86 machine in a device that small.
I think the Deck is too big for my tastes
That’s what she said.
Honestly though I love the size of the deck but could even go a little bigger. Agree that as more manufacturers start using SteamOS it will be great to have options.
Are you kidding me? Steam Deck is so big and clunky. Don’t even get me started on the piss poor ergonomics and the thing is fucking heavy as shit too!
I love it because it’s open source, but it’s shortcomings really leave a lot to be desired in my opinion.
I’m with you, I have large hands but I’m a serious gamer. An hour in and I’m already feeling it’s weight and feeling the fatigue. It’s a very impressive device, but it doesn’t suit me and my needs at all.
Bought an r36s and it’s glorious. Playing all the classic SNES and PSX games I didn’t play back in the day. Can grind in an RPG for hours one handed and it fits in my pocket. Bonus is that it’s so cheap if it breaks or gets lost it’s no big deal.
Hell yeah, that’s what’s up! I’d definitely like to have another console to run emulators on, that isn’t the deck. Lol.
Odin 2 still has my attention.
That’s just, like, your opinion, man.
I think it’s perfectly sized. No need for change. And the OLED model is noticeably more lightweight than the original LCD model, so the newer one isn’t too heavy.
Interesting detail, I didn’t know that about the oled model
