Steam Deck REVIEW - It's more important than you think..
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- čas přidán 14. 03. 2023
- hmr's Steam Deck review. 1.5 month in the making!
► Twitter: @handheldrace
► The Amazing Intro Music: / @zackerywilson
► Other Music Used:
Tetris 2020 - Monstris & Shooting Stars
Super Mario 64 - File Select
Ape Escape 3 - Training Room
Game Builder Garage - Programming Screen
#hmr #steamdeck #review #switch - Hry
I'm a submariner and the steam deck as been growing in popularity in the military in general. Since our deployments take us away from internet, the steam deck is the best offline entertainment we've ever had. Sometimes we'll stop by foreign bases with internet and it's really nice how it can function as a simple laptop to watch media on, instead of a tiny screen phone
What media player are you using to watch videos offline? BTW, thank you for your service.
Eww, Submariner? Gross. I'm sorry for your loss
Great to hear! Be safe out there.
@@TheTheShizzler eww you live in your mom's basement. Sorry for your loss
Cool. Knowing it works without the internet makes it really attractive to buy.
As a Windows users on the Steam Deck you missed maybe the most important long term effect. Steam Deck has the potential to finally break the bond of PC Gaming and Windows. Creating more choice for consumers, better optimization of PC OS like Linux for running games - which is what makes SteamOS so great. Windows has always been this hybrid OS, doing it all and all not very good, because they had to support legacy and such a broad spectrum of hardware, software, tasks etc. SteamOS with a tailored Linux kernel on the other hand has the ability to fine tune the OS, just like consoles do. This will enable better performance, maybe even new features for gamers and gaming. It's the first real competitor for Microsoft in PC gaming. Which is always good for consumers in the end.
Agreed. If Valve can turn SteamOS into an actual "gaming" OS for the layman, then Microsoft might just drop down a few levels of clouds they've been developing Windows from... but Windows is just too familiar and integrated to ever stop being the most dominant desktop OS on the market. But I hope that doesn't stop Valve from trying to take away a piece of that enormous cake from them!
You really should have a play with SteamOS. They've set it up to look just like the wine-dows we all know and hate
@@233kosta I don't hate Windows, I hate what it's becoming. Look at Google - they "own" and develop Android, yet ANYONE can make an Android "distro" for themselves or others that functions 99% as the official manufacturer's distros.
Microsoft really should do the same with Windows - open up the source code, let developers create their own versions of it, and if Microsoft really wants to monetize every single aspect of the OS then they can sell licensed copies of it without ruining the experience for everyone else.
@@mbazoka Maybe you don't, but I despise it at this point. Anything after 7? Forget it.
Google can do that with Android (which... just no. e/OS is nearly as functional, but without all the bloatware and google creeping on you) because it's basically a linux distribution. Windows is a monolith. You can't really do that with it. M$ just need to think of the user as the customer again. But they won't, so I'm glad Lord Gaben is punishing them for it.
In a some years there won't be many games left that require windows. It'll become just another option.
couldnt agree more, now that windows is trying to milk with subscription model rumor on windows 12
Because of the Deck, I've been able to play so many games I missed out on back in the day (or only had demos for). I also like how I can also play Switch games and new PC titles. It's the best gaming device I've ever owned.
are emulated games free?
@@marcuszoldesi4067 Yup 😊
@@marcuszoldesi4067 No. like PC games you have to buy them.
What emulator you use for the switch?
@Argonisgema but you don't actually HAVE to buy them.
To put the battery life in perspective: yes, competing handhelds like the Aya Neo 2 and GPD Win 4 have better battery life. But considering you can buy two Steam Decks for the price of one of those, you can literally do that, play a game until your first Steam Deck dies, and then just pick up where you left on your second Steam Deck. And you’d still have spent less than you would have on one of the competitors.
No matter which way you twist that, that’s insane value.
The Steam Deck is my gateway into replaying PS2 games from my childhood. Absolutely love the deck and Steam Deck OS. 🙌🏻
exactly what I was thinking of doing if I got one haha, might just have to grab it now
Been trying out the Metroid Prime Trilogy, never got to play it as a kid because I had a PS2, then a Xbox 360, also been replaying Halo MCC since those are the games I grew up with
Yep, sony never wanted to do it, they can now sit on their losses
Are the ps2 games on steam store?
@@b-41subject57 some but not many, most youll have to emulate
The production is top notch. Love the color and music choices.
This is the first video that I watched from your channel and your editing skills are on point.
By the way, nice review and comparisons.
Thanks Nicky I really appreciate that! :D
I'm getting ordering one for my 30th birthday tomorrow, I can't wait :)
Happy bday 🎉
The gyro support is awesome. I've customized almost every shooter I have to activate gyro aiming when I hold the left trigger for ads.
I never bought a switch, but if I bought one today I would be building my library from scratch. Day 1 on deck I already had a full games library. Even though I bought the most expensive version of the deck, a switch would still have cost me way more money just to get 10 to 15 games to play on it.
I got my Steam Deck back in October and it's quickly become my favourite gaming system! I'm a die hard Xbox fan but I own all systems and PC gaming was the only thing I struggled to get into.
Steam Deck changed all that and now I've got it customised via plugins so that I have an OG Xbox colour scheme and even boot video haha.
Edited to say I got it in October not March no idea why I put March haha.
I've seen many Steam Deck reviews, but this is the first where I'm hooked almost instantly from your high quality presentation. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the kind comment, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊
Mostly been using the Steam Deck as a Steam gaming device... but I recently started emulating on it, specifically games that are no longer available for retail purchase on hardware that is no longer being manufactured. As someone who didn't start gaming until 2014, the emulation power of the Steam Deck is letting me experience what I missed.
Out of curiosity, what games did you decide to emulate?
@@jackwilson2358 GB and GBA titles mostly, but some Sega games that haven't made it to steam yet.
@@DiMacky24get on that ps2 grind rn 💪 some of the best games on there
Amazing video! Although I really need to highlight something here: The performance on Windows is anything but the same. On Windows you cannot leverage some of the Deck's bespoke performance-improvements such as pre-compiled community-wide shader caches. Also in order to take advantage of the Deck's 40Hz capable display and more, you'd have to utilize third-party tools on Windows (CRU, Handheld Companion, just to name a few). But I'm glad you covered the Golden 40, which is simply such a game changer, people too often overlook. Good job!
Ahh big fan of your channel, thank you for dropping by! Also thanks for these important corrections too, I'm gonna pin this here for reference! ❤
@@hmr0 Hah, thanks so much for the kind words! I dig your style, keep em coming!
🤓🤓🤓
I have Minecraft on Google Play on Android, how can I play it from the deck??
You forget Gaming Laptop category
I always wantad to have this Steam Deck but it is still rarely available in my country, and overprice. So I skip my wish on this, but why your video popped up on my youtube home, it makes me really wanted to have this Steam Deck again. I hope I can afford this soon enough.
SMT fix is included in the new Linux Kernel apparently and that one is coming in the next major Deck update. That is a PROPER fix rather than the workaround that you can currently use in Power tools. And of course updating the Kernel is long overdue anyway as there were a LOT of performance improvements gathered up over the time, admittedly many of them being supposedly already individually added to Deck updates as they came.
I just want to say, damn! that b-roll intro footage at 4:19, what a visual treat! :D
I can't wait what will be their next step with the steam deck. Hopefully in a few years we get a steam deck 2 with an OLED screen and better battery
I have a feeling there will be a pro version to tap into those with bigger wallets.
I will gladly go well above 1000$/£ if the battery or hardware is bumped up!
Cant buy it in Norway atm, and probably never will because valve don't sell any hardware in Norway.. Sucks, so i guess i will look at other alternatives
Got my deck recently with the 10% off sale. I can’t believe this device. So good. Im able to play some old SNES games I haven’t been able to touch since childhood. It’s incredible!
Just bought mine (64GB), and down the road, I will upgrade the internal SSD + MicroSD card for just ludicrous amounts of storage for emulation, and modern Steam titles.
Great video! You truly mentioned all the points that were important for me personally, and now that it's on sale, I am seriously considering getting a steam deck.
Just bought it and it hasn't moved for a whole day! SMH 😂
@@vontrapp9853 mine is slated for a Tuesday delivery (hoping it comes sooner), I'm gonna be the same way hahaha. Already have the games downloaded on my potato PC just for the sake of not having to wait for them to download on Deck hahaha
13:56 This.... I've literally had a similar experience with this, due to the limited storage space this issue ended becoming a positive for me.
I've always had the luxury of 2TB systems and thus I would always end up installing a lot of my favorite games of the past. However 9/10 I would never actually play them. They would just sit there in storage.
The limited storage of the steam deck actually helped make this bad habit of mine visible to me.
I've hit a mix of both by having multiple SD cards for my Deck, big new games on 1tb SD, smaller older games on 256gig SD
he's back! glad to see you posting videos again. This is definitely your best work yet, excellent video editing. Keep up the great work! Until your next video...
Thank you! Big fan of your channel too! ❤️
I personally think of the steam deck as a "very portable gaming laptop" rather than a "not very portable handheld"
If you look at it from that perspective, it looks like an entirely different product.
HMR’s editing aesthetics are something else. I am learning a ton from your stuff man. Hope to steal a few of your techniques for my stuff 🤣
Great video!
I am very glad you mentioned the speakers. I have a rocking home theater and consider myself a sound enthusiast
With that out of the way notice that the speakers are split near perfectly to line up with your ears? Thats where your sweet stereo affect is harvested. Genius placement.
He's back! Great video, better production quality than some big channels with hundreds of videos. And I'm disappointed that I didn't notice this video sooner.
40 fps on 40 Hz is such a game changer! I dearly hope that Nintendo takes advantage of a variable refresh rate screen in Switch 2! It would be a mistake not to.
You had some killer shots in this video. Nicely done! I really enjoyed it
This is a perfect review, accurately highlighting the pros and cons of this insanely intuitive handheld device. Usually when people say something is a “counter-part” killer, I don’t believe them. But this really was the Switch Killer to me. Playing Doom Eternal at a perfect 60 fps w/ Ultra settings handheld, is absolutely mind-blowing. Awesome Review!
Man, this is an awesome review.
Really great to see the comparison with game consoles and the Nintendo Switch. I dislike the single USB-C port and the screen quality but it's understandable seeing Gabe's interview talking about the manufacture cost and the importance of the low cost for the entry model.
It's important the assume roles of different personas, like the gamer, the business guy, and the tech guru and you did that.
Again, awesome review.
I ordered my 64gb Deck on the sale, and it should ship out tomorrow! I'm watching your video to hype myself until it arrives!
I think you listed the exact reasons I am so interested in it. I really enjoy my Android emulation device, and I tested how much I would enjoy the Deck by streaming Steam through wifi from my PC, and loved it. The form factor and features will be even better, and I have no doubt it will be exactly what I am looking for. Can't wait to tackle some of my indie game backlog especially!
I got the 64gb deck. I switched the ssd for 1tb ssd. It’s easy to do.
Amazing hook. As soon as I opened the video I was like "Do I really need to hear someone else talking about how unique this thing is?"
Before I clicked away, you managed to keep my attention by, well, drawing attention that the opening is already a cliché at this point.
Kudos, now I'm staying until the end.
Amazing video man, great editing style. Bought the 512 deck a last week and its getting her tmr!
What a terrific review. You hit on sooooo many points. Nicely done.
14:40 Ha! While it certainly wasn't a "main" selling point, but I for one still remember when Valve had to remove and re-edit their promotional video for the Deck because it contained footage of that Switch emulator.
That’s A really Good point never noticed due to The smaller storage size you definitely do become more particular about what to download and once it is downloaded you are more committed to Finishing it… mainly due to it Gobbling up “other” storage slowly lol
I've never had issues with dolphin on steam deck. Simply use power tools, all games run smooth. I have great performance on switch games as well. Getting power tools and cryoutilities is a must if you are into emulation on the steam deck
He's running Windows, which isn't optimized for the deck (or any other hardware). I don't understand how anybody could run Windows these days.
Finally you made this review! Thanks for your input
Thank you for an absolutely beautiful and thorough review, with intelligent points all the way through. Your production taste is killer too.
Wow great work on production and great review. You got yourself a subscriber!!
dude this editing is insane. underrated channel
The Steam Deck changed my gaming life. It also had an effect on my professional work as well though. I travel quite a bit and I enjoy gaming on the go, so I've always been a fan of handheld gaming. The Switch was my go-to for the past couple years, but the Deck opened a new world for me. All these AAA titles, the small and fun indies, and the retro stuff all in one place. Several generations of games in one device that I can take anywhere.
But it also gave me an excuse to have a high end custom gaming PC. I do videography and photography for my job. I have always used a decent laptop for my editing and processing, but the reality is, a laptop for a decent price is going to struggle with what I use it for. The gaming PC has made photo and video editing so much easier, so much smoother and far more efficient, so my overall productivity went up. Obviously, I could just built a high end PC without the Deck, but that's what brought it to my attention and gave my the drive to dive in.
The Deck remains my go-to for gaming now, but I enjoy using the large screen on my PC as well from time to time. It just opened a new world for me. So glad I bought one and I'd say it was likely the best gaming purchase I have ever made to date.
New subscriber here, the SD has opened up the market to everyone.
I am looking forward to your review of the GPD WIN 4, which I opted to go for instead of the SD, which was on my bucket list since it was announced.
Legendary Comeback!
Great review and great video. the SMT issue is gong to be fixed in the next steam OS release (3.5) there's an article about it on PC gamer if you want more info
damn bro just when I need you most... I realize you haven't been around for 4 months?? COME BAAAAAAACK!!
Great editing!
Great Review! Everything i wanted to hear 👍
Your shots of the Steam deck look so good, that was beautiful. On the comparison part, while you nailed the deck vs Switch comparison, the one against other handled PC is a little unfair, there's way better handled than GPD on the market right now (Ayaneo, OneXPlayer...).
They're more expensive tho
the comparison would be unfair either way since they cost more than double the price of the Steam Deck, not exactly competition.
@@VascoMaior (over) double the price, (roughly) double the performance, and double the power consumption (even WORSE battery life). IMO it's not worth it. Deck wins for me
The points he made are still valid though.
Over 1k usd, customer support is no where near valve's, usually have to be imported so warranty is more complicated. They did improve in the bulid quality though.
And I trust valve for long term support more than the chinese makers. Pumping a new device every year or two and neglecting the older models software wise is more likely with the ayaneo and the onxplayer
Curious on your views of the max 2.
I already have one. But I'm curious what you think of it
I'd love to but sadly I don't have a Win Max 2!
I wish the steam was smaller. I would buy it in a heartbeat if they managed to fit it into a smaller form factor
The charging port on the bottom would've only had a marginal cost. I think the real reason is they didn't want to have to RMA a bunch of damaged chargers from people resting the cable on surfaces. Essentially smashing it.
Also the heat from the charging port would damge SD cards
Its an amazing machine. A beast in value but its shortcomings like it being uncomfortable to hold or it not being powerful enough for certain AAA games is where its competition comes in and this is why the steam deck is amazing, it gave some real confidence to other companies to make other pc handhelds. The steam deck really disrupted the handheld pc market and opened up an avenue of potential. Sure, there are positives and negatives to its competition as well but Im very happy with my steam deck and what it has done for gaming.
the one thing I love about the deck over the switch is how comfortable it is to hold. I regularly do 5-8 hour coop sessions with my friend without issue. I genuinely have never used a handheld or controllers that gave me cramp in under half an hour, the switch's small width and terrible controller layout really made it unbearable.
the deck is nearly shoulder width, hence why it feels lighter than other PC handhelds, the thought they put into the ergonomics of the steam deck is unrivalled in any other console
@@zanderman2009 i fully agree
Best review of Steam Deck I've seen so far. Nobody I watched talked/cares about SLEEP Mode in SteamOS/Windows. I'm currently researching/comparing the benefits of buying a UMPC for future proofing concerns, but if Valve releases a next revision with better specs as you'd mention, and more importantly: make it more accessible to purchase worldwide, I wouldn't think twice of buying it.
I just ordered one like an hour ago I’m so excited for it to come in.
Did you get it?
It is the most ingenious device. I have to wonder how Valve didnt think of something like this before.
Its the perfect answer of what to do with all of those easy to run indie games that you bought on your ultra powerful 2k PC. We all buy them, but they feel under utilized because we bought our PCs to run RDR2 and Horizon.
Now when we arent playing those AAA games on ultra max graphics at home, we can enjoy the smaller titles and give them a chance to shine. I hope this opens up a whole new world for Valve.
Absolutely great video dude
I really slept on this thing. I had a PC for a while and it's coming time to upgrade it, and it was then where I saw the steam deck was on sale. And when I found out it's basically not only a PC I don't have to worry about upgrading, but that I can get a dock for it and play it on my TV, or on a monitor, it was looking like a mighty good buy. Add on teh fact that I can mod it, put emulators on it, and it can even run discord and other apps on it, I know for sure that I'm going to buy one this summer. The battery life doesn't even bother me much, since I'll probably be using it docked most of the time, and if I'm traveling or something, I can just get a portable charger for it i'm sure if I REALLY need it.
The only thing is, i'm not 100 percent sure which storage option I want to go for. I'm not too tech savvy (the most i've done is solo build a PC) but I'm sure I could replace an SSD if I really wanted to, so I'm mostly thinking the middle model for now and getting a half terabyte SD card. Thanks for the review!
amazing video. the quality of your content feels like i'm watching a channel with 200k subscribers
How can I check if it will run my older steam library games as… Shadowrun, Xcom, Battletech series ??
Do you think an anti-glare screen protector would help or make the screen blurrier?
Great job on this!!!! Glad to see it performing well. Did you use a green screen or what?
Or is it an LED panel?
@@CyberDopamine Ah thanks for the kind words! 😊 I did those shots by placing my dining table in front of my TV. 😅
@@hmr0 that is just amazing
Thank you for this well done review, I own my deck for 8 months now and I can only agree with all you have stated!
2:48 "But first,"
I _instantly_ knew the music was coming next
You are the first one that got my reference! 😭 *cries in scuttlebug jamboree*
@@hmr0 lol, really? A shame, it's one of the greatest videos on the whole internet
Yes!!!!! its About freaking time .. can't wait till the 19th.
Shiiii your graphics and aesthetic is cool. Worth a sub
Man, your music selection was to notch in this video.
interesting how youve had issues with Dolphin on deck as that's what I've been playing through quite alot on deck with no issues apart from sonic and the secret rings, could not get that 1 working well at all
I am just buying mine for my 37th birthday. I built a gaming PC last in the Win XP days, and never really stayed away, playing older games years after release on older hardware. I have an Xbox for newer stuff, but the PC games I want to play were inaccessible. This will make that possible, plus I don’t have to go out and spend hundreds on a new game library. I cannot wait for it to show up!
Great video, I enjoyed watching it. 👍 and subbed.
Not sure if you’d know this but can you run PCS3 on it and since you’re running windows, I’m guessing cheat engine also works? I’ve been thinking about buying it, I’m probably going to get rid of my gaming PC and use this instead. While my gaming pc is way more capable than the SD in my current situation it just makes sense to go this route.
Great video and nice broll shots! At 5:10 you said they made hardware like the Steam Controller and Vive headsets but Valve made the Index haha. Pretty sure the Vive is from HTC or something.
This new gen of handhelds is amazing though. The price sucks but ones like the GPD Win 4 with that PS Vita like form factor and a key board are tempting me to add to my collection.
Come one Vavle, open preorders for those from south east asia. I wanna get my hands on one.
Ok that was probably the best into I have ever watched, 4:30 and I enjoyed every second of it
Only one bad think about this video is the mediocre quality in your microphone, overall this video is great. Big up man
Excellent videos. I have now subscribed.
gius, is rtx 3080 a good trade for steam deck? am i overtrading or undertrading?
bro your hands are huge! they make the steam deck look like a switch and when you were holding the switch lite, it looked like one of those emulation handhelds 😁
Ordering mine in a couple of weeks
i use mine as my work laptop. i just bought a 15.6 portable screen and use that for the deck. slap a windows 10 and im good to go. ill just use my phone as a webcam if i ever need to use one. its better than any other anthlon/celeron laptops on the same price. yes celeron/anthlon are the same price with the base deck here.
Yes I toss my phone in the corner of my room when I get home and it's steam deck all day🤷♂️
Not really, the base price is £349 nd that is around the same price as an intel i3 1215u laptop in the uk (the i3 1215uhas a better cpu but a worse igpu). Personally It's not really a great laptop replacement the storage space is too low. 64gb isn't enough at all lol. It's not enough for unity + visual studio code.
I have Minecraft Java Edition running on my deck. I even have a tile for it in my steam library. There's a youtube video tutorial for getting it working using a custom client, bit fiddly but not too bad. You can even have modpacks installed. I also have Gran Tourismo 3 A-Spec and Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 in my steam library, thanks to emudeck.
Mad Taiko skills you have there, champ! 😎👍 (15:50)
Your realization about having less games to choose from has made it easier to choose what to play, is actually something that has been clinically proven and is taught in interface design and user experience design. We call it the rule of "seven plus or minus two". Basically, it demonstrates that if the average user is given more than 9 options their mind will wander, they start to rationalize one option over the other and ultimately feel overwhelmed with making a decision to the point where their fight or flight mentality kicks in and they choose to move on without making a decision because it feels like a safer choice. Likewise if you present them with less than five options they tend to lose interest in making a choice entirely. So lucky number 7 for options is the happy medium we strive for. I can' wait to get my steam deck. Although I can afford one now, I need to land a job first. Priorities.
Steam Deck is the best price to performance ratio in the handheld space. I don't care if you show me the Ayaneo 2 or GPD Win 4. They might be technically slightly better but they're also 2-3x more expensive. And who knows the level of software and customer support you'll get from them? Valve has an established ecosystem.
With all that said, I still haven't gotten one. I may still wait for a much smaller one or if Valve knocks another $100 off from it. I was playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for hours yesterday and it got me thinking 💭: Maybe the 8th gen is the GOAT for gaming? For years, I kept saying Double Dash is the GOAT Mario Kart game. I'm so wrong. We have it better now.
Not to diss my beloved 6th gen but there were still graphical limitations from pop-in and poor draw distance. I felt PS4 is when graphics got perfected. Wasn't really a fan of the 7th gen but the 8th gen polished what the 5th through 7th gen tried doing with 3D graphics.
Since I have a modded PSP, modded PS Vita, Switch Lite, and multiple Android smartphones with emulators on them, I don't feel the need to keep playing old games from 20-30+ years ago. If I got a Steam Deck, it would be mostly to play games released within the last 8 years.
I want NEW gaming experiences. Leave the past behind. Not play that favorite PSP game for the 100th time. I know nostalgia is a powerful drug especially in gaming, but we need to try out NEW experiences and Steam Deck offers this with the best price point.
I believe the PS Vita is the best PlayStation ever made. I believe the Switch is the best Nintendo product ever made. They're considered part of the 8th gen even though their graphics are closer to 6th to 7th. I would take those two handhelds over any home console I've owned starting from NES leading up to PS4. I prefer them portable. I believe Steam Deck will surpass Vita and Switch thanks to its raw power.
Valve made the PS Vita 2 that Sony never gave us. It made us the Switch 2 at least 2 years before the real Switch 2 comes out. Wouldn't it be cool if Sega released another portable for us? Get back in the hardware business. Be even cooler if they released a smartphone. Same with Nintendo. And Sony should release an Xperia Play 2.
I say own them all. Get the best of all worlds. Nintendo, Sega, and Sony all raised me, so I will always support their products even though each of them can piss off their customers. But you really can't go wrong owning a modded Vita, Switch, Android smartphone, and a Steam Deck. You have basically every generation of gaming covered including the current 9th gen that PS5 is living in and you can play all 50 years of gaming on-the-go. No need to be tethered to a TV set.
I hear Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is a PS5 exclusive. A PS4 owner like me won't get it. But I got a feeling it will eventually be released for the Steam library. There ya go. Steam Deck is the platform of choice for gaming on-the-go for the foreseeable future. We know Nintendo can be stingy with powerful hardware or offering their first-party games at more affordable prices.
The Switch was really the first powerful handheld (or hybrid) that Nintendo had ever created. I always felt from Game Boy all the way to 3DS, they never gave us the best hardware. The 3DS wasn't all that more powerful than the PSP! The graphics are just beautiful on the Switch even if its Tegra chip is 8-years-old. It's a portable Wii U and the Wii U was slightly more powerful than the 360 and PS3.
This blows my mind that I can get PS3-level graphics on-the-go without overheating. For someone who grew up on the NES, Genesis/SNES, and PS1 but skipped the 7th gen except for the Wii, it really does amaze me with the tech we have now in our handhelds and smartphones. I think sometimes we take it for granted or are too spoiled by it all.
Thank you, Valve. Thank you, Gabe. You made the greatest gaming device ever created and at such an affordable price. Currently $359.99 as I type this as it has a 10% discount. Own a pretty powerful Android smartphone with Snapdragon 870 or higher, a modded Vita, a Switch, and Steam Deck. You will have every generation of gaming covered. Honestly, you only need the Steam Deck. Android smartphones reach Wii emulation at best.
The 8th generation of gaming is the GOAT. Not the 6th or 4th. The graphics and the awesome indies are what made the 8th gen the GOAT. If you look back from the 5th gen to 7th gen, there was a lack of 2D platformers with the exception from the Sega Saturn which was the GOAT MAME machine. I'll scour 2D platformers on PS1 (it has Castlevania SOTN), N64, Dreamcast, PS2, and GameCube. They barely covered this popular genre from the 3rd & 4th gen.
It wasn't until the 8th gen coinciding with the smartphone revolution and their mobile games did the 2D platformer genre truly returned. Now Super Mario World and Sonic 2 are my two favorite 2D platformers of all-time. But look at some of the awesome 2D platformers during the last 12 years...
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Rayman Origins
Rayman Legends
Ninja Arashi 1 & 2
Oddmar (my personal mobile fav)
Ori 1 & 2
GRIS
Kaze and the Wild Masks
Kick & Finneck
Leo's Fortune
Guacamelee 1 & 2
Iconoclasts
SteamWorld Dig 1 & 2
Sonic Mania
These are all games that can be found on my Switch Lite, Vita slim, or iPhone SE 3. Then we have beautiful beat 'em ups like Dragon's Crown and Muramasa Rebirth. We have Horizon Chase which is a modern reboot of Top Gear which is one of my all-time favorite SNES games.
We have Blazblue and Dengeki Bunko which looks better than any 2D fighter during the 90s including every Street Fighter game released in that decade. We have the best-looking and best-playing Mario Kart ever made which is really a Wii U port but it's the definitive version of it on the Switch that we can play anywhere.
True, sports games went downhill. Madden and NBA 2K went downhill thanks to greedy EA. We are stuck with micro-transactions. But overall, the 8th gen kicked serious ass! It's the greatest generation for video games thanks to 3D textures being perfected. Because we had Nintendo's and Sony's greatest handhelds even if they're using a generation behind in hardware next to their home console siblings.
The 2D games are far more beautiful now than what we played during the 16-bit era. Don't let nostalgia blind you and make you keep living in the past. We have it better now. I wouldn't mind if the 9th gen continues to remake games from the 5th through 7th gens. Polish up the graphics and gameplay more. I would love a Shenmue II remake but with far better graphics than the one we saw from Shenmue III.
We really don't have the technical limitations that we had 20-30 years ago. Games like Sonic Adventure, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Twilight Princess could easily be remade if FFVII did. You will see that the 6th gen wasn't all that graphically and needs the proper modern retouching from the hardware we have now.
Ranking The Generations
8th
6th
7th (moved up thanks to Switch, ❤️ AC4: Black Flag)
4th
5th (underrated, most progressive)
3rd
2nd
1st
*9th is still going on and isn't on my list yet.
Games look perfect to me already whether in 2D or 3D and in any genre. I know by 2025, we could have photorealistic graphics. But how much better gameplay would that be? Better-looking doesn't mean better gameplay. This is why I wouldn't be bothered if Nintendo doesn't make the Switch 2 any more powerful than the Deck. They always focused on fun gameplay.
Another thing I want to add is Switch is only at 720p when on-the-go/undocked. I prefer this. I don't want 4K games on the go with games over 100 GB. I know we can't have 720p forever but I'm fine with that resolution in order to save battery life. All the high-res stuff are shallow reasons that doesn't make the games more fun to play.
3DS
Vita
Wii U
PS4
Xbone
Switch
Sorry, not an Xbox fan although I did own the original Xbox from 2001 and did play my brother's 360 from time to time. I see no differences from it compared to a PC library. The Japanese companies is what made me love video games in the first place. I stick to what I feel comfortable with the way nostalgic people stick to something more familiar to them.
Steam Deck is the GOAT gaming device. At least right now until another device can beat it in price/performance. Better than any handheld or home console I've owned from the past 35 years. And I loved all those systems even my barely used Atari Jaguar. Steam Deck is a PC gamer's dream come true. It's the ultimate emulation device and current handheld to play modern games.
Think of the Steam Deck 1 like that first iPhone. If it has 4-year life cycles, imagine what the Steam Deck 3 will be like in 7 years? It's usually in that 2nd or 3rd generation is when companies nail it. It will only get better and better. The first Steam Deck sold over 1M. Obviously, not on par to Switch sales or even PSP sales but it still went platinum. Still niche but it's not a flop. Looking forward to watching this product line grow during the next 10 years.
That was… an essay.
I simply adore the Steam Deck! Proton alone is a marvel, with how effortlessly Windows games work in a Linux environment from the users standpoint. Steam, Heroic Games and Lutris make installing games so easy and Proton and Wine run them so well that I've been thinking of moving to Linux on my desktop as well lol. But the multitude of control options make the Steam Deck specifically great compared to other haldheld PC devices. The Deck can be a bit heavy at times, but I kinda like it that it's so chonky. It's quite comfortable to hold if you can support your arms for longer sessions. And any time a game hasn't worked on the Deck as well as I expected it to, it's usually the developers fault for not having optimized it very well. At other times low performance was to be expected and I can't fault the Deck for it. It's specs are what they are, and they are great for the price point.
There is even an option for publishers to upload a Steam Deck depot. means they could theoretically tailor their game better towards the Deck with, for example, lower res assets which still look good on a 800p display but maybe 50% of the size then the original assets.
While having the regular depots for avg. PCs.
But I've not seen any publisher doing this as of now.
the features i want to see the most on steam deck "pro" are:
hollo sticks
Oled
and better battery (but we could solve that with a power bank)
i dont have deck "1.0" yet, and im not going to wait for the "pro" version, buying as soon as possible if i can.
i use my steamdeck as my main pc once i bought a dock for it and set it up that way i love it
I have Minecraft on Google Play on Android, how can I play it from the deck??
What a great video. It's beautiful and informative.
Excellent video, also steam deck is on sale right now until the 23rd of march. 10% off! Just got the 64gb one for a nice discount!
Valve will have a permanent fix for the SMT issue coming soon with the new Arch Kernel in Steam OS 3.5.
If you want a full in-depth review, this video is it.
I really want a Steam Deck but I rarely leave my house since I work from home. Would love to tinker with one. As newer games come out the Steam Deck will fall further behind with it's hardware so I think emulation is a key selling point. On the other hand a used Switch Lite can be had for $130.
I don't work from home, but when I do get home I stay home. Not much traveling here. I bought it to play in bed and I regret nothing :,D
X Box Game Pass can now be installed on Steam OS.
I love the deck for playing older games and games like dead cells. I can’t bring myself to play triple A games when I have a good PC but worth getting for older games when you just want to chill on your bed.
Good content. Thanks!
What is the racing game at 11:24? I've been looking for a good sim racer on the deck
Its GRID Legends
i guessed this channel has millions of subs. turns out you only got 4 thousand. incredible. the quality is much beyond of multi million sub channels. really impressive narrative too.
I still can't understand the UI working so badly----even in the Spring Sale I get locked in a repeatable stop of the Store page just accepting the daily sticker, let alone still having no sort or back button for wishlists & more.
9:46 Were you aware that the USB port is very expandable, and there’s even an official (albeit expensive) dock for it?
What an amazing video, im out of words