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| credit: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck |
"Hardware is hard"
This is a popular quote because it's true for those that don't specialize in hardware to launch something new. If creating hardware devices isn't your core business, making the deep and long investment in prototyping/testing/building/mass producing can be daunting. Iterating on smartphone designs with a trillion dollar captive audience has its own risks, but it's still iteration versus creating something outside of the company's comfort zone.
Pulling it off
Valve pulled it off (though it wasn't without some stumbling blocks along the way) with its 2022 release of the Steam Deck. For the first time, we had a high-quality, compelling, available (yes, preorders took a LONG time - I joined the waitlist immediately in late 2021 and took delivery in May 2022) and powerful gaming handheld that could access your Steam library* (AKA infinite backlog) with enough horsepower to have an enjoyable experience. To top it off, it was running Linux/SteamOS instead of Windows (thought it can) and immediately became one of the best ways to get through your gaming library thanks to instant suspend/resume.
The Steam Deck became an unlikely hit and became a great supplement to many people's gaming computers. In some cases, more gaming is being done on people's Steam Decks than on their more powerful gaming PCs with large monitors.
Why? The performance on the strategically chosen LCD (1280x800) allows the included APU to shine giving gamers a smooth framerate while looking "good enough". The Steam Deck can't compete with a 4080 + 4k monitors, but it doesn't have to. It's no-contest when you want to go play on the couch, do some gaming on the go, grind out some levels before rolling over in bed, and more.
The gaming community (Reddit) has shown us creative ways and places that they're playing actual PC games. Not mobile games, not portable console games (Nintendo Switch), but actual PC games that they already own through Steam.
Looking through people's Steam Recaps on Reddit, I was surprised at how many of the graphs showed more playtime on Steam Deck than on a gaming PC. Then I saw mine:
Without realizing it, I had definitely spent more time on the Steam Deck than I thought (yay for laid-back gaming sessions). Sure not EVERY game in my backlog is compatible (yet?), but the simplicity and portability of the Steam Deck apparently made it my platform of choice.
The Old Backlog...
For me, the Steam Deck is perfect to start nibbling (let's face it, that's probably the best I can do at this rate) at my Steam backlog. Why? Because many of the older games that I haven't gotten around to will run perfectly on the Steam Deck.
It's a bit shameful, but I must admit not having finished the following "classics" and these are the ones that I've started playing on the Steam Deck:
- Bioshock 1 and 2 - I completed Infinite years ago, and figured I'd better go back for more of that unique atmosphere.
- Dishonored - I started this on PS3 or PS4 but load times were terrible so I switched to PC/Steam Deck. This game runs great on the Deck!
- Fallout 3 - sigh - As someone who grew up playing Wasteland, I knew this would be right up my alley. I've started it more times than I care to admit, but I'm going to push through this time!
- Yakuza Kiwami 1 - I've owned these games longer than I care to admit, but after beating (and loving) Yakuza 0 more than 3 years go, it's time to get through these. I'm very eager to try the newest one with their take on turn-based combat.
- Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - The start of a well-regarded series that again, I've owned for years, but never got around to.
- Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet - I don't seem to like "action" JRPG games (I prefer the turn-based ones like Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, etc.) but this one is an outlier because I do enjoy some FPS/RPGs like Destiny 2 and it almost feels like an actual MMO (which is the premise...) and it almost feels like I have actual friends...