shikamaru317 said:

I just can't get over how utterly ridiculous this picture looks. 

Nice. The modding community could do a lot with this, I wouldn't be surprised if some people would get it primarily for emulation purposes.
Really shines a light on how lacking the switch is hardware wise, $50 more gives you a lot more power to play with. That said 64gb in 2021 for a handheld console is laughable. I don't think this is really a Switch competitor though as it's targeting a different demographic and won't effect Switch sales that much if at all.

A few things to note.

You can install Windows on it if you want to and it will work like a normal PC.

Valve has been working on Proton since I believe 2018 which is a way to get Windows games to work on Linux. If you use the Steam client on Linux, you shouldn't need to tweak anything to get Windows games to run Linux for the majority of the games. Valve also said they are working with Anti Cheat developers to enable Linux compatibility for Windows games that have Anti Cheat engines. According to Valve, by the time Steam Deck comes out, every game on Steam will run on Linux.

The Steam Deck ships with Steam OS 3.0 which runs a custom version of Linux. As a casual user, if you ever used big picture mode on Steam, it will look and function very similar to that. It should be as simple as logging in, hitting the install button to download/install the game and pressing play. Valve is making it very user friendly but you do have access to the full desktop version of Linux if you are a power user.

While it's more powerful than the Switch, for the latter games are getting optimized to run well on the hardware. So not sure they will run better or more beautiful on the steamdeck as I doubt there will be many games optimized for it.

Another question will be battery life. The chip is basically a tweaked Ryzen 7 4700U with a more modern RDNA2 GPU instead of the old Vega GPU, but that still should consume quite a bit more than the Tegra in the Switch does. I honestly don't expect more than 2 hours of battery life except they make it at least as heavy as what the steamdeck also looks like, especially with the button/joystick configuration: The Wii U Gamepad. It seems already quite a bit thicker than the Switch, so I fear weight could be a problem.

I like the idea of this device, but its too big/bulky, its expensive and going for more storage just makes it significantly more expensive.

It won't be a hit per se. But it could kill the GDP Win.

Considering IGN had their hands on it and they are able to run Star Wars the Fallen Order on high at I am assuming at least 30fps, this will be much more on par with a base ps4 than anywhere near a switch.

They are also able to run portal for 4 hours at 60fps but higher end games will probably be at that 2 hour mark no doubt. But depending on how you tweak things, you could certainly make it last longer.

I like it better than the Switch since I don't care/play Nintendo exclusive games and do tend to play plenty of PC games. However, I still also don't have a need/want to play games on the go. So I have no need for this either. I'd rather a Steam Laptop than this. Which for obvious reason is just a gaming laptop I can already get anywhere. Which I also would not buy.

Yep,.... x86 and is probably ~4x performance (of the switch), so ofc its battery life isnt going to be the same.

You will probably have to carry around a extra battery bank, with you, if you plan on useing this thing "on the go" to game with.

Edit:
The GPD Win 3, at 15watts (not it max) can run Yuzu (switch) emulation for ~3 hours.
Its just barely powerfull enough to do Mario Odessey at like 58-60 fps (with a few dips), while something like Paper Mario runs flawlessly smooth.

This Handheld is so much more powerfull, that I suspect, it will run every Switch game, at full speed (even when downclocked, to prolong battery life).
(that the yazu emulator can run).  Again probably only for like 3 hours though. With such a device, you ll just have to get used to carrying around a battery bank.

LurkerJ said: shikamaru317 said: I just can't get over how utterly ridiculous this picture looks.

This overtakes playing NBA 2Kin tabletop mode after playing Basketball

And people said handhelds were dead.

But really, this seems an odd offer. Out of all of the companies to try portable, Steam seems an odd one, considering keyboard and mouse are the ideal way to play PC games. It's going to be all the rage with modders and emulator players, though.