Now that Nintendo depends on a single portable console, is there a risk that they'll go the way of Sega?
> You can also install and use PC software, of course. Browse the web, watch streaming video, do your normal productivity stuff, install some other game stores, whatever.
https://www.steamdeck.com/en/hardware
But you can run emulators on all sorts of things. Hell, I first played through BoTW on a WiiU emulator on my PC. I still ended up buying a Switch and one of the first things I did with it was play BoTW again.
But my mom bought a Wii back in the days. For herself. My mom doesn't usually play video games. And she is most certainly not at all interested in playing Doom or Hades (just because they're shown prominently on the webpage). But she liked Wii Fit and bought a Wii.
I honstly think the subset of people who would buy a Steam Deck to avoid buying a switch is so small, it would not put a significant dent in nintendo's bottom line.
The switch is for everyone else - way cheaper, unique games you won't find on a PC, etc. Plus, co-op. I recently spent 6+ hours at my friends house playing Super Mario 3D World Deluxe. They got one joycon, I got the other. In my college dorm, we have a switch dock attached to a monitor in the dorm lounge. Split the joycons, and 4 people can play smash or mario kart. I don't see the deck supporting these use cases.
Valve could try to create games that are more appealing to the typical Nintendo enthusiast, but I suspect the respective cultures are too different.
In this case, Nintendo has a large and dedicated fanbase, hardware that they (IIRC) sell at a profit, and a truly enormous warchest. They’ll be fine.
The Steam Deck will be a great complement to traditional PCs for people who are already bought into that ecosystem. For people who aren't, the console offerings from Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft are similarly priced and have obvious advantages.
This thing has many things working against it..
1. Games were designed for Windows, but are now running Linux--some are buggy or don't work
2. If they have controller support it isn't always 100%
3. That SSD will fill up in no time
4. With Switch you can get split screen multiplayer, not many PC games bother with that.
So does the Switch's. That's why you get a fat microSD (which the Deck also supports.)
The switch internal storage is only moderately faster than loading off of cartridge or micro SD, which are both very close in read speed; ~100MB/s.
Taken holistically the Switch storage limitations mean games on the platform are basically targeting the micro SD specs.
The Steam deck's primary value proposition is playing your existing Steam(PC) library on a handheld. Games on PC have been targeting SSD speeds for a long time now. People will be used to SATA SSD or m.2 NVMe speeds. Customers buying the base model are NOT going to have a great experience with the terrible eMMC storage. Customers trying to run modern games off 120-160MB/s micro SD are NOT going to have a great experience either. Selling a PC gaming machine in 2021 with 2008 storage speeds is a recipe for disappointment.
[0] https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/newzoo-games-market-num...
Raw spec peeping is something enthusiasts like to do, but I think they're a small chunk of the market.