Which have a similar phenomenon of bringing old games back to life due to the limited specs of such devices. The Retroid pockets and Anbernics are the best at this in my opinion.
But I agree, it looks super chunky for something that is meant to be portable. I would consider the Nintendo Switch about the maximum size for something to comfortably travel with, and the Steamdeck is 250g heavier and bigger in all dimensions [0].
[0] https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-deck-vs-nintendo-switch/#secti...
I don't understand why. The SD fits in every bag I take with me. Unless all you travel with is a purse? Then I guess sure, it's too big. But the SD being 250g heavier and it being larger than the Switch are all positives for me. It has such a solid feel and the sides are more ergonomic in a way that makes it more comfortable to use than my Switch ever was.
The Switch fits flat down in my backpack. The Steamdeck would probably not fit in the same way. I haven't had a chance to handle one though. But personally I find the Switch already borderline annoying to take.
Typing this whilst waiting for a flight with a fully packed bag for what it's worth. On its own it would be fine, but once you add a drink bottle, toiletries, a laptop and chargers it adds up.
I don't think I'd try strapping it to the outside of any bag, even though the case it came with seems quite good. I think it would be unwieldy.
I have pretty severe hand pain after prolonged use of switch. Getting case with big grips definitely helps, but then switch gets much bigger.
While prolonged use of deck is also noticeable, it's much, much less taxing on hands. Or so i feel. Probably because it's more comfortable to hold due to size and built-in grips?
Compared to gaming on a laptop, the steam deck works better and is more flexible in more locations. The quick suspend feature, though it doesn't work with every game, just extends this convenience by making it easy to pickup and put down.
There's definitely a space for pocket gaming, but that faces stiff competition from phone games.
Obviously those things can't play modern PC titles on low to medium settings, but that doesn't feel particularly necessary to me.
I mean, then the SD isn't for you, no? Just get a Vita or one of the modern indie pocket gaming handhelds.
I've had a fantastic time playing Dwarf Fortress on the Steam Deck as a passenger in a car, as well as Team Fortress 2 in bed.
The steam deck replaces gaming laptops for me. Gaming laptops have always been hot, noisy, and highly failure prone. The deck is downright dainty in comparison and doesn't require me to carry a mouse, controller, and clunky power brick as well.
I rarely use the Deck but my girlfriend loves it. She prefers the handheld form factor for couch gaming. I just prefer my office chair to any other seat in my house which makes PC gaming more appealing.
I even have a portable monitor, and an external keyboard and mouse. Hook them all up with a USB hub and I have a "proper" desktop gaming setup that fits into my backpack no problem.
I can just plug it in to any hotel tv with an HDMI port and play full PC games.
I find it's just small enough, but I don't use it for every case. It's portable in the sense of being great to take with you on a plane or a trip; you wouldn't take it with you to work or school every day, I don't think. It fits in my personal item with good headphones, but there's not much space for something like a jacket. So I understand how the size excludes it from a lot of situations.
My current gaming is built around NVidia GeForceNow, Steam and the Steam Deck. I have all my bases covered and (almost!) all the games I want, "retro" and "current".
At home I have NVidia SHIELD devices on each TV. That's three rooms (one of which is on a gaming monitor with 120 Hz/HDR). I can play all my Steam (and Epic) games seamlessly on all three. They were $100 each and my founder's membership to GFN is $4.16/mo. The controllers were around $35 each as well. I don't strictly need three of them but I got them for symmetry. I like that I buy games on standard PC game stores like Steam, so if the service shuts down or gets crappy, I'll still have my games--it doesn't have the disadvantage that Stadia did. I had a PS4 and Xbone and I just never used them--I gave them away.
For the "very portable" case I have my phone. Its GFN client is great. I can use it with an onscreen controller in a pinch, or I have a Razer Kishi which is okay (standard thumbsticks and buttons). I also have a cheap Chromebook with a good GFN client I can use the play the same games. Of course, both these require good wi-fi or particularly good cell service. I've played on hotel marginal hotel wi-fi and on 4G/"5G" and that's about on the border between useable on non-useable.
Enter the Steam Deck. This covers the offline use case: planes, areas with bad wi-fi/wireless coverage. And it's still the same games with good hardware and good control. Ironically, what doesn't work well on it is GFN; but that's okay, because that's not really what I need it for.
That's the setup that works for me, and it works very well. I'm not a "hardcore" gamer and I don't own a PC at all. So for me, it is definitely portable enough for its use case.
There are various disadvantages that people might not like (besides the Steam Deck being pretty big, as you point out):
Game Selection: Obviously, this is a tradeoff with any gaming platform; not every game is available on Steam. With my setup, it's even more narrow: not every game on Steam is offered on GFN; and not every game on Steam works on the Steam Deck. There are some games I own that I can't play on the Deck; there are some games I could buy for the Deck that I couldn't play on GFN (I don't buy those games). There are still hundreds of games of every stripe available, so this doesn't faze me. It's true I can't play GTA:V, but that's probably the only game I really "miss".
Game streaming: I'm told input lag makes this not an option for "serious gamers." I'll believe them. For me, a "non-serious gamer", I detect no input lag. GFN isn't completely seamless and the fact that you're interacting with a Windows VM can be kind of clunky. No problem for a nerdy type, but there are a couple of rough edges for a consumer (for example, when launching a game you may need to interact with the Steam application in the VM to launch it, or sometimes it launches by itself; sometimes you need to invoke an onscreen keyboard and mouse input method to interact with a game launcher or close windows).
It also means your Internet access needs to be up to snuff. When it is, streaming is fine. In the past, I'd run into lag/jitter problems even when the problem wasn't on my end; that seems to have been fixed and I don't experience that anymore. I think there are also time or usage limits but I've never run into one so I'm not sure. On the other hand, the game client's connection to servers is always great (e.g. on Star Wars Battlefront II).
Limited controls: As far as I can tell, there's no GFN story for racing wheels, dance pads and other alternate controllers, at least with the SHIELD. This is probably the thing that bugs me most; I'd like to use a wheel for Euro Truck Simulator 2.
Glitches: The biggest problem on my Steam Deck is Bluetooth audio delay. I have tried remedies and system settings and they haven't worked. It's not great for a game where synced audio might be important. As it happens, my games aren't really like that and the delay is "okay". It bothers me aesthetically but doesn't make playing a game much less fun. But I'd love to see it resolved.
Another nit: cloud saves are not totally seamless, you need to pay attention to whether they're synced when using the Steam Deck. If you do, your play will be seamless; if you don't, it's possible to lose a save moving between the platforms.