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Comment by shp0ngle | Hacker News Reader

Why isn't the Steam Deck selling more? It seems like a strictly better version of Switch

As a SD owner, it's only a "better" version of the Switch through the eyes of Gamers. It's heftier, more expensive, has worse battery life, a worse screen, doesn't have the dock included, and doesn't have Nintendo's back catalog. The average person buying the Switch isn't looking to buy a Linux PC that may or may not support PC games; they want simplicity.

Yeah, it's hard to emphasize this enough - the Deck is absolutely huge. Photos and videos do not do justice to how huge it is. It takes up as much vertical space in a backpack as a small laptop does, and (with its case) it's much thicker than a laptop. I bought one and ended up returning it because I simply couldn't see myself ever taking it out of the house.

And the average person buying a Deck is a little more technologically inclined and thinks “But the Deck does have Nintendo’s entire back catalog.”

Valve even showed off Nintendo emulators in press material “accidentally”. Basically every Steam Deck owner I know uses it as an emulation powerhouse.

And that is why Linux games hardly grow their market relevance, it is either emulating Windows, emulating game consoles, or retrogaming.

Gaming as a whole is almost entirely multi platform these days, aside from a few first party published titles.

Anything playable on MacOS also works on windows. Most mid budget indie games on Windows also have switch ports. Bigger budget ones have PS5 versions. We’re at a point where you just buy what suits your budget and if there’s one exclusive that you want.

It’s not like the Genesis vs the SNES where the libraries were almost entirely different and games were designed with that hardware’s unique strengths in mind.

Linux’s main path to gaming success is being a cheaper, less annoying version of Windows.

Proton is not the same as being multi platform, and will eventually back fire OS/2 style.

Keep pushing that success market share beyond 2%, to the next 20 years and 4%.

Steam Deck is great device but it saddens me that it has a very poor game catalogue for kids (~5 years). Either the games are not there or it is very hard to find them on Steam. I wish they introduced some separate section, similarly as Netflix or Youtube Kids to solve this issue.

Obviously Nintendo and mobile phones have that sorted.

The Steam Deck seems like too hefty of a device for little kids.

From what I see, not an issue for a 4 year old.

Interesting, I tried with mine and her hands are too small.

A "couch co-op" section would be great for kids and adults (the existing "co-op" section has Eldin Ring as #1...) in a docked or traditional console setting. My kids love Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, etc. This maps to how our family uses our Switch as well. It's rare for my kids to use the Switch as a portable handheld.

To me, SD's incredibly wide compatibility has a ton of appeal to my kids. Java Minecraft with mods in a portable Switch form factor? Hell yes!

Under Narrow by number of players there's a Shared/Split Screen Co-op option. Just looking at it, the ones I'm familiar with are all couch co-op type games.

Yeah, the section is there!

Alas the pickings are just pretty slim on PC. Overcooked, Railed, Plates Up... some others. It saddens me significantly how PC gaming has gotten more and more and more 1 player 1 computer.

I also would love to see more Remote Play Together games, where other players don't need the game to play. I'm not sure if this is just one shared screen (fine) or if potentially the game can stream different things to different players (effing radical). But adoption seems quite low.

I play many couh coop with my daughter, but yeah a section would be nice.

I essentially buy as many of those as possible to find the fun ones.

5 years old hands are too small.

Tested with my daughter.

It just isn't made for children, which makes me sad, but it is what it is

Maybe. Remember, there was no other option to play mobile games for quite a while, so nintendo had the "exclusive". . Steam library is really big and can increase in size way faster than Nintendo by simply improving proton.

Still, I see your point.

To be fair, I don't understand how people accept the Switch controllers breaking so easily. It's really really bad. A terrible product, they always drift

It’s not strictly better. It has many advantages, but it’s heavier, larger, hotter, louder and more expensive, without the ability to detach controllers. Not to mention it lacks the ability to easily play Nintendo titles.

It’s better in many ways which many people care about, but it’s not strictly better.

Created a Steam account a few weeks ago to buy one. Was promptly told I needed to do a bunch of stuff to verify I wasn't committing fraud (or something like that), including resending them a bunch of info they already had, plus a picture of my ID. Support personnel seemed to be hired based on their skills at being unhelpful smartasses. Promptly closed the account without awarding them a single thing they were demanding, ain't nobody got time for that shit.

Can I play BotW on a Steam Deck legally? Not everything is as simple as "higher number better"

I bought a used (but good condition) Switch Lite a few weeks ago for £105, and the new-in-box retail price is £188.

The cheapest Steam Deck costs £349, which is almost double the Lite's RRP. Price matters a lot, especially when these things are often bought for kids.

The people I know with Switches want specific games that are exclusive to them and are only interested in buying those games legitimately.

Maybe for playing The Witcher 3. But I'd argue they're aimed at different audiences (hardcore vs casual gamer).

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