Console gaming is so anti-consumer. Who would prefer to use a console if they are even the slightest bit savvy with a computer?
I play both. Couch gaming is simply more epic (also comfy). Glorious 7.1 surround on a couch? chefs kiss
Console gaming is also easy for casual gamers and people who don't want to fiddle with tech.
I don’t think there is really much fiddling these days. It’s probably about as much as setting up a console.
If you build your own, then sure that’s more work. But people can buy prebuilt, laptops, or handhelds.
Yes there is, you're just used to it. There's all the Windows 11 annoyances, anti-virus, fiddling with controller setting and blue tooth, GPU drivers, DirectX crap. It's easy for you but if your tech experience is basically just turning on your phone then that is a lot.
None of those are things people have to deal with except in very rare circumstances. All the driers are basically handled by windows update or are already in the kernel.
You do not need to do anything with antivirus these days.
Windows 11 makes you sign into an account, so do the consoles.
Pairing a Bluetooth controller technically is something you need to do, but let’s be honest. Is it really challenging?
All those things you have to deal with at least once.
So for someone who doesn't know how to do any of them, it is a barrier of entry. Why should they learn when they could just buy a cheaper box and be done with it?
Steam Deck is as easy as any console, at least
Look at OS user numbers, most people aren’t the slightest bit savvy with a computer.
I’ve run into a few games that only have split screen on console so there’s that I suppose.
As I just found out, if you want to play any borderlands split screen, that's console only.
Borderlands with a controller? Oh boy ;p
Motion control is amazing if implemented well. Nintendo spoiled me with the WiiU.
Valve did it again with the Steam Deck. I hated first person in general with a controller. Now I prefer to play Deck over mouse.
One area that I'm glad to have my console is for games that I expect the publisher to include anti-consumer bs but I still want to play. I dont gaf if they install a kernel mode anti-cheat on my ps5, but I'll never install that on my PC.
That said, I don't spend much time doing that anyways and don't have any plans to get another console in the future. And in case nintendo is listening, the switch 2 would have been an exception to that if you weren't so lawsuit happy.
This next Steam console will be interesting. With all the success they’ve had from the Steam Deck it might stand a chance this time around.
One of the main failures of the Steam Machine was that there was no baseline "steam machine." They were just a myriad of prebuilt machines running a specific OS, and was especially confusing to people not already into PC gaming.
The Steam Deck fixed that by being just one thing (pedants fuck off, you know what I mean). If their next console like offering is indeed console like and not just a rebranded PC ecosystem, it probably will see more success than their first venture in Steam Machines.
I really hope they come up with some kind of certification system for games targeting Steam consoles, in the same way Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo do. All the boring stuff like making sure controllers connect and disconnect gracefully, the console can be slept/woken at any point in gameplay without bugs, consistent language/UX etc. That stuff goes a long way to making things "just work" on a platform. IMHO it's the one edge console still has over PC gaming. Even if it was an optional certification, it would give players some decent guidance as to what will work well.
They do have that for the Steam Deck.
Imagine buying a new console that you can play games you got over a decade ago. And then play on your PC same save files. Then move to your portable device and play your game there too. Crazy.
It's just going to be 1080p and slightly bigger screen.
That would be the successor to Steam Deck, there’s rumors that Valve is working on a standalone console.
With the same or better battery life with a processor and memory upgrade, not a bad deal.
I'm very skeptical and think there is a reason that the gameboy/handheld form factor gaming laptop and VR headset are coming first.
As it stands? For 500-ish you can get an AMD NUC to throw under the TV and use to play a lot of games locally and stream the rest. You aren't vibing to max settings Clair Obscur on that but it is well past a Steam Deck.
But the problem is that people want their consoles to "just work". It is why the Series S was such a shitshow. And to get that performance? You are looking at a lot closer to a thousand bucks than not. Which is a much easier sell when "you need to buy this to play a remake of a PS3 game" versus "you can buy this to play a lot of the games you are already playing because it is a PC".
Which ALSO ignores what is... probably the bigger problem. That AMD NUC? Good fucking luck getting VRR AND HDR to work on there. General rule of thumb is you can get one and it isn't even consistent which one you'll get. Because TVs (and receivers) run on HDMI, not Display Port. And AMD and HDMI 2.1 is like Open Source Alternatives and Raging Assholes. Can Valve get around that with some fairly hefty tweaks to SteamOS? Yeah. But it is gonna generate massive amounts of ill will when the FOSS community hear.
I have an AMD mini PC in my living room and it has changed how I game. I got it because my Deck was nice but I found I plugged it into my TV most of the time and wanted better quality graphics that would look better on my 4k screen. I now love to sit in front of the TV with a controller and play my games, mostly directly off the device.
Many people have similar experiences with devices like the Switch - if you have a couch and a big screen TV then it makes sense to dock it, and many choose to.
So I think the "steam machines" of old do have potential now. The idea 10 years ago was good but the software and the hardware wasn't there. Now it is, and steam doesn't have to even do much to build the things - they're out in the wild already. They can offer something more powerful than the deck without necessarily cannabilising the market the decks have - it's expanding to a new user group who are less interested in mobile gaming and more interested in using their big screen TV to pc game.
Plus as a console the game library is massive compared to a PlayStation or Xbox or Switch, and with an OS that allows users to do so much more with their device.
Plus what Steam offers is something Windows can't offer on handheld and doesn't offer on a living room TV - a great interface. Steams gamescope and big picture mode are great on a mini PC.
So I think a steam "console" is not unrealistic. They can leverage what they already have with the Steam OS and steam deck with a standard branded hardware model of mini PC from existing OEMs, and allow others to use the OS for their own machines. I suspect if they make steamOS freely available people will also be doing this themselves with their own devices.
As a place for Valve to expand into, it's reasonably low hanging fruit and relatively low risk as they're not having to focus on the hardware and they already have the software working.
Oh. I am referencing the AMD NUC because I straight up have one under my TV and it is WONDERFUL. Run Silksong natively, stream Clair Obscur or Dynasty Warriors so that I have my desktop proper driving those.
But if it were my only/strongest gaming device? Okay, if I were smart I would actually do that and save a lot of money and power since the vast majority of what I play is indie or a decade or more old. But I wouldn't want to.
And that is the problem. It is a lot easier to sell someone on a second device if it is a handheld. But a proper console is going to be very much threading the needle on people who have a gaming PC and want a support device or who don't want to play "new stuff" on their 4k TVs.
Which... was kind of the problem with Steam Machines a decade ago or whenever Valve tried. Yeah, Proton makes it MUCH more viable but it is still the same problem of "So... I am spending 800 dollars and FInal Fantasy won't look as good as a 1000 dollar PS6?" and so forth.
I DO think it gets a lot more viable in 2027 when Liberation Day consoles are hitting the 1000 or more price point and normalizing it because... they are already basically just computers anyway. But then you run into the problem that AMD is what keeps that price feasible and.. AMD and HDMI 2.1 doesn't work.
That said: Hey GabeN, I know you are obviously reading this. Dedicate Valve's might to a Display Port->HDMI dongle that actually works and I will give you a hundred fucking bucks for just that alone. Maybe even 150.
Come on steam deck, we need more users of you! This will drive Linux as a real contender in the gaming market and steam is driving that.
Another day, another record for Steam.
That was probably like 75% BF6 players.
PC gaming emulation on Android and hopefully someday high end regular Linux phones are going to be a big inertial multiplier for PC gaming. Performance for games that work isn't far off from a Steam Deck from my testing on high end mobile phones. Compatibility and streamlining is still not great though. But a few more years at this rate and anyone with a phone as strong as a Snapdragon 8 gen 3 will have a pocket Steam Deck. PC gaming is going to grow a lot because of that
Makes sense, even just for playing old games it's more optimal. Be it for graphics, load times, or just multiplayer if you want to play a game from say the Xbox 360 PS3 era its probably better to just get the game on PC. Also given how much of a relative flop the current console generation has been yeah...
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