STEAM DECK DEVELOPER KIT IMPRESSIONS

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Glad I'm actually a bit further back in the shipping estimates. I wager I've got about 1-2 month lead time at the very best to get big impressions from actual consumer units at this point.

It feels like there's so much more uncertainty versus the first promising impression the closer we get to launch. At this point, I want to know what the fate of Win 11 compatibility ends up at for launch -- I think Proton might be too much of a headache for what I want to play and use the Deck for. I also generally worry that Windows might have a considerable amount of additional performance overhead versus Linux/Proton, but I guess that's what the impressions will be for.

 

[marcbret87]

I am excited for this product, decided to buy one after having initial reservations, and think it will be a nice toy to have.

I am worried that the hype is way out of proportion with the value-proposition that Valve will actually be able to deliver though. I am a long long time Linux Gamer (like, pre-Steam-on-Linux), and there is a decent sized set of stuff that Valve can put a box around and make user friendly and simple. But many users seem to want to do their own unique things outside of that box, and sure for many of them you can whip up a solution for it, but it will inevitably be janky at best.

It will be great for people like me who love to tinker, and it will be great for people who are happy to play only the games that absolutely work 100%. But for the broad middle I worry that Valve won't be able to properly set expectations nor execute.

Click to shrink...

I guess the key issue is what percentage of games will run fine on the device. I haven't gamed much in Linux, though I used it significantly for work. If the device has the capacity to run PS4-level games at a decent frame rate, and is decent at emulation, plus you can do some usual Linux stuff on it, it will already be a pretty significant upgrade over the Switch.

 

[Serious Sam]

Any impressions about the screen?
Since the Switch OLED I can't imagine using anything without OLED anymore and I'm even thinking about cancel the Steam Deck pre-order here since the stone age LCD looked awful in every video I saw so far....

Click to shrink...

Linus said it's a good color accurate display. It is what it is and won't change. You can proceed with cancellation. Enjoy 21FPS games on your Switch (not intended to platform war, I have Switch myself, just stating the obvious).

 

[Fadewise]

They should really think about drivers for windows that allow the touch pad to function as a mouse. The Aya Neo has a program for that. I might just install it on the steam deck. Also will this APU be compatible with standard AMD drivers. I am still hesistant on SteamOS. Probably just try it see how things work/run and if worse comes to worse do a windows install.

Click to shrink...

The Deck controls will use Steam Input, which already fully supports touchpad-to-mousr translations (as well as stick-to-mouse and gyro-to-mouse). They'll work just fine on Windows.

 

[Philippo]

The logo animation on startup is lovely.

 

[StreamedHams]

And they probably are: i played some of them with Steam link on my Switch (which has a smaller screen) and had no readability problems. And even if you had some (because the default font sucks), there is always mods.

Click to shrink...

Man, that looks really nice. I ended up streaming FFIV to my iPhone and also had no readability issues...although my vision is pretty decent up close.

Still, very excited about the Steam Deck. If I play my cards right, I'll be able to get reviews and final build quality info before I have to pay for it.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Linus said it's a good color accurate display. It is what it is and won't change. You can proceed with cancellation. Enjoy 21FPS games on your Switch (not intended to platform war, I have Switch myself, just stating the obvious).

Click to shrink...

Damn...no need to be salty lol.
Some people will wait for a OLED Deck model.