Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming
Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming
How big is the handheld PC gaming industry?
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The legion go s with steam OS should replace it 10000% but I don't know if it will. There will never be a steam deck 2 and the steam deck is already outdated and slow.
Citation for there never being a Steam Deck 2?
Because the interview at CES 2025 heavily implied it: https://youtu.be/UI-C-nZnDE8?t=525
And the article we're commenting on mentioned it.
Well that's cool. I heard just last year they weren't going to and instead just make steam os more available. I'm not going to scrounge the internet for one video I saw several months ago sorry.
But what's weird is when I look for steam deck 2 I get contradicting info like "steam deck several years away" and in the exact same particle "possibly late 2025"
Why would there never be a Steam Deck 2?
Because some people love going off headlines, and not the actual articles, and then further twist information, to promote their narrative.
They never said there will never be one. They said there won't be yearly incremental releases, because they want a substantial performance leap. And that is something I strongly admire. Makes the customers feel more secure in their choice, and lets Valve work on new stuff in peace
it can still run everything, nothing outdated about it just yet
That is over generalising. I got Control recently (great game BTW) and it technically runs but isn’t really playable. That said I still love that little machine and it is an auto include in my bag whenever I’m away from my desktop for a longer time.
It can "run" everything you mean. I at games that either struggle to stay above 30 or look worse than switch graphics. So because a game can run doesn't mean it's viably playable to other people. I think the aim should be medium settings for new games at a steady 40fps for the next deck. But for now we have to rely on Linux optimization.
I'm sorry man but you are just plain wrong on this front. Try any games that are on Switch and compare them to whatever settings you need to get 30+ fps on a Steam Deck. A couple that come to mind would be The Witcher 3, and The Outer Worlds. The Switch versions of those games are absolutely abysmal to play, but on the Deck you can absolutely play both of them all the way through just fine. No one on the planet should expect a Steam Deck to hold up to a proper gaming rig or even a PS5 Pro, but to say it's worse than a Switch is just ignorance or a flat out lie.
touchpads
Man, I strongly dislike the touchpads on all of Valve's controllers. They just hurt my wrists a bunch.
I prefer the optical nub on the GPD Win, which I noticed is making a reappearance in the Legion Go S, actually, so that's a step up for me. Not that I'm in the market for a handheld this gen, I'm mostly set.
Of course the weird mouse mode thing of the big boy Legion Go is a much better brute force solution than either, if you need to use one for any stretch of time beyond clicking the one thing. It's going to be very weird have that turn out to be the model for the Switch 2's mouse gimmick if and when that gets confirmed.
IMO Valve has the highest quality touchpads that I have ever interacted with on any product. They also pioneered haptic feedback, which makes their touchpads more usable than any other implementation that currently exists.
As a touchpad, maybe. But they're not being used as a touchpad, they're being used as this weird physical input substitute thing that is meant to work with your thumb. Two thumbs, actually. Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I'm using causes excruciating pain almost immediately, but even in the brief period until it does it's less functional than a large touchpad, let alone a mouse or a stick.
I know some people swear by them, I just don't think they're worth the space they take up as a pointer device and I don't think they're particularly useful as anything else.
But hey, that's the point of PCs, right? People who agree with me can get the Legion Go S with the actually good Thinkpad-style optical nub and people who like playing games by scratching a plastic square for some reason can stick to the Deck.
Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I’m using causes excruciating pain almost immediately
Super bizarre and atypical. Probably a conversation you should have with your doctor.
I, along with pretty much anyone else that has used it, find they are surprisingly usable with thumbs, as they were designed to be. The left touchpad is especially useful as virtual menu and allows the device to be used effectively in many more games than is possible with other devices that are lacking these hardware features. Informational video and demo of touchpad virtual menu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vorhbmYIFpg
It is atypical, and certainly a medical issue, but I'm not alone there by any means. People who like these do tend to be loud and proud about it, so they stand out more, but it's worth pointing out that any time Valve has tried to have them as a primary input they had to either reintroduce sticks alongside them or swap them out for sticks altogether. Accessibility wise I know people who share my issues and people who say they interact better with their own mobility problems. That's always the case with ergonomics and accessibility issues. On the plus side, that has taken me into a lively and very expensive habit of controller collecting, so... yay for me.
FWIW, I'm aware of the functionality, which works just as well with a modifier button and a stick. Those things and a lot of the features attached to them are, and have always been, a solution looking for a problem. There are very few games where the developer hasn't provided a viable control mapping that the Steam layers turn into a comfortable gaming experience. In most cases if it's not intended to be used with a controller I'd much rather go sit somewhere with a mouse and keyboard.
any time Valve has tried to have them as a primary input they had to either reintroduce sticks alongside them or swap them out for sticks altogether
Such as...? Or are you just referring to the original Steam Controller teaser concept, compared to the final product that has a left stick in addition to the 2 touchpads (which is objectively a better design, and I appreciate that the left stick was included).
In most cases if it’s not intended to be used with a controller I’d much rather go sit somewhere with a mouse and keyboard.
That's fine to only use the Steam Deck for games that were designed controller-first, but the point of the device and its major success has been to make any game, including non-controller games, playable in handheld form factor, and Valve's touchpads have been the primary factor in that success.
This is the reason I see other devices that lack touchpads and can instantly dismiss them, as they aren't really selling a product that is in the same category as the Steam Deck and therefore do not really compete with the Steam Deck. They are just selling a handheld console (despite the fact that they run Windows, made clear by how awkward and strange the interaction with the OS is), which is something that is not new and have existed since the late 80s. The Steam Deck is not a handheld console, it is a handheld PC. It is true that there are other examples of handheld PC devices, which are true competitors to Steam Deck, like GDP Win, but these attempts have not been nearly as successful.
The OG Steam controller was a bust in general, but yeah, they ended up having to add a stick there. And the original Vive controllers were touchpad-only, which was a bad choice that was reverted somewhere in the process of Valve exiting the picture and every other VR controller standardizing around sticks instead. And notably the Steam Deck launched with dual sticks in a standard configuration despite insisting on keeping the dual trackpads, but very few competitors have followed suit. One touchpad, sure, because these all need a remedial solution for a pointing device, but two is rare (I can think of one other example).
So yeah, Valve has been dragged kicking and screaming back to the standard layout, much as they seem to not want to entirely let go of the idea for some reason. There aren't many examples because they don't make a ton of hardware, but there is nothing in the history of those haptic trackpads to suggest that they're a runaway hit with users that will become the go-to for input devices. There's a lot more evidence for the opposite.
I fundamentally disagree that the touchpads had anything to do with the Deck's success. Reading reviews, looking at usage lists and just looking at how the thing is used, the killer feature is and has always been the ridiculously low price for what it packs and the user-friendly UI. The entire point of SteamOS is making the device manageable with the sticks alone and not needing a pointer device as much as the Windows alternatives. You're projecting your tastes onto it pretty heavily there.
I have to say, there is so much self-contradiction in people that get activist about this segment. And I say that as someone heavily invested in it. I upgraded from the OG Deck to the OLED and I own other handhelds. But man, people need to decide whether the reason the Deck is great is that it IS a console that works like a console and doesn't need to mess around with annoying Windows quirks... or a full-fledged PC that is not really competing with consoles.
Look, the Deck is a very, very, very cheap handheld PC that is less performant and not as sleek as some of the more boutique alternatives, but it's the best value in that space. And it's less of a hassle to use out of the box than the Windows alternatives (although the difference is smaller than most people claim, honestly). It's not as smooth as a console, it's clunky and it's less compatible than inititally promised. And not as successful as you'd think from the attention it gets. But it's good. Not best in class in most areas, but definitely best in value by a large margin.
The OG Steam controller was a bust in general
Lol on planet earth? It sold over 1 million units in a couple months, and is so beloved and sought after that they go for over $150 in box on secondhand markets still today... Is it my favorite controller for playing games that are designed for controller? No, of course not, but that's not what it is for... For playing non-controller games from the couch while docked to the TV, though? Absolutely indispensable, there is nothing else that exists that comes close to the success of the Steam Controller.
despite insisting on keeping the dual trackpads
Valve has been dragged kicking and screaming back to the standard layout
I don't think anyone has ever expected or suggested that analog stick would not be included or do not belong on the Steam Deck, including Valve. The idea that Valve is against analog stick or attempted to not include them in the first place is ludicrous and the points you make about this are completely moot lol. The point of the device is to allow play of all games, and the sticks obviously play a role in that for games that were designed to be played with them. There's never been any dragging or kicking or screaming.
Obviously there are many factors that contribute to the success of the Steam Deck: price, hardware performance, input features, Steam OS usability, compatibility with the vast majority of Steam libraries, etc. My point is that the touchpads are a discriminator between a handheld PC and a handheld console, a subtle but real difference. Comparing the Steam Deck to handheld consoles, it is not even close to the same sales of these devices like Nintendo Switch. But it doesn't matter, it is still hailed as a major success, because it isn't a handheld console.
One million units in the accessory market may as well be zero. The game controller market is woth billions each year just in the US. Specific per-company market share is hard to come by, but I'll put it this way: none of the data I've seen even includes Valve as a player in the space.
I do have a Steam Controller and it will continue to sit in a box next to the Steam Link indefinitely, because see above about having a collecting issue with controllers. My solution for playing non-controller games on the TV ended up being a lapboard with an embedded keyboard an a mouse area from Roccat, which they've discontinued because they're dumb.
The points I make about the success of the pads are entirely reasonable, seeing how Valve DID in fact market them as stick and button replacements on the original and included them instead of having sticks on the Vive controllers. They tried to sell them as a replacement, they did not work for that.
The Steam Controller is in this bizarre space where it bombed so hard it is not remembered at all by most and yet it has been subject to this revisionist history where instead of being briefly available and getting discontinued because nobody really wanted them or was using them it was a massive success that is not being made anyway because... I don't know, because they're special and unique and Valve doesn't want to devalue them? I have no idea how this is supposed to have gone down.
I mean, it's fine, it's not even close to the weirdest piece of tech I own. Not even the weirdest controller I own. But it was never a killer app, it was never particularly successful and the dumb touchpads were absolutely marketed as being superior to physical controls and were extremely not that. I was there for the fifteen minutes it took everybody to decide this, I remember.
Legion go will have one for mouse. Not great for games I'd imagine. But I'd also imagine 99% of people use the joysticks on a steam deck when playing a game.
But, software usually dies before hardware does.
Tell me how it's slow? If you turn on fps counters and your goal is to make that number go higher then you're not using the deck to play games.
When you are competing with PCs and home consoles. <30fps is slow in my opinion. Or. Turn the graphics super low and get maybe ~40? The CPU/GPU is subpar The ram is okay for most games, but soon 32 will be the new required standard. The ssd makes apple seem generous...
I'm not bashing on it, I enjoy the steam deck, but if someone were to say they want to buy one right now I'd suggest waiting for legion go s or "the next steam deck" a few years from now. Unless valve cuts the cost of the steam deck by at least $100 each model, it's not worth it anymore. There are dozens of better handhelds that you can install steam os on instead.
Note. I do also realize the steam deck community is hardcore shilly and everything I said will be read but not actually enter a brain and just passed off. Which is fine. Like I said I like the steam deck overall.
So you're comparing a handheld system with full on desktops and consoles... No need to figure the "discussion" then.
Bro also fucking hates it when his Toyota corolla can't keep up with a Ferrari. He gets the car enthusiasts market can be hardcore and shilly though.