Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck
-
Thats only Part of it, the others are efficence, Formfaktor and weight. Make it 2-5cm thicker and its now nearly silent
I think even 1cm would be enough. Take a look at the ifixit steamdeck heatsink replacement guide to see how small the heatsink is.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Steam+Deck+Heatsink+Replacement/148904
-
This post did not contain any content.
Crys in Australian
-
Newer handhelds might have more power, but I still think the Deck is the best value for what it offers.
I would love to see a lower powered and low budget focused one. Powerful enough for locally running a web browser, normal Linux stuff like SSH and some low spec games like CDDA. Otherwise most games would be played by streaming it from your desktop.
-
The Steam Deck is not sold at a loss. The initial pricing for the 64 GB unit was barely profitable, but this quickly changed with production ramping up.
This was confirmed by Valve themselves in an interview that happened months after Gabe's famous comments about the pricing.
So yes, Valve profits from the games too, but that's not used to subsidize the Steam Deck's price.
Could there be an argument about the R&D costs not being factored in there? So for companies that can't compete, its literally a skill issue.
-
I think the big difference is that they seem to be optimizing for customer satisfaction where others are not.
My favorite example I use often is how the Steam Deck comes with a case. It’s free and there’s not even an option to not get it. They know you need one, they include it. The Switch doesn’t come with a case. They know you need one but they don’t care. You’ll buy one if you want it bad enough and that’s more revenue.
It’s just a different type of optimization.
I'm still amazed that the Lenovo Legion Go costs almost $300 more than the SD but does not come with a case.
-
Well people also want HL3, and here we are...
The hype train for hl3 is so off the rails that valve can't release it. It would never live up to the hype, so it's a pretty sound decision not to make it.
-
I would love to see a lower powered and low budget focused one. Powerful enough for locally running a web browser, normal Linux stuff like SSH and some low spec games like CDDA. Otherwise most games would be played by streaming it from your desktop.
So essentially a Steam Link/Moonlight thin client? Yeah, I like the idea of that.
-
I would love to see a lower powered and low budget focused one. Powerful enough for locally running a web browser, normal Linux stuff like SSH and some low spec games like CDDA. Otherwise most games would be played by streaming it from your desktop.
wrote last edited by [email protected]You want a linux psp, a media device that had a web browser too. The psp was som far ahead of its time.
-
I think even 1cm would be enough. Take a look at the ifixit steamdeck heatsink replacement guide to see how small the heatsink is.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Steam+Deck+Heatsink+Replacement/148904
I was thinking about a bigger fan. Diddnt someone bolt a pc fan on? Dont remember, but that was my tought tiny fan replacing with Silent 80-140 and the noise is gone.
-
Two things massively help Valve:
Steam is a goddamned money printing machine, they are the most profitable software company per capita, per employee... possibly bar none.
Also... they're not publically traded.
They do not have investors constantly forcing maximization of short term profits at the cost of literally everything else.
... So they can afford to ... not price gauge everyone.
... So they can afford to ... not price gauge everyone.
They must be too busy enabling children gambling on hats
-
I would love to see a lower powered and low budget focused one. Powerful enough for locally running a web browser, normal Linux stuff like SSH and some low spec games like CDDA. Otherwise most games would be played by streaming it from your desktop.
I think a budget android handheld could work well for game streaming. TechDweeb and Retro Game Corps newest videos show android handhelds that cost less than 100€.
-
I would love to see a lower powered and low budget focused one. Powerful enough for locally running a web browser, normal Linux stuff like SSH and some low spec games like CDDA. Otherwise most games would be played by streaming it from your desktop.
There are loads and loads of really cheap Android-based emulator handhelds. The YouTuber TechDweeb does lots of reviews of these devices. These things have effectively spawned their own retro gaming ecosystem around them.
An alternative is to pick up a used New Nintendo 3DS (New being part of the name, distinguishing it from the original 3DS which is way less powerful). This device can be hacked to run many different emulators and play thousands of games. While the screens are not as good as the best Android handhelds, the form factor is ideally suited for running DS and 3DS games (which obviously run natively on the device) while still being great for older single-screen systems (the unused touch screen is excellent for emulator controls such as pause/resume and save/load state).
-
Crys in Australian
-
There are loads and loads of really cheap Android-based emulator handhelds. The YouTuber TechDweeb does lots of reviews of these devices. These things have effectively spawned their own retro gaming ecosystem around them.
An alternative is to pick up a used New Nintendo 3DS (New being part of the name, distinguishing it from the original 3DS which is way less powerful). This device can be hacked to run many different emulators and play thousands of games. While the screens are not as good as the best Android handhelds, the form factor is ideally suited for running DS and 3DS games (which obviously run natively on the device) while still being great for older single-screen systems (the unused touch screen is excellent for emulator controls such as pause/resume and save/load state).
A used PS Vita would be better I feel. Similar size, and just as hackable (Emu4Vita). Except a Vita has:
- better screen
- Bluetooth audio (more and more headphones are Bluetooth)
- A functional sleep mode (the 3ds doesn't go into sleep mode unless it's a 3DS/DS game. So any emulator game just turns off the screen but still runs and drains the battery)
- A possibly standard connector (the 2000 series uses micro-USB)
The only advantage a 3DS has is that it has 3DS and DS games, but the Vita has PS Vita games, PSP games, and PSX games to its advantage.
-
A used PS Vita would be better I feel. Similar size, and just as hackable (Emu4Vita). Except a Vita has:
- better screen
- Bluetooth audio (more and more headphones are Bluetooth)
- A functional sleep mode (the 3ds doesn't go into sleep mode unless it's a 3DS/DS game. So any emulator game just turns off the screen but still runs and drains the battery)
- A possibly standard connector (the 2000 series uses micro-USB)
The only advantage a 3DS has is that it has 3DS and DS games, but the Vita has PS Vita games, PSP games, and PSX games to its advantage.
My N3DS runs PSX games just fine via RetroArch.
The Bluetooth audio sounds really nice though.
I don’t know anything about the PSP or Vita libraries so I don’t know why I would want them. The DS and 3DS library is absolutely ginormous so that’s a big draw for me.
As for sleeping/power drain, I haven’t had too many issues since I turned the brightness down. I don’t have enough free time in a day to drain the whole battery and I plug it in to charge every night. Maybe the sleep issues with emulators have been fixed? I use RetroArch and it seems to work fine coming in and out of sleep.
-
I honestly don't understand why most companies aren't private instead of public. Like which founder looks forward to answering to investors when they could just be answerable to themselves and their employees and maybe board, like are they looking for a massive exit payout by going public or to raise funds to become a bigger company, but I argue if you are making enough to be profitable why chase being bigger
wrote last edited by [email protected]Because public companies get a huge infusion of cash from their IPO.
This makes them a much bigger fish in the pond.
Big fish eats the little fish.
Grow or die.
The kind of core problem with a market based economy is that markets almost always tend toward consolidation over time... and you have to have a well maintained set of regulators and laws to keep up with industries to keep this in check.
But those corps tend to have so much money and influence that they just buy the government via outright bribes/corruption and PR campaigns to dupe the masses into supporting politicians and policies that will be corpo friendly.
In short... most companies actually are private. 9/10 new business fail in a year or two, largely because they cant compete in a world dominated by a small number of very well known, very big fish.
...
Like uh, think of this.
Stock Exchanges?
Those aren't government entities. Those are companies, private companies.
A really good strategy for a marketplace economy... is to literally be the marketplace, the platform.
Thats why basically every large game publisher either is trying to or tried to be their own content platform.
Mostly this hasn't worked at all, but uh take Roblox, thats pretty wildy successful as more of a platform for games, than a specific game.
Its garrysmod but executed with uh... better business strategy (massively barring all the pedo problems but hey thats the cost of doing business apparently!).
The super uber game that all AAA game publishers keep trying to build and mostly failing at is a persistent world of some kind that allows for it to be its own contained ecosystem for new dlc, new cosmetics... the game isnt even fundamentally important, its the ability to have the game recieve constant inflows of money.
Gacha games exemplify this amazingly well, and they've been, by $$$ transaction volume, larger than more conventional games for a decade now... there is little pure monetary incentive to make a high quality game when the market keeps proving basically low quality slop that looks pretty, and can be microminetized, is an extremely effective business model.
Its basically just designing a video game as an addictive drug.
-
I think a budget android handheld could work well for game streaming. TechDweeb and Retro Game Corps newest videos show android handhelds that cost less than 100€.
With google looking at locking down Android and preventing you from installing things on it I would rather not
-
I completely agree. I passed over the Steam Deck and went for the MSI Claw 8 instead. I was willing to pay the extra for a waaaay better CPU/GPU combo and - the killer feature IMHO - not one, but two Thunderbolt ports. Long term, this means I can expect a longer life out of my MSI than the Steam Deck is likely to get, but also means when the GPU does start to chug I can connect an eGPU to it's dock.
To be clear, that doesn't mean I don't rate the Steam Deck - I really, really do - and it's level of capability and price-point will act as a stabalising point for the wider industry, but I paid more for a better device and got my money's worth.
-
I have a gaming pc monitor, keyboard, and trackball (no reason to debase myself and use a mouse) all on my Steam deck. And if I want to take my Steam deck with me to work, I can do that too.
USB-C docking station mater race.
-
My N3DS runs PSX games just fine via RetroArch.
The Bluetooth audio sounds really nice though.
I don’t know anything about the PSP or Vita libraries so I don’t know why I would want them. The DS and 3DS library is absolutely ginormous so that’s a big draw for me.
As for sleeping/power drain, I haven’t had too many issues since I turned the brightness down. I don’t have enough free time in a day to drain the whole battery and I plug it in to charge every night. Maybe the sleep issues with emulators have been fixed? I use RetroArch and it seems to work fine coming in and out of sleep.
PSP had an amazing library of games that I honestly miss and am glad to see some of them coming back soon in the way of spiritual successors.
Some of the tops for me were:
Monster hunter
Cladun
Dj max
Patapon
Loco roco
Final fantasy dissidia
Half minute hero
Lumines
Patchwork hero
Holy invasion of privacy badman! What did I do to deserve this?
Disgeae
