Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 -
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.
What PSX games did you try? I tried Silent Hill and it was more of a sideshow than a game.
As for the power drain, I don't always have time to charge every night and that's when I see the problems. (Traveling and such)
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And Steam sales subsidize the deck, too.
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#TuckFrump
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What PSX games did you try? I tried Silent Hill and it was more of a sideshow than a game.
As for the power drain, I don't always have time to charge every night and that's when I see the problems. (Traveling and such)
Did you try it on a 3DS or a New 3DS? They look so similar and have such similar names that it’s easy to confuse them but the hardware difference is enormous.
Also when did you last try it? There’s been a ton of work put into the dynarec PSX core (I forget the exact name of the emulator. It’s basically an alphabet soup name) for RetroArch that’s made night and day performance improvements.
I can’t help much on the travelling bit. I’m actually surprised that a PS Vita would last multiple days of all-day gaming while travelling without being able to charge.
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Did you try it on a 3DS or a New 3DS? They look so similar and have such similar names that it’s easy to confuse them but the hardware difference is enormous.
Also when did you last try it? There’s been a ton of work put into the dynarec PSX core (I forget the exact name of the emulator. It’s basically an alphabet soup name) for RetroArch that’s made night and day performance improvements.
I can’t help much on the travelling bit. I’m actually surprised that a PS Vita would last multiple days of all-day gaming while travelling without being able to charge.
I have a N3DS. As for when I last tried, would have been 8 to 12 months ago max.
And the Vita doesn't has multiple days of all day gaming, it has about the same amount of play time as the 3DS, but it can be left in sleep mode for much longer. After 2-3 days of being in sleep mode (normal, not an emulator), the 3DS battery is drained and i need to recharge it. The Vita can sit for a week or 2 and barely have lost any power.
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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?
DisgeaeSome of those definitely look like weird and creative games!
I’m not too fond of the post-6 Final Fantasy games, mostly for their looks, so Dissidia doesn’t appeal to me. I do really like Final Fantasy Tactics though I can play it on my N3DS (along with FFTA and A2).
My friend has been begging me to get into the Fire Emblem series and when I do that will be a big rabbit hole. I also want to play the Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton games (which really take advantage of the DS hardware).
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I'm still amazed that the Lenovo Legion Go costs almost $300 more than the SD but does not come with a case.
To be fair, Steam makes money from the games, Lenovo do not
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I have a N3DS. As for when I last tried, would have been 8 to 12 months ago max.
And the Vita doesn't has multiple days of all day gaming, it has about the same amount of play time as the 3DS, but it can be left in sleep mode for much longer. After 2-3 days of being in sleep mode (normal, not an emulator), the 3DS battery is drained and i need to recharge it. The Vita can sit for a week or 2 and barely have lost any power.
Ahhh okay. I tend to leave my N3DS turned off all the time. I only use sleep mode for short term. Maybe that’s why I don’t have an issue?
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Once again Valve proves they actually understand what people want; a relatively cheap and effective system that lets people play the games they want to play
Dude it's my favorite PC in a very very long time. I will definitely be installing Linux on my laptop at some point soon.
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Some of those definitely look like weird and creative games!
I’m not too fond of the post-6 Final Fantasy games, mostly for their looks, so Dissidia doesn’t appeal to me. I do really like Final Fantasy Tactics though I can play it on my N3DS (along with FFTA and A2).
My friend has been begging me to get into the Fire Emblem series and when I do that will be a big rabbit hole. I also want to play the Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton games (which really take advantage of the DS hardware).
If you like VN style games, I'd recommend "Hotel Dusk: Room 215" and "Last Window: The Secret of Cape West". (Same genre as Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright). Both are on the DS, and each takes advantage of the hardware as well.
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If you like VN style games, I'd recommend "Hotel Dusk: Room 215" and "Last Window: The Secret of Cape West". (Same genre as Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright). Both are on the DS, and each takes advantage of the hardware as well.
Hey thanks for the recs!
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And Steam sales subsidize the deck, too.
Sure. Maybe? The Deck isn't that expensive, and despite being relatively limited runs it definitely has some benefits from scale. For one it's a custom APU, so you have to assume there's a specific deal with AMD.
Valve is certainly a first party that benefits from software sales primarily, so it makes sense for them to go to some lengths to invest in bringing people over, but I'm not sure that they are actively subsidizing the Deck, the price seems pretty reasonable. I'm sure they don't make a ton of money from it, though, so they definitely get to thin those margins up a LOT compared with the pure hardware manufacturers, let alone with the tiny companies making handhelds one at a time.
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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.
wrote last edited by [email protected]You went for an Intel handheld? I salute you, sir, that's a deep cut.
As one of the five people on the planet who own an Intel GPU I firmly believe we are in a very exclusive club that will one day do wonders for hardware archaeology.
