• @[email protected]
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    391 month ago

    Seems like a lot of these handhelds are rushed and lacking R&D. Makes the steam deck seem like an even better option

    • @[email protected]
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      51 month ago

      R&D is very expensive. I have no idea what the margins on these devices are, but I imagine it’s a tough market.

      • @Patches
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        51 month ago

        Margins must be pretty good for everyone and their mother to pump one out.

        • @sugar_in_your_tea
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          31 month ago

          Yup. It was more expensive for Valve because they have a custom chip. These other devices are using off-the-shelf chips, so it’s a lot cheaper.

          Look at the minipc market (e.g. minisforum), and then add a screen, battery, and build in a controller. It’s really not a complicated product for a company that already makes similar devices, especially since they can probably reuse parts in other products.

      • @[email protected]
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        41 month ago

        Valve can go into the negative selling Decks, something that their competitors can’t reasonably do because they will get money from Steam store sales made on the Deck. I for one went from buying 3-4 games a year to like a dozen because it’s been so convenient.

  • Paranomaly
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    281 month ago

    Seems a lot like competing launchers, a lot of companies want a slice of the pie that Valve discovered but aren’t willing to do the same amount of work. I’ve heard good things about the Ally, at least.

    • @sugar_in_your_tea
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      141 month ago

      More like Valve created. There were PC handhelds before, but they were too expensive, had a crappy UX, and not high performance enough. Valve produced a device that addressed each of those and created a market for itself.

      If you make a compelling product at a good price, the demand will come.

  • @[email protected]
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    171 month ago

    Oh look, it’s exactly what everyone thought would happen. Well, good thing they’ve already said they’re making what, 3 or 4 iterations?