A dedicated piece of hardware with limited upgradablity designed and sold by the company that runs the marketplace/launcher/operating system that can’t run all games because of its OS, but performs beyond its specs because developers are designing products with is exact, known specifications in mind.
Because you can buy a consol3, plig it into the back of your TV, and be confident that it will work.
The Steam Deck has a dock that you can plug it into and have it hooked up to your TV via HDMI just like a normal console. Plus, any Bluetooth controller syncs with the SD, which makes plug and play even easier.
You don’t have to worry about system requirements, storefronts, launchers, driver updates fucking you up, etc.
No real issue here on the SD either. The main storefront is Steam. You wouldn’t be inclined to purchase PlayStation games from an Xbox or Xbox games from a PlayStation. Pretty sure that’s not even possible unless you do some bootlegging. Drivers aren’t really an issue either.
Power Cable, HDMI cable, and connect to wifi - that’s it.
Same as the Steam Deck - with a dock. Although it does have a USB-C port so you might be able to do this without a dock by using a USB-C to HDMI or DP cable. The dock is probably the best way to go though as this is also how the Switch is marketed to be played while not on the go.
I’ve been PC gaming since the mid-80s, and even I sometimes just want to sit on the couch, push the Xbox button on my controller, and get going. Is it lazy? Yes. But I work 2 jobs and get to be lazy when I get home.
Welcome to the Steam Deck where the only time you don’t have to be lazy is buying the “console”/dock, buying your games, setting shit up, and gaming on. None of the your issues here really affect the SD. I just highly recommend you try it, especially after doing PC gaming for years. Opened me up to all of those games I can’t find on the Xbox store, being an Xbox native myself, while not needed to pay for Xbox Live. Such a great choice looking back
First off, Steam has LOTS of hands that aren’t connotation with the deck. The storefronts on the other consoles don’t have that problem.
Secondly, the Steam Deck is a dedicated gaming machine that runs a custom OS designed for gaming, had limited upgradablity, so users will just have to wait for the next generation for anything but a storage upgrade, didn’t work with lots of PC games because of its operating system, and is designed and sold by the company that runs its storefront.
You’re moving the goal posts. The original commenter posed the question asking why someone would purchase a console in this day and age given inflation. You gave some answers, and I gave some rebuttals.
Whether we can call the SD a console or handheld PC is moot to that conversation.
What’s more important is how you don’t have to pay anything above a monthly internet bill to play multiplayer games, talk, etc. on the SD. With other consoles, you have to pay an internet bill plus network fee (e.g. Xbox Live, PS+, etc.) which raises OPEX costs.
With gamepass including online play, that’s not really a big deal. If I play 2 new releases a year on gamepass, I’ve saved money even with the online fees.
Game Pass doesn’t give you ownership of games however. Microsoft can rotate games out of Game Pass in a matter of weeks to months. If you want to keep those, pay out CAPEX in addition to your ongoing OPEX costs via Game Pass.
And if those games you liked that you went out and bought have online multiplayer, well then you’re locked into ongoing OPEX via Game Pass Core in order to get at least multiplayer access. This is regardless of whether you use Game Pass to explore new games.
Subscriptions also induce FOMO and create uncertainty costs. Microsoft can choose rotate a game out of Game Pass, which then forces you to make a decision about whether you play it to 100% completion before it’s gone, or buy it. And because Game Pass is a subscription, Microsoft can choose to raise its prices for access to the same games for no real reason.
With Steam, I “own” my games so I know I can always play them for the foreseeable future. With Steam, if some of my games have multiplayer, I only need to pay my telco utility bill to gain access. With Steam, I don’t have FOMO because my games aren’t going away, and I limit my uncertainty costs because I only need to consider my telco utility raising prices and not my telco + Microsoft.
Ultimately though, I think the top comments of this reddit post speak to the pros and cons of both platforms. If there’s an expensive AAA game coming out that you want to play, it’s cheaper to do the Game Pass route to play on Day 1. If you want to own that game long term, you can stop Game Pass payments until the next Steam sale to get the game discounted (else you run into the above issues). Game Pass to try, Steam to “own”. Plus with a Steam Deck, you can dual boot Windows and SteamOS, so you can do Game Pass PC and Steam on the same device. No need to really buy into the Xbox ecosystem.
Steam games are also 100% a license, and Steam has both removed the ability to download previously-purchased games and removed games from people’s libraries in the past.
And my main route to Steam AND Gamepass is my ROG Ally, since it’s basically a Deck that runs Windows, so it has greater game and marketplace compatibility.
One rebuttal: Steam Deck.
Yes. The Steam Deck.
A dedicated piece of hardware with limited upgradablity designed and sold by the company that runs the marketplace/launcher/operating system that can’t run all games because of its OS, but performs beyond its specs because developers are designing products with is exact, known specifications in mind.
How is the deck not a console?
Replying to your original points:
The Steam Deck has a dock that you can plug it into and have it hooked up to your TV via HDMI just like a normal console. Plus, any Bluetooth controller syncs with the SD, which makes plug and play even easier.
No real issue here on the SD either. The main storefront is Steam. You wouldn’t be inclined to purchase PlayStation games from an Xbox or Xbox games from a PlayStation. Pretty sure that’s not even possible unless you do some bootlegging. Drivers aren’t really an issue either.
Same as the Steam Deck - with a dock. Although it does have a USB-C port so you might be able to do this without a dock by using a USB-C to HDMI or DP cable. The dock is probably the best way to go though as this is also how the Switch is marketed to be played while not on the go.
Welcome to the Steam Deck where the only time you don’t have to be lazy is buying the “console”/dock, buying your games, setting shit up, and gaming on. None of the your issues here really affect the SD. I just highly recommend you try it, especially after doing PC gaming for years. Opened me up to all of those games I can’t find on the Xbox store, being an Xbox native myself, while not needed to pay for Xbox Live. Such a great choice looking back
First off, Steam has LOTS of hands that aren’t connotation with the deck. The storefronts on the other consoles don’t have that problem.
Secondly, the Steam Deck is a dedicated gaming machine that runs a custom OS designed for gaming, had limited upgradablity, so users will just have to wait for the next generation for anything but a storage upgrade, didn’t work with lots of PC games because of its operating system, and is designed and sold by the company that runs its storefront.
How is the Steam Deck not a console?
You’re moving the goal posts. The original commenter posed the question asking why someone would purchase a console in this day and age given inflation. You gave some answers, and I gave some rebuttals.
Whether we can call the SD a console or handheld PC is moot to that conversation.
What’s more important is how you don’t have to pay anything above a monthly internet bill to play multiplayer games, talk, etc. on the SD. With other consoles, you have to pay an internet bill plus network fee (e.g. Xbox Live, PS+, etc.) which raises OPEX costs.
With gamepass including online play, that’s not really a big deal. If I play 2 new releases a year on gamepass, I’ve saved money even with the online fees.
Game Pass doesn’t give you ownership of games however. Microsoft can rotate games out of Game Pass in a matter of weeks to months. If you want to keep those, pay out CAPEX in addition to your ongoing OPEX costs via Game Pass.
And if those games you liked that you went out and bought have online multiplayer, well then you’re locked into ongoing OPEX via Game Pass Core in order to get at least multiplayer access. This is regardless of whether you use Game Pass to explore new games.
Subscriptions also induce FOMO and create uncertainty costs. Microsoft can choose rotate a game out of Game Pass, which then forces you to make a decision about whether you play it to 100% completion before it’s gone, or buy it. And because Game Pass is a subscription, Microsoft can choose to raise its prices for access to the same games for no real reason.
With Steam, I “own” my games so I know I can always play them for the foreseeable future. With Steam, if some of my games have multiplayer, I only need to pay my telco utility bill to gain access. With Steam, I don’t have FOMO because my games aren’t going away, and I limit my uncertainty costs because I only need to consider my telco utility raising prices and not my telco + Microsoft.
Ultimately though, I think the top comments of this reddit post speak to the pros and cons of both platforms. If there’s an expensive AAA game coming out that you want to play, it’s cheaper to do the Game Pass route to play on Day 1. If you want to own that game long term, you can stop Game Pass payments until the next Steam sale to get the game discounted (else you run into the above issues). Game Pass to try, Steam to “own”. Plus with a Steam Deck, you can dual boot Windows and SteamOS, so you can do Game Pass PC and Steam on the same device. No need to really buy into the Xbox ecosystem.
Steam games are also 100% a license, and Steam has both removed the ability to download previously-purchased games and removed games from people’s libraries in the past.
And my main route to Steam AND Gamepass is my ROG Ally, since it’s basically a Deck that runs Windows, so it has greater game and marketplace compatibility.