Praising Valve’s virtues is a bit rote steam deck 2024; it’s a handheld computer that has gaming journalists and tech journalists alike raving. But I’m here to tell you why it’s the gaming device I’ve played the most with over the past 12 to 18 months.
But first some background. Of course, as a curious tech journalist and long-time PC gamer, I’m interested in steam Deck, when it launched, I pored over the reviews, opinions, and features detailed by those who were lucky enough to get it before it went out of stock.
Despite the good reviews, it took me a while to be sold on the Steam Deck. I feel like it’s a bit limited in terms of power, battery life, display, and compatibility. Also, I’m not a big mobile gamer, if that were the case I would use mine nintendo switch;Otherwise I’ll stick to my computer, PS5 and Xbox Series X as my gaming console.
Then Steam Deck went on sale and caught my attention. But I missed this discount, which meant I missed the moment to board this steam train.
Just when I thought I was out, Steam Deck pulls me back in, thanks to Valve for being nice enough to show up and send me one to test and all. Soon I was hooked.
Forge ahead bravely
Now, I’ve tried Steam Deck and been impressed with it, I’m just not entirely convinced it’s for me. However, having my own Deck that I can set up around one of my Steam libraries changes my perspective a lot.
I no longer look Eldon Ring Running at 30 frames per second, instead I’m digging into Disco Elysium, Divinity: Original Sin 2, fall out 4 etc. These are games I previously had to play using my PC and sitting at my desk where I’d spent too much time, or making do with the less than ideal Switch ports.
The Steam Deck has redefined the way I play certain games. No longer tethered to a monitor or television, I find contentment playing a large role-playing game from the comfort of a chair or bed.
As other journalists have discussed many times before, it’s fun to throw things on the Steam Deck and see what works and what doesn’t.
However, this is just the beginning. As game compatibility expands and developers optimize the Steam Deck, it becomes more and more powerful. The most important thing is, sony Start bringing PlayStation games to PC, e.g. god of war 2018 and the last of us Playable on deck; suddenly, this isn’t just a Steam machine, but a pseudo-PSP.
When I was attracted to the Steam Deck, I started digging into more of what it could do. A little fiddling and flipping through guides and I now have access to my GOG library and Xbox cloud gaming;The latter finally allowed me to complete starry sky On deck, not my Series X or a powerful gaming PC.
Speaking of which, I’m lucky enough to have a very capable PC from a custom PC maker Star casting system;This is an incredible machine that can convert 1440p 4K Games become reality. Still, I find myself playing games like Cyberpunk 2077 – A game using ray tracing and Nvidia DLSS technology – On my Deck, the resolution is 720p.
Even though writing this makes me sound ridiculous, I’m not losing my mind. For beginners, Cyberpunk 2077 On deck it looks pretty good; sure, not everything is crystal clear, but at dynamic 720p it’s still a very good-looking game. Secondly, to my surprise as a 38 year old, I have a machine in my hand that can run a game that gives you a very detailed city with tons of simulation and it runs pretty well; I’m saying here is 30 fps.
Third, I review my desk situation – I love computer games, but I live in a small apartment, so my gaming desk is also my desk. This means I don’t always want to switch from MacBook to PC without some form of interruption. The Steam Deck is the panacea for this problem, I can move from my desk to my couch and fire up said device Cyberpunk 2077. Thanks to cloud saves and cross-compatibility, I can pick up where I left off on my computer when I want high-end lighting effects and the option to see Night City in detail.
This also means it’s a great holiday gaming machine, allowing me to continue playing most of my PC games while visiting family without having to lug around a bulky gaming laptop.
It’s this flexibility that has made the Steam Deck my gaming console of choice over the past 18 months. While both the PS5 and Xbox Series X libraries have expanded and now feel like next-gen, there’s something intriguing about the Steam Deck that caught my attention. Although there is now a similar set of handheld gaming computers, especially ASUS ROG AllyI can’t help but feel that Valve has blended the adaptability and scope of PC gaming with the joy of handheld gaming that the Switch offers.
Although the Steam Deck is approaching its third birthday, and there are some murmurs steam deck 2I still feel like it has more to offer, which means if you haven’t given it a try yet, I highly recommend you do so because it can really change your gaming life.