SteamDeck is 20% off I'm seriously considering picking it up. The only thing holding me back is that I know the ROG Ally has a better APU, but not sure how well its runs SteamOS. edit: Since I...
I'm seriously considering picking it up. The only thing holding me back is that I know the ROG Ally has a better APU, but not sure how well its runs SteamOS.
edit:
Since I ended up as top comment surprisingly (thanks guys!) I wanted to add a update and mention some of the wonderful comments below.
Thanks to our delightful admin @Deimosposting a great article and some extra research on my part, it seems like although it is possible to run SteamOS on the ROG Ally, it requires some tinkering (which I am not against doing) but it isn't as stable as I would like currently.
Secondly, after watching some reviews, the performance seems roughly equal when the ROG Ally is running at 1080p vs the SteamDeck's 720p. I am the guy who hates downgrading resolution, so I would always be running at max res, meaning that the performance gains would be mostly lost on me. Also in LTT's review the SteamDeck crushes the Ally at 10 watts, so for lower power titles (like emulated games) you would see a big difference.
Overall, I purchased the top model SteamDeck for the reasons above and saved $699.99 - $519.20 = $180.79 !! over the ROG Ally. Thanks y'all for the great comments!
I have Steam Deck and I wouldbget Steam Deck again. My personal reasons: cheaper powerful enough for me polished system I'm supporting Valve with my money, which indirectly means supporting Linux...
I have Steam Deck and I wouldbget Steam Deck again.
My personal reasons:
cheaper
powerful enough for me
polished system
I'm supporting Valve with my money, which indirectly means supporting Linux and gaming on Linux
can do lower backlight level which is great when playing at night (little strain on the eyes)
massively distributed (there are many of them so various accessories and support will be longterm)
made with repairability in mind
I'm not your average fanboy though. So here are some cons too:
not that powerful
only one USB-C port
only 2230 SSD support (harder to buy, lower capacity)
very likely worse power/price ratio (I'm lazy to do any research or calculations, I just think it's likely)
Once SteamOS runs on Ally and is easy to install there, it is kinda no brainer if you have a bit more money to spend.
I've had my Deck for over a year now, and I use it for both gaming and general PC use even though I also have a desktop PC. Here are some pros/cons to add to your list: Pros More physical inputs...
I've had my Deck for over a year now, and I use it for both gaming and general PC use even though I also have a desktop PC. Here are some pros/cons to add to your list:
Pros
More physical inputs than the Ally (4 back buttons, 2 trackpads, capacitive touch joysticks).
Battery life can be 6+ hours for less demanding games.
Larger community means it's easy to find online support as well as cool third party development such as the Decky loader plugin.
Valve is dedicated to supporting their hardware. My Steam Controller still gets occasional updates.
iFixit is an official partner with genuine replacement parts and detailed breakdown guides.
Cons
Tinkering is required to get some games working which can be annoying.
Actual OS updates are slow. SteamOS is still on linux kernel 5.13. SteamOS 3.5 is based on kernel 6.1 (I think), but it's still in testing with a release date of SoonTM.
The Stable update branch sometimes gets bugs that definitely don't belong in Stable.
SteamOS can be a little restrictive for people who want to use it as their linux desktop.
The upgraded hardware/screen of the Ally look great, but I personally love the trackpads way too much to consider any device that lacks them.
Completely agree on your points! I'm actually ashamed I haven't mentioned some of those in the first place - more input, great batterylife with some games (SD has better performance in very low...
Completely agree on your points! I'm actually ashamed I haven't mentioned some of those in the first place - more input, great batterylife with some games (SD has better performance in very low power situations), but it also is Linux and games may not run out of the box like they do on Windows or they may have some weird behaviour or glitches here and there.
I bought a mid-tier at full price, would definitely buy again. I'm more casual, the fans I played on it so far: Stardew Valley - Okay let's be honest, this is the majority of my playtime on the...
I bought a mid-tier at full price, would definitely buy again. I'm more casual, the fans I played on it so far:
Stardew Valley - Okay let's be honest, this is the majority of my playtime on the deck. Runs great, controls great. Love that modding was pretty straightforward. Love that I can play while in line, turn it off when I need to, and come back to it later.
Journey - runs great, controls great
Power Wash Simulator - great controller support, but I found it was nearly out outright impossible to find those tiny bits of dirt in crevices that you really have to angle for even on the PC.
Disney Dreamlight Valley - Hate the controls, prefer PC
Raft - hate the controls, prefer PC
West of Loathing - runs great, controls great
Donut County - I can't remember what my issue was but I remember keyboard controls giving me real problems on this one and it has sat in my account ever since gathering dust. Tried it out and completed it in a few hours. Great controls!
Spiritfarer - didn't care for the game, but for the few hours I tried it the controls were great, ran beautifully.
The Wonderful End of the World - runs great, controls great.
I just found out I can install an emulator to run C64 games and if I can get it done that's a huge perk for me.
I love that it's pretty sturdy because I am a clumsy asshole who falls asleep on the deck.
I love the control setup in general, I tend to avoid consoles as I don't enjoy learning all new buttons all the time, but the layout feels very intuitive and I rarely have to make any adjustments to default binds.
It's a great conversation starter! I've struck up conversations with total strangers about what we play, what we like, etc. Yes, I'm an introvert who would normally consider that a bad thing, but finding people who want to talk about games instead of their kids is a breath of fresh air!
FWIW, you can completely change the control scheme. For most popular titles you'll find community ones which use controller inputs and ones that use keyboard inputs. For any game I intend to sink...
hate the controls, prefer PC
FWIW, you can completely change the control scheme. For most popular titles you'll find community ones which use controller inputs and ones that use keyboard inputs. For any game I intend to sink more than 10 hours in, I'll typically spend 30 minutes honing some controls to make it pleasant, not just good-enough.
If a control scheme is mostly-good, but has like an unusable joystick/trackpad, there are settings you can fiddle with to fix it.
For PC gamers moving to Deck I 100% reccomend using the right touchpad instead of right stick for mouse looking. With proper tweaking and some practice, you can get really precise movements that a stick alone won't, especially if you use the gyro.
So far the control hate has been more about preferring keyboard use in general rather than specific keybindings. I tweaked a couple buttons in Power Wash and a couple in SDV, but that's all I've...
So far the control hate has been more about preferring keyboard use in general rather than specific keybindings. I tweaked a couple buttons in Power Wash and a couple in SDV, but that's all I've needed so far.
I want aware the joystick and trackpad were adjustable though and I'm sure they'll come in handy - thanks! And also thanks for the tip about touchpad vs joystick - my initial clumsiness with the trackpad led me to conclude the opposite was true, but I'll keep playing with it and try and improve - sounds like in addition to being generally useful, if might help solve the problem of unreachable power wash dirt even if I can't actually see it, and that works be another great game for relaxing on the go.
I saw this article the other day about getting Steam OS running on it, it definitely doesn't seem like a smooth process (yet?): The Linux coders turning the ROG Ally and other handhelds into Steam...
I've been previously quite active over at the ChimeraOS Discord and have it running on my livingroom console PC. I know the guys over there are working on ROG Ally support and once they've got it...
I've been previously quite active over at the ChimeraOS Discord and have it running on my livingroom console PC. I know the guys over there are working on ROG Ally support and once they've got it I'll probably sell my SteamDeck and buy one.
I only own a Steam Deck. But from what I've heard the overall level of polish and stability of the Ally make it hard to justify just for a moderate performance boost. There have been issues with...
I only own a Steam Deck. But from what I've heard the overall level of polish and stability of the Ally make it hard to justify just for a moderate performance boost. There have been issues with performance regressions as well, making a purchase purely based on the APU harder to justify. These could all be ironed out as I haven't heard of any hardware issues. But for the time being we know the Steam Deck provides a very high quality user experience.
Snagged myself a top tier model! I was prepared to buy the mid tier model if there wasn't a sale, but the top tier one being 20% off brings it below the mid tier's default price. Kind of a...
Snagged myself a top tier model! I was prepared to buy the mid tier model if there wasn't a sale, but the top tier one being 20% off brings it below the mid tier's default price. Kind of a no-brainer for me. I'm eagerly looking forward to getting it into my hands to play some games my current computer can't handle. So excited!
I’m really impressed with how good some modern games run. Some games are just barely playable, but others are beautiful and 60 fps. You should have a great time!
I’m really impressed with how good some modern games run. Some games are just barely playable, but others are beautiful and 60 fps. You should have a great time!
It's worth noting that the ROG Ally does not have a "suspend" function like the Steam Deck. It has a "sleep mode" similar to putting your desktop PC in sleep mode, but that causes issues with a...
It's worth noting that the ROG Ally does not have a "suspend" function like the Steam Deck. It has a "sleep mode" similar to putting your desktop PC in sleep mode, but that causes issues with a lot of games and will often result in a crash.
The ability to suspend my game at any time is huge to me, so I'm quite happy with my Deck.
Remarkably stable, and I truly mean that in the real sense of the word. It will work for most games too. I'm hesitant to say yes to "all" because that's impossible to verify.
Remarkably stable, and I truly mean that in the real sense of the word. It will work for most games too. I'm hesitant to say yes to "all" because that's impossible to verify.
I get it. Even on consoles sometimes a game will crash after being suspended (especially on Xbox's Quick Resume, it usually pertains to online games like those from Ubisoft). Thank you for the info.
It will work for most games too. I'm hesitant to say yes to "all" because that's impossible to verify.
I get it. Even on consoles sometimes a game will crash after being suspended (especially on Xbox's Quick Resume, it usually pertains to online games like those from Ubisoft).
I've run into one game that crashed after resuming. Everytime. Can't remember which one it was though, so that means it was some minor/niche one. I had gaming sessions that were hours long but...
I've run into one game that crashed after resuming. Everytime. Can't remember which one it was though, so that means it was some minor/niche one.
I had gaming sessions that were hours long but done in 10 minutes increments across several days, all just by hitting the power button to send SD to sleep and then resume.
Oblivion, all four Syberias, Horizon Zero Dawn, Assetto Corsa, X: Rebirth... I've put quite some time in all of them and they worked like a charm. Oblivion crashed here and there, but only on savegame with 100+ hours and out of the blue while playing (not while resuming).
If you're not interested in the anti glare screen of the most expensive model, I would strongly consider getting the cheapest model and putting a high capacity SD card in it. By and large the...
If you're not interested in the anti glare screen of the most expensive model, I would strongly consider getting the cheapest model and putting a high capacity SD card in it. By and large the games you'll most likely be playing on it won't be massive, and 512 GB will be more than enough. And it's down to about $360 US which is barely more than a Switch at this point.
I really think it is good product but i'm not sure if i would use it. When i was in the army and had lots of downtime but couldn't have a desktop my DS was great, but now when i have downtime i'm...
I really think it is good product but i'm not sure if i would use it. When i was in the army and had lots of downtime but couldn't have a desktop my DS was great, but now when i have downtime i'm usually at home anyway.
I played Super Mario 64 for about an hour today on a full charge, and I think my battery was around 87% when I stopped. The Deck’s battery life for low-power games is genuinely incredible. I think...
Also in LTT's review the SteamDeck crushes the Ally at 10 watts, so for lower power titles (like emulated games) you would see a big difference.
I played Super Mario 64 for about an hour today on a full charge, and I think my battery was around 87% when I stopped. The Deck’s battery life for low-power games is genuinely incredible. I think you’ll be very happy with your purchase!
The Witness is amazing. Unfortunately it's one of those games you can really only play once. The best parts are where you don't know what to do and then have that 'aha-moment' where it clicks. I...
The Witness is amazing. Unfortunately it's one of those games you can really only play once. The best parts are where you don't know what to do and then have that 'aha-moment' where it clicks. I wish I could go back and play it for the first time again.
I wasn't able to complete it 100% though. The hall of the mountain king (no spoilers) had me stumped.
Tunic is one of the only games that, once I started, I sat down with every night until I completed it. The main "twist" was one of the most satisfying game experiences I have had in a long time....
Tunic is one of the only games that, once I started, I sat down with every night until I completed it. The main "twist" was one of the most satisfying game experiences I have had in a long time.
I'm battling myself again not to buy the Deck. I don't need it. I'm a console gamer, I have every current gen platform and a few older handhelds. I have a backlog. I have an AYN Odin Pro which is...
I'm battling myself again not to buy the Deck. I don't need it. I'm a console gamer, I have every current gen platform and a few older handhelds. I have a backlog. I have an AYN Odin Pro which is not as powerful as the SD, but is capable of emulation up to PS2. I don't need a Steam Deck. They reduced the price even more than before. I don't need a Steam Deck. I don't need a Steam Deck. I don't need a Steam Deck...
Not to be a bad influence, but I definitely recommend the Deck just from personal experience. You could sell the Odin to cut the cost and not be doubling up on devices with the same purpose...
Not to be a bad influence, but I definitely recommend the Deck just from personal experience. You could sell the Odin to cut the cost and not be doubling up on devices with the same purpose...
I could. I considered doing it. The nice thing about Odin is that it's an Android device, which is a more console-like experience. There are no config files to edit, no different version of...
I could. I considered doing it. The nice thing about Odin is that it's an Android device, which is a more console-like experience. There are no config files to edit, no different version of DirectX, etc. It either works or it doesn't :) Less typical PC stuff. It's also a con because not everything is available on Android.
How good is the Steam Deck from a more casual perspective? I'm trying to get my partner more into video games, and currently we play things on my laptop, but it's not great for gaming - weird...
How good is the Steam Deck from a more casual perspective? I'm trying to get my partner more into video games, and currently we play things on my laptop, but it's not great for gaming - weird Linux distro, poor graphics, etc. I think it would be good to have a box in the living room that we can just turn on and play things on, so I've been toying with getting a Switch, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of great local multiplayer content there. So maybe a Steam Deck, then we've got access to a lot of the Steam library? And the new Harry Potter game seems to work reasonably well, which she's been excited about.
Ah, sorry, I'm the wrong person to ask about docked play. I bought the Deck to be a handheld console 100%, I don't have a dock and have no interest in getting one. It's for playing in bed or...
Ah, sorry, I'm the wrong person to ask about docked play. I bought the Deck to be a handheld console 100%, I don't have a dock and have no interest in getting one. It's for playing in bed or bringing with me on trips.
I also don't often play local multiplayer games, if I'm gaming with my friends we are usually playing one of the Paragon revivals. The last local multiplayer game I actually played was on Switch, which was Kirby: Star Allies. I did have fun with that!
Just a personal anecdote, but my wife hadn't played anything but phone games before. After watching me play SDV on mine she bought one and put many hours into it.
Just a personal anecdote, but my wife hadn't played anything but phone games before. After watching me play SDV on mine she bought one and put many hours into it.
No :D I probably won't, but I keep coming back and checking it out. I liked that Dave the Diver indie game that was featured on the Store's front page. It's coming to Switch this year, but it...
No :D I probably won't, but I keep coming back and checking it out. I liked that Dave the Diver indie game that was featured on the Store's front page. It's coming to Switch this year, but it works in 59 fps ;) on the Deck, I doubt it it will be as fluent on Switch.
I won't tempt you more :-) I bought mine because I have PS1 to 3, PSP, PS Vita, Switch Lite and also GBA SP. And desktop PC. My ganing history goes to 98 when we got first PC into the family. I...
I won't tempt you more :-)
I bought mine because I have PS1 to 3, PSP, PS Vita, Switch Lite and also GBA SP. And desktop PC. My ganing history goes to 98 when we got first PC into the family. I played before here and there where available and had NES clone. Thinking about it, I play for the past 30 years.
And through all those years I realized that I hae less and less time to sit in front of TV/monitor to play games. This realization got confirmed when I got PSP, my first handheld and started playing on the go. I longed for portable PC (not laptop, even though I had one), but they were EXPENSIVE. Wheb Steam Deck came I could at last play my (old) favorite PC games whenever I wanted and actually afford the hardware! So this is why I bought it. And I've put probably 400-500 hours in it in the first year. It's great thing - for me!
Lawnmover Game I'd this game in Wishlist for so long. Historical low this time. also Dorfromantik is a good time killer. I've it from itch for free, thinking of buying it if I can sell enough...
Lawnmover Game I'd this game in Wishlist for so long. Historical low this time.
also Dorfromantik is a good time killer. I've it from itch for free, thinking of buying it if I can sell enough cards. Don't forget to watch your Discovery Queue for free trading card everyday
I'll be buying the Orcs Must Die! Complete bundle to get OMD 3 and the missing DLCs from OMD 2 that I don't have. The kids and I had a blast playing the original. I'll probably pick up the...
I'll be buying the Orcs Must Die! Complete bundle to get OMD 3 and the missing DLCs from OMD 2 that I don't have. The kids and I had a blast playing the original. I'll probably pick up the complete bundle for them if they're missing anything.
Other than that, there aren't too many AAA games or even indies that I'm interested in.. even for Steam sale prices.
I'm not buying anything. At least not today. I have many games to play, some of them waiting for years. I play mostly on Stea Deck nowadays which sometimes limit me with new games (size wise and...
I'm not buying anything. At least not today. I have many games to play, some of them waiting for years. I play mostly on Stea Deck nowadays which sometimes limit me with new games (size wise and maybe performance wise too, although I'm ok with 30fps).
I eould buy a few games right away, but really... i have like 5000 game hours waiting for me, so no need to add another hundred. It would be like throwing money away, even if it's just a few euros. Although I might actually buy Mindustry, because I enjoyed it quite a lot for free on mobile, so this will at least repay a bit for all those free hours.
I bought Mindustry on Steam after seeing it was open-source and available for free on F-Droid. I've barely touched the game but have a lot of respect for FOSS developers so to me it was definitely...
I bought Mindustry on Steam after seeing it was open-source and available for free on F-Droid. I've barely touched the game but have a lot of respect for FOSS developers so to me it was definitely worth the money spent.
Same. I'm always tempted to buy a new game if it's a good deal, but I still have a big backlog and it will probably be another year before I finish AC: Odyssey anyway! Seriously, this game is...
Same. I'm always tempted to buy a new game if it's a good deal, but I still have a big backlog and it will probably be another year before I finish AC: Odyssey anyway! Seriously, this game is ridiculously big, too big really, but I at least want to finish it before getting distracted by something new.
I tend to play one big game at a time. Now it's Divinity: Original sin EE and after around 100 hours I'm finally in the end game. I say finally... The game is great, but it sure was long! But if I...
I tend to play one big game at a time. Now it's Divinity: Original sin EE and after around 100 hours I'm finally in the end game. I say finally... The game is great, but it sure was long! But if I put it down, I would never pick up where I left and all the progress would have been lost. And this is part of why I hae so many unfinished games.
Trying to decide between getting Sekiro and Cyberpunk 2077. Both are around $30 which seem like a decent price, but means I should only pick up one of them.
Trying to decide between getting Sekiro and Cyberpunk 2077.
Both are around $30 which seem like a decent price, but means I should only pick up one of them.
Sekiro is something else. If you're looking for a tightly built and unique game, go for Sekiro. There's no high like a FromSoft high. Ultimately it does depend on what type of game you're looking for.
Sekiro is something else. If you're looking for a tightly built and unique game, go for Sekiro. There's no high like a FromSoft high.
Ultimately it does depend on what type of game you're looking for.
I bought Cyberpunk on launch and had a great time with it, so I'm biased clearly because the launch had a face only a mother could love. Along the same lines, I finally picked up Sekiro to play on...
I bought Cyberpunk on launch and had a great time with it, so I'm biased clearly because the launch had a face only a mother could love.
Along the same lines, I finally picked up Sekiro to play on my Steam Deck and I don't think the game is well suited to that. I was never a big parry player in the Souls games and Sekiro is certainly geared towards that play style.
So, if you're into a more "Open world" game with exploitable builds, pick up Cyberpunk. If you're a parry player and want a slightly more structured game, I'd take Sekiro.
Cyberpunk is the play there. The backlash it got was really overstated (it ran fine on my mid-end PC, I don't care much for console complaints knowing how many RPG's have been gimped to run on...
Cyberpunk is the play there. The backlash it got was really overstated (it ran fine on my mid-end PC, I don't care much for console complaints knowing how many RPG's have been gimped to run on consoles) and it was already a good game and only looks to be getting better with Phantom Liberty and the upcoming free update.
I'm waiting until there's a Definitive Edition or Biggest Launch Outcry Edition before I get Cyberpunk. I want the DLC bundled in and maybe a little upgrade or two to my PC before I start this game.
I'm waiting until there's a Definitive Edition or Biggest Launch Outcry Edition before I get Cyberpunk. I want the DLC bundled in and maybe a little upgrade or two to my PC before I start this game.
Both games are at their "default" off-price, but Cyberpunk 2077 is reduced to $30 on various sellers every few weeks, while Sekiro is only off every three months or so, so if you plan on playing...
Both games are at their "default" off-price, but Cyberpunk 2077 is reduced to $30 on various sellers every few weeks, while Sekiro is only off every three months or so, so if you plan on playing both anyway and you really can only get one or the other right now, I'd go with Sekiro now and then get Cyberpunk 2077 on another 50% sale whenever you're next able (or when 1.7 drops as some others have suggested).
A reminder that this is one of those big sales with trading cards and stickers—if you collect those. (Discovery queue, and game categories for the sticker).
A reminder that this is one of those big sales with trading cards and stickers—if you collect those. (Discovery queue, and game categories for the sticker).
There was a quiz game recently (I want to say last winter sale?) that told you "what kind of game you are" or something. Was hoping for at least something fun like that this year....
There was a quiz game recently (I want to say last winter sale?) that told you "what kind of game you are" or something. Was hoping for at least something fun like that this year....
Only thing I'm thinking of getting is Street Fighter V: Championship Edition Upgrade Kit + Season 5 Ultimate Pass. To be honest I've bought way too many games over the past few months that I've...
Only thing I'm thinking of getting is Street Fighter V: Championship Edition Upgrade Kit + Season 5 Ultimate Pass. To be honest I've bought way too many games over the past few months that I've made zero headway on (Persona 5, Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 3, Mass Effect Trilogy) and I'm still neck-deep in Zelda so this may be the first summer sale in ~10 years I really pass on.
This has been par for the course for a little while, but I was hoping for stronger discounts: Dragon Quest XI S has only ever had a 35% discount during every sale for the 3 years it's been on sale.
This has been par for the course for a little while, but I was hoping for stronger discounts:
Dragon Quest XI S has only ever had a 35% discount during every sale for the 3 years it's been on sale.
I'm still upset that they replaced the original with this, kept the price this high, and never gave an upgrade price for those of us with the original. I love the game a lot and want to replay it,...
I'm still upset that they replaced the original with this, kept the price this high, and never gave an upgrade price for those of us with the original. I love the game a lot and want to replay it, but I don't want to buy it again, even if it's only $25. If it was down to like, $15, sure.
Very happy with this steam sale; got pretty much everything I was looking for. I encourage others to use the sale to search through the catalog of indie and older AA(A) games to pick things up...
Very happy with this steam sale; got pretty much everything I was looking for. I encourage others to use the sale to search through the catalog of indie and older AA(A) games to pick things up that are outside of your typical genre / preferred developers.
Last spring I picked up Yakuza 0 for $5 on a whim, not thinking that much of it because my perception of the series was of its small inane side-games. Completely blown away, I just picked up the other half of the 11 titles RGG has on PC and am continuing through them, god knows when I'll finish. Similar story, earlier in my life, finding Larian Studios, Telltale & smaller indie VN creators, etc.
I've bought Deep Rock Galactic so far. Haven't played it enough to really give an opinion on it right now though. I'm not sure if I'll get more, but maybe something catches my interest.
I've bought Deep Rock Galactic so far. Haven't played it enough to really give an opinion on it right now though.
I'm not sure if I'll get more, but maybe something catches my interest.
Into the Breach - Turn based strategy games are great on the Steam Deck Inkulinati - Looks hilarious, also, turn based strategy games are great on the Steam Deck Rain on your Parade - CHAOS Mr....
Into the Breach - Turn based strategy games are great on the Steam Deck
Inkulinati - Looks hilarious, also, turn based strategy games are great on the Steam Deck
Rain on your Parade - CHAOS
Mr. Sun's Hatbox - Looks hilarious, platforming games are great on the Steam Deck
Patrick's Parabox - Puzzle games are great on the Steam Deck
Roots of Pacha - Neolithic Stardew Valley? Sign me up
DRAINUS - Looked cool
Pan'orama - Looks like an easier Dorfromantik
Phoenotopia: Awakening - Looks cool
Stellaris - I've always wanted to play it
[Edit]
I refunded Mr. Sun's Hatbox, it's actually infuriating to play. I've gone on maybe 10 missions and only finished 3.
The game is really well designed with a lot of depth, BUT it's more like chess than Fire Emblem or XCOM. It's almost a puzzle game which has its own appeal.
The game is really well designed with a lot of depth, BUT it's more like chess than Fire Emblem or XCOM. It's almost a puzzle game which has its own appeal.
Thank god for your edit. It wouldn't have been the first time I got suckered in by an excellent description only to remember that, oh yeah, I suck hard enough at platformers to suck all the joy...
Thank god for your edit. It wouldn't have been the first time I got suckered in by an excellent description only to remember that, oh yeah, I suck hard enough at platformers to suck all the joy out of even the more creative ones! I still added ROYP, RoP and Stellaris to my wish list until payday, though. So much for thinking maybe I wouldn't spend more than a few bucks this sale!
I wish I could tell you not to buy the steam deck, but I failed hard at resisting that myself at full price and like... now that I have it, I do need it. Then again you can always do what I do...
I wish I could tell you not to buy the steam deck, but I failed hard at resisting that myself at full price and like... now that I have it, I do need it. Then again you can always do what I do with expensive games that go on sale but are still (to me) still pretty expensive... add to wish list, promise I'll get it next sale x game stays on the list forever through multiple sales that are never low enough for my budget, until I finally lose any interest I initially had or forget why I even wanted it (Steam needs a note function for wish list items so I can save the bloody reddit comments that convinced me to wish list them in the first place!) and inevitably remove it from the wish list to clear out some of the bloat.
I'm upset because I've now bought one and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I just got the cheapest one since I'm not afraid to upgrade my storage down the road and I don't want to spend even more on...
I'm upset because I've now bought one and I'm waiting for it to arrive.
I just got the cheapest one since I'm not afraid to upgrade my storage down the road and I don't want to spend even more on it than I just have at this time. What a crazy time to have enough money to spend.
I have a friend who bought a Deck, and this is his first experience with a Steam Sale. It is in fact quite legendary for those whom don't yet have a backlog. Especially coming from Sony/Nintendo.
I have a friend who bought a Deck, and this is his first experience with a Steam Sale.
It is in fact quite legendary for those whom don't yet have a backlog. Especially coming from Sony/Nintendo.
SteamDeck is 20% off
I'm seriously considering picking it up. The only thing holding me back is that I know the ROG Ally has a better APU, but not sure how well its runs SteamOS.
edit:
Since I ended up as top comment surprisingly (thanks guys!) I wanted to add a update and mention some of the wonderful comments below.
Thanks to our delightful admin @Deimos posting a great article and some extra research on my part, it seems like although it is possible to run SteamOS on the ROG Ally, it requires some tinkering (which I am not against doing) but it isn't as stable as I would like currently.
Secondly, after watching some reviews, the performance seems roughly equal when the ROG Ally is running at 1080p vs the SteamDeck's 720p. I am the guy who hates downgrading resolution, so I would always be running at max res, meaning that the performance gains would be mostly lost on me. Also in LTT's review the SteamDeck crushes the Ally at 10 watts, so for lower power titles (like emulated games) you would see a big difference.
@mucoromycotina's pros and cons bring up some great points with the ecosystem being the one to jump out at me. As a former device repair tech, the fact that I can buy a replacement OEM screen was important.
@teaearlgraycold also mentioned that the ROG Ally's has been having some software issues that actually drop performance SteamDeck has more mature software (which is why I wanted to put SteamOS on the Ally) and I have seen complaints about game crashes on the Ally.
Overall, I purchased the top model SteamDeck for the reasons above and saved $699.99 - $519.20 = $180.79 !! over the ROG Ally. Thanks y'all for the great comments!
I have Steam Deck and I wouldbget Steam Deck again.
My personal reasons:
I'm not your average fanboy though. So here are some cons too:
Once SteamOS runs on Ally and is easy to install there, it is kinda no brainer if you have a bit more money to spend.
I've had my Deck for over a year now, and I use it for both gaming and general PC use even though I also have a desktop PC. Here are some pros/cons to add to your list:
Pros
Cons
The upgraded hardware/screen of the Ally look great, but I personally love the trackpads way too much to consider any device that lacks them.
Completely agree on your points! I'm actually ashamed I haven't mentioned some of those in the first place - more input, great batterylife with some games (SD has better performance in very low power situations), but it also is Linux and games may not run out of the box like they do on Windows or they may have some weird behaviour or glitches here and there.
Probably not 2030. Valve are scared of the number 3!
I bought a mid-tier at full price, would definitely buy again. I'm more casual, the fans I played on it so far:
Stardew Valley - Okay let's be honest, this is the majority of my playtime on the deck. Runs great, controls great. Love that modding was pretty straightforward. Love that I can play while in line, turn it off when I need to, and come back to it later.
Journey - runs great, controls great
Power Wash Simulator - great controller support, but I found it was nearly out outright impossible to find those tiny bits of dirt in crevices that you really have to angle for even on the PC.
Disney Dreamlight Valley - Hate the controls, prefer PC
Raft - hate the controls, prefer PC
West of Loathing - runs great, controls great
Donut County - I can't remember what my issue was but I remember keyboard controls giving me real problems on this one and it has sat in my account ever since gathering dust. Tried it out and completed it in a few hours. Great controls!
Spiritfarer - didn't care for the game, but for the few hours I tried it the controls were great, ran beautifully.
The Wonderful End of the World - runs great, controls great.
I just found out I can install an emulator to run C64 games and if I can get it done that's a huge perk for me.
I love that it's pretty sturdy because I am a clumsy asshole who falls asleep on the deck.
I love the control setup in general, I tend to avoid consoles as I don't enjoy learning all new buttons all the time, but the layout feels very intuitive and I rarely have to make any adjustments to default binds.
It's a great conversation starter! I've struck up conversations with total strangers about what we play, what we like, etc. Yes, I'm an introvert who would normally consider that a bad thing, but finding people who want to talk about games instead of their kids is a breath of fresh air!
FWIW, you can completely change the control scheme. For most popular titles you'll find community ones which use controller inputs and ones that use keyboard inputs. For any game I intend to sink more than 10 hours in, I'll typically spend 30 minutes honing some controls to make it pleasant, not just good-enough.
If a control scheme is mostly-good, but has like an unusable joystick/trackpad, there are settings you can fiddle with to fix it.
For PC gamers moving to Deck I 100% reccomend using the right touchpad instead of right stick for mouse looking. With proper tweaking and some practice, you can get really precise movements that a stick alone won't, especially if you use the gyro.
So far the control hate has been more about preferring keyboard use in general rather than specific keybindings. I tweaked a couple buttons in Power Wash and a couple in SDV, but that's all I've needed so far.
I want aware the joystick and trackpad were adjustable though and I'm sure they'll come in handy - thanks! And also thanks for the tip about touchpad vs joystick - my initial clumsiness with the trackpad led me to conclude the opposite was true, but I'll keep playing with it and try and improve - sounds like in addition to being generally useful, if might help solve the problem of unreachable power wash dirt even if I can't actually see it, and that works be another great game for relaxing on the go.
I saw this article the other day about getting Steam OS running on it, it definitely doesn't seem like a smooth process (yet?): The Linux coders turning the ROG Ally and other handhelds into Steam Deck clones
I've been previously quite active over at the ChimeraOS Discord and have it running on my livingroom console PC. I know the guys over there are working on ROG Ally support and once they've got it I'll probably sell my SteamDeck and buy one.
I only own a Steam Deck. But from what I've heard the overall level of polish and stability of the Ally make it hard to justify just for a moderate performance boost. There have been issues with performance regressions as well, making a purchase purely based on the APU harder to justify. These could all be ironed out as I haven't heard of any hardware issues. But for the time being we know the Steam Deck provides a very high quality user experience.
Snagged myself a top tier model! I was prepared to buy the mid tier model if there wasn't a sale, but the top tier one being 20% off brings it below the mid tier's default price. Kind of a no-brainer for me. I'm eagerly looking forward to getting it into my hands to play some games my current computer can't handle. So excited!
EDIT: Spelling
I’m really impressed with how good some modern games run. Some games are just barely playable, but others are beautiful and 60 fps. You should have a great time!
It's worth noting that the ROG Ally does not have a "suspend" function like the Steam Deck. It has a "sleep mode" similar to putting your desktop PC in sleep mode, but that causes issues with a lot of games and will often result in a crash.
The ability to suspend my game at any time is huge to me, so I'm quite happy with my Deck.
How stable is the suspend mode on the Deck? Does it work with all games?
Remarkably stable, and I truly mean that in the real sense of the word. It will work for most games too. I'm hesitant to say yes to "all" because that's impossible to verify.
I get it. Even on consoles sometimes a game will crash after being suspended (especially on Xbox's Quick Resume, it usually pertains to online games like those from Ubisoft).
Thank you for the info.
I've run into one game that crashed after resuming. Everytime. Can't remember which one it was though, so that means it was some minor/niche one.
I had gaming sessions that were hours long but done in 10 minutes increments across several days, all just by hitting the power button to send SD to sleep and then resume.
Oblivion, all four Syberias, Horizon Zero Dawn, Assetto Corsa, X: Rebirth... I've put quite some time in all of them and they worked like a charm. Oblivion crashed here and there, but only on savegame with 100+ hours and out of the blue while playing (not while resuming).
My buddy sent that to me....I might actually just pull the trigger already. Curse you Valve!!
If you're not interested in the anti glare screen of the most expensive model, I would strongly consider getting the cheapest model and putting a high capacity SD card in it. By and large the games you'll most likely be playing on it won't be massive, and 512 GB will be more than enough. And it's down to about $360 US which is barely more than a Switch at this point.
I really think it is good product but i'm not sure if i would use it. When i was in the army and had lots of downtime but couldn't have a desktop my DS was great, but now when i have downtime i'm usually at home anyway.
I played Super Mario 64 for about an hour today on a full charge, and I think my battery was around 87% when I stopped. The Deck’s battery life for low-power games is genuinely incredible. I think you’ll be very happy with your purchase!
The Witness is amazing. Unfortunately it's one of those games you can really only play once. The best parts are where you don't know what to do and then have that 'aha-moment' where it clicks. I wish I could go back and play it for the first time again.
I wasn't able to complete it 100% though. The hall of the mountain king (no spoilers) had me stumped.
Agreed. Also really funny small Easter eggs.
Tunic is one of the only games that, once I started, I sat down with every night until I completed it. The main "twist" was one of the most satisfying game experiences I have had in a long time.
DON'T LOOK ANYTHING UP UNTIL YOU PLAY AWHILE
Is there anything that you're looking to buy? Or if you did buy something, what are your thoughts on it?
I'm battling myself again not to buy the Deck. I don't need it. I'm a console gamer, I have every current gen platform and a few older handhelds. I have a backlog. I have an AYN Odin Pro which is not as powerful as the SD, but is capable of emulation up to PS2. I don't need a Steam Deck. They reduced the price even more than before. I don't need a Steam Deck. I don't need a Steam Deck. I don't need a Steam Deck...
Not to be a bad influence, but I definitely recommend the Deck just from personal experience. You could sell the Odin to cut the cost and not be doubling up on devices with the same purpose...
I could. I considered doing it. The nice thing about Odin is that it's an Android device, which is a more console-like experience. There are no config files to edit, no different version of DirectX, etc. It either works or it doesn't :) Less typical PC stuff. It's also a con because not everything is available on Android.
How good is the Steam Deck from a more casual perspective? I'm trying to get my partner more into video games, and currently we play things on my laptop, but it's not great for gaming - weird Linux distro, poor graphics, etc. I think it would be good to have a box in the living room that we can just turn on and play things on, so I've been toying with getting a Switch, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of great local multiplayer content there. So maybe a Steam Deck, then we've got access to a lot of the Steam library? And the new Harry Potter game seems to work reasonably well, which she's been excited about.
Ah, sorry, I'm the wrong person to ask about docked play. I bought the Deck to be a handheld console 100%, I don't have a dock and have no interest in getting one. It's for playing in bed or bringing with me on trips.
I also don't often play local multiplayer games, if I'm gaming with my friends we are usually playing one of the Paragon revivals. The last local multiplayer game I actually played was on Switch, which was Kirby: Star Allies. I did have fun with that!
Thanks anyway!
Just a personal anecdote, but my wife hadn't played anything but phone games before. After watching me play SDV on mine she bought one and put many hours into it.
Have you ordered it yet?
No :D I probably won't, but I keep coming back and checking it out. I liked that Dave the Diver indie game that was featured on the Store's front page. It's coming to Switch this year, but it works in 59 fps ;) on the Deck, I doubt it it will be as fluent on Switch.
I won't tempt you more :-)
I bought mine because I have PS1 to 3, PSP, PS Vita, Switch Lite and also GBA SP. And desktop PC. My ganing history goes to 98 when we got first PC into the family. I played before here and there where available and had NES clone. Thinking about it, I play for the past 30 years.
And through all those years I realized that I hae less and less time to sit in front of TV/monitor to play games. This realization got confirmed when I got PSP, my first handheld and started playing on the go. I longed for portable PC (not laptop, even though I had one), but they were EXPENSIVE. Wheb Steam Deck came I could at last play my (old) favorite PC games whenever I wanted and actually afford the hardware! So this is why I bought it. And I've put probably 400-500 hours in it in the first year. It's great thing - for me!
Lawnmover Game I'd this game in Wishlist for so long. Historical low this time.
also Dorfromantik is a good time killer. I've it from itch for free, thinking of buying it if I can sell enough cards. Don't forget to watch your Discovery Queue for free trading card everyday
Oof, Lawnmower Game at 31 cents breaks the bank
I'll be buying the Orcs Must Die! Complete bundle to get OMD 3 and the missing DLCs from OMD 2 that I don't have. The kids and I had a blast playing the original. I'll probably pick up the complete bundle for them if they're missing anything.
Other than that, there aren't too many AAA games or even indies that I'm interested in.. even for Steam sale prices.
I'm not buying anything. At least not today. I have many games to play, some of them waiting for years. I play mostly on Stea Deck nowadays which sometimes limit me with new games (size wise and maybe performance wise too, although I'm ok with 30fps).
I eould buy a few games right away, but really... i have like 5000 game hours waiting for me, so no need to add another hundred. It would be like throwing money away, even if it's just a few euros. Although I might actually buy Mindustry, because I enjoyed it quite a lot for free on mobile, so this will at least repay a bit for all those free hours.
I bought Mindustry on Steam after seeing it was open-source and available for free on F-Droid. I've barely touched the game but have a lot of respect for FOSS developers so to me it was definitely worth the money spent.
Same. I'm always tempted to buy a new game if it's a good deal, but I still have a big backlog and it will probably be another year before I finish AC: Odyssey anyway! Seriously, this game is ridiculously big, too big really, but I at least want to finish it before getting distracted by something new.
I tend to play one big game at a time. Now it's Divinity: Original sin EE and after around 100 hours I'm finally in the end game. I say finally... The game is great, but it sure was long! But if I put it down, I would never pick up where I left and all the progress would have been lost. And this is part of why I hae so many unfinished games.
Trying to decide between getting Sekiro and Cyberpunk 2077.
Both are around $30 which seem like a decent price, but means I should only pick up one of them.
Sekiro is something else. If you're looking for a tightly built and unique game, go for Sekiro. There's no high like a FromSoft high.
Ultimately it does depend on what type of game you're looking for.
I bought Cyberpunk on launch and had a great time with it, so I'm biased clearly because the launch had a face only a mother could love.
Along the same lines, I finally picked up Sekiro to play on my Steam Deck and I don't think the game is well suited to that. I was never a big parry player in the Souls games and Sekiro is certainly geared towards that play style.
So, if you're into a more "Open world" game with exploitable builds, pick up Cyberpunk. If you're a parry player and want a slightly more structured game, I'd take Sekiro.
Cyberpunk is the play there. The backlash it got was really overstated (it ran fine on my mid-end PC, I don't care much for console complaints knowing how many RPG's have been gimped to run on consoles) and it was already a good game and only looks to be getting better with Phantom Liberty and the upcoming free update.
I'm waiting until there's a Definitive Edition or Biggest Launch Outcry Edition before I get Cyberpunk. I want the DLC bundled in and maybe a little upgrade or two to my PC before I start this game.
Both games are at their "default" off-price, but Cyberpunk 2077 is reduced to $30 on various sellers every few weeks, while Sekiro is only off every three months or so, so if you plan on playing both anyway and you really can only get one or the other right now, I'd go with Sekiro now and then get Cyberpunk 2077 on another 50% sale whenever you're next able (or when 1.7 drops as some others have suggested).
A reminder that this is one of those big sales with trading cards and stickers—if you collect those. (Discovery queue, and game categories for the sticker).
No games or anything this year unfortunately :(
Ah, you mean like Saliens? Yeah, that's too bad. Was the last one the Grand Prix? Would have been 2019? :(
There was a quiz game recently (I want to say last winter sale?) that told you "what kind of game you are" or something. Was hoping for at least something fun like that this year....
Only thing I'm thinking of getting is Street Fighter V: Championship Edition Upgrade Kit + Season 5 Ultimate Pass. To be honest I've bought way too many games over the past few months that I've made zero headway on (Persona 5, Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 3, Mass Effect Trilogy) and I'm still neck-deep in Zelda so this may be the first summer sale in ~10 years I really pass on.
Hi-Fi Rush is on sale but is cheaper on Fanatical https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/hi-fi-rush
This has been par for the course for a little while, but I was hoping for stronger discounts:
I'm still upset that they replaced the original with this, kept the price this high, and never gave an upgrade price for those of us with the original. I love the game a lot and want to replay it, but I don't want to buy it again, even if it's only $25. If it was down to like, $15, sure.
Very happy with this steam sale; got pretty much everything I was looking for. I encourage others to use the sale to search through the catalog of indie and older AA(A) games to pick things up that are outside of your typical genre / preferred developers.
Last spring I picked up Yakuza 0 for $5 on a whim, not thinking that much of it because my perception of the series was of its small inane side-games. Completely blown away, I just picked up the other half of the 11 titles RGG has on PC and am continuing through them, god knows when I'll finish. Similar story, earlier in my life, finding Larian Studios, Telltale & smaller indie VN creators, etc.
I've bought Deep Rock Galactic so far. Haven't played it enough to really give an opinion on it right now though.
I'm not sure if I'll get more, but maybe something catches my interest.
I've already bought 10 games lol.
Tell us about them! What did you get and why?
The only thing I love more than buying my own games is living vicariously through others’ purchases. 😆
[Edit]
I refunded Mr. Sun's Hatbox, it's actually infuriating to play. I've gone on maybe 10 missions and only finished 3.
Into the Breach is FANTASTIC! Anyone who loves tactics or strategy games will really appreciate the efforts put into it.
The game is really well designed with a lot of depth, BUT it's more like chess than Fire Emblem or XCOM. It's almost a puzzle game which has its own appeal.
That's a great haul! I wishlisted Rain on Your Parade and might end up picking it up this sale. Looks perfect for the Deck. Thanks for sharing!
Thank god for your edit. It wouldn't have been the first time I got suckered in by an excellent description only to remember that, oh yeah, I suck hard enough at platformers to suck all the joy out of even the more creative ones! I still added ROYP, RoP and Stellaris to my wish list until payday, though. So much for thinking maybe I wouldn't spend more than a few bucks this sale!
Someone please tell me not to buy a Steam Deck - I really want to but I don't need it. It's not a necessity. I pay bills, I don't need it.
I wish I could tell you not to buy the steam deck, but I failed hard at resisting that myself at full price and like... now that I have it, I do need it. Then again you can always do what I do with expensive games that go on sale but are still (to me) still pretty expensive... add to wish list, promise I'll get it next sale x game stays on the list forever through multiple sales that are never low enough for my budget, until I finally lose any interest I initially had or forget why I even wanted it (Steam needs a note function for wish list items so I can save the bloody reddit comments that convinced me to wish list them in the first place!) and inevitably remove it from the wish list to clear out some of the bloat.
I'm upset because I've now bought one and I'm waiting for it to arrive.
I just got the cheapest one since I'm not afraid to upgrade my storage down the road and I don't want to spend even more on it than I just have at this time. What a crazy time to have enough money to spend.
I’m with you on that. But luckily here they’re all sold out already.
I miss when the steam sale was legendary and life changing lol
I have a friend who bought a Deck, and this is his first experience with a Steam Sale.
It is in fact quite legendary for those whom don't yet have a backlog. Especially coming from Sony/Nintendo.