No luck in Friday's AM frenzy. Placed my order Friday afternoon for a 512GB Unit. Q2 2022. I also plan on picking up an OLED Switch when I can find one. Both will be a nice change from using my gtx 1660ti laptop and xbox1 controller to play via TV.
If I could build my own dream handheld, the Deck checks a lot of bullet-points at a reasonable price:
- appears well-built and not cheap.
- Ergonomics look good with every input I'd want and then some. Stoked about the curved humps for grip and rear paddles on each backside; massive improvements over Switch's flat back and tiny-hand kid-centric focus.
I'm concerned about the tight placement of those menu buttons squished in above each joystick, and in longer gaming sessions the trackpads look like they'll be uncomfortable if used as primary inputs (overly bent thumbs), but the general layout is dynamite. Wonder if the capacitive joysticks can be shut down when not being touched? That'd be great for minimizing drift.
I doubt Deck will feel as good as recent xbox/playstation controllers, nor the many optional 3rd party Switch grips, but I appreciate Valve's effort at trying to nail in-hand feel while offering everything-and-the-kitchen-sink inputs.
- I love the form factor and 7" screen. The Nvidia Shield Portable back in 2013 was (for its time) an arguably more impressive device, but that screen was tiny and the market wasn't ready for what was on offer. This feels like the right device at the right time.
- the total package of hardware and fit/finish on offer (huge touchscreen, Zen2/RDNA2, SD card, usb-c, haptics, etc) appears impressive given the price. I agree with alexr that Deck is an evolution and mashup of Valve's many hardware endeavors. Even the work spent with Steam's Big Picture mode is going to pay huge dividends with a device like this. I do wish they could have squeezed in a bigger battery to minimize the inevitable degradation from baseline.
- Open OS/hardware means that as the device ages (or bombs), I'll be able to find a good use for it. There will almost certainly be drivers that work well for both windows and linux. Hopefully iFixit goblin ingenuity and eBay can source replacement batteries, parts for maintenance, etc.
Nobody at this point knows how things will shake out in terms of sales and developer support, but Deck has advantages that weren't there for 2013's Nvidia Shield Portable. People are much more likely to have large backlogs of PC games that will run very well on the Deck. Epic store freebies and Steam titles in my never/barely-played backlog include dozens of well-regarded games like Metal Gear Solid the Phantom Pain, Hyper Light Drifter, Bayonetta, AssCreed Origins, SOMA, Wuppo, Hitman, and more. The Deck is gonna be perfect for that stuff. On the other hand, Valve showed off Control and considering that's a ray-tracing showcase, I have little faith in Deck putting out decent 60fps visuals that include ray-tracing (was that a
mild flinch by Lawrence Yang when Pierre-Loup mentioned RT? 
I'll stick with my monitor and TV for AAA bling (if only I could get my hands on an RTX 3060ti/3070, dammit).
I can already imagine where Deck will take over from my laptop/tablet/phone and even PC if I feel like lounging in bed vs sitting at my desk or hooked up to the TV. Steam Deck doesn't necessarily
replace other devices, but I'm confident that over time, this and Switch will alter my gaming habits.
Not too concerned about storage with the 512GB unit and SD card. It would be kickass if developers offered lower-res texture packs to save gobs of storage, but I'm certainly not expecting it.
Valve also needs to be clear about how cloud saves and device sync works for people who will switch between their desktop gaming rigs and handheld. I forget who, but someone in the random thoughts thread was justifiably pissed about losing a lot of hours due to a mature cloud save being overwritten by a newly booted secondary device.
The big question will be how many of these Valve sells within ~2 years of launch. If it's just ~1 million devices, it'll probably remain niche and see minimal support. If instead Deck reels in, say, 3-5 million, that's still peanuts vs Sony/MS/Nintendo, but makes a helluva big statement about PC gaming on a handheld. That's a market ripe for growth and future hardware iterations.
If only Valve would put their best foot forward with a truly cohesive marketing strategy that leverages both games and hardware. This holiday season they could announce a new free-2-play IP along with mobile-specific DotA/Counterstrike/L4D/TF. Maybe shock everyone by announcing Deck will be home to 5 episodic installments in the Half-Life/Portal/etc universe. That's the kind of thing Blizzard/Nintendo/Activision/etc would do if they wanted to move hardware. Not sure why Valve won't commit the resources. No risk, no reward right? Half-Life Alyx was a great first step, but it is just
one game for an obscenely expensive piece of hardware (when you factor in the pc/GPU + VR headset). That's simply not good enough vs what Sony/Nintendo/MS offer. Nintendo has spent decades proving people will buy dang near any weird-ass hardware imaginable if they can trust that there will be 4-5+ great games that specifically target the platform.
Epic is paying out hundreds of millions of dollars to gift freebie games and lock in timed exclusives, slowly building themselves up as a worthy competitor to Steam. 20 years from now, maybe Epic has the lion's share of the market, or maybe it's split amongst Microsoft, Apple, and Netflix. Valve is clearly trying to do more than just Steam, but
when is Valve gonna wake up to the fact that selling gaming hardware successfully requires you bring more than just a single 1st party software title? Is Valve even planning on releasing a single game to coincide with the release of their Deck? The fact that is even a legitimate question says a lot about how Gabe and Valve have some bizarre disconnect from what gets gamers excited about hardware platforms. If Valve is going to build a beautiful
Field of Dreams diamond and bleachers (Deck or Index), they need to remember there's not much point if players don't have any mitts, bats, and baseballs (Alyx). And just one game (Alyx) isn't good enough! :facepalm: 3 first party games within the first 18 months should be the minimum.
It's a slow Tuesday. I wish I had a Deck or Switch on me right now.
