Steam Deck: Who's excited at the PC Nintendo Switch
- Thread starter huntsville
- Start date
Well, I believe this time Valve is doing what they can but it's impossible to prevent all scalping. They've taken action for the SKU most likely to see heavy scalping opportunties:They want to sell their wares; they just don't care that it all ends up going to eBay scalpers rather than people who are actually going to use the hardware. Doesn't matter whose money they take to them.
(The real solution is to not do limited-edition bullshit and actually make enough of your product.)
Bolded by me. Should cut down on people making accounts to use with bots for the purposes of scalping.
The other OLED models are apparently in mass production so aside from their server infrastructure being trash they should be able to service all the demand fairly quickly.
Then, if you're not careful, you get Analogue's latest fuck-up-- queue to purchase but whatever's in your cart wasn't guaranteed until you completed checkout. So by the time you got to the end of the queue, everything was gone unless you were a bot and got in instantly the second of release.
I've seen one or two companies actually do this well but most either don't try at all or only take the most trivial of steps to prevent bot activity. But, again, the real solution to this problem is to remove the incentive for scalpers entirely and make enough product to meet demand.
Heads up. If you were interested in a Limited Edition OLED. They are continuing to drop them in batches. Keep the site open and refresh it periodically. Delivery dates have slipped from 1-2 weeks to 2-4 weeks but they are still available at the time of this post.
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Yeah, the LE going in and out of stock was annoying. I ended up getting blocked due to too many retries at the payment phase. Came back an hour and a half later and just got a regular 1TB since that's 3-5 days for delivery. LE at 2-4 weeks is a bit long.
Limited edition colorway and case I believe. Not a huge amount of differentiation but I think the orange looks sharp.
As someone who grew up in the '90s, I am legally and morally obligated to be obsessed with anything with a translucent/transparent colorway. See also: Game Boy Color, original iMac, etc. 
The orange accents are nice, too.
The orange accents are nice, too.
coconutboy
Ars Praefectus
Thank you for this! After my troubles earlier, I assumed they were out of stock when I got the pop-up saying just that.
Maybe keep trying? I got the out of stock error message back in the ~10:30am pst window, but was still able to snag one a couple hours later.
I requested a refund on my “regular 1TB model and Valve processed it in about 10 mins. Then proceeded to order the limited edition about 10 minutes ago and it went through.
The regular Deck said delivery would be in 3-5 days. The limited says 2-4 weeks. Hope I get it in time for Xmas vacation with the family, but if not I’m okay if it doesn’t show till after the holidays.
The 1TB and 1TB LE models both have the same two-piece case, where the external bulk can be removed. The LE just has a custom colored version. It's the 512GB that lacks the two-piece case.
I'm not a huge fan of the way the colorway isn't trimmed to fit the venting holes, and the red thumbsticks are meh. I do like the red screws, though. Still, I don't see a reason to wait for it. With the changes they made to how the Deck is screwed together, 3rd party shells should be better the second time around. All the OLEDs have a red power button, so it's easy to tell at a glance one has an OLED version.
I'm not a huge fan of the way the colorway isn't trimmed to fit the venting holes, and the red thumbsticks are meh. I do like the red screws, though. Still, I don't see a reason to wait for it. With the changes they made to how the Deck is screwed together, 3rd party shells should be better the second time around. All the OLEDs have a red power button, so it's easy to tell at a glance one has an OLED version.
In case anyone's wondering, everything is still in stock. LE is 2-4 weeks. The rest are 3-5 days.
Yeah-- either there was more stock of the LE than this morning's site collapse would imply, or they saw the response and are producing more than originally planned.
Demand must be absurdly high if the Steam platform, a system solely dedicated to allowing people to purchase games in the multitudes, could not keep up with the new Deck. I'm curious where the numbers land. Fortunately, since we can see Valve hardware sales in the Steam charts, we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out.
That they seemingly sold well enough to release a pretty respectable update within two years is certainly promising. I love mine so much that it's going to be something I keep buying as long as they keep making them. I've also clearly spent too long over in Apple land because doubling up the storage along with all the other upgrades was quite a shock when I first saw the specs of the OLED models.
Makes me wonder what Valve meant by "limited quantities" on the limited edition. Aside from the fulfillment dates slipping a bit they don't seem limited at all. Scalpers are going to do a tidy business selling to unserved regions.
I already saw prices in Australia that made my eyes water and that was from a retailer down there. $1480 AUD = $960 USD for the regular 1TB. That's a 41% markup from a retailer! Seems steep.
I already saw prices in Australia that made my eyes water and that was from a retailer down there. $1480 AUD = $960 USD for the regular 1TB. That's a 41% markup from a retailer! Seems steep.
Valve has said if the LE sells well, they will do more colorways, so I would expect other offerings like this in the future.
A Half-Life 3 themed Deck would be superb.
A Half-Life 3 themed Deck would be superb.
We all know that would never get released.Valve has said if the LE sells well, they will do more colorways, so I would expect other offerings like this in the future.
A Half-Life 3 themed Deck would be superb.
Got my order in yesterday at 1:15, non-LE(I wrap it anyway) 1TB, ETA of 3-5 days(which I doubt).
I personally hope they marketed it as LE just to screw up bots and scalpers. It's LE for 3 months, then they do another colorway. So limited, but not really.
Now to see if I can sell my 512 in the Agora before I turn to eBay.
I personally hope they marketed it as LE just to screw up bots and scalpers. It's LE for 3 months, then they do another colorway. So limited, but not really.
Now to see if I can sell my 512 in the Agora before I turn to eBay.
I mean, that's really the problem with naming your game after a term based on probabilities...
Dang never thought to wrap it. Dbrand?
I wrapped my ipad, got the plates for PS5, and have a wrap for my mac air I need to put on one of these days.
In other news, SteamOS 3.5 is out: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/5484882897552407488
Not Dbrand but I might go that route this time. I got a Half Life themed one off Etsy which looks great
coconutboy
Ars Praefectus
I linked some of Valve’s responses to the lack VRR in the front page articles. Valve had to source someone else’s OLED along with its from-the-ground-up design. Unless you’re shipping Samsung/Sony/Nintendo volumes, it’s not easy to order your own custom VRR oled (not to mention one that supports HDR). That sounds right in line with the high prices for OLED gaming monitors. Those things are still pricey enough that I bought a brand new 65” lg c1 last year for less than my friend paid for his 45” monitor.
It may have been a choice between vrr and hdr, and if that was the case either would be hugely welcome for this Steam Deck mark 2. With worthwhile SoC improvements within the 3-15w power envelope at least 2-3 years away (possibly 5?), Deck mark 3 will almost certainly have minimums of oled, vrr, 90Hz or better, and hdr to go with the SoC/ssd/etc bumps.
Edit: fixed broken link to the Digital Foundry crew talking about battery life, VRR, and the current OLED Deck's single slider for limiting frame rates and screen refresh.
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And yet the display they ended up with is 16:10 (1280x800) and 90 Hz, both of which are unusual enough these days to likely make this a bespoke part on their own.
Valve obviously didn't want to pay for a VRR screen (and/or couldn't fit it into the power and space budget allocated). But it's not because they couldn't do a custom screen-- if they couldn't do that at all, we'd probably be seeing literally the Switch display (running at 720p60) in this device, rather than what looks likely to be a custom variant of it.
So put a few hours into the base setup and put an hour or so into blasphemous.
Man this thing is BIG and I thought the Switch was. Nice screen. The buttons are very 'clicky'. Don't love that but whatever. D-pad works fine enough. Not sure if the build quality is as good as the Switch. Feels real plasticky.
It's a bit more ergonomic than the Switch but still cramps my hands after playing for a bit. Guess nothing is as good as a regular controller in hand. Doesn't seem too heavy but like the Switch it gets heavy.
Pretty nice all in all. Interested to see how other games play and how emulation works. Kind of confused on what is compatible and not. ProtonDB has different info than Steam itself. Stuff like Doom3 is yellow I but Doom3 BFG is not compatible? Sounds strange.
Man this thing is BIG and I thought the Switch was. Nice screen. The buttons are very 'clicky'. Don't love that but whatever. D-pad works fine enough. Not sure if the build quality is as good as the Switch. Feels real plasticky.
It's a bit more ergonomic than the Switch but still cramps my hands after playing for a bit. Guess nothing is as good as a regular controller in hand. Doesn't seem too heavy but like the Switch it gets heavy.
Pretty nice all in all. Interested to see how other games play and how emulation works. Kind of confused on what is compatible and not. ProtonDB has different info than Steam itself. Stuff like Doom3 is yellow I but Doom3 BFG is not compatible? Sounds strange.
coconutboy
Ars Praefectus
Looks like mine won't arrive till next Monday or Tuesday. Shipped from Ontario CA. Wonder how quickly it would have arrived if I had used my Los Angeles address?
More surprising was when my nephew used his Deck to boot up the Wii U version of Zelda BotW. I don't recall if it was 60 fps, but I was able to play it at a mostly stable frame rate far exceeding the Switch. They have 5 Nintedo Switch consoles in their house, yet the best Zelda experience is on a Deck lol. Nintendo's Switch 2 can't arrive soon enough; BotW is almost 7 years old..
Something else of note, the kids have a 512GB and 256 version. This was great because I could test out the same games to compare the etched glass screen. Both screens were perfectly acceptable, but if I was in a brightly lit room, of course I'd prefer the etched screen. Otherwise, I think I'd rather have the standard glass. It looked more crisp with better pop to the colors, but downside was the sharper image made pixels and jagged edges more discernible. The etched glass muted the color saturation, but it also acted like a form of built-in anti-aliasing and smoothed out the jagged edges. Next time I get a chance, it'll be fun to compare my Switch and Deck OLEDs versus the LCD variants of both.
You should be good to play any of those. Last year in Oct/Nov I spent a lot of time playing with my niece/newphew's Decks. Doom Eternal was one of the games I spent a couple hours playing. I had previously played Doom (2016) on my desktop PC and was very familiar with how it felt in action on higher difficulties. By comparison, the Deck ran flawlessly (and if memory serves, I was playing at a stable 60 fps or close). Personally, there are some games I'd just rather play on my big screen to soak in all the glorious visuals, but it was still quite impressive.
More surprising was when my nephew used his Deck to boot up the Wii U version of Zelda BotW. I don't recall if it was 60 fps, but I was able to play it at a mostly stable frame rate far exceeding the Switch. They have 5 Nintedo Switch consoles in their house, yet the best Zelda experience is on a Deck lol. Nintendo's Switch 2 can't arrive soon enough; BotW is almost 7 years old..
Something else of note, the kids have a 512GB and 256 version. This was great because I could test out the same games to compare the etched glass screen. Both screens were perfectly acceptable, but if I was in a brightly lit room, of course I'd prefer the etched screen. Otherwise, I think I'd rather have the standard glass. It looked more crisp with better pop to the colors, but downside was the sharper image made pixels and jagged edges more discernible. The etched glass muted the color saturation, but it also acted like a form of built-in anti-aliasing and smoothed out the jagged edges. Next time I get a chance, it'll be fun to compare my Switch and Deck OLEDs versus the LCD variants of both.
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It seems that Valve still hasn't gotten the message that effectively writing "THIS IS A STEAM DECK"* on the side of the shipping box is a bad idea.
Thankfully, I don't really have issues with package theft in my neighborhood (plus I was able to grab it off the porch right as it was dropped off), but, still... nondescript packaging, please.
* To be clear, it doesn't literally say that on the side of the box. But the Valve and Steam Deck branding on the box is way more than prominent enough if you happen to be a porch snatcher who knows what they're looking for.
Thankfully, I don't really have issues with package theft in my neighborhood (plus I was able to grab it off the porch right as it was dropped off), but, still... nondescript packaging, please.
* To be clear, it doesn't literally say that on the side of the box. But the Valve and Steam Deck branding on the box is way more than prominent enough if you happen to be a porch snatcher who knows what they're looking for.
You know I didn't notice anything on the box but the battery shipping warning.
We live far enough down a culdesac that porch pirating isn't much a thing (at least for now). Wife was home and grabbed it right after the UPS guy dropped it off. Luckily wasn't still pouring rain at the time.
Yeah I'm just wondering why protondb says something like dishonored 2 is green check on deck but actual Steam store shows it as a yellow icon.
I'm going to be emulating everything up to a wiiU I think. I have a Switch so don't care to mess with that. Real interested to see how it handles stuff and what falls flat. From what I understand some PS2 games even have issues.
We live far enough down a culdesac that porch pirating isn't much a thing (at least for now). Wife was home and grabbed it right after the UPS guy dropped it off. Luckily wasn't still pouring rain at the time.
Yeah I'm just wondering why protondb says something like dishonored 2 is green check on deck but actual Steam store shows it as a yellow icon.
I'm going to be emulating everything up to a wiiU I think. I have a Switch so don't care to mess with that. Real interested to see how it handles stuff and what falls flat. From what I understand some PS2 games even have issues.
The Deck packaging (both original and OLED) includes a Steam Deck logo and a companion cube among the handling labels on the side of the box.
Cute? Yes. But also pretty effective at announcing to the world, "I'm a Steam Deck!"
ProtonDB is game compatibility (does it run). Steam's rating takes into account how playable it is on the Deck-- to get the green check on Steam, it not only has to run (and run well, at the default settings), but it also has to have full controller support (with no customization required to access all functionality), show Steam Deck controller icons, and work well on the Deck's small screen (the big one they'll ding you for there is text that's too small).
Ah; I thought they were pulling the same thing.
I did read some details here and there and some stuff was 'need to use onscreen kb' or stuff like that.
Makes sense. I'm also going to assume some games 'not' compatible do work? Like why would Painkiller not work? It's 100 years old and I don't think Valve is going to get to all these games in Proton. Guess that's one thing nice about the ROG and those Windows units. More fussy-ish in UI but more compatibility. Trade-offs.