Steam Deck vs Desktop vs Switch

[DeerDK]

Hello everybody, 

I have started considering getting a steam deck so I can game on the couch sitting together with my wife, instead of sitting in the corner of the living room at my gaming pc. 

 

My usual games are strategy games and role-playing games, with some action thrown into the mix. Currently playing Crusader kings 3 and Victoria, but Civilization is also an evergreen, and I just sunk 100 hrs into Cyberpunk. 

I shortly tried a friend's Nintendo Switch, and while I liked it, I wasn't convinced it wouldn't just end up collecting dust while I start a new Civ game for the umpteenth time. 

 

So, would a Steamdeck make sense, with my usual usecase in mind? Or should I just focus on having a nice and quiet gaming desktop pc? 

 

Edit: I have two kids age 3 and 5, so the Switch may still have a place in the race in term of kid friendly platform

[Needfuldoer]

At the very least, a Steam Deck would let you use Steam Remote Play to play games on your desktop from the couch.

 

A Switch would be a "family" purchase. A Steam Deck would be a "you" purchase.

 

Buy the Switch. 

 

[DeerDK]

2 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

At the very least, a Steam Deck would let you use Steam Remote Play to play games on your desktop from the couch.

 

A Switch would be a "family" purchase. A Steam Deck would be a "you" purchase.

 

Buy the Switch. 

 

Thanks for the answer.

Im getting mixed signals here

Because, id say that its not a bad point that i can use remote play - i could hook up my pc on the tv. Although, i could technically already do that with an hdmi cable and my wireless keyboard/mouse.

[Needfuldoer]

3 minutes ago, DeerDK said:

Thanks for the answer.

Im getting mixed signals here

Because, id say that its not a bad point that i can use remote play - i could hook up my pc on the tv. Although, i could technically already do that with an hdmi cable and my wireless keyboard/mouse.

Is the goal to spend time with your wife and kids, or is it to just be physically present in the same space as them while you're gaming?

 

A console like a Switch would give you the former, a Steam Deck would facilitate latter.

[DeerDK]

1 minute ago, Needfuldoer said:

Is the point to spend time with your wife and kids, or is it to just be physically present in the same space as them while you're gaming?

 

A console like a Switch would give you the former, a Steam Deck would facilitate latter.

which are very good points. My wife is not a gamer, apart from ocasional getting hooked on minecraft for a week, so being able to play footsies on the couch while playing Civ 6 and listening to an audiobook is on the wishlist.

The kids are not that much into gaming, yet, but my 5yo is definetly interested.

 

Hmm, it does swing the pendulum back into Switch territory, although perhaps not so urgent. Dunno if Nintendo plan on releasing an updated version at some point. Its a bit of an old platform to buy into 

[WereCat]

Well if you enjoy strategy games, especially turn based ones then Steam Deck works perfectly for those. Some of these games just don't play so well on the smaller screen but it's manageable. Civ is definitely fine, Crussader Kings is a lot of text and UI so that may be an issue on the smaller screen if you tend to read a lot and don't have that great eye sight.

 

I've played Age of Empires II on Steam Deck just fine (after I've set my controls to my needs) and I also played games like Planescape Torment that require a lot of mouse usage for moving around.

 

I never even seen Switch IRL besides pictures and videos so can't comment on that experience.

 

For ouch gaming I find the Deck to be fine. I mostly spend time on it when I'm in bed and regarding that, you will probably find that you can't comfortably play in bed for long while in one position. For example when I lie on my side my upper hand gets tired as the Deck is wide enough that my right hand (if I lie on my left side) will start to go numb after about 30min as it's positioned too high.

But some mouse games don't really need both of my hands to control them so I just lean the Deck against my legs and use just one hand to control it for hours.

[sixpi0dnine]

i had a switch for about a year and lets just say its sold... although i enjoyed it very much there was just no games for me other than super smash bros or legend of zleda there is really not much you can do unless you have kids... from what ive seen on the steam deck as a gamer that plays mostly by myself i would buy it 

 

the switch screen does look very very nice irl and has very very good audio for a handheld device  

[DeerDK]

14 minutes ago, sixpi0dnine said:

i had a switch for about a year and lets just say its sold... although i enjoyed it very much there was just no games for me other than super smash bros or legend of zleda there is really not much you can do unless you have kids... from what ive seen on the steam deck as a gamer that plays mostly by myself i would buy it 

 

the switch screen does look very very nice irl and has very very good audio for a handheld device  

Thats the thing I'm afraid of, for now. I wasn't really sucked in by the games I tried. Even Zelda BotW was really nice, but not worth a whole new console imo. So perhaps I should just wait until my kids starts pestering me to get them a Playstation, and THEN buy a Switch. 

*cough*

Or just get them hooked on pc gaming 

[sixpi0dnine]

2 minutes ago, DeerDK said:

Thats the thing I'm afraid of, for now. I wasn't really sucked in by the games I tried. Even Zelda BotW was really nice, but not worth a whole new console imo. So perhaps I should just wait until my kids starts pestering me to get them a Playstation, and THEN buy a Switch. 

*cough*

Or just get them hooked on pc gaming 

lol if i were you look at Facebook marketplace or a local selling website and look for a "switch lite" 9/10 times you can find one for 100 or less and you could use that to see if a switch would be worth it because i do not suggest using the lite for more than 30 mins it kinda sucks because the screen is smaller and not as good.... have a good day man!

[DeerDK]

3 minutes ago, sixpi0dnine said:

lol if i were you look at Facebook marketplace or a local selling website and look for a "switch lite" 9/10 times you can find one for 100 or less and you could use that to see if a switch would be worth it because i do not suggest using the lite for more than 30 mins it kinda sucks because the screen is smaller and not as good.... have a good day man!

Lol, nah, if I go into it, it's not going to half hearted. But buying used is a good option. We have "The blue Newspaper" here in Denmark, which is very reasonable to use. Have sold my old gtx 960 on it. 

And that could work. I still don't feel an urge to get a Switch right now, so if I go that route I'll probably wait for it to become more relevant 

[sixpi0dnine]

1 minute ago, DeerDK said:

Lol, nah, if I go into it, it's not going to half hearted. But buying used is a good option. We have "The blue Newspaper" here in Denmark, which is very reasonable to use. Have sold my old gtx 960 on it. 

And that could work. I still don't feel an urge to get a Switch right now, so if I go that route I'll probably wait for it to become more relevant 

true the only prob buying used switches is the docking station after awhile will scratch the screen from going in and out so if you dont get a screen protector on it before you use chances are you will deal with scratches i believe ltt actually has a video going in depth of what im talking about but i could be wrong... that and the controllers in handheld mode made me upset it didnt feel cheap but you could easily wiggle the controllers when they were slid on the console so it didn't feel super sturdy if yk what i mean.

[DeerDK]

3 hours ago, sixpi0dnine said:

true the only prob buying used switches is the docking station after awhile will scratch the screen from going in and out so if you dont get a screen protector on it before you use chances are you will deal with scratches i believe ltt actually has a video going in depth of what im talking about but i could be wrong... that and the controllers in handheld mode made me upset it didnt feel cheap but you could easily wiggle the controllers when they were slid on the console so it didn't feel super sturdy if yk what i mean.

Oh... 

Sooo... I'll just go back to obsess about my next gpu upgrade, I guess

[Anacondris]

I have a switch and a steam deck. 

The switch has some fantastic casual games which supports couch coop. It is a good console to get your kids into gaming or even your wife. My wife didn't game at all before we bought the switch and now she has her own. 

With the steam deck on the other hand you can play the same games you would also play on your pc. And with the steam savegame cloud you can just continure gaming where you stopped on the pc and vice versa. 

The reason why I bought a steam deck is that currently I have finished all my switch games I don't find anything interesting in the ehsop at the moment. But I really wanted to sit next to my wife on the couch while gaming like you. 

[rikitikitavi]

Steam Deck when everyone is just staring into TV anyway, otherwise skip and try to make the best out of the family time.

For couch family gaming - I would just look into hooking up your pc or a raspberry pi with some retro multiplayer.

[DeerDK]

14 hours ago, rikitikitavi said:

Steam Deck when everyone is just staring into TV anyway, otherwise skip and try to make the best out of the family time.

For couch family gaming - I would just look into hooking up your pc or a raspberry pi with some retro multiplayer.

Perhaps, id say, though, that family time is not really a consern. We read a ton and generally spend a lot of time together, so it's more just adding another thing to our activity options. 

 

I actually have an old cpu + mITX mobo I've considered setting up as a media center/gaming box

[rikitikitavi]

23 hours ago, DeerDK said:

I actually have an old cpu + mITX mobo I've considered setting up as a media center/gaming box

That sounds like a start.

 

On 3/30/2023 at 5:15 AM, DeerDK said:

My usual games are strategy games and role-playing games, with some action thrown into the mix. Currently playing Crusader kings 3 and Victoria, but Civilization is also an evergreen, and I just sunk 100 hrs into Cyberpunk. 

Strategies and other mouse-heavy and/or screen-greedy games are a questionable entertainment on SD. Personal experience with CRPGs - no native gamepad support and/or complicated UI makes it a torture to play. If you are planning to use a mouse then no point in SD. You might be better off with iPad+SteamLink in this case, or just get a small laptop, like MacBook Air.

 

Cyberpunk is a different story, if you are happy with the performance of course.