Steam Deck
Some thoughts on the Steam Deck in no particular order
- it seems to be an actual computer in a compact format with controllers integrated
- running Arch Linux and allowing you to switch to a regular desktop will make this thing a powerful tool, especially paired with the docking station
- once first devices ship it will take roughly 14 days till someone posts "website hosted on Steam Deck" on HackerNews
- Valve had many misses when it comes to hardware in the past - if the build quality will be worth the money is in my opinion not certain
- Valve seems committed to gaming on Linux. Considering the mess Windows 11 is right now it appears to be even more important to support them in their efforts
- the sale was a horrible fail with so many errors and it was expected that gamers who literally could not buy anything for 18 month will buy this thing like bread during a hunger crisis
- if you want a console / compute like this now there is the GDP Win 3
- I - and likely many others - will try to turn the Deck into a system for software development
- on paper they do so many things right it is no surprise to me the device is so well received
- for many people this might be the only gaming system they need or want, especially paired with a screen, keyboard and mouse or connected to a TV paired with a controller
- it will not "kill" the Switch at all - Nintendo lives by exclusive titles, IPs and fans. The Switch is also a lot more affordable.
I placed a pre-order somewhen yesterday. I did not bother fighting the store at 10am PST and I am not even sure I will execute the order. But I want to support Valve and Linux based gaming. Not because I think Linux is so much better or any of the free / FOSS arguments, but because we desperately need competition in the OS market for gamers now that Microsoft is going full 2001.