A little research quickly told me that neither functioned well on the device, leaving me to instead consider a handful of indies that could run on a Nintendo Switch. When Marvel’s Midnight Suns and Need for Speed Unbound launched last December, I figured I’d pick one up for my holiday travel. Verification remains spotty too, especially with AAA games. Image used with permission by copyright holder ![]() Other times, I’d load up a verified game like Strange Horticulture and find that miniscule text sizes made me wish I had just played on PC. I had several magical moments in the past year where I’d load up a game like Rogue Legacy 2or Teardown, which were only available on PC at the time, and play them end to end with zero problems. When games run perfectly on the device, it’s everything I wished it would be. That’s not to mention the struggles I still have with game compatibility. Don’t get me started on its finicky Linux browser either, which is only made more frustrating to navigate because the command to call the device’s on-screen keyboard doesn’t always work. Downloads have gone awry because the system went to sleep, halting progress. I’ve had my Steam stats decimated as my Deck keeps counting game hours even when the device is in sleep mode. In between that, I’ve also dealt with an unpredictable battery that can sometimes die in an hour or go from 10 to 0% in an instant. I’ve encountered a string of crashes, hardware slowdowns, and even game freezes that have temporarily bricked the device. ![]() That kind of experience has been common for me in the past year. When I did get it working, I found that all of its cutscenes were replaced with color bars.Įven a year later, you have to go into it knowing that the hardware itself is a constant work in progress. I simply couldn’t boot the game and wouldn’t be able to until I returned home and reconnected to Wi-Fi. I loaded the app and then … nothing happened. ![]() I had just downloaded Soundfall and was looking forward to firing it up. I still remember the first time I tried to travel with my Steam Deck, excitedly taking it on the subway for the first time. What I’m less enthused with, however, is how unpredictable the device can be even a year after launch. Those are the aspects that make the Steam Deck a truly special device, and I’m glad they’re present, even if I don’t use them much. There’s even a performance overlay that lets players see things like frame rate running in real time - a tool I use a lot when playing Vampire Survivors. Steam Deck offers much more flexibility at a system level, giving players the tools they need to boost performance, conserve battery, or anything they’re looking to customize. Something like the PlayStation 5 is a plug-nd-play affair - if a game runs poorly on it, there’s not much you can do to fix it. Few gaming consoles really give players the power to meaningfully fiddle with their hardware settings in the way a PC does. To be fair, that’s the appeal of the device for folks like Jacob. ![]() What I quickly learned in the past year is that the device is every bit as temperamental as my rig, if not more so. When the Steam Deck was first announced, I was excited about the possibility of a more streamlined PC gaming experience akin to a Nintendo Switch. I’d rather just load a game up and have it run on tech it’s optimized for. I don’t have the most up-to-date parts, so getting a new release to function optimally can be a song and dance I just don’t want to deal with. But more importantly, I can’t stand the frustration that comes from tinkering with settings to get a game running right. For one, I’d just rather sit on my couch and play something on my TV than sit at the same computer I use for work. I play plenty on my rig, but I try to avoid it as best as I can. While I’m taking the role of a console gamer in this argument, I’m not allergic to PC gaming. This fantasy Minesweeper roguelite is my new Steam Deck buddy The Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch had a baby, and it’s Lenovo’s Legion Go This cozy railroad management Steam game is a relaxing fall treat
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