With the specs, it should be able to run most games. Bear in mind that the screen resolution is 1280x800, so it doesn’t need to push a tonne of pixels.
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What I personally wonder the most is how good can it look on a TV, a big size one like 65 inch for example. I mean even if we select 720p-1080p we can choose settings like AA and things like that and have it look really good. Definitely curious how nice it is for big screen gaming.
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Yeah the same thing had crossed my mind. 800p is going to look fantastic on a screen that size, but if it doesn’t do up-clocking to increase resolution when docked like the Switch does, it’s going to be a bit of a mess docked.
It seems pretty open though, so I expect users will be able to play around with setting, reducing fidelity and increasing resolution when docked, but I do wonder if a machine of this spec is going to manage as a big screen device.
Hell of a powerful handheld though.
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Wipe out SteamOS. Install Windows 10. Install Xbox app. Native Game Pass portable console.
This is the one idea that is tempting me towards this as I have no Steam library at all (never been a PC gamer).
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In theory it sounds good, but I’d be waiting for details on performance with Windows installed before rushing to pre-order on this basis.
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Yeah, will wait for impressions and reviews as I am skeptical of battery life and ergonomics.
The Steamdeck is good and all but when The Soulja Boy advanced comes out then you can say goodbye to Valve and Nintendo as companies as we know it
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As much as I really want to give this a shot, I think I’m going to pass. The base model is essentially a $400 indie machine due to storage capacity. On paper it makes the Switch OLED seem far inferior, but I think that’s a bit deceptive when the $530 model at 256GB is basically the realistic entry point for AAA gaming which is kind of the point of the device.
I’m also concerned about battery life, form factor as well as how the Steam Deck will holdup against true current generation games—not Control or Jedi: Fallen Order from several years ago, but titles like Fable or Perfect Dark in the next several years. As others have mentioned, Windows 10 performance and user experience remains to be seen which is also a requirement to use this as a pseudo-Xbox handheld. These are all areas that could be improved in another iteration worth waiting for with an experimental handheld like this.
That’s another factor: how quickly will Valve pump new models out? It’s just a bit risky to invest in, given Valve’s hardware track record, and considering the steep cost of admission. I think if Microsoft comes out and announces they’ve partnered with Valve to optimize games for ProtonDB, which I doubt, that changes things. Phil has been name dropping Valve quite requested in interviews, and we know he’s been talking to Gabe, so clearly a deal of some kind is brewing in the background.
Something else I think about is if Xbox gets xCloud latency to where it needs to be in the foreseeable future (still in beta mind you), this device is a direct competitor to what is a remote version of Series X hardware. Good luck competing with that even when we can all agree that native play is the superior option. But then we know that Nick is teasing a partnership between Xbox and Nintendo, presumably for xCloud, and now Nintendo may have that in its pocket alongside its exclusive library.
I’m really excited because I’m hoping this puts some heat on Nintendo and brings competition to the handheld space. But I am not convinced this is the Switch killer or has any potential of eating into Nintendo’s audience. It’ll be interesting to see if pricing of the Steam Deck fluctuates as the stranglehold on silicon loosens next year which will then change the conversation somewhat.
Battery life will be trash.
I can see 3 or 4 years down the line, MS creating a Xbox Series S portable once they shrink everything down.
I really don’t think this is on Microsoft’s radar. Xcloud and streaming is their strategy to get their games on portable screens. No sense in challenging Nintendo in a fight they can’t win, when they’ve already got a successful, well-recieved strategy of their own.
Good guy Phil
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How long before one of these ends up on Phil’s shelf?
Gabe gon send the Founder’s Edition and by the time this releases, the shelf will be so full that the only option to put it on there would be to take out the Switch and put this in its place. The Usurper has arrived. 
I was watching a Gameranx video about this and they mentioned that this will support mods too. So this will mean we can actually play some of those amazing Skyrim and Fallout 4 mods. There are mods out there that basically give you a complete new world to explore, brand new quests and much better visuals. Xbox sadly didn’t get these mods because they are too large in file size.
So if all is well we should be able to play all those mods, which really is freaking cool! I mean there’s a mod for Skyrim that basically gives you Morrowind in Skyrim visuals or better.
“Xbox buying Valve???”
yes, cuz its basically just a pc.
at this point, just whatever question ppl have, gotta have a stop and see if pc can do the thing youre thinking of, and just realize, yep this can do it too.
That’s damn awesome and if I ever end up with one I will try them out for sure. There are some amazing mods there that basically transform the whole game. And since I have Skyrim and Fallout 4 because of Game Pass (and bought) I don’t need to buy em again for pc.
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The Gamepass handheld we deserve
Which costs more than the Series X… Yeah, I don’t think so.