Though itās hard to say whether or not āSteam Deckā has become a household name yet, it certainly deserves such a status after an impressive introduction. Valveās mini-PC has had a one-of-a-kind first year, one that might make other platforms envious. After various attempts at getting into the hardware game, from the complicated Steam Machines and Steam Controller to the more successful Steam Link, Valveās hardware ambitions finally landed with a remarkable, perhaps even industry-shaking, hit. In a JNCO-pocket form factor, the Steam Deck is a little terror of PC-computing power. And its connection to the Steam marketplace provides a library that no console could ever dream of upon launch.
Initially available via reservation, Steam Decks started shipping in February. Though this delivery window was itself a delay (Valve had been targeting December originally), that Decks began appearing at the doorsteps of eager fans so swiftly and regularly is kind of a miracle itself. The impact of the pandemic, and various related global supply chain and shipping issues have complicated a number of industries; consumer electronics has been notably hit. While the demand for, say, a PS5 is very different than that of a Steam Deck, weāre two years into the PS5ās life and itās still a bit of a challenge to get one of those. Steam Decks though? Nowyou can buy one without a reservation. Shipping is typically the only waiting period.
Not only was the Steam Deck arriving more swiftly and reliably than a lot of other gaming hardware, it also arrived with a remarkable amount of games ready to play. True, this comparison might be a little unfair when you consider the fact that the Steam Deck is basically a gaming PC you can hold in your hands and not as much of a generational āplatformā as, say, PS5 or Xbox Series, but look at a title like Aperture Desk Job. Released by Valve clearly as a way to demo the various features and graphical power of the Steam Deck, you are forgiven if you have never heard of it. Unlike, say, Astroās Playroom, a similar kind of āgameā to show off the PS5ās capabilities, there was no need to bide oneās time playing (with all due respect to Astro) demoware until āthe good gamesā came out. Right out of the gate, the Steam Deck was delivering experiences like Control in a way weād never experienced before; PC-gaming level graphics quality was yours to play on the couch, public transit, a park, or anywhere you damn please. Battery life might be a little tight, but when you consider the level of performance youāre getting, it feels understandable as opposed to limiting.
And as a portable console, the Steam Deck gives the Nintendo Switch some serious competition. Sure, unless youāre running an emulator (which even Valve admits to doing) the Switch will still have certain exclusives that arenāt as easy to obtain on the Deck. But the Switch has been out for a while, using an aging mobile processorāmeanwhile, the Deck which is running actual PC-level silicon under the hood. Nintendoās portable may have better battery life on average and the newer OLED model has a wildly prettier screen, but itās starting to show its age. Meanwhile the Steam Deck is out here crushing it with Cyberpunk 2077 running in your hands. As Kotakuās Zack Zwiezen noted in his piece, recent big titles like Bayonetta 3 and Alan Wakeās remaster struggle on the Switch. While the Switch might be the most mainstream out of the big three consoles, its sales are also starting to slow down, and more importantly, its ability to keep up with modern games is waning. Sure Bayonetta is exclusive to Switch, but the Deck is more than happy to provide thousands of modern, last gen, or classic games, sometimes with a flawless 60-frames per second.
Just over 10 percent of Steamās entire library is āVerifiedā on Deck as of the close of this year, and countless others are playable with some patience, workarounds, and compromises. My Steam Deck arrived around halfway through the year and I canāt recall the last gaming device I boughtāin its first year, no lessāthat had so many playable titles right away. And itās not just great games, the Deck immediately impressed with its malleability as a piece of gaming hardware.
The Steam Deck runs a Linux-based operating system, much like the Steam Machines that came before it. But unlike the Steam Machines, Valve included an accessible ādesktop modeā that, with some limitations, provides a recognizable desktop experience thatās fun to mess around with and surprisingly usable. This has allowed users to gain access to alternative storefronts like GOG or Epic with simple utilities like the Heroic Games Launcher. To be clear, this requires a little bit more computer know-how and even some hacking-lite skills, though all of which are easier than modding a console. But those learning curves have been flattened by the Steam Deck community and its willingness to craft and document clever innovations. Getting Epic Games Store games up and running is as simple, if not more so, than installing a mod for a PC game. Hit up Reddit or YouTube with a simple āhow to installā¦ā search and there are tons of tutorials for how to set up different storefronts, customize the boot screen, and more.
With great product availability, the ability to deliver your Steam library to you on the go, as well as other PC-based gaming storefronts, the Steam Deck has not had to justify itself unless portability just isnāt something youāre interested in. Sure, it has room for improvement, such as a desperately-needed better screen and better battery life, but few pieces of gaming hardware have shipped with such a powerful library of games with unique ways to play them. And that itās all packaged in this open source software environment thatās incredibly customizable and moddable is the cherry on top. 2022 was a powerful year for the Steam Deck, and itās only just getting started.
