The Steam Deck 1 Year Later – An Honest Review

Can someone help me. I’m totally a newbie with this. Just heard about this TODAY. Could i put the Nintendo nes and sega and genesis games on this ? Do the controls work well with it

I think it is best gaming devices for fathers))

Steam Deck is the best price to performance ratio in the handheld space. I don't care if you show me the Ayaneo 2 or GPD Win 4. They might be technically slightly better but they're also 2-3x more expensive. And who knows the level of software and customer support you'll get from them? Valve has an established ecosystem.

With all that said, I still haven't gotten one. I may still wait for a much smaller one or if Valve knocks another $100 off from it. I was playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for hours yesterday and it got me thinking 💭: Maybe the 8th gen is the GOAT for gaming? For years, I kept saying Double Dash is the GOAT Mario Kart game. I'm so wrong. We have it better now.

Not to diss my beloved 6th gen but there were still graphical limitations from pop-in and poor draw distance. I felt PS4 is when graphics got perfected. Wasn't really a fan of the 7th gen but the 8th gen polished what the 5th through 7th gen tried doing with 3D graphics.

Since I have a modded PSP, modded PS Vita, Switch Lite, and multiple Android smartphones with emulators on them, I don't feel the need to keep playing old games from 20-30+ years ago. If I got a Steam Deck, it would be mostly to play games released within the last 8 years.

I want NEW gaming experiences. Leave the past behind. Not play that favorite PSP game for the 100th time. I know nostalgia is a powerful drug especially in gaming, but we need to try out NEW experiences and Steam Deck offers this with the best price point.

I believe the PS Vita is the best PlayStation ever made. I believe the Switch is the best Nintendo product ever made. They're considered part of the 8th gen even though their graphics are closer to 6th to 7th. I would take those two handhelds over any home console I've owned starting from NES leading up to PS4. I prefer them portable. I believe Steam Deck will surpass Vita and Switch thanks to its raw power.

Valve made the PS Vita 2 that Sony never gave us. It made us the Switch 2 at least 2 years before the real Switch 2 comes out. Wouldn't it be cool if Sega released another portable for us? Get back in the hardware business. Be even cooler if they released a smartphone. Same with Nintendo. And Sony should release an Xperia Play 2.

I say own them all. Get the best of all worlds. Nintendo, Sega, and Sony all raised me, so I will always support their products even though each of them can piss off their customers. But you really can't go wrong owning a modded Vita, Switch, Android smartphone, and a Steam Deck. You have basically every generation of gaming covered including the current 9th gen that PS5 is living in and you can play all 50 years of gaming on-the-go. No need to be tethered to a TV set.

I hear Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is a PS5 exclusive. A PS4 owner like me won't get it. But I got a feeling it will eventually be released for the Steam library. There ya go. Steam Deck is the platform of choice for gaming on-the-go for the foreseeable future. We know Nintendo can be stingy with powerful hardware or offering their first-party games at more affordable prices.

The Switch was really the first powerful handheld (or hybrid) that Nintendo had ever created. I always felt from Game Boy all the way to 3DS, they never gave us the best hardware. The 3DS wasn't all that more powerful than the PSP! The graphics are just beautiful on the Switch even if its Tegra chip is 8-years-old. It's a portable Wii U and the Wii U was slightly more powerful than the 360 and PS3.

This blows my mind that I can get PS3-level graphics on-the-go without overheating. For someone who grew up on the NES, Genesis/SNES, and PS1 but skipped the 7th gen except for the Wii, it really does amaze me with the tech we have now in our handhelds and smartphones. I think sometimes we take it for granted or are too spoiled by it all.

Thank you, Valve. Thank you, Gabe. You made the greatest gaming device ever created and at such an affordable price. Currently $359.99 as I type this as it has a 10% discount. Own a pretty powerful Android smartphone with Snapdragon 870 or higher, a modded Vita, a Switch, and Steam Deck. You will have every generation of gaming covered. Honestly, you only need the Steam Deck. Android smartphones reach Wii emulation at best.

The 8th generation of gaming is the GOAT. Not the 6th or 4th. The graphics and the awesome indies are what made the 8th gen the GOAT. If you look back from the 5th gen to 7th gen, there was a lack of 2D platformers with the exception from the Sega Saturn which was the GOAT MAME machine. I'll scour 2D platformers on PS1 (it has Castlevania SOTN), N64, Dreamcast, PS2, and GameCube. They barely covered this popular genre from the 3rd & 4th gen.

It wasn't until the 8th gen coinciding with the smartphone revolution and their mobile games did the 2D platformer genre truly returned. Now Super Mario World and Sonic 2 are my two favorite 2D platformers of all-time. But look at some of the awesome 2D platformers during the last 12 years…

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Rayman Origins
Rayman Legends
Ninja Arashi 1 & 2
Oddmar (my personal mobile fav)
Ori 1 & 2
GRIS
Kaze and the Wild Masks
Kick & Finneck
Guacamelee 1 & 2
Iconoclasts
SteamWorld Dig 1 & 2
Sonic Mania

These are all games that can be found on my Switch Lite, Vita slim, or iPhone SE 3. Then we have beautiful beat 'em ups like Dragon's Crown and Muramasa Rebirth. We have Horizon Chase which is a modern reboot of Top Gear which is one of my all-time favorite SNES games.

We have Blazblue and Dengeki Bunko which looks better than any 2D fighter during the 90s including every Street Fighter game released in that decade. We have the best-looking and best-playing Mario Kart ever made which is really a Wii U port but it's the definitive version of it on the Switch that we can play anywhere.

True, sports games went downhill. Madden and NBA 2K went downhill thanks to greedy EA. We are stuck with micro-transactions. But overall, the 8th gen kicked serious ass! It's the greatest generation for video games thanks to 3D textures being perfected. Because we had Nintendo's and Sony's greatest handhelds even if they're using a generation behind in hardware next to their home console siblings.

The 2D games are far more beautiful now than what we played during the 16-bit era. Don't let nostalgia blind you and make you keep living in the past. We have it better now. I wouldn't mind if the 9th gen continues to remake games from the 5th through 7th gens. Polish up the graphics and gameplay more. I would love a Shenmue II remake but with far better graphics than the one we saw from Shenmue III.

We really don't have the technical limitations that we had 20-30 years ago. Games like Sonic Adventure, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Twilight Princess could easily be remade if FFVII did. You will see that the 6th gen wasn't all that graphically and needs the proper modern retouching from the hardware we have now.

Ranking The Generations
8th
6th
7th (moved up thanks to Switch, ❤️ AC4: Black Flag)
4th
5th (underrated, most progressive)
3rd
2nd
1st

*9th is still going on and isn't on my list yet.

Games look perfect to me already whether in 2D or 3D and in any genre. I know by 2025, we could have photorealistic graphics. But how much better gameplay would that be? Better-looking doesn't mean better gameplay. This is why I wouldn't be bothered if Nintendo doesn't make the Switch 2 any more powerful than the Deck. They always focused on fun gameplay.

Another thing I want to add is Switch is only at 720p when on-the-go/undocked. I prefer this. I don't want 4K games on the go with games over 100 GB. I know we can't have 720p forever but I'm fine with that resolution in order to save battery life. All the high-res stuff are shallow reasons that doesn't make the games more fun to play.

3DS
Vita
Wii U
PS4
Xbone
Switch

Sorry, not an Xbox fan although I did own the original Xbox from 2001 and did play my brother's 360 from time to time. I see no differences from it compared to a PC library. The Japanese companies is what made me love video games in the first place. I stick to what I feel comfortable with the way nostalgic people stick to something more familiar to them.

Steam Deck is the GOAT gaming device. At least right now until another device can beat it in price/performance. Better than any handheld or home console I've owned from the past 35 years. And I loved all those systems even my barely used Atari Jaguar. Steam Deck is a PC gamer's dream come true. It's the ultimate emulation device and current handheld to play modern games.

Please😫🙏🙏💓 help me 100000$ my card, steam deck and Nintendo switch OLED buy

I picked 64GB version last week and did instant upgrade to 512GB SSD + added 512GB sdcard. I was bit skeptical from beginning (several crashes during install, device hanging), but after some tinkering it worked. I never owned any console like PS or Xbox, all games I played on PC but now getting used to the controls and I'm liking the device more and more.

Had a steam deck for a few days a few months ago and sold it. It wasn't for me, I'm in love with my onexplayer mini 5800 it's the best handheld pc in my opinion.

People that own SD, what are your thoughts about docked mode? Can I use ps5 controller? Thanks!

I always hear the same thing.. battery life.. people need to realize that in 2023 its not possible to play big recent games on a handheld and have 8 hours battery.. battery's are simply not good enough to do that and be compact at the same time. That's the comprise with handheld gaming as it has always been the comprise. Buy a good battery bank and you're good.

I’m so glad I picked this device up! It was very easy to upgrade the 64gb Emmc to the 1TB drive. Added a 1TB micro sd as well. I love having full pc games with me anywhere with no streaming needed. I have a trip coming up for work and this will be going with me.

My wife has got me one for my birthday in May, and with all the cases, mods, and people going on about it over heating is all giving me a headache. So do I need a fan or change the back plate, case, etc.

How does the battery hold up after 1 year use? Does it die faster?

10/10 love my steam deck
Battery is definitely the weak point sadly

will maybe get one this week.

Great 1 year review btw.

got mine today. I've been enjoying resident evil 2

got mine a few days ago, got here 5 days after I ordered it. Loving it so much already.

2:30 🤣🤣

Finally just ordered one.