You've thought about it, haven't you?
Since the Steam Deck has taken hold, and the ASUS ROG Ally has arrived, mobile gaming computers are real and good.
I admit that back when Epyx Games designed their handheld gaming machine with color display, I was interested. Atari bought it and put it out under their name. When Nintendo brought out Virtual Boy, it piqued my interest. However, bad, tiny displays weren't enough for me.
I looked at the Nintendo Switch several times. The newer, OLED-equipped Switch really looks good, but it's not very powerful for 2023. So many people bought them in 2020 and 2021 because they were stuck at home, the company did well. For me, I want different games, and mostly, those games don't end up on Switch.
So, here I am with a Steam Deck and it's good. I have over 182 games available in Steam, 62 are in the Great on Deck category, and I have 42 games installed.
Earlier, I was watching a YouTube video about installing a game launcher that could handle non-Steam-based games. You have to exit Steam and go to the Linux/KDE desktop, use the virtual keyboard, and more. Without a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, it sounds difficult. It sounds like my 8-bit days before the GUI arrived. The good thing is that there is a GUI. I'm not sure I want to bother with GOG Galaxy or the Epic Games Launcher on a Steam Deck in desktop mode, though.
Play Games or Mess with the computer?
This reminds me so much of my time at work getting Win98SE and WinNT to work. Then, going home to my MacOS machines. I really don't want to mess with the computer. I bought Steam Deck to play games, not to become a Linux laptop replacement.
Windows Local or Windows Remote?
The good thing about Steam is that it allows you to Stream a game from another machine. I can stream a game from Steam Deck, Mac, or Windows. I can even play remotely on Android or iOS.
GeForce NOW will also allow you to run Windows games remotely on Android or iOS. However, unless you're a premium subscriber, you may be waiting in the queue quite a while. The Razer Kishi V2 works fairly well, but only supports/is supported by a handful of games I have. It did not work with my OnePlus 8T and, while it works with my Google Pixel 6a, the Pixel 6a isn't as powerful as the 8T. Gaming is not so happy, even for light, casual games. Playing from a Mac is fine, but seems a waste. I don't have a Kishi V2 for iPhone.
Valve has really worked hard to make Steam Deck a success and I'm pleasantly surprised how many games work well. I'm not too quick to jump on the latest trends, but Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush from Tango Gameworks and Bethesda are pretty bug-free for new releases.
I'm not about to buy Hogwarts Legacy this year, partly, because it's massive, and partly, because it's expensive. I would rather buy Baldur's Gate 3 sooner but it's going to be buggy and expensive, also.
Then again, if certain games arrived on Mac, I'd be spending to show my support for native Apple Silicon gaming development. Some games work fine as Intel-based applications but more speed would make things go more smoothly.
It's interesting how many indie games are available for Mac and Windows at the same time while big studios can't seem to muster the courage.
Is playing handheld good enough?
I've played a number of games on Steam Deck, but some of my favorite pick-up-put-down kind of games, like Unreal Tournament 2004, don't work easily. For the most part, you can play almost anything. Games that require a keyboard and mouse will be difficult. I currently have 44 games installed and they mostly work the way I'd expect but I removed one or two because they didn't work correctly. Valve continues to make improvements in the Proton compatibility layer.
On iPhone and Android, I've been playing the Galaxy on Fire series for around 11 years, since the original Google Nexus 7 tablet with Nvidia Tegra processor and the second generation iPod touch. Using gyros for the movement was surprisingly good, although it might have looked silly while playing in a waiting room.
Using a Steel Series Nimbus+ for the iPhone and a Razer Kishi V2 for a Google Pixel 6a makes certain games much easier to play. It's a bit sad that Android controllers can't be more compatible with a wide variety of phones. My OnePlus 8T just didn't work with the Razer Kishi V2 but the Pixel 6a isn't as powerful. Now, Razer has a Kishi V2 Pro.
I still find myself at the computer, whether Windows or Mac, to play games that can't easily be played on Steam Deck, Android, or iOS.
I mentioned UT2004 earlier and it's one that I pick up for 15 minutes and then, put away. I play Toxikk that way as well. I haven't spent much time on Honkai: Star Rail or Genshin Impact on my phone. They're too much for my Google Pixel 6a, but run fine on my 2022 iPhone SE. The display dimensions aren't very good on the iPhone SE, as it doesn't really have a widescreen display. It does have a powerful processor, though. Genshin Impact demands a lot of my Windows 11-based machine. Those fans run quite a bit while playing, even for a few minutes. Teyvat is shown in great detail.
Which handheld will succeed to break the need for a laptop computer?
I'm looking forward to seeing Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Legion Go take hold and change the face of gaming. It's time.
Update 2023.12.14: Attached a keyboard and mouse to my Steam Deck and played Toxikk and Unreal Tournament 2004 as if I had a laptop computer. It was a good experience, even though I need to adjust to the keyboard. UT2004 actually ran better on Steam Deck than it ran on my Ryzen 7 5800H through the AMD application launcher using AMD graphics. That experience on the 5800H was surprising, considering that my experience in 2004 was better on a Mac clone with an ATI card that was probably priced around US$200 in 2004. ATI's XClaim VR was the card from 2004. The Steam Deck was awesome.
Cheap keyboard/mouse combo from Temu wasn't bad. Longevity? Who knows?
Update 2023.12.26: I have Hogwarts Legacy on Steam Deck. Performance is good so far. I need to acclimate myself to the controls or I won't go far.
Update 2024.01.13: Ayaneo has just announced a Steam Deck-like device using a SteamOS-like operating system, Ayaneo Next Lite. It's starting just a bit cheaper than Steam Deck, but who knows whether they'll continue to support the operating system or not. The company has so many devices that it may just be throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.
Update 2024.03.08: Ayaneo Next Lite will be shipped with Windows 11, for some reason. Orange Pi Neo has been announced with Manjaro Linux Gaming Edition. Supposedly, it will be less expensive than Steam Deck, even with Hall Effect triggers and a higher resolution display.
I've been acclimating myself to SteamOS desktop and updates through Discover. Trying to work a machine without a good desktop interface is difficult, but this one is good. When I was experimenting with Ubuntu back around 2005, there was a lot to dislike. GNOME desktop wasn't good and Ubuntu's Unity was different, not better. People raved about KDE but it wasn't that far along, either.
In any case, it's good to have a handheld device that can replace a desktop computer in a pinch.
Update 2024.03.19: Windows 11 Update KB5035853 has caused problems on Ally and others like it that use an AMD APU. Too many times Microsoft isn't paying attention, but with millions of configurations, how can they test enough of them?
Update 2024.05.27: Things are better and there are more alternatives yet. ASUS has an Ally X with some redesigns to fix and make things better. We'll see if it corrects ruining the SD Card by overheating it. It's still fairly expensive and Armoury Crate isn't much of a game launcher.
The newer Steam Deck OLED is a better performer and the display dazzles all but the most frugal. There are over 15,000 games Verified or Playable now.
I've been playing a few games from Netmarble, some for Android, some for Windows. I haven't got to the point where I want to try games outside of Steam on the Steam Deck. I downloaded two launchers for the desktop, but haven't done much to try them.
Update 2024.09.09: I noticed this week in a couple of articles that AMD is close to a new generation of APUs for handheld devices. There was a mention of Escher, which was in the same category as Van Gogh, the APU in the Steam Deck. There was also a mention of Z2 and Z2 Extreme, the processors in the ASUS Ally and Legion Go. Supposedly, the Z2/Z2 Extreme will arrive first quarter of 2025 but the replacement for the Van Gogh may take longer. It would be interesting to see how Valve handles a replacement for the current APU, not only in software, but in game verification. Obviously, it has to be fully compatible, but will it support more to deal with technical difficulties we've seen on Steam Deck?
Update 2024.10.24: SteamOS has been updated to version 3.6.
I know that Legion Go and ROG Ally X are making improvements in handheld devices. I don't see myself switching at this point. I have a Windows 11 Pro machine and it seems as though the performance has become worse. Anything extra that they can eek out of Steam Deck would be appreciated.
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