File:Why Valve Made The Steam Deck (The real Switch Pro-).webm

English: It is absolutely no accident that Valve announced the Steam Deck a mere week after Nintendo announced the Switch OLED Model, the long rumoured "Switch Pro" which turned out to be a little less than many people were hoping for.

The Steam Deck ticks almost every box for a Switch Pro, with a far more powerful processor to allow the device to run beefy games that would never be possible on a Switch.

The only thing the Steam Deck lacks is Nintendo's catalogue of high quality first party games. Although the Steam Deck, unlike the Nintendo Switch, has Sonic Adventure. And Persona 4.

(And Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess SHHH WHO SAID THAT)

Whatever the Steam Deck turns out to be, we fully believe it's made with the best of intentions. When most companies end up a practical monopoly, as Valve with PC games (Epic's attempts to challenge that monopoly notwithstanding), the temptation is to double down on consumer unfriendly business practices. Valve doesn't seem to be playing the game that way. Their goal is to find ways of expanding what Gabe Newell calls the PC "ecosystem" to new audiences, so that hardware manufacturers, game developers, and consumers all win.

The only entity that loses out is Nintendo, who finally has some competition in the mobile gaming sphere again. RIP PlayStation Vita.

Oh, and Elgato, the makers of the Stream Deck lose out too. Because that name choice is just mean.

Nintendo fans ultimately stand to benefit from this even if they don't buy a Steam Deck, as Nintendo now finally has an incentive to up their game. Not that Valve sees this as a competition anyway.

When I personally (Matthew, the artist, writing this description) think of the games I want to play on Steam Deck, the list doesn't include many games I'd get on the Nintendo Switch. I'd still prefer physical cartridge media for most things, and a lot of the indie games I love come to Switch as standard now.

No, I want it for the weird stuff I wouldn't be able to get on Switch. Legacy games like Knights of the Old Republic 2 with the restored content mod that would never get a Switch release, even if the base game gets ported this year. The aforementioned Sonic Adventure. I guess I'd give Jedi: Fallen Order a go; I could have played it on PlayStation, but I'd rather play anything on a handheld.

I might get Xbox Game Pass, I've heard good things from friends. I might double dip with a few games that I have on Switch but that would be much better in a less compressed form, such as The Outer Worlds.

I'd play Portal and Portal 2 again. I might even finally try Half Life, which I have to admit I've never played.

I have played some of Half Life 2, but I wouldn't rush back to that, it's not quite my jam - I'm not a fan of apocalypse games. Somehow Half Life's smaller, more contained environment feels more appealing, I don't know why.

Ooh! I could try some Deus Ex games on a small screen, that'd be much better than playing on a TV but having to wait until the kids go to sleep.

I could do the Mass Effect trilogy again. That'd be neat, and it doesn't seem to be coming to Switch any time soon.

Maybe I'd even try Mass Effect: Andromeda again. See if I make it more than five minutes in this time without losing the will to play.

Of course I'd play Sonic Mania with every single available mod. Heck, I could do that right now if I wanted, but somehow having a portable screen rather than a computer feels more comfortable for a lengthy Sonic session.

And, I'd play every random thing from Humble Bundle I've ever wanted to get my hands on. Yeah, that'd be sweet.

I'm someone who loves a console for its simplicity, and in particular loves a handheld for its privacy. When kids are around, it's a big help to be able to play so that they can't see what I'm doing, if I happen to be playing a more violent or aggressive game. So the Steam Deck appeals to me, not as a replacement for the Switch, but as a second similar device that would let me play games I'd never get on Switch.

Lots of love,

BretonStripes (https://twitter.com/bretonstriped) and Kotor/Matthew (https://twitter.com/kotorcomics)

Sources: https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-price-valve-gabe-newell-400-dollars-painful-but-critical

https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/