Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: is handheld supremacy shaking?

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch

I already know that the Nintendo Switch is more than just a handheld. Once put in the dock included with the console, and you are already paddling happily on the television.

But it is also indisputable that the Switch is particularly successful because Nintendo has gained experience and superiority as a market leader which has put into it what Game Boy, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS have established over the decades. There were ups and downs in the home console business, with mobile games even the "Lowlight" 3DS sold around 80 million times.

The fact that Nintendo is also aware of this is shown by the existence of the Nintendo Switch Lite, which can only be used on mobile devices , instead of the Switch Pro expected by many, there is now the Switch OLED, which again focuses on gaming on the go.

Table of contents

1 PC in your pocket 2 Everything used to be easier 3 Can it run Doom Eternal? 4 Do you need all of this? 5 questions about questions 6 it remains open 7 stay vigilant But now the strongest competitor for this market leadership since the PSP is entering the ring: Steam Deck, developed by Valve, and the announcement is impressive: play the entire Steam library on the go , if you buy a dock separately, even on any screen - even the thousands of games in the Nintendo Switch eShop suddenly seem puny by comparison.

05:50

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch | OPINION | Is handheld supremacy shaking? loadVideoPlayer ('84124', '& sAdSetCsategory = article_featured', 12, '16: 9 ', false, 1376063, false, 277668, 260, false, 0,' ',' ', false); So does Nintendo have to be afraid? I don't think so - for now. In the future, however, I see major challenges for the company.

About the author

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: Is handheld supremacy shaking? (1) Source: Lukas Schmid Lukas Schmid has been working in various functions at Computec Media and thus at PC Games since 2010, first as an intern, then as a freelancer, then as a volunteer, editor and now as chief editor for pcgames.de, videogameszone. de, gamesaktuell.de and gamezone.de. He loves action, adventure, action adventures, shooters, jump & runs, horror and role-playing games, you can hunt him with strategy titles, most rogue likes and military simulations. Every Saturday at around 9 a.m. he tells you in his column what is annoying or happy about him. Hate comments and love letters are welcome in the comments under the column, to [email protected] or on Twitter to @Schmid_Luki.

PC in your pocket

What Valve there from December for a comparatively small price delivers - it starts at just under 420 euros for the cheapest version of the Steam Deck - is really impressive. Technically stronger than a PS4, and so much more than just a game console.

If you want, you can create your own operating system, even other launchers such as the Epic Games Store are possible; Various connections allow almost any periphery, Bluetooth was also packed in, the toaster is still missing.

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Nintendo Switch OLED: Production probably only costs ten dollars more

The production of the new OLED model of the Nintendo Switch is probably not much more expensive than the original version. var lstExcludedArticleTicker = '1376063,1376038,1375993,1375996'; The reason for this is that the Steam Deck is not almost a PC, as it is so beautifully drifted along - it is actually one, although it seems so far only expandable in terms of storage space, but otherwise a mini-PC to take with you.

This is both the chance for the device to gain a foothold and the reason why I think Nintendo only has to sweat a bit for the time being.

Everything used to be simpler

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: is handheld supremacy shaking? (2) Source: Valve As much as the Switch is not immune to updates, technical problems and more, it is the console of the current generation of consoles that comes closest to the "Plug & Play" claim. No browser, no gimmicks, hardly any apps - this is about games and little else.

I think that was one of the reasons why the Playstation Vita fell so low against the 3DS at the time. It wanted to be more than a gaming device, it offered all sorts of multi-media functions, unlike the Playstation Portable, which, in addition to the nonsensical UHD films, was also designed very purely for gaming.

And, quite obviously, mobile gaming was at almost console level apparently no relevant factor for most buyers back then, the 3DS with its (mostly) more limited experiences always had the edge here.

Can it run Doom Eternal?

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: is handheld supremacy shaking? (9) Source: PCGH / Amazon It was only with the Switch that such games became standard in the pocket, and many people are still amazed when they see a Doom Eternal on the small device at once.

The time now to enter the market and exceed this promise with a significantly more potent device is more than logical.

But: As mentioned, the Steam Deck is far more than just the second attempt at a PS Vita , and I think the simplicity factor is still an important factor for many mobile device gamers.

Do you need all of this?

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: is handheld supremacy shaking? (6) Source: Valve Why is the Switch so popular? Because you don't have to think a lot when you buy a game - module inserted or downloaded, and off you go.

With Steam Deck, on the other hand, Valve brings everything you want to avoid as a console and even more as a handheld player , into a microcosm that is new to them. Yes, the whole Steam library should run without any problems. However, there are already first reports that copy protection could cause problems with some titles, and a more powerful PS4 is far from what modern PCs and current-gen consoles can do.

Sure, that's the advantage of a portable PC, then the performance is calculated down, you play on low or medium settings, and thanks to the smaller screen, it should still look good.

02:02

Switch OLED announced | New console with better display loadVideoPlayer ('84011', '& sAdSetCsategory = article_featured', 0, '16: 9 ', false, 1376063, false, 277668, 260, false, 0,' ',' ', false); Nintendo Switch Plug & Play is not that, and every PC gamer knows that even with the best hardware, any component can thwart your plans at once.

The games won't work on the Steam Deck specially optimized, they should, so the announcement, simply run on the mobile device. It is not even a matter of time before this is not the case for the first time, and reports will piling up from day 1.

Questions upon questions

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: Is handheld supremacy shaking? (24) Source: CD Projekt Red On the other hand, with the Switch, and consoles in general, this is not the case, every game is optimized for the hardware. Yes, I know, Cyberpunk 2077, but let's not make a rule out of one exception - especially since the game is running, it's just very bad.

I'm actually very curious to see if Valve has false expectations here a target group is approaching that may not know what to do with the impressive range of features of the Steam Deck. The fact that Valve can also miscalculate has been impressively demonstrated with the flopped Steam Machines.

And are PC gamers really so keen on a device to take away that they might bite into it en masse? Do you need all the PC functions? So isn't a powerful laptop a better choice? Sure, the price is an announcement, but the ultimate device for everything that arises does not seem to me to be the Steam Deck either.

It remains open

Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch: is handheld supremacy shaking? (18) Source: Nintendo I don't mean to say that it won't be a success, and the questions I am asking are not meant rhetorically - I really don't dare to assess that (yet).

But I think that Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck won't be in direct competition because I don't see the same target group showing interest here. If only because I can't yet assign the target group of the Valve device.

Staying careful

However, that doesn't mean that Nintendo can be lazy. At the Switch you saw that something that was not standard before can quickly become such, home console experiences for on the go are now nothing special. And maybe mobile players will also get a taste for the more effort involved freedom that the Steam Deck will offer.

Nintendo must therefore watch carefully, see how the market develops and with the device, which one will eventually Switch will replace, react accordingly. Unlike the Wii U, where the target group was completely misjudged after the success of the Wii, you no longer have a flourishing handheld business that can bail you out in the worst case.

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