Steam Deck was the Steam top seller for the week ending April 17

What's nice about those of us that bought Steam Machines back in the day, they've greatly benefited from all of Valve's work on Proton. Now if they could just properly migrate the Deck UI, we'd be set. I bought my Alienware Steam Machine r2 a little over 5 years ago, did some minor upgrades and it works better than ever now that I can play even more of my library.

What's nice about those of us that bought Steam Machines back in the day, they've greatly benefited from all of Valve's work on Proton. Now if they could just properly migrate the Deck UI, we'd be set. I bought my Alienware Steam Machine r2 a little over 5 years ago, did some minor upgrades and it works better than ever now that I can play even more of my library.

It's not only beneficial to Steam Machines/deck though.

It's also great for GNU/Linux gaming overall. I mean Valve have done it in such a way that it's not "just for steam" - the changes benefit everyone trying to game on GNU/Linux, even those who don't use Steam, you won't need a steam deck, or a steam machine (or steam at all) to benefit from the changes they've brought to us.

It's great that they've done it in an open way, which benefits everyone. For that valve has earned my support and my respect.

There has been no other game store that's worked this hard to make gaming on GNU/Linux viable. You have to admire the work they've put it to make it so.

Perhaps it won't be long until the other stores catch on to the profit to be made, and bring their own stores over. Maybe?

Although at this point it would look like they're saying "Let's let valve do all the hard work, then we'll piggy back off their cash cow once it's ready".

I think I'd rather they just release SteamOS as a distro that can be installed on whatever, and start manufacturing Steam Controllers again. I'd much rather just build my own gaming PC or otherwise get a prebuilt of some kind and then install SteamOS than be locked to whatever arbitrary hardware Valve would come up with. It makes sense with the Steam Deck because it's a portable device and your average Joe can't just build his own one of those. And it makes sense for Playstation and Xbox because they have exotic, weird hardware architectures and a walled garden to play in, plus dedicated widespread developer support to take advantage of that hardware.

But if we're talking about something that just plays steam games tied to the wall and plugged into your TV... well that's just any old PC, isn't it? Valve would essentially be equivalent to some random boutique PC builder like IBuyPower or something and I think that's a waste of their time. There's already plenty of people providing in that space. SteamOS is really all they bring to the table that we don't already have. So they should just focus on making SteamOS really good, IMO.

Even normal, technically inept gamers understand the concept of a gaming PC and how to get one and then plug the HDMI port into a TV, you know? There's not much else Valve can provide hardware-wise that the general public doesn't already have, except maybe a slick sci-fi VCR shaped case like Playstation and Xbox come up with every generation. XD

Especially because they'd probably target console prices? Like a $600 computer, probably with an APU in it... and that wouldn't *just* be an average gaming PC, it'd be a *crappy* gaming PC. At that price point you'll struggle to make anything that's meaningfully faster than the Steam Deck itself. And while it's way impressive as a handheld, it's a really slow gaming PC. I mean, who goes out and buys a brand new PC like "OH BOY! I CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY GAMES AT 28fps 800p and the lowest settings!"

Don't bother, just let me hook up the stupid expensive $5000 PC I would have gotten anyway.

What's nice about those of us that bought Steam Machines back in the day, they've greatly benefited from all of Valve's work on Proton. Now if they could just properly migrate the Deck UI, we'd be set. I bought my Alienware Steam Machine r2 a little over 5 years ago, did some minor upgrades and it works better than ever now that I can play even more of my library.

It's not only beneficial to Steam Machines/deck though.

Of course. It's just that people often treat the failure of the Steam Machines as this disaster where people were now just sitting on worthless hardware that collects dust. That's obviously nonsense.

Mine should arrive somewhere May - June.

When I reserved it, I wasn't really sure what I actually wanted to use it for - I got my beefy main PC, so I don't really need it for that.
And I don't travel/commute a whole lot.

But by now I've decided to turn it into a proper retro station with a nice Emulationstation setup. Emudeck should make that even easier than it already would be.
And of course can still use it for its "normal" purpose.

I wonder if we'll see a Steam Controller 2 announced in the next year or so, building on Valve's experience from the first one and the Deck; maybe with both real joysticks and touchpads, or something.

next gen.
first they should fix their supply issue, sell the deck on direct sales instead of pre order reservations and sell in major stores.
once they have an console that can compete in sales numbers with switch/playstation/xbox then they can think in entering other markets.
the most important thing in this gen is geting almost all games to run on steam deck, then on then next gen they will have some interesting offer for the living room, but they should relase an deck 2 as well.

I guess not bad for a console that only sells in the US and UK...

sell the deck on direct sales instead of pre order reservations and sell in major stores.

I'm glad they DIDN'T do that - otherwise you could be 100% sure that 99% of Decks would be grabbed by scalpers...

I guess not bad for a console that only sells in the US and UK...

I know it's not worldwide, but certainly much more than US and UK (i got mine last week here in germany)


Last edited by Termy on 19 April 2022 at 6:55 am UTC

I'm glad they DIDN'T do that - otherwise you could be 100% sure that 99% of Decks would be grabbed by scalpers..

sure their strategy is good for the short run, while their production capacity is small and the world face suppy issues at an global scale.
but it wont be enough to compete with things like switch or give it enough users to compete with windows.
once they ramp up their production capacity, they will face issues regarding paying for storage and distribution costs.
big suplies with tons of products can solve the storage problem with scale+the fact that every piece of space not being used to store one product can be used to store something else.
as for valve wich is mainly an software seller, they will need to outsource that part, especially if they want to sell world wide.
not to mention that revendors can share part of the risk of making more units than they can sell.

but it wont be enough to compete with things like switch or give it enough users to compete with windows.

They're already "competing with" the Switch. Both sell to the market of mobile gaming. That's competition.
(*edit* Looking up the translations to German, it seems "to compete with" can mean both, "be in a competition/market", as well as "winning the competition". Well, that's some wide field of meaning. :) )

And both sell well. Though you're sounding like Steam Deck could only be called successful if it sells more items than the Switch... I would call it a success if selling the devices plus selling more games yields more money than they paid for it. (And that would be leaving out the backdoor against Windows closed shop part.)


Last edited by Eike on 19 April 2022 at 7:56 am UTC

but it wont be enough to compete with things like switch or give it enough users to compete with windows.

They're already "competing with" the Switch. Both sell to the market of mobile gaming. That's competition.

And both sell well. Though you're sounding like Steam Deck could only be called successful if it sells more items than the Switch...

they arent competing in the sense that:
1)many people simply cant chose the steam deck since its not avaliable for purchase, at least not imediatly, you have to wait for the shipment, that is, if its even avaliable at your country.
2)no developer is opmitizing for the deck, its was valve who had to fix elden ring for instance. (and make it better than even the windows version)

and while it dont have to sell as much as the switch, if we can sell like this, then the problem of games not supporting linux and we having to rely on proton may disapear for ever, proton would be for backward comp, while new games support it natively.
not to mention that competition kind of assume that people chose to buy one instead of another, instead of chose both (if they can afford) they save the money on one of then to buy more games on the other.

another thing to consider is that, if their margin for profit is too small, they might become unable to have an competitive hardware in the future, but that is an stretch.

also i wouldnt count things like android competition, google playstore is a joke, trying to find an good game there is harder than finding an needle in a haystack, i rather port my self an good game or make one than try to find anything google on playstore.
*by good i mean no pay to win bullshit, no lootbox/gacha.


Last edited by elmapul on 19 April 2022 at 9:01 am UTC

What's nice about those of us that bought Steam Machines back in the day, they've greatly benefited from all of Valve's work on Proton... I bought my Alienware Steam Machine r2 a little over 5 years ago, did some minor upgrades and it works better than ever now that I can play even more of my library.

Haha, funny you mention that. I just brought my Alienware Steam Machine out of storage for my wife to use to power a kiosk for an art installation she's doing, and I was playing with it and had the same thoughts, "Wow, this is actually now better than ever!" All the games I've always loved on any platform (Linux, and now too, Windows) still play very nicely on it and even more modern titles can be run at performance or low to medium settings. Considering that years back my local Gamespot was giving them away after the Steam Machine's "failure" (I think I bought mine for $299) it's been a ridiculous value given all it's given me over the years.

once they ramp up their production capacity

I'm sure they'll change things once the production surpasses the demand - but as that seems to still not be the case for the Index, i doubt it'll be too soon.

And i'm not sure if that's a bad thing.
As polished as the Deck already is, i wouldn't say it's something a completely oblivious person should just grab from the shelf of a big vendor because they like the packaging.
I'm also not sure if it really needs to compete with the number of switches shipped, at least not for "our" purpose. It "just" has to solve the chicken&egg problem - and seeing how many devs are jumping at it, it seems to be doing a pretty good job at that.

once they ramp up their production capacity

I'm sure they'll change things once the production surpasses the demand - but as that seems to still not be the case for the Index, i doubt it'll be too soon.

i doubt VR will ever have the demand that deck have, playing almost any game ever launched on the go, will have a bigger demand than playing the few VR games we have, especially considering that not all games work in VR.

And i'm not sure if that's a bad thing.
As polished as the Deck already is, i wouldn't say it's something a completely oblivious person should just grab from the shelf of a big vendor because they like the packaging.
I'm also not sure if it really needs to compete with the number of switches shipped, at least not for "our" purpose. It "just" has to solve the chicken&egg problem - and seeing how many devs are jumping at it, it seems to be doing a pretty good job at that.

most of thos devs are indie devs, im still waiting to see if big devs will start opitimizing for the deck.
i have to agree that i dont care about marketshare so long we can play any game we want, and run any software or use case we want (use alternatives to the windows exclusive softwares with the same esential feature)
but if we can reach console level of sales (75~150 millions of units shiped) then we might as well solve the chicken and egg problem foreblem as well as optimization problem forever.

most of thos devs are indie devs, im still waiting to see if big devs will start opitimizing for the deck.

Well, Apex Legends is not something i would consider "indie" ;)
There have been several not-so-small studios that released patches to optimize for the Deck, so i wouldn't say its just the indies, albeit they surely are the majority.
Of course it would be nice to have dozens of millions of sold units to "force" the industry to finally care about linux, but i'm pretty happy with the progress we've seen in the last few months already. ^^

most of thos devs are indie devs, im still waiting to see if big devs will start opitimizing for the deck.

Well, Apex Legends is not something i would consider "indie" ;)
There have been several not-so-small studios that released patches to optimize for the Deck, so i wouldn't say its just the indies, albeit they surely are the majority.
Of course it would be nice to have dozens of millions of sold units to "force" the industry to finally care about linux, but i'm pretty happy with the progress we've seen in the last few months already. ^^

that is why i said "most of", now, steam deck have a good momentum, but it will have to keep it momentum in order to get support from more big publishers and will have to get this support for the long run.

nes and snes had an good momentum but that was not enough to ensure n64 would have for instance.

another thing to consider is that, if their margin for profit is too small, they might become unable to have an competitive hardware in the future, but that is an stretch.

It's very fortunate for us that they are a non-stock company (with enough money), so they can choose to continue on stuff with low or no margin if they want to.

first they should fix their supply issue

Not knowing how many they have made or pre orders taken you cant make that assumption.

first they should fix their supply issue

Not knowing how many they have made or pre orders taken you cant make that assumption.

"In the first month very quickly we'll be in the tens of thousands, by the second month we'll be in the hundreds of thousands. And beyond that it'll grow even quicker."

https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-says-steam-deck-production-will-be-in-the-hundreds-of-thousands-by-next-month/

havent you being following the news?