After waiting quite some time, Project Killswitch from dbrand for the Steam Deck is finally coming but there's been a few changes and it seems not everyone is happy with it.
This is the special case and solid protection for the Steam Deck that dbrand has been teasing for months now, with a reservation fee that was about $3. Now they've announced that it launches on September 25th but it has been split across two packages. Shipping is free for USA + Canada but everywhere else the cost will depend on what exactly you order and dbrand said in their usual marketing speak "If you don't like it, move.".
The "Essential Kit" will cost $59.95 and includes:
For an extra $15.00, the Travel Kit adds:
- 1x Travel Cover
- 2x Stick Grips
What's different is not just that it's been split in two, but their announcement didn't even mention the screen protector that was supposed to come with it. In a Reddit comment, they attempted to clear that up by saying:
Screen protectors are indeed a part of the project and have been in-market for about 6 months. Our data indicates the majority of Project Killswitch reservations holders have already purchased a screen protector from us.
As a result, there was no unique kit created which bundled this component in. Rather than creating a kit which would be redundant for the majority of reservation-holders that already own a screen protector, we opted to simply make the screen protector an optional add-on to the Project Killswitch UI.
In other words: if you're among the minority of reservation holders that hasn't purchased a screen protector yet, you will still be able to on the Project Killswitch UI. It just won't be built into a "Kit" option.
The announcement also didn't mention that reservations are supposed to get free Stick Grips but they later cleared that up in a Reddit comment to confirm reservations do still get those.
They've had a surprising amount of backlash on Reddit about the changes they've made to it, with the Steam Deck Reddit seeing quite a lot of unhappy comments about it. dbrand at least seem to offer refunds of the $3 reservation fee if you're unhappy.
With dbrand coming out pretty late on this, with multiple options already out there like the Deckmate stand or the Standing Case from JSAUX, I do have to wonder how their sales of this will go down.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: constI want real community forums back, reddit is cancer.
Consider that we need somewhere to put the cancer/blind outrage output and that visiting reddit isn’t very useful for immediate reactions. Avoid it, vote with your wallet (browser).
slaapliedje Sep 4, 2022
Quoting: itscalledrealityReddit, much like some other places, it really depends on which part of it you hang out in. Like if it is a really popular place, there are going to be asshats. Like I usually only read either places where you want funny asshats, or where there are legitimate questions and answers (like the GURPS subreddit.) It's like so many forums too, there are always some that are just jerks. Like if you look at the Atari VCS or Jaguar forums on AtariAge, there were people that acted like the fact these things exist is a strike against their very being. But after so long they seem to get either banned or find something else to rage about.Quoting: constI want real community forums back, reddit is cancer.
Consider that we need somewhere to put the cancer/blind outrage output and that visiting reddit isn’t very useful for immediate reactions. Avoid it, vote with your wallet (browser).
slaapliedje Sep 4, 2022
Quoting: shadow1w2Dbrand expensive and sketchy or atleast odd PR.Ha, their marketing / PR is hilarious. Watch any of the Linus Tech Tip videos where they sponsor them. You know Linus wouldn't ever actually bad mouth a sponsor, you know dbrand would have to look over anything that he is going to say. But they treat it like they are a silly rivalry, which is definitely amusing.
Dunno about their products but I can say I'm not interested for those two reasons alone.
As for the uproar, something feels off about it to me and I think this is all according to plan.
It certainly is getting them attention isn't it?
Personally I'd rather give my money to these garage makers in the community.
Especially the open source ones.
I mean come on, the 'Kill Switch' is very tongue in cheek on the naming, as the Steam Deck is for sure the death of the Switch for adult gamers.
Quoting: TheColdOneI feel a bit bummed since I'm in it purely for the case + travel cover to make it a little easier to toss in my bag. It does suck that no one seems to be showing signs of an alternative to that specific aspect of the killswitch product.
Someone did show a case that does exactly that, but I think it's only announced. Spigen or JSAUX, iirc. No doubt it will get upvoted like crazy once available.
Last edited by const on 4 September 2022 at 7:49 am UTC
Quoting: itscalledrealityQuoting: constI want real community forums back, reddit is cancer.
Consider that we need somewhere to put the cancer/blind outrage output and that visiting reddit isn’t very useful for immediate reactions. Avoid it, vote with your wallet (browser).
I'd agree if reddit wouldn't contribute a degradation in culture that spreads outside its domain. As some people say, that critique might go to most social media. Can't really tell, as I stopped using these years back (serious QoL improvement)
Last edited by const on 5 September 2022 at 6:48 am UTC
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