Valve announces the SteamDeck

[mountaincow]

Absolutely, usually it's 3rd party launchers or older game without decent controller support that fail. Everything else will usually play at least to some extent!

Controller support is the bane of my group's co-op games. One is using the deck all the time, so if something has iffy controls then it's off the table. You can play anything if this is the only barrier though. Just depends how good the community configs are, or how much time you're willing to put into making your own.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

It's probably going to be the Lego games, Mark Of The Ninja, Ori etc that I'll play if I get one of these. The super duper graphics games would be best saved for the 4k and ultrawide.

 

[ryryryan]

While my OLED steam deck is awesome, and the screen looks superb ofcourse, I will say I notice the mura in certain grey/dark scenes when it's not too busy - to the point it can be a little distracting.
I noticed the same on my Switch OLED - it's just the nature of these panels unfortunately.
Supposedly valve are working on an update to improve the mura (I'm assuming based on the mura info stalled on the bios to your specific screen from the factory), and I've installed a reshade which kind of improves it, but it's the only part of the deck i'm less impressed with.
Still a huge improvement over the LCD issues though at least with light bleed etc.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

While my OLED steam deck is awesome, and the screen looks superb ofcourse, I will say I notice the mura in certain grey/dark scenes when it's not too busy - to the point it can be a little distracting.
I noticed the same on my Switch OLED - it's just the nature of these panels unfortunately.
Supposedly valve are working on an update to improve the mura (I'm assuming based on the mura info stalled on the bios to your specific screen from the factory), and I've installed a reshade which kind of improves it, but it's the only part of the deck i'm less impressed with.
Still a huge improvement over the LCD issues though at least with light bleed etc.

What's the mura?

 

[Haggisman]

It's probably going to be the Lego games, Mark Of The Ninja, Ori etc that I'll play if I get one of these. The super duper graphics games would be best saved for the 4k and ultrawide.

I don't remember which review it was I read, but summed it up pretty well - it's great for smashing through your Steam backlog, you know, those games you bought in a sale 2 years ago because they were £5 and you know you're going to play them "soon", but then it would be a waste to play such old games on your £2k PC when there are newer games with amazing graphics which will do it justice... (don't lie, we've all got a stack of them ).

 

[McPhee]

I told myself that the Deck was for emulation and playing through said backlog... Fast forward 3 months & I've put more time into Baldur's Gate 3 than everything else combined

I haven't used my gaming laptop for gaming in months now, which seems like a waste. I'm lugging around a ~3kg laptop every day for tasks which could be done on an ultrabook. I then come home & pick up the Steam Deck

 

[ryryryan]

What's the mura?

It's essentially grainy screen, but it's driven by the pixels so it stays in place. The Limited Edition OLED (not in UK) used a different panel and doesn't exhibit the effect.

Steam deck OLED mura - Album on Imgur

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like zshu953000.

imgur.com

Steam Deck OLED Mura Effect

youtu.be

The video isn't great quality, but essentially the dark grey area (since it's not pure black) is grainy. This can be a bit distracting in certain dark games, for example I'm playing max payne 1 and in darker areas I noticed how the grainy effect stays in place as I move around on screen. Not a huge issue, but is not always talked about.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I don't remember which review it was I read, but summed it up pretty well - it's great for smashing through your Steam backlog, you know, those games you bought in a sale 2 years ago because they were £5 and you know you're going to play them "soon", but then it would be a waste to play such old games on your £2k PC when there are newer games with amazing graphics which will do it justice... (don't lie, we've all got a stack of them ).

Ooft, you've nudged me a fair bit closer with that

 

[Trox]

It's essentially grainy screen, but it's driven by the pixels so it stays in place. The Limited Edition OLED (not in UK) used a different panel and doesn't exhibit the effect.

Steam deck OLED mura - Album on Imgur

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like zshu953000.

imgur.com

Steam Deck OLED Mura Effect

youtu.be

The video isn't great quality, but essentially the dark grey area (since it's not pure black) is grainy. This can be a bit distracting in certain dark games, for example I'm playing max payne 1 and in darker areas I noticed how the grainy effect stays in place as I move around on screen. Not a huge issue, but is not always talked about.

Played through Alien Isolation which is dark in areas and I’ve not noticed that, first of me hearing about this

 

[Haggisman]

Ooft, you've nudged me a fair bit closer with that

Haha, sorry!

I've been playing through Divinity Original Sin on mine since I got it in January, and it's great (never ended up completing it when it first came out).

I was previously using my phone with a Razer Kishi, streaming from my PC, but that broke just before Christmas. Having the SD is a massive improvement, partly because of the bigger screen, but more because of the instant suspend/resume. I can turn it off in the middle of something, and next time I turn it back on, within seconds I'm back to exactly the same place as before. No more having to make sure my PC is on, launch the game, wait for it to load, etc. It doesn't sound like much, but it just makes it so much easier to just pick up and play.

 

[FatFishMonster]

Ive had mine (OLED) for about a month and its the most I have gamed in quite a while.

Just finished RE2 Remake on it!

 

[snowdog]

Still contemplating buying a steam deck almost every day now.

2nd hand a 64-512 gb lcd model goes for € 270 ish now.
Also tempted to grab a refurbished 64gb en put an own 1 or 2 tb ssd in it.
Also tempted to just buy the 512gb oled version new.


I mostly have 2 doubts:
- Battery life of LCD version: realistically, playing AAA titles like Cybepunk or Elden Ring, how long can you game?
- How is offline support, main reason I want a Steam deck is to play on an airplane, I don't want online only hassle...

Additionally, can you boost game duration with a power bank well?
I would really love the OLED but it simply costs twice as much...

It's either that or I am upgrading my gaming pc from 1080ti to rtx 4070... I am just not sure what I will appreciate more: better streaming performance (from pc) or handheld/mobility and internet independability.

 

[Nate75]

Offline will be the same as playing at a desktop, some games require to be online, some dont

 

[snowdog]

Yes but I have not tested that for ages since my desktop is always online .
I've come across some terrible **** on my android phone, eg can't play civ 6 (legit play store copy) because I am offline.

Is there a list which games properly support offline play? How does the steam deck handle booting up without internet? e.g. the login step?

 

[CGrieves]

Still contemplating buying a steam deck almost every day now.

2nd hand a 64-512 gb lcd model goes for € 270 ish now.
Also tempted to grab a refurbished 64gb en put an own 1 or 2 tb ssd in it.
Also tempted to just buy the 512gb oled version new.


I mostly have 2 doubts:
- Battery life of LCD version: realistically, playing AAA titles like Cybepunk or Elden Ring, how long can you game?
- How is offline support, main reason I want a Steam deck is to play on an airplane, I don't want online only hassle...

Additionally, can you boost game duration with a power bank well?
I would really love the OLED but it simply costs twice as much...

It's either that or I am upgrading my gaming pc from 1080ti to rtx 4070... I am just not sure what I will appreciate more: better streaming performance (from pc) or handheld/mobility and internet independability.

For battery life, it's a bit "piece of string". Set low settings, frame and TDP limits and you can get double the playtime versus high settings. For example in Baldur's Gate 3 (which is pretty punishing on the poor old deck!) if I ramp everything up then I might get 45 minutes. With everything lowered (still looks fine to me) I can stretch that to an hour and a half to maybe two hours.

I usually carry a (supposed) 20,000mAh charger and that gives me more playtime than I've ever needed while out and about.

 

[Nate75]

Yes but I have not tested that for ages since my desktop is always online .
I've come across some terrible **** on my android phone, eg can't play civ 6 (legit play store copy) because I am offline.

Is there a list which games properly support offline play? How does the steam deck handle booting up without internet? e.g. the login step?

Wow..

Sorry just thinking how you can play Civ 6 on a mobile!

I need a full desk, mouse, big screen and coffee machine next to me for Civ sessions

 

[kidkhaos]

Weird question but does anyone use their steam deck to stream games from their PC? If so, how long does the battery last on the steam deck while streaming? Thanks

 

[wunkley]

Weird question but does anyone use their steam deck to stream games from their PC? If so, how long does the battery last on the steam deck while streaming? Thanks

Why is it a weird question? It's one of the best things you can do with the deck! Install the less demanding games and emulation stuff to the deck, and stream the AAA stuff with all the bells on if you have a good PC.

I use Moonlight on the Steam Deck and streaming is pretty much the least resource intensive thing you can do. Uses about 6-7w is all, so with the OLED deck it tells me on a fullish charge that's about 6-7 hours of use!

 

[kidkhaos]

Why is it a weird question? It's one of the best things you can do with the deck! Install the less demanding games and emulation stuff to the deck, and stream the AAA stuff with all the bells on if you have a good PC.

I use Moonlight on the Steam Deck and streaming is pretty much the least resource intensive thing you can do. Uses about 6-7w is all, so with the OLED deck it tells me on a fullish charge that's about 6-7 hours of use!

Perfect. Cheers for the reply.

 

[Martini1991]

My Steam Deck OLED has just developed a dead pixel