Since these are readily available now I've been really tempted to get one. I do most of my gaming now on the handheld (Switch). I'd love to be able to play games like God of War or Jedi Fallen Order on the go. Plus I've really wanted a handheld emulator.

Long story short… do you have one? If so, do you like it? I'm trying to decide if I should just be happy with my Switch and not spend the money.

I have one and think it's pretty great. I don't regret spending the money at all. The Switch is a great console, but I don't think it's a case where you can really "be happy" with the Switch vs owning a Steam Deck. The Steam Deck is capable of much more than the Switch (as it should be for 2x the price). IMO there are different reasons for owning a Switch and a Steam Deck, so owning a Switch already would not be a point towards not getting a Steam Deck for me.

Steam Deck is the only genuinely good emulation experience I've had and it was by far the easiest set up. Makes it idiot proof.

easttexasaggie04 said:

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Since these are readily available now I've been really tempted to get one. I do most of my gaming now on the handheld (Switch). I'd love to be able to play games like God of War or Jedi Fallen Order on the go. Plus I've really wanted a handheld emulator.

Long story short… do you have one? If so, do you like it? I'm trying to decide if I should just be happy with my Switch and not spend the money.

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I have it. It's literally changed how I game and opened up when I can actually play. I have a Switch. Owned one for years and this is light years better. I have Breath of the Wild at 60 FPS. I can emulate all my Switch games and have a few ported over. Along with my old NES, Genesis, SNES, N64, WiiU games along with a good number of PC titles (Titanfall 2 was $2.99 so I picked that up and it's been fun). Have Fallen Order on it and it runs well but is a battery drain, 2-3 hours max. I love being able to take out an SD card and have 100 games to switch out from all my previous consoles. I carry a small dock that I can use for this or my laptop on travel. For me it's a great experience.

No idea how Hogwarts Legacy will run on it, but probably similar to Jedi Order.

I also picked up the Nreal Air AR glasses to pair with it for travel and holy crap. Blows away any previous on the go gaming experience I've ever had.

For me this is an easy yes if you have the cash sitting around. Also plan on getting a micro SD card with it.

I have not personally done this, so I can't vouch for it fully, but Microcenter (if there is one near you) sells Inland 2230 M.2 1 TB SSD for $140, so you can buy the $399 64 GB model and upgrade the internal storage to 1TB for nearly the same price as the 256 GB model. You do have to open up the system, but it's a couple of screws and a plastic pry tool to get open.

https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntt=M.2+2230+M+Key

What's the best way to get emulators on the Steam Deck? I have no idea what I'm doing.

Systems newer than N64 require bios to run. Generally everything is easy to find. Can't recall where I got the bios files, but the actual Roma the best place to get them is probably on Reddit. There's a roms megathread with links to an archive.org archive for systems up to Wii U.

hph6203 said:

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Systems newer than N64 require bios to run. Generally everything is easy to find. Can't recall where I got the bios files, but the actual Roma the best place to get them is probably on Reddit. There's a roms megathread with links to an archive.org archive for systems up to Wii U.

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Get Emu Deck. It will put everything you need (almost) on your system and configure it for you. Occasionally you'll need to update some of the controller configuration but that is it. Super simple.

Can you play NCAA 14 on this? I would buy this in a heartbeat if you could.

I considered getting one for emulators and such, but then just didn't know why I would use this instead of my laptop. If I were still a kid and wanted a handheld gaming device to take with me while riding in the car or whatever, then it would make sense to me.

High Functioning Moron said:

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Can you play NCAA 14 on this? I would buy this in a heartbeat if you could.

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Yes, you can emulate the PS3 or XBox 360 versions.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I considered getting one for emulators and such, but then just didn't know why I would use this instead of my laptop. If I were still a kid and wanted a handheld gaming device to take with me while riding in the car or whatever, then it would make sense to me.

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If you travel it's super useful.

How do the Switch games run on the Steam Deck? I finally have some time to play Breath of the Wild and some of the other Switch titles, namely Super Mario Odyssey and Luigi's Mansion. I travel quite a bit, so a Switch (or Steam Deck) I think would get pretty frequent use. I'm primarily interested in playing BOTW and other AAA Switch titles that I've never gotten around to, but I'm also into retro gaming so the emulator aspect is appealing as well.

Goldie Wilson said:

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How do the Switch games run on the Steam Deck? I finally have some time to play Breath of the Wild and some of the other Switch titles, namely Super Mario Odyssey and Luigi's Mansion. I travel quite a bit, so a Switch (or Steam Deck) I think would get pretty frequent use. I'm primarily interested in playing BOTW and other AAA Switch titles that I've never gotten around to, but I'm also into retro gaming so the emulator aspect is appealing as well.

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Dumps from physical copies generally run better than ones from the eshop. I'm running the BoTW copy from the WiiU and it's beautiful.

Edit: I have my Mario Kart 8 (physical copy dump) on the Steam Deck and Triangle Strategy (eshop rip). Both my copies and not a download for the record. Mario Kart runs very well in the handheld and will have a couple of things it will struggle with when I have it docked but only with 3-4 players. They just released a new Steam OS update that might deal with a few of those issues which could be related to controllers. 1-2 players or handheld is great. Triangle Strategy is smooth but it's pretty light.

I picked one up not sure how much I'd actually use it...

I play it every day now. It's super badass. Mostly Factorio, Civ VI, things like that.

Probably my favorite tech purchase of 2022.

So if I have physical Switch games how to I make them playable on my Steam Deck?

easttexasaggie04 said:

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So if I have physical Switch games how to I make them playable on my Steam Deck?

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https://yuzu-emu.org/help/quickstart/

Long story short you need an early version of the switch that has a developer exploit that allows you to do so. It's not the simplest procedure in the world to be honest but not toooooo bad. There are other ways to just get the keys but I'm not linking to that here. It is however not hard to find... at all.

Now I'm curious. I got 450 in gamestop gift cards from a work rewards thing and I can convert them to steam wallet funds....I was thinking of getting a switch OLED and Tears pf the Kingdom when it comes out...should I get a steam deck instead?

Which variant should I get? Thinking about 256gb...then can I just slap a big SD card in it?

Is there any performance differences between the tiers other than memory and the matte glass on the top tier?

BadMoonRisin said:

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Now I'm curious. I got 450 in gamestop gift cards from a work rewards thing and I can convert them to steam wallet funds....I was thinking of getting a switch OLED and Tears pf the Kingdom when it comes out...should I get a steam deck instead?

Which variant should I get? Thinking about 256gb...then can I just slap a big SD card in it?

Is there any performance differences between the tiers other than memory and the matte glass on the top tier?

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Memory and matte glass. Don't bother with the matte glass as screen protectors will do the same. The 256 seems to be the sweet spot. I'm not going to tell you that the switch isn't great, especially if you're locked into the Nintendo ecosystem but the Steam Deck is an awesome experience and Valve has really committed to making it work unlike some of their previous releases. Plus unlike the Switch you can also set it up so if you have a gaming PC you can stream higher end AAA titles (Forspoken, Hogwarts Legacy, etc.) from there to your docked Deck and it's a great experience. It's crazy how good they made this thing for the price. It has to be a loss leader at the 64 and 256 configs.

aezmvp said:

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BadMoonRisin said:

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Now I'm curious. I got 450 in gamestop gift cards from a work rewards thing and I can convert them to steam wallet funds....I was thinking of getting a switch OLED and Tears pf the Kingdom when it comes out...should I get a steam deck instead?

Which variant should I get? Thinking about 256gb...then can I just slap a big SD card in it?

Is there any performance differences between the tiers other than memory and the matte glass on the top tier?

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Memory and matte glass. Don't bother with the matte glass as screen protectors will do the same. The 256 seems to be the sweet spot. I'm not going to tell you that the switch isn't great, especially if you're locked into the Nintendo ecosystem but the Steam Deck is an awesome experience and Valve has really committed to making it work unlike some of their previous releases. Plus unlike the Switch you can also set it up so if you have a gaming PC you can stream higher end AAA titles (Forspoken, Hogwarts Legacy, etc.) from there to your docked Deck and it's a great experience. It's crazy how good they made this thing for the price. It has to be a loss leader at the 64 and 256 configs.

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Thanks. I was toying around with what to do with the 450, between PS5, a new Xbox, or a OLED Switch. I already have a switch that my son mostly uses, but I will want to play the new Zelda game when it comes out, so this might be the move because I can just use the switch I already have.

I do have a Alienware Aurora with a 3080ti, that's pretty cool that I can stream it to the dock -- is that wireless or via ethernet? I think 256GB is going to be the play here. Thanks for replying.

I do wireless. House didn't have cat run everywhere. Works great with my 3060ti. I have been streaming to the living room or bedroom but for any gaming in the bedroom I'm on my Nreal Airs now.

I haven't finished Pokemon Scarlet because I keep playing the Steam Deck. I stopped buying indie games for the Switch too because the Steam Deck is cheaper and I'm not a risk of Nintendo scrapping the whole ecosystem like they did with the 3DS.

Anyone use any plugins they suggest? I've seen people use a ProtonDB plugin to verify compatibility better than the Deck Verified stuff, anything else?

hph6203 said:

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Anyone use any plugins they suggest? I've seen people use a ProtonDB plugin to verify compatibility better than the Deck Verified stuff, anything else?

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Install Decky Loader.
I use Vibrant Deck (saturation at 135), css loader (with the phantom theme stylized like Persona 5 its cool, large home screen, centered text themes installed), decky faq which gives you access to guides in game, metadeck which keeps playtime for non steam games, emuchievements achievements for emudeck, steam grid db for alternative and animated artwork.

I don't have Power Tools installed but it's very useful along with the controller one which is great if you're doing lots of multi-player games and tracks controller battery life and other stuff. The other one I haven't looked into is the Bluetooth one which helps auto connect Bluetooth controllers keyboards earbuds etc.

Just ordered the 256GB deck.

All the reviews say the only real downside is the battery. Although Ill probably end up using it most at home, has anyone travelled on it? Can I get a fast charging power bank or somemthing to give it some extra juice?

BadMoonRisin said:

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Just ordered the 256GB deck.

All the reviews say the only real downside is the battery. Although Ill probably end up using it most at home, has anyone travelled on it? Can I get a fast charging power bank or somemthing to give it some extra juice?

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I literally travel with it all the time. Yes you can get battery packs but get 45w plus discharge. I cam get you the accessories I use when I travel if you want but it's fine as is. AAA games from the last 12 months will get 2 to 3 hours. Less demanding games will get upto 8. I have a charger that has 65w out with 2 USB C and one USB B and I'm never really running into issues on domestic flights at all.

Sweet. Thanks for your advice. Looking forward to checking it out. Says 1-2 weeks, I guess

Yea, downside is the battery but if you tune the settings right, you can get 3-4 hours on average. You learn why the Switch is the way it is. 90% of the time you'll play next to an outlet and if you want an alternative charger a 30W GaN brick does well.

Out of curiosity, is Deck FAQs actually better than just loading up chrome into game mode and switching between the game and chrome? Seems like Deck FAQs only uses the quick menu. Seems like it'd mess with formatting.

hph6203 said:

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Out of curiosity, is Deck FAQs actually better than just loading up chrome into game mode and switching between the game and chrome? Send like Deck FAQs only uses the quick menu. Seems like it'd mess with formatting.

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It's not too bad actually. Used it for the Trails games as I'm trying to completionist the series (yes, I'm insane) and some heart piece locations in A Link to the Past. You can do either.

Two questions:

1.)Is there a way to side load Xbox Game pass onto the steam deck?

2.) Are there any substantial rumors of a new steam deck being released any time soon? I would hate to buy the current model only to have the new one released a few months later.

https://www.polygon.com/guides/23537216/steam-deck-xbox-game-pass-cloud-gaming-install-microsoft-edge-desktop-mode

You can also dual boot Windows. Support for it has gotten significantly better but still isn't perfect. Depends on your patience.

And there will likely not be a new Steam Deck until 2025. They haven't announced anything and you may also be able to upgrade it at that time. There are already hard drive, joystick, bumper, button and battery upgrades out there in the market some with official support through ifixit. Biggest ones I'll look at are the joystick drift proof joysticks and the HD.

Edit

Dual or more boot tutorial.

Thank you

Probably an unpopular opinion but I would hesitate to buy anything handheld for emulation.

I remember when the PSP could run SNES perfectly... far from it. Then the raspberry pie could do all sorts of things... wrong.

Generally these handhelds/mini computers have to make some sort of sacrifices to run the games.

Just my opinion with the low battery life making to where you have to be plugged in you might as well just have a emu PC setup at this price point.