Steam has this crazy concept where as a game gets older, you don’t have to pay as much for it as when it was new! Pretty wild, I know.
Sometimes you don’t even have to pay for games. 😇
Lemmy instance checks out
Innuendo aside, Steam has some awesome F2P titles
And discounts, including $0 ones.
Hell yeah it does!
It’s not Valve that makes the decision, check how many times Factorio was on sale.
I respect their integrity.
Escept for red dead redemption. RDR2 is actually cheaper for some reason
I think it depends on the developer sometimes, for example when Microsoft announced they were going to delist Forza Horizon 4 (June of last year) they put it on sale multiple times at 80% until it was delisted on December 16
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steam voice chat
PC exclusive games
Get every GameCube game for free instantly by pirating them
GameCube, Wii… Even switch if you can find an emulator fork that still works
Switch emulators are still just as easy to find as they always were. Most people include them with the game.
Don’t forget Wii U! Oh, right, they ported everything worthwhile to the Switch.
Yoshi’s Wooly World
So cutee
True, it got a 3DS port, but not Switch!
Sidebar in my community has links for the surviving Switch emu forks, but I haven’t tried installing them on Linux/Deck yet.
Assume it’s going to be far more manual than a Flatpak or whatever for the time being :S
It literally is just install a flatpak, then configure the control scheme in the emu, maybe tweak some settings, add it to your steam library, map the steam controls to the emu controls in game mode.
EmuDeck/RetroDeck automate most of this or you can just find the individual emus in the Discover software center.
… They might actually perform better if you compiled the entire thing from source on your Deck, which is possible to do, but is significantly more of a hassle, gotta set up a root pw, turn off read only mode, hope you can actually find all the sources for the dependencies, know how to tune/tweak the compile parameters to optimally use the Deck’s hardware…
Ive gotten Ryujinx working via flatpak… but uh… lets just say I’d have to delve into OCing/PowerToolsing my Deck to get it to actually run many Switch/WiiU games at a playable framerate.
It works, its stable software wise… but the Deck isn’t quite powerful enough.
… Also, it could be that most modern emus are designed to map consoles onto traditional PC architecture, and ironically the Deck uses an APU which is closer to many consoles, so it doesn’t actually perform as well as it could with better support.
How does 3DS run? I have a hacked Switch so can just run Switch games on that, but 3DS is beyond the Switch’s capabilities.
So, I have literally never used a 3ds emulator before, ever.
EmuDeck set up Azahar in a few minutes, a few minutes more for me to find an OoT rom, a few minutes more to dl it…
…a few minutes more to figure out that the EmuDeck parser thing either isn’t working at finding 3ds files … or I am a moron and you just install the .cia (what a file extension name) into the Emu, in Desktop mode.
Add the Azahar emulator itself into steam library via EmuDeck which launches Steam Rom Manager…
Back out into game mode, launch Azahar, launch OoT, and yep, it works, also wow I forgot the 3ds has two screens, Azahar’s default render screen sectioning for this is weird, but it works!
Turn on performance overlay, looks like I’m getting a solid 60 fps, rendering the main game screen at double the DS’s native resolution.
Start a new save file, go through the intro sequence, run around in my treehouse room a bit…
All works, save for a few instances of the audio playing… a bit too fast, or too slow, for maybe a split second, in a few parts of the Navi flying really fast intro sequence.
… So… seems to work just fine, basically?
Probably I could tinker with Azahar’s settings a bit to see if I can iron out the mild audio quirks, but I’d say thats pretty good for a total elapsed time of about 30 minutes, and me having literally zero experience with 3ds emus, much less on a Deck.
EmuDeck handled making up the control scheme layout in Game Mode, which worked fine in game, automatically, I just had to deal with some mild awkwardness of double clicking on OoT with the trackpad to launch it.
Thanks for trying it out! Sounds like it’ll require tinkering to get games running smoothly. About what I’d expect!
It might be worth noting that I was running Azahar through Vulkan… which … I think is currently listed as an ‘experimental’ level of support by Azahar’s website.
It recommends OpenGL for better support and stability.
I ran around more in Kokiri Village, no more audio spikes. I think its just due to how certain cutscenes quick load scene transitions.
Also, I completely didn’t expect this to just work, but it does:
The secondary screen, that’s touch sensitive on a 3ds?
Well the Deck’s screen is touch sensitive as well.
Worked just fine to navigate through the map and item menus and what not, just poking the Deck’s screen itself.
I’m just referring to possibly outdated package repos which may not have kept up with the forks and all the drama, but I could be easily wrong with outdated info. I haven’t touched my steam deck in a couple months :p
EmuDeck isn’t letting you auto install Yuzu anymore…
But it does install Ryujinx for you.
But it doesn’t provide BIOS or prod/title keys, gotta find those on your own.
There’s also Citron, but EmuDeck just lets you know it exists and won’t auto dl it.
Ryujinx has a flatpak (though its a fork) in the base Discover store on a Deck running SteamOS, so its just on mainline flathub.
Yuzu and Citron appear to no longer be on flathub.
Thank you for your service o7
Well not instantly because you have to wait for your torrent client to download it
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The Steam Deck can run Biebian and Hannah Montana Linux fairly easily. That’s not really a selling point just another thing Nintendo isn’t bringing to the table.
I impulse bought a deluxe Need for Speed game a few weeks ago for $6.50. I’ve already played it 65 hours. I don’t want to jump into the math of it but I reckon I would need to enjoy Mario Kart for much greater than 650 hours before I would get the same hours per dollar value NfS: Heat has brought me thanks to a Steam sale. And Mario Kart could never catch up in miles per hour.
Just a heads up you’ll get to learn how to navigate Linux if you change your mind on the starter car. The only way I could start a new save file was by manually deleting the old one in the file system. It was a little frustrating but served as a good reminder that it is a handheld computer not just an outlet for gaming.
The steam deck is awesome. I love my little handheld computer.
You could even buy something like an ROG Ally for a similar price and still get a bit more performance
Ah yes, the Deck vs. Switch debate. One offers performance and affordability, the other offers nostalgia at premium prices. Choose your fighter: the powerhouse or the Pokémon tax.
Considering the Steam Deck can run just about every console game ever made up to PS2 gen (and a good amount made after), I’d say they have the Switch 2 beat on nostalgia.
I play Steel Panthers on my steam deck, a DOS game from the 90s
Yeah but not the memberberries kind!
Nintendo’s been hitting the memberberries for so long that 20 year old games have memberberry moments in them.
2005 GC games: Mario kart, smash, Mario party, animal crossing, Luigi’s mansion, Metroid, zelda
2025 SW games: Mario kart, smash, Mario party, animal crossing, Luigi’s mansion, Metroid, Zelda
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Palworld for the win.
Haha right? Palworld really said ‘what if Pokémon had guns and capitalism’ and somehow made it work
Pokémon with black Jack and hookers.
And slavery.
And
colonialismbase building
You can emulate almost any Nintendo game from before 2016 on a steamdeck. Just got to wait a few more years for the switch emulators to get efficient enough to run well on the steam deck!
I know I’m not the standard pokemon fan, but showdown still exists if you just like to battle. The in-game gameplay of pokemon has always been a little lackluster to me and I don’t like VGC/doubles.
ROM hacks can be fun, and I have done some self imposed challenge runs. I can’t see myself finishing any of the Prof oak challenges I did without emu speedup.
I still have my GBC with pokemon yellow and a flash cart with (almost, missing the new ones) every GB and GBC rom in existence on it that supports save states, and can emulate many switch games on the deck iirc if I were somehow nostalgic for those, and in fact can emulate basically any nintendo game from history I may be nostalgic for better than the switch, among other games nintendo didn’t make.
Which one is the real nostalgia machine? (Hint: It’s the Gameboy Color lol)
“Powerhouse”
The funny part is steam has the most exclusives of em all.
It also has integrated microphone and you can also talk to your friends while playing 🤣
And steam chat doesn’t require a subscription
Of course, and even if they do you could always switch to any other chat software because you’re literally playing on PC.
Not allowing strangers to talk to my kid is absolutely a Switch selling point.
And gamecube games… and wii games and n64 games and ps2 games…
ultimate
A hacked Switch is a pretty good Nintendo piracy device, too.
If you can find one without the updated firmware
I got mine at launch. It’ll be the gift that keeps on giving since Switch games are going to continue to be released at least until 2026.
Not a Nintendo fanboy. But their own IP games are truly fun. That alone is enough incentive to buy the switch
To emulate* on my desktop 😌
This.
Switch 2 proceeds to outsell the deck by a factor of 50
Steam is clearly playing the long game with Steam Deck and Steam OS, they’re basically trying to slowly normalize portable gaming pcs. If they achieve this Nintendo will not be just facing competition from Steam Deck but from multiple devices from the likes of Asus, Lenovo, Dell (Alienware).
Absolutely. Nintendo has huge fanbase with most of them not caring about Nintendo ripping them off and Nintendo has some of the most highly regarded and iconic gaming IPs in the world and Nintendo has insane marketing budget behind the Switch 2 and the switch doubles as a home console.
I love the Deck but it’s not going to outsell the Switch and I think Valve isn’t interested in pulling people away from the Switch. Valve made the Deck primarily for Steam users and that’s who they’re targeting.
Mario Kart on Steam? It’s more likely than you think.
“Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library…”
On the Steam Deck? Possible. On Steam? I guess technically possible if you add a third party game. But actually on Steam? Nintendo can’t even give a tech demo out for free, I can’t imagine what would have to happen for Nintendo to put their games on Steam.
You can also play Minecraft on the Steam Deck and technically you can also play Apex Legends on the Deck (if you install Windows and play through that), but all of it depends on the user being a tinkerer. But the casual gamer is not a tinkerer which means those possibilities have next to no impact on the wider market.
I have a feeling there will be an increase in tinkerers as the cost of staying casual continues to increase to unreasonable levels.
Even PS Portal sales is not that far from Deck. You know, the handheld that people said won’t sell
Haha. Not in the US, thank you Mr. Trump very much.
I don’t know what Nintendo was thinking by doing the Nintendo tax bullshit harder than ever during a time when Americans are facing such heavy financial burdens
These tariffs suck for sure, but America is not the center of the world : the pricing of these games is insane and looks like a poor marketing decision globally
I’m aware, but it’s worth noting since America is usually a big consumer country, and right now, we can’t onsume.
Most likely they came up with the plan while people thought Trump was not going to do the crazy stuff he kept talking about…
To still go through with it and have Doug Bowser give this “Do you guys not have phones?” level bullshit defense?
It seems these idiots do not have the emotional intelligence we try to enforce in toddlers to recognize when a mistake was done, make apologies and rectify… instead they quadruple down and keep pushing as if their idea is now even more genius than before.
This is how we end up with Trump literally destroying the US economy while people wonder “is it outrageous stupidity or intergalactic 17 dimensional chess?”
We have never (to my knowledge) lived in a real life, non analogy, of the Emperor has no clothes
The Switch has the Switch tax. The Switch 2 will have the Switch 2 TARIFF.
We already know that the steamdeck plays switch games better than the switch. It would be hilarious if it also plays switch2 games better than the switch2.
It definitely won’t play Switch 2 games better. The hardware is roughly in the same ballpark performance wise, but the steam deck needs to emulate Switch 2 games.
Please, you can argue all you want against Nintendo, but just straight up lying really doesn’t help.
Steam link to a desktop running an emulator though?
Is there even much competition between them though, I would have thought people considering one wouldn’t even think of the other.
If the switch 2s hardware isn’t better than the Deck, then of course it will.
Do we know what the switch2’s hardware is yet?
If the leaks are correct its:
Full specs:
CPU: Arm Cortex-A78C 8 cores Unknown L1/L2/L3 cache sizes GPU: Nvidia T239 Ampere 1 Graphics Processing Cluster (GPC) 12 Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) 1534 CUDA cores 6 Texture Processing Clusters (TPC) 48 Gen 3 Tensor cores 2 RTX ray-tracing cores RAM: 12 GB LPDDR5Handheld Mode:
CPU: 998.4 MHz GPU: 561 MHz (~1.72 TFLOPS) Memory Frequency: 4266 MHz Memory Bandwidth: 68.256 GB/sDocked Mode:
CPU: 1100.8 MHz GPU: 1007.25 MHz (~3.09 TFLOPS) Memory Frequency: 6400 MHz Memory Bandwidth: 102.4 GB/sI personally don’t know how that compares to other hardware though.
(Edit: Thanks for the replies!)Here’s the OLED Deck specs for comparison:
APU
6 nm AMD APU
APU power: 4-15W
(which contains:)
CPU:
Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz
(up to 448 GFlops FP32)
GPU:
8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.6GHz
(1.6 TFlops FP32)
…
RAM:
16 GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM
(6400 MT/s quad 32-bit channels)
Storage:
Steam Deck 512GB NVMe SSD
Steam Deck 1TB NVMe SSD
Both include high-speed microSD card slot
EDIT: More details
https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Steam-Deck-OLED-APU-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.799065.0.html
So basically, the Deck and Switch 2 are roughly inverted in compartitive hardware power… the Deck has a more powerful CPU, the Switch 2 has a more powerful GPU.
EDIT 2:
also the Deck has 33% more RAM.
Consoles can also do more with less since the games are (unless they’re shitty ports) designed for that specific hardware.
Yep, this is always a factor, even with PC games.
For example: the Switch 2 uses an ARM CPU.
That is different in significant ways than an x86/64 CPU.
How the system allocates memory is also… a confounding factor.
Sometimes you have just one kind of RAM shared between the CPU and GPU. Sometimes there are different kinds of RAM for the CPU and GPU.
It looks like the Switch 2 is sharing LPPDR5 RAM between the CPU and GPU, as the Deck does… on the Deck, you can use CryoUtils to manually adjust how much is allocated to which.
The Switch 2 will… maybe have a standardized allocation for all games, or allow certain games to adjust the allocation.
And then if course there is port quality, and proton…
It gets pretty complicated to estimate just purely from specs alone.
Hence why the PC centric crowd is so much into empirical testing via benchmarks.
That low ram is going to hurt the new switch pretty quickly, I think. I wouldn’t get a newish pc/laptop if it didn’t have at least 16g ram these days. They’re going to struggle again with ports.
core count x clock speed hasn’t been a good metric for about 15-20 years, but if we go by that anyway then it looks like the switch2 will be slightly worse than a steam deck.
I love my Steam Deck but it doesn’t have Mario Kart or even anything like it
Bro doesn’t know about dolphin
Isnt there an open source linux cart racer?
The nickolodeon cart racer is fun and I have heard one of the sonic cart racing game is real good.
lol there are so many racing as well as cart games, and the fact you can run literally any Nintendo game on PC
None of them really compare, and I’m not really interested in setting up emulation.
you’ll pay the price, one way or the other
C’est la vie.
Sadly the trend of $80 for a digital copy of games will be copied by every major AAA studio in the following years if Nintendo succeed. The switch 1 games are not pricer than others at launch, they just never for whatever fucking reason become cheaper.
And then AAA studios will see their games stay on digital shelves indefinitely and pirating skyrocket and they’ll learn that they’re not nintendo and trying to be will bankrupt them.
How well does Dolphin run on the SteamDeck?
Runs great, been playing though the Metroid Pimes series with PrimeHacks. Solid 60fps
Ugh you’ve just given me a new Deck project!
I thought you meant the file browser Dolphin for a second lol, which is the filebrowser the Steam Deck comes with by default.
They should switch to thunar for this reason and this reason only.
You can also install a Switch emulator and just keep it even if Nintendo cease&decists again.
