Valve recently raised the price on the Steam Deck, making the handheld gaming PC cost up to $949 for the 1TB OLED model. While that’s a massive $300 increase over its original price, the Steam Deck is once again sold out.

    • ampersandrew@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      I mean…how big is that backlog and how much are you playing on the go? There’s been no better device for handheld gaming, IMO, though I can see why it isn’t tempting at that price.

      • sompreno@lemmy.zip
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        14 hours ago

        While the steam deck is a good device, it and every other modern handheld is designed like the switch which is more of a couch gaming experience rather theb a true portable for playing on the go

        • mesa@piefed.social
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          12 hours ago

          I think the difference is that in 10 years when the steam deck is on its final legs, we can still play our games unlike most other consoles.

          It might be a spare laptop, steam machine, or something else entirely. But we will presumibly be able to play.

          • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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            11 hours ago

            I can still play games on my 13 year old PS4, 20 year old Xbox 360, 30 year old N64, etc. What are you talking about? The PS5 is already 6 years old and shows no signs of not being able to play games.

            • kboos1@lemmy.world
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              10 hours ago

              At least until Sony and Microsoft shutdown the servers for the consoles and they can’t validate themselves anymore.

              If Valve ever stops supporting the SD and you still want to use it so some reason, then just install a new clean OS or just leave it in desktop mode and move on with life.

          • sompreno@lemmy.zip
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            11 hours ago

            True, but thats also true for every other modern gaming handheld other then the switch/switch 2 since they all run windows, linux or android

            Either way doesn’t invalidate my point

        • chisel@piefed.social
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          11 hours ago

          3DS, please come back!! The AYN Thor is trying. It would be cool if valve built something like it. Preferably with the autostereoscopic display. I know it’s a gimic and nobody uses it much, but damn is it a cool gimic.

          • amniotic druid@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            You can very easily downgrade to Win10 and there’s a sizable community on r/LinuxOnAlly but it’s also Microsoft/XBox so what else do you expect? Still beats giving Valve 45% more money so GabeN can buy another yacht company and sell kids gamble boxes.

            • ampersandrew@lemmy.world
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              14 hours ago

              Set your expectations accordingly. ROG Ally is only cheaper until they have to build more with today’s component prices (if they choose to). And it’s not like Microsoft executives don’t have yachts or sell kids gambling boxes.

              • amniotic druid@lemmy.world
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                14 hours ago

                That’s all fair but it just seems weird to me to say “company X jacked their prices up $300 and company Y might, therefore they’re both the same.” Wait until the Ally gets a price bump and reasses. As it stands today, the Deck is now a substantially worse value

                • ampersandrew@lemmy.world
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                  14 hours ago

                  They will jack up their prices if they sell through their stock and decide that that demand will stick around long enough to justify another batch of them at higher prices. As it stands today, it is doing your fellow Lemming a solid to point out the current price discrepancy in favor of the Ally. When both of those devices are priced for stable market conditions, my recommendation leans heavily toward Steam Deck, but we are not currently in stable market conditions.

                  • amniotic druid@lemmy.world
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                    13 hours ago

                    Tbh I can’t be bothered to confirm who exactly is managing the Ally but XBox’s new CEO is on a goodwill-gathering streak right now. Brought down the price of game pass and seems to want to bring people back to the brand proper. MS certainly has the capital to subsidize console costs to gain market.

                    Again, all this is conjecture and came from me saying that right now, because Valve raised the price of the Steam Deck and MS hasn’t done so for the Ally, the Ally is a better value. Today.

            • Katana314@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              Sounds neat; I just wish they made an SKU where you didn’t have to pay for Windows (before removing it)

    • artyom@piefed.social
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      15 hours ago

      If you’re playing basic-ass games, an ARM/Android handheld may be a better bet anyway.

      • tidderuuf@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Especially considering you could play something like 50k emulated games that span 4 gaming consoles on a handheld that cost $35.

        The SteamDeck is now a luxury.

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          The steamdeck was always a luxery.

          All video games are a luxery.

          It’s just now it’s also expensive.

          • Colonel Panic@programming.dev
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            1 hour ago

            at that price point, the R36S clones on Aliexpress, i got one on sale for ~€22. they play everything up to ps1/dreamcast, n64 not so much though. the romsets they come with and their metadata are really bad, and the sd card is prone to die spontaneously, so it requires some tinkering

          • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            12 hours ago

            For $35 I’m guessing whatever on FB marketplace.

            Android phones tend to become pretty worthless after like 5 years, but are still perfectly good for emulation. Hell 10 years ago I was emulating the DS without any issues.

            • minfapper@piefed.social
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              11 hours ago

              Just make sure you don’t store any personal data on those devices. They become useless because they slowly turn into a security nightmare

            • grue@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              I want to get something with a physical D-pad and buttons off Aliexpress or whatever, but I have no idea how to sort through all the random no-name choices. The only other criteria I have is that I want it to be fully Free Software with no malware and the best value for money I can find.

      • dil@piefed.zip
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        12 hours ago

        Have prices stayed the same on those? Isn’t valve funding arm support since their headset uses it. Maybe prices will drop and steam deck 2 will be using similar architecture to those instead.