I love my Steam Deck, as any regular reader will know. It's my favourite gaming device but it could always be better right? And with competition hot (hi Nintendo), I hope Valve have more plans.
Ooh, is this why they're clamping down the emulators even more than before? Showing Yuzu when they first revealed the Steam Deck definitely raised some eyebrows lol
They are scared because the steam deck can do everything the switch does, but better (performance wise). Which is fair, since the switch has been on the market for some time, but even back when it was released it has been underspecced.
Why? Steam Deck OLED is already amazing and probably 4 times as powerful and infinitely as flexible with what youre allowed to do with it as Switch 2 will be.
I wouldn't be surprised if they wait till next year to make any announcement - they just recently launched the OLED, and I'm sure they're happy to wait for new AMD chips.
I have been wanting a steam deck but can't justify it yet having a Switch already. I am seriously considering skipping Switch 2 and going for 2nd gen Steam Deck instead.
Honestly just buy a used one for cheap and swap the ssd out for a bigger version if need be (cheap as in 300ish, I realize that may not be cheap for some). The hardwareswap sub reddit is pretty great for getting steam decks.
it shouldn't be less powerful than the og steam deck, which I understand runs plenty of aaa titles. keeping the same spec for longer is better for gamers and developers imo
I wonder if targeting the emulator/low spec game audience is worthwhile though. The steam deck on its own is great but it's specs are low-mid range. I feel sacrificing a bit to target a cheaper market might make sense? Im just spitballing though.
IMO we don't even need one in the near future: My OG Steam Deck has been able to play most of the new releases. I'm sure we'll see another refresh soon enough anyways, but I don't think it'd be worth it until there's a big enough jump in processors unless it's a little incremental update like the OLED.