I am considering buying the Valve Steam Deck 64GB for my bf as a christmas gift. He plays playstation, and I know he loves games like Baldur’s Gate, Elden Ring and Hogwarts Legacy. He also loves Halo, but hasn’t invested in an Xbox yet.
I bought him a backbone for his birthday, and he’s used it a lot at work as he is a shift worker and often has nothing to do at night while there. He also complains sometimes when he’d like to play playstation in bed, but has it set up in his livingroom.
He seems to enjoy the backbone, but he can’t play the games he normally would at home on it. So my questions are; Would it still be worth getting him the Steam Deck too, or is it a waste of my money? Could he play the games he loves on playstation and Xbox on it? Would it be as satisfying to use as his playstation when he wants to play in bed instead?
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A steam deck and backbone are two completely different devices. A steam deck is a handheld pc and a backbone is a streaming only device.
He would be able to play the games you listed on the steam deck plus he can setup remote play on the steam deck to play his PlayStation 5 games.
Another option you can look into is a PlayStation portal, this is very similar to the backbone except it can only stream ps5 games, it would be a step up from his backbone and cheaper than the steam deck.
But overall, I think you couldnt go wrong with getting him a steam deck because it sounds like he would be able to play all the games he likes with it plus he can download the games to the steam deck and not have to worry about streaming the games over WiFi with the other two devices.
Unless he wants to start investing in the PC gaming eco system I’d advise against it, a Steam Deck is a great companion to a PC gamer with a decent Steam library but I’d find it difficult to really recommend to a console gamer, especially as a surprise gift. He’d need to know what he’s getting into before purchasing IMO.
Thanks for your reply! Is there something else you’d recommend instead?
The downside with the SD if he plays a lot of PS5 is that there is usally (ever?) not any cross saves between them so all his progress would be lost. If he plays different games on the PS5 and SD this of course not a problem
The Playstation Portal would also be a good option. It’s much cheaper ($200) and since he already loves playstation he would still get to play all his favorite games. Downside is he couldn’t play at work I don’t believe, but he could play in bed. it basically just streams the PS5 to the portal and its simple. I don’t have one or know too much about it though so do your research before you take anything I said as facts.
I have a Razer Kishi, similar deal, I never use it. Android gaming is underwhelming, I used it for streaming Stadia and GeForce Now for a while. I still prefer a locally installed game on the Deck.
Backbone as in controller?
Then yea, SD is def worth it. He can even stream his PS5 on steam deck using Chiaki4deck. In fact, if he’s tech-savy enough, he can even stream his PS5 even while he’s at work. Otherwise, he can get the popular games on SD via Steam.
Yes, the backbone one controller. And thank you for all the info! 🙌🏼