A couple months ago I ran into some money to get a new next-gen gaming console. At the time I had a PS4 and a PC with a 10th gen i3 and a 1650 graphics card. I was going to originally get a PS5 since my wife enjoys gaming more in front of the TV and the PS4 is getting phased out soon… but then the idea of a steam deck came up. So now we just mainly use the steam deck as a docked console.
It has been life changing. Sure, the graphics probably aren’t as good as a PS5 but my gaming has slowed down a lot in the past 10 years to a point where it doesn’t take much to wow me graphically. I’ve always cared more about gameplay, and this is what I’ve gotten. I’m currently in act 1 of BG3 on the SD and it’s not super pretty all the time but I am still able to have a great experience (so far). Just having an option to access the entire Steam store on something that works so seamlessly with a controller is life changing. We just bought Portal 2 for $0.99 and are about to play it for both of our first times.
There is also a massive backlog of games that I missed throughout the years, including Bioshock series, Fallout Series, RDR1, Skyrim, etc that I now have the ability to play, whether through emulation, Steam, etc. I’m playing Pokémon Violet, my first Pokémon game since Gen 3, and I also started a run of LoZ:WW for nostalgia’s sake.
tldr: if game catalog is priority over ultra graphics settings, the Steam Deck may actually be able to substitute a PS5/next gen console. YMMV, just my experience so far.
Very good point, and clearly graphics aren’t the priority for some, as the Switch can’t even keep up with the Deck, but people play it on their TV all the time. Taking one’s entire PC library and turning it into a console experience isn’t bad either, it’s an instant game library for many.
I’ve essentially sworn off consoles, I’ll attach my Deck and other devices to a TV instead.