A ridiculous purchase, but a good one.

THOUGHTS ON #8: THE STEAM DECK

I’ve not had the hankering for a new piece of gaming technology for a very long time – not since having gotten into building my own computers at least. My last consoles were an Xbox 360 on the day of release, a second hand PS3 a year or so later, the Wii, and a at some point a bit after that, the Wii U. The latter was promptly sold once it became apparent how little I used it. Perhaps that experience soured me as since then I’ve only purchased consoles as gifts, those being a PSOne and a Switch Lite… so a pretty barren time. Having a relatively powerful PC liberated me from having to pay the premium for the games I wanted as they’re always so cheap in sales, and of course the cost of the consoles themselves. Obviously a gaming computer costs a lot more initially, but from then it’s pretty plain sailing, and with a bit of know-how, easier to repair and upgrade along the way if faults crop up or things slow down. There are other downsides too, other than the upfront costs. You sometimes miss out on the odd exclusives and often have to wait a little longer for the PC versions of certain games (GTA and Red Dead, I’m looking at you), but these are mere trifles – the catalogue of games is vast beyond measure, and this is only improved by emulation.

So it was since around the time I began playing Star Wars Galaxies a lot that I drifted a little from console play, and from then, more so around the 7/8th generation as I was also using my PC a lot for photo and video editing – it just made sense that it was all in one place. I’ve never had a console in the living room either, so the comfort of playing from the sofa was never a deciding factor. All this led me to where I was a few weeks back, and with my recent house move falling through, and having to keep my PC on its little desk in the hallway of our flat, I began to crave a bit more comfort in my gaming. I initially considered picking up an Xbox Series X as I thought with my back catalogue of games and the allure of Game Pass, I’d be well set up, but the recent release of the updated version of the Steam Deck changed my mind. I have a vast collection of games yet unplayed in my Steam library, and the easy transfer to the Deck was very appealing, especially with the lack of restriction to just playing in the lounge (or wherever I could set up a monitor) that a traditional console would afford me. I could play PC games in bed… very tempting indeed. And in fact, it was so tempting that I went ahead and purchased one.

This was no quick process however, as to afford one, I had to sell a load of shit on eBay. I was a photographer for almost a decade, and that part of my life sort of ended about 5 years ago, but since then I’ve kept hold of pretty much all my photographic ephemera, and this meant that I had a decent pool of resources to dip into. Much of what I sold was film, and after lots of trips to the Post Office to ship off my redundant tat, I was in possession of a small fortune (well, just about enough to afford the Deck anyway). Lottie said she’d be relieved when I finally had it as it would mean I would stop banging on about its virtues and watching endless comparison videos on YouTube detailing the differences between the newer OLED model and the older, and cheaper LCD version, as well the Deck’s competitors. After months of continual umming along with the saving I finally decided to make the ridiculous purchase. Just before dinner on Christmas day I gleefully added it to my basket. I assumed I wouldn’t see it for a long while and I put it out of my mind thereafter, enjoying the festivities of the season, and just after Christmas, Lottie and I went away for a few days for a digital detox, so I couldn’t even check the progress of the order. Upon coming back online I found that, to my surprise, the Deck had made its way to our local Co-Op and was waiting for me in the back room. The bloke there enjoyed making fun of the out of date photo on my driver’s licence and after that brief exchange I had the unassuming box in my grasp. We were off to see our family shortly after that, so the deck sat idle and boxed up on my kitchen table for the rest of the day. Once we got home later that night, I was blessed with the rarefied and joyful experience of unboxing a fresh piece of technology. This happens from time to time, of course, new phones and what not, but nothing quite hits the spot like a piece of gaming equipment – fucking great!

The deck arrived incredibly well packaged and in its accompanying case. Initially it seemed somewhat bigger than I had imagined – I suppose Steam Deck YouTubers must have large hands. This impression subsided rather quickly after handling it myself, and I don’t think I’d want a handheld (at least for mostly home use) to be much smaller. I wouldn’t want it any bigger either, the size is pretty much perfect, and it’s light too, making longer gaming sessions nice and comfortable. Having said that, it’s solidly constructed, and the buttons, triggers, and sticks feel just as tactile and responsive as an Xbox controller, for example. The trackpads are great too, and work surprisingly well as a substitute for a mouse and for double-thumb typing on the virtual keyboard. I was very impressed by the ease of the setup process too, and after immediately slapping a screen protector on it I got to work downloading a wide variety of games to test out while also preparing my ROM collection for what was one of the biggest selling points for me – that being EmuDeck. Emulation of old titles is something I’ve always done on my computer, but other than some tinkering on my phone and PSP, I’ve never been able to sit back and relax properly to play all those old greats, until now. The setup for emulation was incredibly straightforward, and before long I not only had a PC in my hands, but also pretty much every console up to about 2012.

EmuDeck setup screen.

The PS2 version of GTA III

It's been about a month since I’ve had the Deck, and I can say with certainty that it was a good purchase. I’m not saying that I’d be any less happy if I had bought a console, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the Deck so far, more so than I had imagined I would, and it has gotten me gaming far more than usual. I no longer have to rattle about in the hallway to play games, I can do it anywhere, and not only that, I have access to all my old favourites. I’ve not had my hands on the LCD version, having opted for the OLED, but I’m sure either is good. The upgraded screen is fantastic, making some games look truly beautiful, especially in darker environments. If you’re thinking of picking one up, and can stretch for the newer version, I would suggest that you do so. One thing in particular that has continued to blow my mind is the concept of a 1tb micro SD card. I have terabytes of storage on my PC, and dozens of thumb drives and SD cards already that have a considerable amount of storage space, but I don’t think I can ever not be impressed by having a whole terabyte worth of games in a little chip about the same size as the tip of my finger.

And if all that wasn’t enough to convince me that I made the right choice, it got Lottie into Grand Theft Auto, albeit only until she ploughed into a crowd of people at about 80miles per hour and ended up feeling remorse for the virtual dead. She’ll be returning to the Mushroom Kingdom post-haste for a less deadly driving experience.

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There we go, a purchase well made. Do you have a Steam Deck or an equivalent hand held device? And do you emulate games? What are some of your favourite classics to revisit? I’m currently having fun replaying GTA III, Star Wars Racer, and the first instalment of Ratchet and Clank, amongst others. Next time will be a ‘Quest Log’ on the first game I’ve completed on the deck, so stick around for that one too.

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