What people miss about Steam Deck's "loss" to Nintendo
-
Any non modern Nintendo console is capable of playing homebrew games, so this isn’t even true.
People have released NES and gameboy games in the last few years. Even on carts.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Ok, now suppose you want to release a game for any of the modern Nintendo consoles.
You need to get a devkit. To get it, you need Nintendo to approve your request, and you need to pay them for a license to use the devkit hardware. And, to actually use the devkit, you need a PC running Windows.
Sure, to develop a game for PC, you need a PC. But do you know what you don't need on top of that? A devkit and a Windows license.
Edit: Two downvotes in two minutes? Oh my, the sockpuppets are angry today.
-
Exclusives are a good thing if you want to justify a $400 hardware purchase.
"What can I play here that I can't play elsewhere?"If you can play it elsewhere, why blow $400?
If you want to play it, then you can buy any console. This creates competition, hopefully decreasing or at least maintaining prices for consumers.
-
It’s funny you say this, because for 500 bucks I am actually debating between the two as my Christmas present to myself this year.
I think I’d prefer a Steam Deck for no particular reason.
️wrote last edited by [email protected]If you're comparing them, as in you don't have a strong preference for one vs the other, the Steam Deck wins hands down. You get access to a much larger library of games, repairability is awesome, and you can use it like a PC, because it is one.
The only reasonable reasons to get a Switch 2 are:
- play first party titles - even when emulators come out, the performance probably won't be there on the Steam Deck
- it's for someone who wants a very simple experience, and they're willing to pay more
- the Steam Deck is too big for you - if you have smaller hands, it could be uncomfortable
But I don't think most people will really be deciding between the two, they target very different markets.
I'll probably end up getting the Switch 2, and I have a n OG Switch and a Steam Deck.
-
How so? How can it be a walled garden if anyone can develop and release a game cartridge for it?
wrote last edited by [email protected]If anyone could release a game cartridge, the GBA would have been filled with shovelware and we wouldn't need emulators. Homebrew was possible on the DS and later thanks to off-the-shelf SD cards, but that didn’t mean you were going to be suddenly granted a writable game cartridge.
-
If anyone could release a game cartridge, the GBA would have been filled with shovelware and we wouldn't need emulators. Homebrew was possible on the DS and later thanks to off-the-shelf SD cards, but that didn’t mean you were going to be suddenly granted a writable game cartridge.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Anyone can release a cartridge though? This part you’re ignoring.
Why move the goalposts? You’re also now suggesting we gatekeep devs? Why is releasing something on pc fine, but wouldn’t be fine if it was “homebrew”? Because it doesn’t fit your bias?
A game release is a game release, or do these limitations only apply to one side unevenly?
Pc is FULL of shovelware, so that shouldn’t be the metric we use? Yeah?
-
Anyone can release a cartridge though? This part you’re ignoring.
Why move the goalposts? You’re also now suggesting we gatekeep devs? Why is releasing something on pc fine, but wouldn’t be fine if it was “homebrew”? Because it doesn’t fit your bias?
A game release is a game release, or do these limitations only apply to one side unevenly?
Pc is FULL of shovelware, so that shouldn’t be the metric we use? Yeah?
Why do you keep insisting I’m moving the goal post? I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just pointing out the process is not easy as you claim it is.
-
If you want to play it, then you can buy any console. This creates competition, hopefully decreasing or at least maintaining prices for consumers.
For example, games like Jedi Survivor. Very popular. Not an exclusive. You can play it on Xbox, Playstation, PC, whatever. If all games weren't exclusives and could be played on anything, then the only reason to buy or not buy a console would be the console performance and company behavior. This would definitely increase game sales and availability as well.
-
There are flaws and benefits to every platform, that's why they exist otherwise only one would stand the test of time. There's a reason why PC gaming continues to march on. It has its flaws, sure, I wouldn't necessarily say glaring though.
The argument here isn't that PC gaming is flawless or you can run on literally any hardware or os, that's silly. Just that it's more flexible and open to choice. I run my Steam library on my Windows PC, Linux PC and steam deck. Games I bought a decade ago can run perfectly fine on all these configurations. That's the argument I was making and why your claim of PC being more exclusive seemed so disconnected from the reality of my experiences at least.
Still, it's not an argument to say you should use one platform or the other. Just that they are different and have their pros/cons, flexibility being a huge pro of the PC platform that's important to some people and less so for others.
That’s literally what I’m trying to point out? They all have their own quirks. And yet people bicker it’s funny.
I point out there’s limitations on PC, and get insulted. The circlejerking against Nintendo and for Steam is just wild on this community.
-
Why do you keep insisting I’m moving the goal post? I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just pointing out the process is not easy as you claim it is.
I never said it was easy?
Why do you keep insisting I’m moving the goal post?
You said it was a walled garden, so it sounded like you weren’t aware that homebrew and modern cartridge releases exist. And are now arguing why those aren’t applicable to your “walled garden” comment.
-
It’s funny you say this, because for 500 bucks I am actually debating between the two as my Christmas present to myself this year.
I think I’d prefer a Steam Deck for no particular reason.
️Do what I’m doing. Get the Steam deck and about when that time comes around that you want to buy a switch 2 it’ll have more games out and most likely different colors to pick from ^_^
-
Right, but it’s not freedom, when it doesn’t run on everything. You need to keep your system updated to play modern games.
With a switch, any game released, you know will play.
So yes it’s MORE exclusive in some situations.
Nobody is claiming that you should run Black Myth Wukong on an old IBM Aptiva except you.
Where? Don’t put words in peoples mouth if you want to have a civil discourse, but of course with this being your post, we know your bias already.
The thing you are arguing for, literally has a list of games it CANT run… and it includes a lot of modern games as well as older, so it can’t even run them… nice non-exclusion eh? It limits on BOTH sides.
It's not a sock puppet, [email protected] just happens to agree wholeheartedly with SchmidtGenetics and downvote/upvote the same comments a couple minutes after they do. /s
-
I never said it was easy?
Why do you keep insisting I’m moving the goal post?
You said it was a walled garden, so it sounded like you weren’t aware that homebrew and modern cartridge releases exist. And are now arguing why those aren’t applicable to your “walled garden” comment.
Prove to me that there isn't a walled garden.
-
What kind of idiots are comparing the two? They're different things with entirely different markets. There was never a battle to be had lol
There's many of them, and quite a few on this thread
-
Blood, Baldur’s Gate, Septerra Core, and Nosferatu: Wrath of Malachi have all been PC exclusives for decades now.
Seriously, I got lots of great PC classics to recommend to you.
I can't imagine a point and click RPG like Baldur's Gate or Fallout 1 and 2 being remotely playable on a Steam Deck. You pretty much have to have a Mouse and Keyboard for them. The Glide Pads will only get you so far.
-
It’s silly to compare Switch 2 sales to Steam Deck sales.
The Switch 2 is a locked-down, vertically integrated platform. There are no ROG Switch 2s. No Lenovo Switch 2s. No Switch laptops or tower PCs with discrete GPUs. If you want to play Mario Kart World, your only option is to buy a Switch 2. Period.
Steam Deck, by contrast, isn’t a platform. It’s just one hardware option—one entry point into the sprawling, open ecosystem known as PC gaming.
Every year, around 245 million PCs are shipped globally. If even 20–25% of those are gaming-focused, that’s 49–61 million gaming PCs annually. Steam Deck is a sliver of that. So of course it won’t outsell a console that’s the only gateway to a major IP.
But that’s exactly the point.
PC gaming is too decentralized for any single device to dominate. The last “PC” that did was the Commodore 64, which sold 12.5–17 million units over 12 years because it was a self-contained platform, unlike modern Windows, Mac, or Linux machines.
That the Steam Deck has sold 4 million units despite competing with every other gaming PC in existence is remarkable. It didn’t just sell—it legitimized a category. Handheld PC gaming is now a thing. That’s why Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI have followed. Even Microsoft is getting in, optimizing Windows for handhelds—something they would never have done if the Steam Deck didn't hold their feet to the fire.
So no, Steam Deck didn’t outsell the Switch 2. It didn’t need to.
It won by changing the landscape.
wrote last edited by [email protected]In 1999, the SEGA Dreamcast was the fastest selling video game console when it launched. In 24 hours, it sold a little over 225k units (which was massive for the tiny gamer population of 1999). This earned it the Guinness World Record for Most Revenue Generated in the Entertainment Industry in 24 Hours.
Console sales at launch literally don't matter.
Also, I wonder how many of those were sold to scalpers that plan on returning them if they cannot sell them?
EDIT: For reference, the PlayStation 1 sold 300k consoles in Japan only when it launched, but not in 24 hours, that 300k is for the entire launch month of December 1994, per Sony's own official business data.
-
Has either company "lost" anything? They both seems to be raking in money quite healthily.
A very good point.
-
It’s silly to compare Switch 2 sales to Steam Deck sales.
The Switch 2 is a locked-down, vertically integrated platform. There are no ROG Switch 2s. No Lenovo Switch 2s. No Switch laptops or tower PCs with discrete GPUs. If you want to play Mario Kart World, your only option is to buy a Switch 2. Period.
Steam Deck, by contrast, isn’t a platform. It’s just one hardware option—one entry point into the sprawling, open ecosystem known as PC gaming.
Every year, around 245 million PCs are shipped globally. If even 20–25% of those are gaming-focused, that’s 49–61 million gaming PCs annually. Steam Deck is a sliver of that. So of course it won’t outsell a console that’s the only gateway to a major IP.
But that’s exactly the point.
PC gaming is too decentralized for any single device to dominate. The last “PC” that did was the Commodore 64, which sold 12.5–17 million units over 12 years because it was a self-contained platform, unlike modern Windows, Mac, or Linux machines.
That the Steam Deck has sold 4 million units despite competing with every other gaming PC in existence is remarkable. It didn’t just sell—it legitimized a category. Handheld PC gaming is now a thing. That’s why Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI have followed. Even Microsoft is getting in, optimizing Windows for handhelds—something they would never have done if the Steam Deck didn't hold their feet to the fire.
So no, Steam Deck didn’t outsell the Switch 2. It didn’t need to.
It won by changing the landscape.
I hadn't even thought about it until you brought it up. Kind of disappointed in people jumping on this like flies on shit but like... it's 2025, so bigger things to be upset about.
In any case, apples and oranges. And PSA, if you need a Switch 2, grab em on the rebound. There'll be used ones, likely hackable in 6 months and none of that goes to Nintendo. Don't forget what their legal department has done in the past few years.
-
It's not a sock puppet, [email protected] just happens to agree wholeheartedly with SchmidtGenetics and downvote/upvote the same comments a couple minutes after they do. /s
wrote last edited by [email protected]Funny how month long idle accounts come out as well on those same votes, what does any of it imply?
-
I can't imagine a point and click RPG like Baldur's Gate or Fallout 1 and 2 being remotely playable on a Steam Deck. You pretty much have to have a Mouse and Keyboard for them. The Glide Pads will only get you so far.
Actually, I’ve played a lot of point & click games on the Steam Deck. Older titles are often better because they’re entirely mouse driven.
Grim Fandango, Divine Divinity, Disciples—all are good.
If you want to know the worst games to play on Steam Deck, it’s those text adventure games that were popular in the 70s and 80s.
-
That’s literally what I’m trying to point out? They all have their own quirks. And yet people bicker it’s funny.
I point out there’s limitations on PC, and get insulted. The circlejerking against Nintendo and for Steam is just wild on this community.
Well, I don't know what to tell you then, mate. If that's all you're trying to say I don't think it's particularly controversial. Maybe it's the way you're saying it.
