5 reasons NOT TO BUY the Steam Deck

I've been watching a lot of videos about

this new Steam Deck which is coming out

soon, and I have a few things to say about

it, and they're not very positive. And in

case you didn't know what the Steam Deck

is, it's a new gaming console from Valve,

and it's supposed to be like a handheld

Switch thing which is supposed to be

better than the Switch because it's like a

proper computer but in the form of a

Switch handheld portable console. So on

paper it sounds pretty cool, but in

reality I think it's going to be a bit of

a flop, and here's why. Now maybe I'm a

bit biased because I am an avid Switch

Lite user and I love playing Mario Kart on

it and a few other games, but I'm also a

bit of a PC gamer. When I'm back home I

have a PC desktop setup and I play Rainbow

Six on it, mainly Rainbow Six, and I can

kind of switch between being a PC gamer

and being a Switch gamer when I'm

traveling. I used to have several gaming

laptops to play Rainbow Six when I

traveled, and I decided to ditch the

gaming laptops because they were too

heavy, too bulky to fit in my bag, and it

just took up too much space and it made my

back hurt. So you might be thinking,

well, wouldn't a Steam Deck solve that

problem? Because it's going to be much,

much smaller than a gaming laptop. Plus

you can play Rainbow Six on it. And even

though that sounds great and everything,

um, I just— I don't think I would want to

play Rainbow Six on a handheld. I just

can't imagine how horrible the controls

must be using those little thumbsticks and

the little trackpad things, which I've

never used a Steam Controller before, so I

don't understand this whole trackpad

thing. But I just can't imagine a trackpad

being any good for aiming a weapon. When I

play Rainbow Six or PC games in general,

I want to play keyboard and mouse. I don't

want to play with little thumbstick

controller thing. The great thing about

the Switch is the games on it are mostly

casual games like Mario Kart. Very simple

game. You don't really need complex

control systems. You just hold

accelerator, you got the boost button,

you got the brake button. That's it. It's

fine for controller gameplay. But then

when you've got complex PC games like

Rainbow Six, I just can't imagine having

fun playing that game without a keyboard

and mouse. And yeah, you can use a

keyboard and mouse and also a monitor with

the Steam Deck, but then I have to carry a

keyboard and a mouse and a monitor, or

else I'm going to play on a little 7-inch,

8-inch screen that's on the Steam Deck,

which is just gonna suck. Can you imagine

getting a keyboard and a mouse and then

setting up your Steam Deck on the table,

and then you're like hunched over staring

at a tiny little 8-inch screen with your

back aching? No. I guess if you're one of

those people who desperately need to play

some kind of PC-only game, then yeah, you

could get a mini keyboard and like a mini

mouse, and then you can make like a little

mini PC gaming setup that can fit in your

backpack. And if that's what you want to

do, then sure, go ahead. But for me

personally, that just sounds really,

really uncomfortable. I love the Switch

because I can just lay back on my sofa,

I can sit back on my bed, and just, you

know, hold the Switch right in front of my

face where the 7-inch screen isn't really

that small because it's so close to my

face. But if you're using keyboard and

mouse with the Steam Deck, how close can

you get to the screen? You're going to

have to be sitting on a chair at a table

or prop it up, like set it up on a

saucepan or on top of a pile of books so

it's a bit higher. How are you going to

carry around a monitor if you're traveling

and you're trying to travel light? You're

not going to carry around a monitor, are

you? As a world traveler, I just don't see

why I would want the Steam Deck over what

I already have, the Switch Lite. And

because I have the Switch Lite, I feel

like the Switch Lite is fine for what I

want to do. I just want to play some

casual gaming, do a couple hours here and

there on Mario Kart. I don't really want

to get into ultra complex games or games

where you really need a keyboard and mouse

to have any fun on it, like Rainbow Six.

To be competitive on Rainbow Six. There's

no way you could be competitive with the

little trackpad and the joystick. You need

a keyboard and mouse or you're gonna get

blown out the water. And then how fun are

games like Rainbow Six gonna be when you

can't win any games because you're using

this stupid trackpad thingamajig? My point

is, well, you won't be able to play the

super hardcore PC games on it very

efficiently. So you could say, well, you

can just play casual games on the Steam

Deck. You can play Stuff like, I don't

know, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order or

Cuphead or whatever. Yeah, but the thing

is, a lot of casual games are already on

the Switch. You can get loads of casual

games that have been ported over from the

PC or the PS2 or the PS3, or even the

GameCube has game ports on the Switch,

and they're fine if you want to play some

casual gaming. I don't see any problem

with having a Switch to do casual gaming.

Also, even though the Steam Deck's design

looks pretty cool, it's going to weigh a

ton. It's going to weigh almost triple the

weight of the Switch. And can you imagine

how heavy that's going to be? I think the

Switch Lite is about 250-300 grams, and

then the Steam Deck is over 700 grams.

It's going to be like holding a brick.

Can you imagine holding a brick for hours

and hours and hours? It's going to be so

uncomfortable. And then the thing's

probably going to get very, very hot if

it's going to be able to play PC games.

At medium or high settings. It's going to

have good specs, and to be able to keep

good specs running, it's going to have

like a bloody fan that sounds like a

vacuum cleaner. And then the battery life—

oh, the battery life isn't going to last

more than 2 hours playing any kind of game

on any decent settings. You want to play

Red Dead Redemption or GTA 5 on the Steam

Deck? Yeah, you can for like 1 hour until

the battery conks out. So then you end up

just being tied to the mains charger with

your Steam Deck plugged in, which isn't

very comfy. How are you going to lie back

and relax and kick back and take off your

socks? I'm just picturing it in my mind,

the Steam Deck, 20% battery after I've

only been playing an hour. I've got to

plug it into the charger, I've got to find

a socket, I've got to make sure, you know,

I don't trip over the cable, the cable

doesn't knock my drink over, and then

you're just attached to the cable the

whole time. It's not very portable, is it?

I just don't really see the point of it.

It seems kind of gimmicky, like they're

trying to do everything. They're trying to

make a device that caters to everyone,

and as the saying goes, you become a jack

of spades and the master of none. You just

become kind of crap at doing everything

and not really very, very good at doing

any one thing either. So you can plug it

into a desktop monitor and have all the

peripherals plugged into it, and it can be

like a desktop PC, but at that point, why

don't you just get a desktop PC? Why don't

you just get a gaming laptop and then plug

that into a monitor? At least then when

you go traveling, you can at least put

that in your backpack as well. And then

I'd rather have a 15-inch screen gaming

laptop that has a keyboard and mouse built

into it, and it's like one coherent

device, whereas the Steam Deck, uh, I

don't know, it just seems like you're

gonna have to buy a lot of extras. To make

it an actual viable PC gaming setup if

you're traveling. And I still think I'd

rather just get a gaming laptop over the

Steam Deck, and I'd rather have a gaming

desktop over using it in docked mode. So

it just makes the device completely

pointless for me, and it would just be

kind of silly to buy a Steam Deck for my

personal usage because I just feel like

there's better options out there. So those

were my Opinions on the Steam Deck. I know

they weren't very positive, and I've

basically got most of this information

from watching a load of videos about the

device, and I'm not really impressed. I

think it's a cool idea. I like the design.

I like the idea of being able to play some

games on the go, like Chivalry 2,

or I don't know, Age of Empires would be

quite nice, maybe. The only reason I see a

reason to buy it over the Switch is if

there's like a bunch of PC games that are

only on PC that you really like playing

and they're just not available on the

Switch, and you don't mind playing in

handheld mode, and you don't really care

about, you know, carrying a keyboard and

mouse around with you in your bag, which I

guess you could if you really wanted to,

but I don't think I would. So those are my

thoughts.