I’ve been really wanting to get a steamdeck. I’ve been playing a lot on my modded switch, but there is a lot I want to play that is not available on the switch.
Does anyone have both systems and still use the switch?
I imagine I can just dump my games and emulate them on the Steamdeck.
I don’t do anything online, so I can’t imagine I’ll miss out on anything.
Im an experienced Linux gamer, so im not worried about the Linux side of things.
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I’ve been using more my switch lately than my deck, but that’s due to the fact I have a local library with many switch games available. While me and my spouse are super pro emulating we don’t want to bother with emulating switch because:
- We’re not willing to hack our Switches yet.
- I’m extremely uninformed on where to find another bios
In addition, the steam deck display isn’t as pretty to look at as the OLED.
I have the first switch version, so it was pretty easy to mod and the screen should be about the same as the steam decks. But I bed the oled switch is really nice to look at.
Since I got my Steam Deck, I use my Switch for playing local-multiplayer Mario Kart and… Yea that’s it
Yeah, it seems that the switch can easily be replaced by the steam deck.
I think all the switch exclusive games that I care for emulate perfectly or at least good enough. I think the only game I’m not too sure about is tears of the kingdom, but I imagine the emulator devs give that game a lot of attention. So I’m sure it will be a very compatible game.
I finished the game while ago, but the last set of mods from HolographicWings/TOTK-Mods-collection/ that were out before I was done gave me correct button hints, 16:10 aspect ratio, with a pegged 30 fps for most of the game when not loading shaders, with a minimum of 20 fps at lookout landing.
Steam Deck does feel like a superset of Switch. It offers almost all of what Switch offers in a bit heavier and a lot more comfortable package. You get absolute freedom to do what you want with the device (I buy almost all my games from GOG), the trackpads become pretty much mandatory once you get used to them. You have the option of playing AAA titles with shorter battery life, but don’t actually compare that badly agaist a Switch if you play games that Switch can run. You gain access to a lot more games, a lot cheaper games.
People convince eachother that the two devices somehow serve different functions and audiences, but that just feels like unwarranted courtesy towards Switch. I don’t have a Switch, to be clear, but it does seem like an obvious upgrade from what I can tell.
I find playing connected to a television far easier with the Switch. But, TBH, I don’t find much worth playing on the Switch.
Yeah, I did an inventory of my games and most are also on PC. The only exceptions that I care about are Mario odyssey, Metroid, and tears of the kingdom.
I guess it boils down to
- You want to play Nintendo Exclusive Games
- Portability, since the switch is a bit smaller and battery life is solid.
Other than that, Steam Deck is a beast. For me that’s not worth having a switch. But whatever suits your boat. In the end we are all gamers and I respect all the various possibilities.
I have both. I had the switch long before the steam deck was available. I will say that I have not touched my switch to play games since I received the deck. I got my deck in the second big batch of deliveries when it first released, so I have had it for more than year at this point.
When I want to play Nintendo exclusives, I purchase them and then use my switch rip them to play using yuzu on my deck.
Thanks! I was thinking about doing the exact same thing. Although, I rarely am playing switch exclusives at this point. But I’m sure I’ll do a second run of totk in a few years.
Switch emulation is a bit hit and miss. Some games work fairly well, others underperform or have serious issues. Also, online multiplayer currently only works with a real Switch.
So far, I’ve been pretty lucky with switch emulation. When I really looked at it, just about all the games that are switch exclusive l, that I’m interested in work well.
Plus, I still have my switch incase it will not run.
I don’t use my switch since getting the steam deck. I played a little of tears of the kingdom but the fact that it wasn’t on the deck (without effort to emulate and move saves) is most of the reason I stopped playing.
The switch created the handheld real console revolution, but it also kind of sucks to use. Joycons are awful, the ergonomics of joycons are awful, and while you can get third party replacement options for the joycons, they all still have really awful sticks that make playing anything that uses them painful.
My hands cramp and my thumb joints hurt with certain games on the switch. The left joycon broke (not stuck drift) so I replaced it and then like a week later the right joycon broke.
I am still kinda pissed at how expensive the joycons are. If I knew they were both going to break, I would have just bought a Steamdeck instead.
Binbok on Amazon were the least bad ones I found. They’re shaped about like half a normal controller, and the joysticks were almost tolerable compared to the joke the hori Nintendo licensed ones are.
But they’re still a lot worse than a real controller. The steam deck isn’t.
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I have both. I haven’t tried emulating Switch games on the Steam Deck yet. I use my Switch for Nintendo exclusives and local multiplayer games since it’s less of a pita to set up
Thanks! I don’t do any multiplayer stuff except for stardew valley, but no so much anymore.
I think the steam deck will satisfy me.
I’ve tried emulating a couple switch games, the experience hasn’t been great. Perhaps playable, but I’d rather use the first party hardware.
Vague and unpopular opinion incoming:
Despite the Steam Deck being better than the Switch at nearly everything, there is still something that keeps pulling me back to the Switch. The only things I can think of is how much thinner and lighter it is combined with the simplified software. I’m not saying the Switch software is good, because it’s not. It’s slow despite how slimmed down it is. Meanwhile the Steam Deck is much faster, smoother, and has many more features. But the Steam Deck still just feels clunky compared to the Switch. It might be due to the Steam Deck using a full desktop operating system with a modified UI while the Switch OS is made solely for playing games. Despite being very well designed and using optimized software, something about the Steam Deck makes it feel like a tech demo rather than a handheld game console. I still really like the Steam Deck, but I keep getting pulled back to the Switch.
Put simply: Weight aside, the Steam Deck is significantly better at every individual factor than the Switch. But there is still something about the final product of the Switch that I enjoy using more than the Steam Deck.
Heh, completely opposite to me.
Like the sibling comment it feels the opposite way round to me. The Switch feels like a child’s toy - light, small and not wildly comfortable to hold for a long period of time. The Deck feels much more ergonomic and solid to hold in my hands - I still enjoy the feeling of just picking it up (had it for 7 months) because it just feels like it fits.
Some of this is because I have big hands and the Switch obviously has to work for kids hands and the Switch being lighter is actually better for longer sessions but when I got back to the Switch now it feels cheap and flimsy.
Yeah my wife is playing animal crossing right now, while I am playing bg3
I have both.
I’ve had my switch for many years at this point, while my SteamDeck is barely 1 year old. I probably wouldn’t buy a switch today if I didn’t already have one but since I already have one I still use it very occasionally for exclusives I’m excited for (well, actually used it a ton for TotK recently). I don’t have my Switch hacked and would just rather not go through the hassle of finding clean roms to download. The only Switch game I played on my Deck was Diablo III (because the PC version has no controller support or controller-friendly UI) but with Diablo IV now it’s unnecessary.
All that being said, there’s very few Switch exclusives I’m interested in for $60 anymore, even on the horizon, Zelda was probably the last one unless Mario Odyssey 2 is released before the end of the system’s lifetime. And Zelda TotK was honestly the first game I bought for Switch in probably the last 2+ years… my wife played a few things on it but I had switched to PC exclusively (+Steamdeck) and PS5
I mean, I have a steam deck and a switch. Just beat Totk on the switch and recently started BG3 on the deck.
The trick is to put one console down and pick the other one up.
True gamers play both at the same time
The only use my switch has now is for my girlfriend playing animal crossing, I haven’t used it myself since I bought the steamdeck. I was tempted to buy TOTK when it came out, but I’ve got too many games in my backlog already
I have both and use both of them more than I used the PS3, PS2, and Dreamcast.
Emulation can be ok but often you spend as much time fiddling as playing. Switch just works.
Steam Deck mostly just works for most Steam games, and can do a lot more if you want to tinker. It’s a computer and supports normal computer things like keyboard and mouse. Basically no restrictions.
Have you tried using the emudeck software? It seems that it kind of self configures.
