Category: Hardware

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Nintendo will be the only traditional console platform

Illustration by Grok.

Someone on the Internet posted this:

“PlayStation seems to be going all in on their next gen with a handheld and a home console. Valve is going to also have a home console with their steam deck. Nintendo is doing pretty well. The only one that’s not competing anymore is Xbox. Xbox is dead.”

And this is my response:

Valve is only working on reference hardware – at best. Valve is now in the OEM business and they will not compete with their hardware partners. All that Valve EVER cared about was to bring their Steam store closer to their customers. That is their business: Operating an online shop for games. They are not in the hardware or platform business. They are running a store, that’s all that there is.

The reason why they ever began working on SteamOS goes back to the times of Windows 8, when they were afraid that Microsoft might close down Windows to only allow for the installation of software from the official Microsoft store (which never happened). SteamOS has always been just a safety net for Valve.

And now they can safe themselves a lot of money because they have Lenovo to bring that store front to you. (I happen to own a Legion Go S, currently with SteamOS on it, but I don’t have any fanboy illusions about Valve, Steam and SteamOS. It’s just a platform where I occasionally buy some stuff because I can’t get it DRM-free on GOG.)

That rumored Valve “home console” will just be an AMD Mini PC (basically using AMD notebook chipsets) with SteamOS pre-installed on it. Get yourself a (rerfurbished) Minis Forum HX90G, HX99G or HX100G, put SteamOS on it and you basically can have the same thing right now – those little machines have a powerful Ryzen notebook CPU with a dedicated mobile Radeon graphics card, just what Valve is testing currently. And yes, those little Minis Forum machines really rock and SteamOS runs extraordinarily well on them out of the box.

Sony has lost interest in hardware several years ago. They have invested significantly into their global network infrastructure and data centers. They, too, have been preparing themselves for cloud streaming for years now. They do not see a future in traditional console hardware, they are simply forced to still support it because of their existing customer base. Their internal long-term strategy is very similar to Microsoft’s Xbox strategy: They see PlayStation as a platform – a platform that is not bound to specific hardware (which is the reason why those PC ports of Sony games exist in the first place). It’s only that Microsoft has always been several steps ahead of them with that long-term vision.

For literally several years now, Microsoft has clearly and openly communicated that Xbox is a platform – not a console, not a specific piece of hardware. They don’t care what device or client you use to stream their games.

That strategy fits perfectly into their corporate-wide Azure strategy. As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, once said: “Azure is the computer of the world.”

As always with Microsoft’s long term plans, things progress a bit slower than originally planned and envisioned, but have no doubt that they eventually WILL get there.

The new ROG Xbox Ally (without the X) was clearly designed as a cloud streaming device while the ROG Xbox Ally X is also intended to still install and play games locally (for those who are willing to spend the extra money). You will see that the cheaper version will sell significantly more units – and you will see that more and more gamers will warm up to Xbox Game Pass and cloud streaming on this device over the next years. And in a few months, once it becomes generally available, every PC gaming handheld will be running this new “Xbox Windows”.

From where I stand, when everything is said and done, Nintendo will be the only traditional console platform that’s left on the market. They have a portfolio of games and IP that people love and that will keep supporting them on the long run.

Never forget that they sold more Nintendo Switch 1 units than Microsoft and Sony COMBINED have sold Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles. Also don’t forget that Nintendo sold more Switch 2 units in the first three weeks than Valve has sold Steam Decks in three YEARS.

Nintendo is doing fine, and they will keep doing fine.

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Valve Steam Deck versus Nintendo Switch 2

I own an original Nintendo Switch, a Nintendo Switch 2 and a Lenovo Legion Go S  that is currently running the officially supported SteamOS 3.8 – I did not want to buy a by now out-dated Steam Deck.

The Legion Go S is a beautiful machine that I really enjoy using; playing Abiotic Factor on that gorgeous 8″ VRR screen and with that great ergonomic controller is absolutely amazing.

But still, the winner is the Switch 2. And it’s not even a contest.

The Switch 2 is a true engineering marvel: It is super thin, weighs nothing despite its large 7.9″ VRR display and is still powerful. (Although nobody wants to hear or admit this, the Switch 2 is more powerful than the Steam Deck and its aged APU and it can also hold its own against the more powerful Legion Go S). It is the only flawlessly functioning hybrid console on the market, it costs less than its competition, but its real killer feature for me is the fact that it is entirely NOISELESS.

In regard to the “Nintendo is expensive” campaign that is raging on the Internet: There are always hundreds of games on sale in the Nintendo eShop every single day at prices that can easily compete with Steam, Xbox and PlayStation. Yes, first party Nintendo titles don’t drop that much or that often in price (but they still go on sale every now and then), but the over 16,000 other titles in the eShop very often go on deep sales – and unlike on Steam, I have the guarantee that they are compatible with my device and I don’t have to worry about strange Linux/Proton incompatibilities.

The fact that the Steam Deck and other PC handhelds are full-blown PCs actually works against them and their usability – nobody in their right mind will ever want to use them as a PC, having a full-blown Linux or Windows under the hood is counter-productive, even if it is a brutally stripped-down version of Linux like SteamOS: It’s dead weight. Also, if you want to install software/games that you did not buy from the Steam store, you MUST drop down to the Linux desktop – and then nothing is straight forward and user friendly anymore and you actually have to deal with real PC issues. And that is not attractive on a device that is supposed to entertain and relax you and to offer you an escape.

The Switch 2 on the other hand knows exactly what it is and what it wants to be, and it does the job of a hybrid gaming console perfectly. Being able to unplug the console mid-game and just keep using the machine is a feature that I use frequently – because I can and because it really just works.

The Switch 2 also does not care if you lose Internet connectivity, your games will still run: There is no stupid “offline mode” that you need to prepare and activate on the Switch 2 – it knows that you have a license for the game and it will let you play it, whether you’re online or not. (Even Microsoft makes it easier to use a device offline than Valve.) Unlike Steam, Nintendo’s DRM is straight forward and unobtrusive.

Let’s be clear about one thing: In the software, movie and music industry, you, the customer, never owned the software, movie or music – you only owned the physical medium, but NEVER the content that was on the medium. Even with music or movies, you always only bought a very limited use license. You just never bothered to read the fine print on the record, the movie box or the EULA that came with your software. Any IP holder can always at any time withdraw that license and then you’re left with a physical medium that you are not allowed to use anymore.

As far as games are concerned, Valve brought this business model to the PC gaming world in 2005 with Half-Life 2 and the mandatory Steam DRM client – and while doing so they successfully killed physical media forever. Thanks to their DRM, Valve can also disable your games at any given time. So can Microsoft, Sony, Epic, Amazon, Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and everybody else who is forcing a launcher, online account or DRM client on you.

If you’re really into software preservation, GOG is the only software store that sells you at least some control: All software that you buy there is DRM free and you can download (and archive) offline installers for the games. While this does not change the legal side of things and the fact that you are still only buying a limited use license, you can at least rest assured that the Intellectual Property/Copyright holders have no technical means to disable the software at any point in the future.

If thinking about DRM keeps you awake at night, then GOG is the only place to go to buy games. (And that is the reason why I buy my PC games there whenever possible – unfortunately, not all game developers sell their products there: Game publishers love DRM, because that is how they can control and milk their customers.)

Recommendation:

If you’re new to the market and want to buy a handheld gaming device, you cannot go wrong with the Switch 2.

But if you already have an existing library of games that you want to carry over to a mobile device and if your eyes are compatible with a small 7″ screen (mine are NOT), you might want to wait until October 16 when ASUS and Microsoft are going to release the ROG Xbox Ally (X) – with its new “Xbox Windows” operating system, this device has chances to be a disruptive game changer in the PC handheld market.

To everybody else who wants a PC handheld I will recommend the Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS or the forthcoming Legion Go 2, provided that it will either ship with SteamOS or that it will also get the new “Xbox Windows” that Microsoft will first ship with the ROG Xbox Ally.

Due to its age and increasing performance issues with new AAA games and its lack of a VRR display (which should be a mandatory feature for gaming handhelds), the Steam Deck cannot be recommended anymore, no matter how important and fascinating the device might have been.

I also do not believe for a second that there will ever be a Steam Deck 2 now that Valve is licensing SteamOS to OEMs – SteamOS only occupies a small niche market and Valve cannot compete with their OEMs on their own turf, that should be a pretty straight forward logical conclusion.

Also, Valve makes its money with the Steam store, not with the extremely costly development of hardware. Nintendo sold more Switch 2 units in the first three weeks than Valve has sold Steam Decks in three years (look up the numbers, it’s a fact) – there really is no incentive for Valve to pursue the hardware market any further when they can just license their store front to other companies whose core competence is the hardware business. Even the trillion dollar company Microsoft is now retreating from hardware development and is letting ASUS do the job for them.

tl;dr

“Just get a Switch 2.” 🤗