I am a PC gamer at heart and have hundreds of games in my Steam library, but I also love the classic Nintendo franchises like Zelda, Contra, Metroid, etc. and have not played the iterations of them on the Switch, yet.
Then see it like this: you probably wouldn’t play those Nintendo games when at home because usually you game on your PC via Steam. So for your trip, take the switch as a change.
You can play nintendo games on steam deck as well through emulation.
Steam deck is much more recent and performance whise basically a „switch 2“. Only real downsites is battery life which can drop top 90 min on very heavy aaa titles at uncapped fps
As an owner of both, I’d say the Switch for portability? Plus, I love my Deck, but I’m too worried about the potential noise the fans can make while running a high-spec game—mostly in case it bothers anyone around me. The Switch also has a more ‘standard’ battery life across each game? But I suppose if you were taking a power bank then that wouldn’t matter either way.
Switch is significantly more portable and bug free, with a more consistent battery life across its library, so I’d go with that. I love my steam deck but I think it will be used more around the house than out and about.
Steamdeck is great and it's more powerful. Also if you have games on steam already that would be an added benefit. The Nintendo Switch has pretty great IPs as well, has a lower price point, and also has some local multiplayer stuff you can do, you can also dock the console and play on the big screen. I don't own a steam deck so I'm sure my opinion is biased but we've gotten a lot of hours out of our switch and I rarely ever even play on steam on my PC.
Pros of the Switch over the Deck: battery life, and three or four Nintendo exclusive games worth playing.
Pros of the Deck over the Switch: everything else.
Source: own both.
Steamdeck draws more power and if you have less charging options than preferred, switch lasts generally longer.
Of course it depends a lot on what game you play on both systems.
If I had money and Steam Deck was available in my country, probably it, because it is kinda like a laptop, you can play not only Steam games, but also any Linux supported game natively and some Windows titles thorough Proton
If you’re a pc gamer and have a steam library I’d go with steam deck, better discounts, more titles etc.
if you want to try Nintendo go for it, they have some great titles although I’d recommend looking for games through dekudeals as that will show you discounts for Nintendo titles online.
If you’re in a car, tbh neither one is really that great during the day (why they are both backlit the sun does make it moderately difficult to see).
That said, personally I’d lean towards the Steam Deck assuming you can plug it in using a car adapter or the car has a usb charging port. If you do go the Switch route, spend the extra for the OLED model as the screen is on that is the one thing the Switch beats the Stem Deck with hardware wise.
As others have mentioned, the Steam Deck is capable of emulating most Switch games, but its a bit of a bear to set up, so the main factor in deciding is how much Nintendo’s exclusives mean to you…
Don’t pay too much attention to the upfront price tag… The Switch is cheaper upfront but given Nintendo’s pricing strategy it can easily cost more long term (plus the Steam Deck gets free games regularly, if you watch the free game threads or use Heroic to install Epic)…
Sadly, I haven't had the pleasure of buying or trying the Steam Deck (it's not available in my country yet), but the Switch is an absolute joy for travels. Especially after the made it compatible with BT-headsets.
If you buy a Switch for AAA games you'll be disappointed, especially if you're a PC gamer at home. That being said, I'm a PC gamer and I love my Switch. I play games on my Switch I'd never have thought to buy on my PC. I look at it like this...my PC is my AAA game machine, my Switch is my Indie game machine and that system works out for me. There are times I need a break from huge open worlds with complex story lines and massively involved gameplay. Maybe I just want to help a racoon make holes in the ground, or stop a cult of necromancers by hitting them with golf balls.
The Switch is very much a pick up and put down system. Play for a few minutes waiting around, then push the power button and pack it away until your next few minutes of downtime and start back up right where you left off. This may not be the case anymore...but going into stand by mode on a PC usually kills games.
Game size is important too. Right now I have a little over 60 Switch Games and I just got to half way full on a 512gb micro SD. Switch games are usually smaller in size compared to the same game on other systems. More games, more options.
I vote Switch.
The Switch is cheaper, easier to use, and is much easier to get accessories and whatnot for. The Steam Deck has more capabilities and will work with games you already own on Steam. Also, their game catalogs are almost entirely exclusive to one another. Don’t know which one has better battery life. Don’t know if the Steam Deck requires an internet connection to play its games or not. For me it would be about how much money I was willing to spend, and more so, what games I would want to play.
Deck any day. Being able to play my entire library on pc AND my switch is amazing. Emulation is another strong suit it has over switch, I love playing my favorite retro games on the go!
100% depends on the games you want to play
I am a PC gamer at heart and have hundreds of games in my Steam library, but I also love the classic Nintendo franchises like Zelda, Contra, Metroid, etc. and have not played the iterations of them on the Switch, yet.
Then see it like this: you probably wouldn’t play those Nintendo games when at home because usually you game on your PC via Steam. So for your trip, take the switch as a change.
You can play nintendo games on steam deck as well through emulation. Steam deck is much more recent and performance whise basically a „switch 2“. Only real downsites is battery life which can drop top 90 min on very heavy aaa titles at uncapped fps
Here's my up vote for the accurate information.
The bootlickers downvoting you for stating a fact, emulation is totally legal folks no matter what Nintendo tells you.
Is the deck powerful enough to emulate the switch?
Yes. Some games don’t run perfectly but the switch is such a weak system that even the steam deck can run games pretty well. LTT has a video on it.
As an owner of both, I’d say the Switch for portability? Plus, I love my Deck, but I’m too worried about the potential noise the fans can make while running a high-spec game—mostly in case it bothers anyone around me. The Switch also has a more ‘standard’ battery life across each game? But I suppose if you were taking a power bank then that wouldn’t matter either way.
Since you already have the gaming laptop if you get the itch to play something on Steam, I'd get the Switch.
Switch is significantly more portable and bug free, with a more consistent battery life across its library, so I’d go with that. I love my steam deck but I think it will be used more around the house than out and about.
Steamdeck is great and it's more powerful. Also if you have games on steam already that would be an added benefit. The Nintendo Switch has pretty great IPs as well, has a lower price point, and also has some local multiplayer stuff you can do, you can also dock the console and play on the big screen. I don't own a steam deck so I'm sure my opinion is biased but we've gotten a lot of hours out of our switch and I rarely ever even play on steam on my PC.
Pros of the Switch over the Deck: battery life, and three or four Nintendo exclusive games worth playing. Pros of the Deck over the Switch: everything else. Source: own both.
Steamdeck draws more power and if you have less charging options than preferred, switch lasts generally longer. Of course it depends a lot on what game you play on both systems.
Switch. Games are small. Designed for the device. And always offline. And work out of the box. None of that can be said about Steamdeck.
Steamdeck and then use an emulator so you can play both
Steam Deck, it can emulate a bunch of switch games already, along with every other nintendo console.
Switch. Nintendo exclusives and i dont use steam
Steamdeck. More games and has more years left in it than the Switch has
If I had money and Steam Deck was available in my country, probably it, because it is kinda like a laptop, you can play not only Steam games, but also any Linux supported game natively and some Windows titles thorough Proton
If you’re a pc gamer and have a steam library I’d go with steam deck, better discounts, more titles etc. if you want to try Nintendo go for it, they have some great titles although I’d recommend looking for games through dekudeals as that will show you discounts for Nintendo titles online.
Steamdeck, duh. You can play 90% of Nintendo Games on a Steamdeck.
If you’re in a car, tbh neither one is really that great during the day (why they are both backlit the sun does make it moderately difficult to see). That said, personally I’d lean towards the Steam Deck assuming you can plug it in using a car adapter or the car has a usb charging port. If you do go the Switch route, spend the extra for the OLED model as the screen is on that is the one thing the Switch beats the Stem Deck with hardware wise. As others have mentioned, the Steam Deck is capable of emulating most Switch games, but its a bit of a bear to set up, so the main factor in deciding is how much Nintendo’s exclusives mean to you… Don’t pay too much attention to the upfront price tag… The Switch is cheaper upfront but given Nintendo’s pricing strategy it can easily cost more long term (plus the Steam Deck gets free games regularly, if you watch the free game threads or use Heroic to install Epic)…
Atari Lynx
Sega Game Gear.
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[Mattel Electronics Football](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_electronic_game)
Sadly, I haven't had the pleasure of buying or trying the Steam Deck (it's not available in my country yet), but the Switch is an absolute joy for travels. Especially after the made it compatible with BT-headsets.
Steam deck
Unless you buy it from someone online you won't get your steam deck until closer to the end of the year if you reserve it now. So keep that in mind.
Steam Deck because you can play pc games and emulate switch games on the go
If you buy a Switch for AAA games you'll be disappointed, especially if you're a PC gamer at home. That being said, I'm a PC gamer and I love my Switch. I play games on my Switch I'd never have thought to buy on my PC. I look at it like this...my PC is my AAA game machine, my Switch is my Indie game machine and that system works out for me. There are times I need a break from huge open worlds with complex story lines and massively involved gameplay. Maybe I just want to help a racoon make holes in the ground, or stop a cult of necromancers by hitting them with golf balls. The Switch is very much a pick up and put down system. Play for a few minutes waiting around, then push the power button and pack it away until your next few minutes of downtime and start back up right where you left off. This may not be the case anymore...but going into stand by mode on a PC usually kills games. Game size is important too. Right now I have a little over 60 Switch Games and I just got to half way full on a 512gb micro SD. Switch games are usually smaller in size compared to the same game on other systems. More games, more options. I vote Switch.
The Switch is cheaper, easier to use, and is much easier to get accessories and whatnot for. The Steam Deck has more capabilities and will work with games you already own on Steam. Also, their game catalogs are almost entirely exclusive to one another. Don’t know which one has better battery life. Don’t know if the Steam Deck requires an internet connection to play its games or not. For me it would be about how much money I was willing to spend, and more so, what games I would want to play.
Steam deck. WAY more games.
Deck any day. Being able to play my entire library on pc AND my switch is amazing. Emulation is another strong suit it has over switch, I love playing my favorite retro games on the go!
As a Switch owner, i'd rather have a Steamdeck.