The Video Game Thread

[Apollo]

I just preordered the mid-tier Steam Deck for a whopping $5.70 CAD. It's being manufactured by Valve so the build quality will be excellent.

https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

I've always been a fan of PC gaming and I love handhelds. DS, PSP, 3DS, Vita, Switch, you name it and I've been there over the last two decades.

The Steam Deck looks very promising. Valve is building Steam OS 3.0 in Linux just for this console. They're building a custom compatibility software on top of that to make Windows games compatible within this OS. The specs on the machine blows the Switch out of the water. If you consider getting one don't go for the base option though. They cheaped out on the memory of the base model to get the cost close to the Switch and as a result that memory transfer speed will bottleneck you and on top of that the base model is only 64GB. The mid-tier memory transfer speed is 8x faster and 4x larger, this seems to be the sweet spot. The high-end model will obviously be the best experience but at that price point it's a tough sell.

Also, you don't need to run Steam OS at all. You can install Windows 10 if you like. Then you have yourself a handheld Xbox. Crazy.

The potential of this thing is big. It's too bad I was late to the party on my preorder. It's telling me Q2, 2022. I can wait though. Go Valve! ​​​​​​​

[Machine]

I just preordered the mid-tier Steam Deck for a whopping $5.70 CAD. It's being manufactured by Valve so the build quality will be excellent.

https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

I've always been a fan of PC gaming and I love handhelds. DS, PSP, 3DS, Vita, Switch, you name it and I've been there over the last two decades.

The Steam Deck looks very promising. Valve is building Steam OS 3.0 in Linux just for this console. They're building a custom compatibility software on top of that to make Windows games compatible within this OS. The specs on the machine blows the Switch out of the water. If you consider getting one don't go for the base option though. They cheaped out on the memory of the base model to get the cost close to the Switch and as a result that memory transfer speed will bottleneck you and on top of that the base model is only 64GB. The mid-tier memory transfer speed is 8x faster and 4x larger, this seems to be the sweet spot. The high-end model will obviously be the best experience but at that price point it's a tough sell.

Also, you don't need to run Steam OS at all. You can install Windows 10 if you like. Then you have yourself a handheld Xbox. Crazy.

The potential of this thing is big. It's too bad I was late to the party on my preorder. It's telling me Q2, 2022. I can wait though. Go Valve!

I am definitely intrigued by this. Would get a lot more use out of this than I do with my Switch.

[Joey]

All of those newer Tomb Raider games are free right now on Epic. Played the first one and I remember it being really good, so I'll play these for Free. Why not.

[Joey]

Just got the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Graphics Card, and a new power supply. Little (big) Computer upgrade to bring it into 2022.

So far the 3060 has handled every test I can throw at it. Cyberpunk 2077 at full Ray Tracing Ultra quality? 60fps. Witcher 3 with everything maxed, and some graphic mods? 60fps. Red Dead Redemption 2 on Ultra-ultra? 60fps. Unreal. What else can I try?? Lol

[Apollo]

I'm finally getting around to playing Red Dead Redemption 2. I just came down with COVID and so I'm not going anywhere right now, it's a perfect time and way to wait it out.

Been playing a lot of Contractors on Quest 2 the last day but that requires a lot of standing and moving around... That's kind of tiring right now but I highly recommend the game. Since the mod update, there's been an influx of a dozen or so COD maps and it's taken the game to the next level. It's the best shooter I've ever played and second place is a very distant second. Joey, you could have a pretty sweet VR setup with that new rig of yours. I hear the wireless Steam link to Quest 2 is basically sorcery, it works so well.

[Apollo]

I just made the plunge and purchased a 256GB Steam Deck. It has an SD card port and it performs as well as an SSD so I may be purchasing a 1TB micro SD card. I also will be purchasing RDR2 yet again so I can play it on the handheld. Apparently, it's running most new AAA games really well, plus it can emulate almost everything from the Nintendo Switch to an Atari. I'm a sucker for handhelds and this thing is probably sending my Nintendo Switch into retirement.

[Apollo]

The Deck just arrived. It's a Ferrari of a handheld. Holy crap.

Still, first game queued for download happened to be New Vegas. I'm currently downloading Elden Ring.

[Joey]

Just bought Spider Man Remastered for the PC. Been waiting a long time to play this game. Pumped.

[Joey]

The Deck just arrived. It's a Ferrari of a handheld. Holy crap.

Still, first game queued for download happened to be New Vegas. I'm currently downloading Elden Ring.

Yooo you got it eh?? So cool. Ya it seems pretty legit. Curious to see what the second gen looks like. Early adoption of things like this is bold. Respect. Lol

[Joey]

Ya Spiderman looks unreal at 1440 at 60fps with Ultra Graphics. One of the best looking games I've ever seen. And the combat is some of the smoothest ever as well. Similar mechanics to like AC or the Middle Earth games, but ya .. maybe a little more refined.

Would have loved to see the Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor/War implemented in Spiderman. Would have been amazing.

[Apollo]

Yooo you got it eh?? So cool. Ya it seems pretty legit. Curious to see what the second gen looks like. Early adoption of things like this is bold. Respect. Lol

No doubt there are always risks involved with early adoption but I love handhelds and it appears to be well designed and well built. I'm loving this thing so far!

[Apollo]

Ya Spiderman looks unreal at 1440 at 60fps with Ultra Graphics. One of the best looking games I've ever seen. And the combat is some of the smoothest ever as well. Similar mechanics to like AC or the Middle Earth games, but ya .. maybe a little more refined.

Would have loved to see the Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor/War implemented in Spiderman. Would have been amazing.

You're in for an amazing ride! It's almost a perfect game: visuals, gameplay, story, it's awesome.

[Joey]

No doubt there are always risks involved with early adoption but I love handhelds and it appears to be well designed and well built. I'm loving this thing so far!

Well ya, you have the Switch already don't you?! Lol Does this thing not just blow it out of the water in all ways? Except minus not having Zelda. Lol Though, I guess you could theoretically get a Switch emulator for on the Deck? Is that a thing? Lol

[Apollo]

Well ya, you have the Switch already don't you?! Lol Does this thing not just blow it out of the water in all ways? Except minus not having Zelda. Lol Though, I guess you could theoretically get a Switch emulator for on the Deck? Is that a thing? Lol

Check out EmuDeck. You can emulate any handheld from Switch down to Gameboy. WiiU, Wii, GameCube, PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Sega Saturn and a bunch of others are all running really well on Deck via EmuDeck. There's even some mod support on WiiU titles like BOTW.

I actually sold my Switch on FB marketplace over the weekend because who has time for that thing?! lol

[Machine]

Starfield is going to completely take over my life. Gonna miss the 2023/24 raps season.