Steam Power: Why A Console Gamer Will Be Getting A Steam Deck.

PC gaming has always been somewhat of an outlier in my very console specific psychology. The notion of using a mouse a keyboard to play games is as baffling to me as steering a car with a trifle. Being a “console peasant” affords me the opportunity to game, with availability limited by the natural domestic responsibilities we all prioritise. Even if I wasn’t inhibited by the restraints of life or the deficiencies of money, with the limitations of my router and it’s localised remoteness, there simply isn’t anywhere for a PC to go, without considerable logistical alterations. So when the Steam Deck was announced you’d think I’d regard it with the same bemoaning apathy as any other elitist related hardware. Yet the reality is that I’m rather intrigued by the device. So much so that I even reserved one.

The Steam Deck, which I confess sounded like a wallpaper stripper when it was first trending, is a portable games console/PC developed by Valve, equipped with GPU’s, AMD’s and APU’s, as well as other industry standard abbreviations I’m too technically feeble to comprehend. The hybrid device which, when docked can be connected to a monitor or television, comes in 3 base models with differing internal storage options. The most expensive version is the format I’ve chosen.

The appeal to me as a console peasant, is a having a device that facilitates access to a service previously restricted. Steam has an extensive catalogue of titles I’ve never had the opportunity to play. As well as title’s that I have experienced that I can now play on the go. With the mobility, docking alternative and a huge library provided by Steam, this device has the potential to be the preferential alternative to my PlayStation. But the Steam Deck seems like a strange aberration for a community fanatical about the processing power of a PC?

Perhaps I’m wrong here, deceived by a generalised misconception, perpetuated by the elitist snobs in the gaming firmament. But this hardware, with it’s diminished power and console aesthetic, is a bit like selling plimsolls from “Shoezone” to a cobbler! Why would a PC gamer, bred with the habitual elitist attitude that is repelled by anything less than 60 fps, want to buy an inferior machine? It’s portable, sure. Provisioned with multi-touch capacitive, designed to replicate precision mouse control. But is that enough? That’s rhetorical really, I don’t have any answers. I’m not an analyst! I’d like to think that PC gamer’s don’t believe great ideas are limited to raw power.

Despite my extensive proclivity for frugality, I do on a occasion experience intermittent breaches of impulsive whimsy and capitulate to spontaneous desires, with mixed results. But with a Q2 2022 availability reserved and it’s scheduled release likely to be months before I’ll even receive confirmation of it’s acquisition let alone have the device dispatched, I have ample time to consider early reviews before committing a substantial cost. But I’m optimistic that the Steam Deck can provide an alternative to the current console ecosystem and rigours of their respective jurisdiction. Here’s hoping.

Will you be getting the Steam Deck? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.