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Valve’s brilliant Steam Deck now accounts for over 21% of all Linux gamers [on Steam] (frvr.com)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[–] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I'm confused, is that supposed to be good or bad? A lot or a little? That article seems to be making a heck of a lof of excuses. The hard pivot from "the Deck is an unmitigated success!" to immediately, quietly admitting it hasn't outsold any actual handheld console is... kinda weird.

I like the Deck, and its influence in the market is clearly outsized... but it's still a fairly niche product, and for the price I'm actually a bit surprised at how not-mainstream it remains.

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  • [–] 8 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    is that supposed to be good or bad? A lot or a little?

    Neither. It's reporting, not an opinion piece.

    That article seems to be making a heck of a lof of excuses.

    No, it doesn't.

    The hard pivot from “the Deck is an unmitigated success!” to immediately, quietly admitting it hasn’t outsold any actual handheld console is… kinda weird.

    It sold millions in a market that was up to Deck's launch owned by small manufacturers that sold on crowdfunding platforms in production runs that may have been only in the tens of thousands. Stating that Steam Deck is a success is not a contradiction to Nintendo Switch being an enormous success.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago*

    See, that's the type of justification that doesn't sit well with me and that the article is doing all over the place.

    Is the Steam Deck a very successful handheld PC? Sure. Compared to the boutique stuff sold on Indiegogo by Chinese manufacturers it's probably an order of magnitude larger.

    Except it's also not priced like one of those (or wasn't at launch, anyway), it's priced like a console, with the LCD model (while it lasted) priced right alongside the Switch OLED and a bit cheaper than the Switch 2.

    And by that metric it's done poorly, with best estimates placing it right alongside the PSVita at the absolute best, lifetime. The bar for success on that scale isn't "selling millions", it's selling tens of millions, which the Deck has struggled to do.

    So, all fanboyism aside: The Deck did well for a handheld PC, but kinda failed in the attempt to bridge the gap between those and handheld consoles. That, if you're keeping track, is "reporting, not an opinion piece".

    This?

    Valve’s Steam Deck has been a runaway success. While the beloved handheld has sold less than most major console handhelds, it’s become a valuable system for many to take their PC games on the go.

    This is an opinion piece.

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