Steam Deck's first big problem: Playing popular games
Rumors in late May said that Valve was on the verge of unveiling a portable gaming console similar to the Nintendo Switch. Nearly two months later, Valve delivered the Steam Deck. It’s larger and beefier than the Nintendo Switch, but the new gaming rig appears to be intriguing to fans. The strange reservation process began on Friday in various markets. Many gamers complained online that they could not put their money where their interest was. You don’t get to buy the console, only reserve one with a small deposit. You can change your mind at any point after paying that initial $5.
Despite the early excitement, Steam Deck might already have a huge software problem that Valve needs to fix: Running the popular games customers want.
The reason why Nintendo gets away with releasing a new Switch version that has no meaningful hardware upgrade is the games. Nintendo sits on a massive collection of original titles that gamers want. These games aren’t available anywhere else. Customers might not like the lack of hardware upgrades on the Switch OLED. But they’ll tolerate it as long as they can get Mario and Link.
Valve’s new console appears to be a more formidable machine than the Switch. It’s basically a portable PC that should run all of the best games in the Steam store. But that’s just one small piece of the puzzle.
The early Steam Deck software issues
Valve’s Steam has millions of customers already. That explains the huge interest in the Steam Deck. Unlike Nintendo, you can play all those Steam games on a PC. As long as the hardware supports it, the games will work.
