Community MetaSteam | May 2023 - Bloody hell!

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Sobatronix

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Mar 9, 2021
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Soooo... Who's buying that Asus Deck?😸

An absolute beast for what I can see, but this just means the part of the market now can become ultra competitive. Valve's probably going to drop the price on the deck soon. I recently got my deck and I feel like buying this would be just superficial FOMO, and I'm in love with my SD. I'm more excited for what's in store for the future in the mobile PC space rather than be being excited for the Ally. I could just imagine how powerful and efficient a SD 2 would be, 2 or 3 years down the line.
 

thekeats1999

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Dec 10, 2018
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I just have three issues with ROG Ally.

First is the price difference. A lot of the reviews I have seen so far are American based. So we keep seeing that it is $50 more expensive. And that's great. For me in the UK it is £130 more expensive. I know that is down to VAT, like it will be in most of Europe, but at the end of the day that is just too much of a difference.

Second is ASUS itself. When the company has just released a BIOS update that invalidates your warranty, I am not sure I would trust any hardware made by them (or more importantly software). I imagine this will change otherwise I expect them to be torn apart by the European Union.

Finally no trackpads. I haven't need to use them so far. However I am not using Windows without even an emulated Mouse.

Outside of that I am interested to see what this does to the market in general though. Hopefully Valve can start making it easier to use none proton based games (Gamepass seems to be the main factor for this device).
 

Ganado

¡Detrás de tí, imbécil!
Nov 6, 2018
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Second is ASUS itself. When the company has just released a BIOS update that invalidates your warranty, I am not sure I would trust any hardware made by them (or more importantly software). I imagine this will change otherwise I expect them to be torn apart by the European Union.
I've been on ASUS boycott mode ever since I bought their ZenBook and the whole hinge broke down on me. They wanted 350€ at minimum to fix it (Sure, it was out of warranty) even though a 1000+€ computer should have better build quality (No, I didn't mishandle the laptop more than normal use). I'm not saying that they were in the wrong probably, but I'd be more than happy to pay a more fair price. I've been "loyal" to Samsung for phones ever since the motherboard died on my S7 like 2 weeks after I accidentally dropped it on concrete. The screen cracked then (Just one crack in the corner and the phone operator I bought the phone from said I had to buy a new one since they believed the phone was damaged when I dropped it. Went to a Samsung service center and they switched the board (not the screen obv) in a few hours, no charge. They might be expensive but as long as their stuff works for me and I get good service when something happens, I gladly stick with that corporation. That's what the premium prices should be for.
 

Sobatronix

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Mar 9, 2021
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I don't see that. But maybe they'll actually prioritise hitting retail and releasing in more markets. I doubt it since it's Valve and they are crazy slow, but it would be nice. Distribution is the thing holding the Deck back, not price or demand.
Distribution is still a problem, but now since the more powerful Ally is just 50$ more expensive than the 512gb deck, pricing is NOW an issue and if this new ROG handheld sells like hotcakes demand for the deck could become an issue in the future, it just depends on how well the Ally sells. Those weren't issues before because the Deck didn't have a competitor in the space.
 
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Mivey

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Sep 20, 2018
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Distribution is still a problem, but now since the more powerful Ally is just 50$ more expensive than the 512gb deck, pricing is NOW an issue and if this new ROG handheld sells like hotcakes demand for the deck could become an issue in the future, it just depends on how well the Ally sells. Those weren't issues before because the Deck didn't have a competitor in the space.
It will be interesting to see how well the Ally does. It is important to keep in mind that Valve isn't in the business of making money with the Steam Deck, they are making money with you buying games on Steam. So the Ally selling a bit better when people can still run Steam on there isn't exactly a huge threat to them. They don't need to outsell them.
 

madjoki

👀 I see you
Sep 19, 2018
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Valve, operator of the video game distribution platform Steam, was hit with a patent infringement lawsuit on Monday in Washington Western District Court. The suit, filed by Ramey LLP and the Puget Law Group on behalf of AML IP, alleges that the use of electronic payments for in-game products and services like game passes, weapons and character attire infringes the plaintiff's patent. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2:23-cv-00668, AML IP LLC v. Valve Corp.

:toucan:
 

Sobatronix

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Mar 9, 2021
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It will be interesting to see how well the Ally does. It is important to keep in mind that Valve isn't in the business of making money with the Steam Deck, they are making money with you buying games on Steam. So the Ally selling a bit better when people can still run Steam on there isn't exactly a huge threat to them. They don't need to outsell them.
This is the thing that confuses me about the Ally we all know Asus, they're not exactly a cheap brand, ROG graphics cards are always the most expensive models. They don't have a storefront to help subsidize the price of the Ally... is someone else helping them out so they could sell the ally for 699? Is is Microsoft? Because at that price point I don't think they're making a profit. They have a top of the line rdn3 graphics chip that's faster than the SD by at least 50%, they come with windows (which is not free unlike Steam OS), the have and IPS 120hz 1080p panel with 500nits of brightness, they also added cringe rgb lighting around the thumbstick. This doesn't add up lol.
 

DrShrapnel

Shuwatch!
Oct 14, 2021
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I allow myself roughly one big purchase per year (sometimes two if i get some surprise deal). And my reasoning is that I can get more for my 3070 this year (it still has 6 months of warranty) than next year, and knowing Nvidia they will charge even more for new GPUs next year.
I felt the same with my 3070ti. Felt like those cards were plummeting in price quickly because of the 8GB VRAM talk. I was happy to sell it for what I did.
 

yuraya

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May 4, 2019
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The Deck has constantly been in the top 5 global sellers since last year so I don't see Valve dropping the price until they are well on their way to announcing the Deck 2.

I can see a drop by 200$ so that would be an indication to clear inventory and that is even assuming the demand drops because of competition. Until then I wouldn't expect more than 10% off during big sales. They will most likely continue doing that. Maybe they go 25% off during the winter seal as it would really make for a killer gift at that 300$ price for the low end model.
 
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ZKenir

Setting the Seas Ablaze
May 10, 2019
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I think I might have gone for the ROG ally if I didn't have a Deck yet or if they came out roughly at the same time.
 
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Censored

I didn't delete that post!. Get my post back!.
Oct 8, 2021
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Asus ROG is confirmed to be 799€ on Europe (at least in Spain).
Tempting 🤔
It always annoys me how companies treat badly and forget about the directional pad, I personally love playing with the D-Pad in fighting games and 2d/side-scrolling games. ROG one seems to be shit. Even what a company that had always taken care about it in its consoles (even trying to patent it) like Nintendo has done with Switch has no name. Personally I like the Steam Deck pad (the best one in my opinion has been the VITA one).
 

yuraya

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May 4, 2019
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I think I might have gone for the ROG ally if I didn't have a Deck yet or if they came out roughly at the same time.
Yea owning the Deck there is no way I'm also dropping 700$+ on another handheld right now. Its tempting tho ngl. Another smaller factor is Silksong getting delayed too. Being able to play that game @120fps with a portable device would have been amazing but that fomo is out the window for the time being heh.

My next portable purchase will be Switch 2 or Deck 2. I don't see myself buying anything else because the Deck is too dominant in my gaming time now.

Good for ASUS tho. The device seems to be getting good previews n everything. Competition is heating up. The next 5-10 years will be incredible in the portable gaming space. Devices will only get more powerful and more power efficient while scaling down in weight/size. Imagine if Nvidia started to compete as well and released their own premium portable PC device with SteamOS/Windows. They probably can't because of some shitty contract terms with Nintendo now but hopefully that isn't the case in the future. They have to be working on something secretive in the background. AMD needs competition too.
 
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fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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Super excited for Zelda tommorrow. Also, started up Midnight Suns yesterday and I really likee it.
 

C-Dub

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Dec 23, 2018
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Imagine if Nvidia started to compete as well and released their own premium portable PC device with SteamOS/Windows. They probably can't because of some shitty contract terms with Nintendo now but hopefully that isn't the case in the future. They have to be working on something secretive in the background. AMD needs competition too.
Nintendo aside, I'm not sure Nvidia is all that interested in releasing an x86 gaming device. That would mean they'd need to invite AMD or Intel to the party and they're not too keen on that.

I think if we see ARM take off in the PC gaming space we may get a device from them, but until then...

The more likely competition for AMD is if Intel improves their iGPUs, or if some mad lad OEM decides to put a laptop GPU in one of these handhelds.

But for now it seems AMD will dominate this space from a chips perspective. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing if prices keep going down. And frankly, I think it'll be beneficial to customers, OEMs and developers if these devices had similar specs/performance. The last thing we need is an arms race in this space.
 
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yuraya

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Nintendo aside, I'm not sure Nvidia is all that interested in releasing an x86 gaming device. That would mean they'd need to invite AMD or Intel to the party and they're not too keen on that.

I think if we see ARM take off in the PC gaming space we may get a device from them, but until then...

The more likely competition for AMD is if Intel improves their iGPUs, or if some mad lad OEM decides to put a laptop GPU in one of these handhelds.

But for now it seems AMD will dominate this space from a chips perspective. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing if prices keep going down. And frankly, I think it'll be beneficial to customers, OEMs and developers if these devices had similar specs/performance. The last thing we need is an arms race in this space.
I think even if Nvidia gets into the market somehow they will only release a super expensive device. Like 1500$+ category with a lot of fancy tech.

I hope to see the portable pc market settle into something similar that GPUs are nowadays.

So Valve could push the affordable devices in the 400$ tier. The other hardware companies like ASUS/Intel can push the midrange 800$ tier and Nvidia takes over the high end. That would make for a good healthy landscape.

But yea ARM is gonna be an issue for Nvidia. But if this PC handheld market keeps growing steadily and there is a lot of hard data for money to be made....Nvidia will not be able to ignore it for much longer. Valve will be a big factor in all of this. They need to share as much positive data with everyone and keep pushing SteamOS as a Windows alternative because the more options exist the better for this sector. PC gamers spend a lot of money and if these expensive devices keep selling n gamers keep buying games its gonna be a win win for everyone.
 

Dragon1893

MetaMember
Apr 17, 2019
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Finished Like a Dragon.
They really need to stop doing this shit of having an endless endgame section that doesn't allow you to save.
I can't sit down for 3 hours straight to play a videogame, I have shit to do. I had to pause it for long stretches several times to get through it.
That aside, it's definitely up there with the best Yakuza games. Ichiban is awesome and his initial trio of companions really grew on me as well.
 

Eila

Junior Member
Jan 21, 2019
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...hahah yeah!...

*Half the forum puts a blanket over their PCs, with a strange rainbow glow under it
I do put a shirt over the keyboard when I need to leave the pc on and trying to rest, lol. Now that I think about it, I can turn off keyboard and mouse RGB pretty easily. I should do that instead.
 

madjoki

👀 I see you
Sep 19, 2018
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I wonder if you get all the DLC even if you don't buy them and you just unlock it depending on which version you buy.
I think this is case for all recent ubisoft steam releases.

It has (very likely) benefit of being able to use uplay dlc for steam copy, so not all bad.
 
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