Really enjoy your channel. I'm 52 and started playing games in 1979 and none of my friends play games anymore, so it's pretty lonely when you can't share anything about your hobby. Visiting channels like yours, feels very good in that regard. Feels like coming home 😉
52 years old or not i WISH older ppl today played games like you instead of being judgmental lol. Even in my younger days my parents couldnt care less about gaming etc.. then again that was in rhe snes era etc. but just you wait ..give it another 10-20 years and a lot of gamers will be 50+ and still game. we live in a different time.
I'm 52 as well, been playing games from around the same time frame with my first Atari 2600, I still have all my games and over 50 consoles. With all these games, emuation is too easy, and seeing it on my Steam Deck is great.
When I was a kid growing up with my various game boys, my friends and I would talk about how awesome it would be if there was a console that played everything. Nintendo, Sega, arcade and even pc games on a handheld. It seemed like one of those pie in the sky thoughts we’d have, alongside interstellar travel a la Star Wars, things like that. The steam deck is exactly what we dreamed about. I cannot believe something like this actually exists. Especially in our walled garden, pay for each live service type of existence. It’s remarkable.
I used to dream of a handheld with a backlit screen and graphics like the PS1. By the end of the PS2 gen the PSP came along. The fact that it could emulate PS1 and had PS2 like graphics and play movies and music too was insane at the time.
FFXIV is an incredible experience on the Deck provided you're playing a controller-friendly class like Dancer. Playing an MMO while laying down is an absolute revolution in the field of human sloth.
We are slothborne, born of sloth, live in sloth. Perhapz we will perish in sloth? I cannot say. As i write this, my mine addles into the realm of dreams.
I know I'm late to comment, but I played ffxiv on my vita. Got banned for playing on public wifi on a handheld after people in my fc found out and snitched
What I would like is a video series for each console emulator on the steam deck: including the most optimal or preferred settings for that console, the games you most enjoy, the games you recommend, and the underrated and under-appreciated games.
I originally got the deck for emulation and I use it a ton for that. I am however, blown away by the AAA experience this thing offers and have also played a lot of Horizon: Zero Dawn, Spider-Man and Sonic Frontiers which has been one of the most exhilarating gaming experiences I've ever had, especially on a handheld. With my disability, I'm often switching between my bedroom and the living room so a traditional console didn't make much sense for me. In purchasing the deck, I knew it would emulate more consoles than other handhelds I own but had honestly expected a much more compromised experience for modern games but thankfully, the deck does not disappoint. Thank you so much for recommending it. It's truly a great piece of kit.
Yep, every time a new game comes out I think welp, the Deck finally won’t be able to run a new game. Then I’m blown away that not only does it run it it runs it at pretty good settings. Amazing hardware
More of these type of videos please! I think all of us are a little burnt out on "device mania" and that's one of the fundamental appeals of retro gaming - a break from the constant consumerist push to buy more and keep up with the latest thing all the time, and a chance to enjoy what you want at the pace you want. Believe it or not your intent and headspace comes through clearly in the things you create, like these videos, so if you are having fun and finding peace then we are as well. And if you find it mechanistic and boring we probably will too.
That’s an awesome update! It’s great to hear that you are still getting in game time, because you kept saying how you don’t play many games any more, you just test them. So I’m glad to hear that you are enjoy some happy gaming as well. Also I have been loving games pass for streaming to my Odin at night😏
Super glad to see you talking about the Deck again! I got mine last november and I'm absolutely loving it, thanks in no small part to your emudeck tutorials. Keep up the awesome work, love your channel!
I gave up being a physical game collector decades ago, but seeing those NES cartridges in the background almost makes me rethink that decision. They look so cool stacked up, and bring back so many awesome memories. I tend to forget about all the time spent blowing in them though.
I really enjoyed getting the collection set up! My parents sent me my old NES collection last year and it was fun listing out the other games I wanted to add to the list, and then hunting them down :)
@@wesleyswafford2462 With digital games, you just make a copy, and then distribute said copy across multiple backup drives. HDDs will outlast those cartridges by a longshot
I like seeing this kind of video. Obviously you can't spend six months with every device you review, but it's nice having a check-in like, "is this thing still getting use? Is it getting ongoing support from the company and/or the community? Is there anything else different about the experience now than when the formal review went up?"
The emudeck tutorial was the first video I watched, since I got the steam deck I’ve been doing a lot of tweaks to it and had to have had it re-image and I keep going back to that video. Great content!
Just do your thing Russ, the style of videos you have are what brings us back again and again. At the same time, these sort of videos are a refreshing change from the usual review types, plus they can be an opportunity to do a retrospective on some of the devices you've reviewed in the past.
I have been having the same thought as you Russ, I haven't been playing much games on the Steam Deck that are really large and take a lot of time & commitment like Spiderman or Elden Ring, only some of the time. I've been mostly playing the smaller games or emulation (mainly Gamecube, PS2, PSP, Wii U, Switch sometimes). I finally beat Metroid Prime 1 (via Primehack) for the first time in my life and it was so much fun on the Steam Deck. Took me at least 20 yrs to beat it and I finally did. Highly recommend everybody that loves the Metroid series to play the entire Prime series on the Steam Deck
I've just set up emulation on mine and I'm loving it. My son used to play Yokai Watch on his 3DS when he was younger so it awesome to finally see what he was into all these years later. Now 17, he's gone back to the 3DS so we play the game together. Awesome bonding experience!
Ever since I was a kid I dreamed to play Paper Mario TTYD and Simpsons Hit and Run on the go portably. I shed a tear the first time I booted those 2 on the deck.
Haha cant agree more, i have every paper mario game installed on my deck currently, after finishing the first n64 game im currently half way through the thousand year door, i plan to finish all of them on the deck
I’ve been playing the burnout series on the deck and I’m so happy I get the full 6 hour battery life while playing it. The deck is awesome for retro games.
I greatly enjoy your channel. This video in particular was kinda nice, just hearing about your real world experience with it. Thanks for sharing. I'm getting my steam deck this week - can't wait to play around with it.
Great video Russ !!! I have had my steamdeck for almost a month now. I have a dual boot, windows 11 on a 2tb external SSD and love it. I have basically made a “Frankendeck” with a HUB, 2 external SSDs, and a micro sd card installed as well. Love the device even though I seem to be spending more time tinkering than playing. I would love to see more Steam deck videos on game configurations and performances
@@imstupidbut No, I have the 512gb one so didn’t think it was worth doing it. I use that storage, along with the 1TB micro sd card I bought for Linux and steam games. I have a 2Tb external ssd for windows.
I've always wanted to play my entire Wii and PS2 category on the go. Now I can in 2023. I cannot praise Valve enough for creating the greatest handheld device ever made
Thank you so much! It took me so long to do this w fail after fail until I found this video! I don't know if it was signing into game pass first, NOT accepting any of the microsoft cookies, or the copying and pasting of the infamous space that did it, but you Sir are a GOD! Thank you so much!
I really like that leather skin. $50 for a skin is steep, and I was shopping on Dbrand today after I picked up my Steam Deck of FB marketplace. But the idea that the skin actually ages with use and tells its own story is really cool. Much the opposite of a more traditional vinyl skin that you continually fuss and worry over as it gets yellowed and scratched from use and touch. Seeing the wear on the leather like that reminds me of an old ball glove that's been broken in and seen some playtime. Cheers!
Hey Russ, just thought id take a minute and share my experience. I grew up with CRT TVs , but as I got to about 13-14 and I was no longer spending as much time at home and I was able to go out and sleep over friend's houses, plasma tvs were in their infancy. I vividly remember for my 14th birthday, my mom got me a 12" flat screen tv that only had component and a brand new ps2(I owned multiple lol). But I would take that tv and ps2 everywhere with me including to school so that I could go right from school to a friends house and start playing my games at their house. In the 8th grade Final Fantasy XII came out and I remember me and one of my good friends would get together almost 7 days a week at his place to play through that game side by side, some of the best memories I have! I also grew up with gameboy, ds, psp ,etc. and I always wondered if we would ever get to a point where they would be able to fit a ps2 and a screen into a handheld device I pictured a large gba lol. welp, here we are in 2023, ill. be 30 in couple days and the steam deck exists and is honestly mind blowing to me. I love it to death, and it's probably my favorite console/pc ever made. Never mind the fact that I love what Valve is doing, or how the deck sheds light on Linux in an awesome way and could help loosen Microsofts' and Windows' grip on gaming in general, but it also brings to life that dream I had all those years ago, carrying my 12'' tv and my ps2 around and for that it holds a very special place in my heart!
Fantastic video! I wish there were more of these. Ive been bitten by decision paralysis with my SD. I want to set up emulation - i gave it a go but couldnt get it working and now im just kind of sticking to official steam store stuff and a couple of games from Heroic. I find these kind of videos inspire me to find different ways of getting the most out of my SD. Ive ordered a dock as I think desktop stuff will suit RTS type games that I enjoy more and I want to have another go at emulation. Any more videos on this would be awesome but I love all your content, the ones where youre talking about your experiences with you sat in front of the camera like this work really well!
I really appreciate this type of video. It is cool to see how others use their devices, and which ones get the most use. I don't have a Steam Deck, but I do have a Win600 with SteamOS, as well as a Onexplayer (5700U version) that I use regularly. The Win600 has been my go to device for playing Horizon Chase and a few other lightweight games. I use my Onexplayer as a side computer at work, but I also really like playing Fallout 76 and all the Forza games on it. I am typing this message on it as well!
When I first heard about the Deck, I was excited like a little boy - and usually I am not, anymore, sadly. I wasn't as excited about a new device for more than 10 years. I have actually enjoyed waiting for it for 9 months. It has become a precious thing to me before it even arrived. And I treated it like something fragile, as it wasn't easily available for another half a year. During that time, I grew the idea to only really play games, that I could run at 10 W max. I extended that to about 12.5 W, but 10 W is my line. So I now have 3 categories in my library: "Deck: Perfect", "Deck: OK", "Deck: Too much power". This changed the perspective on my library. I had a look at many games, which I never played, when I was still grabbing big time in sales. The limitation was a relief, as oftentimes I sat in front of my Library and couldn't decide what to play. With the Deck, I learned again, to decide for a title and play it to the end. And I started to appreciate titles with less than 30 hours of story, like Dishonored, Guacamelee, Transistor. Currently I'm playing through Darksiders 1 on it. While I would love to still have the time for 100+ hours games and I did and do thoroughly enjoy Horizon Zero Dawn, AC Odyssey, Immortals and the like, I started enjoying playing "through" a game within a month a lot. Btw.: Such games, I only play at home via Steam Link / Remote Play. Works flawlessly (also the Ubisoft-titles). In my opinion a very underrepresented feature. And again I do appreciate the limitation. I ended up buying even less new games, because there's so much to play still. The Deck also got me into emulation and hence, to this channel. EmuDeck was so nice and easy to set up. It's the reason I've become a subscriber here, bought 2 Anbernic-devices and became a member in the respective subreddits. My use cases are gaming on the couch, while the wife is watching series, movies, videos on RU-vid, as well as, when I'm traveling (by train), which I do about once a month for the 3 days. It has mostly superseded couch-gaming on the big screen. I love it, I'm a fanboy and I'm excited about its effects.
We love content like this Russ! It shows the fun side of gaming. Reviews are appreciated, however getting to know you and your preferences is satisfying!
As always, great vid. My playthroughs are mostly Game Pass and pc streaming via Moonlight. Some retro stuff, but i tend to like it more on my self-build cabinet :)
My biggest use of the device has been streaming my Ps5 to it so my wife can watch tv while I play, and I've found the battery life with that to be pretty nice.
I think the Steam Deck is nearly perfect for me…but I’m gonna wait for the next version. If they can improve the battery, screen, internals, and make it thinner/lighter, then it’s near perfect, especially if the price stays the same. There’s been so many other companies that have jumped into the handheld gaming PC market recently that I hope Steam can take some of those improved features from competitors and make the deck even better.
Nice breakdown :) Would be nice to have an updated guide on how to install non-Steam games in Desktop Mode, namely standalone GOG installers as Heroic and Lutris can be finicky
Heroic just got an update where you can now choose to add a game automatically to steam. I've only tried a few games (Blake stone, RoTT, and Blood), but they add artwork, and you're able to download controller profiles. Just as a general practice, I download, install, and first-boot any epic/gog game in desktop mode. Trying to use Heroic through SteamOS has never worked for me.
@@Giltygear The latest Heroic updates actually broke GOG standalone installer, I have to go through Lutris for the install instead now and then back to Heroic to add it to Steam properly. It's quite messy
Steam Deck has been great, but I did pick up an Anbernic rg35xx for older emulation. Steam Deck for PC/modern games, and rg35xx for the casual older roms. Love it so far!
Dear Russ from Retro Game Corps, after resisting your Steam Deck videos for almost a year, and making excuses about why I wouldn’t buy one, opportunity finally struck and I had the chance to acquire one for Christmas. Now all I can do is thank you for all the Steam Deck content, because of course it is amazing both as a modern game device and a retro games device (I use it for both). I certainly wouldn’t have gotten it without your videos, and I use it exactly the same way you do, which is while watching TV with my wife after the kids are asleep. I don’t worry too much about battery life. If I want to play Sekiro, I just plug it in behind the couch, and if I want to play Link to the Past, no plug needed. I agree that it makes sense to pair certain kinds of games with certain TV shows. Sekiro is good during 90 Day Fiancé, but a slow-paced game is much better during Better Call Saul. Now I have two retro handhelds, the Anbernic RG280v that I use in bed and for travel, and the Steam deck that I play on the couch. They are perfect complements to each other. I have gotten a huge amount of enjoyment from theses two devices already, and I have you to thank for the recommendations, the setup guides, the accessory videos, etc. Keep it up man, Retro Game Corps for life!
Haven't yet figured out how or why I like using the steam deck, as I'm only using it in front of my computer. I have to question sometimes just why I'm sitting there with a handheld when I could just boot it on the screen in front of me. But no it's just been a lot of fun setting it up as the ultimate retro emulation device. Trying to get through a back log, but at the moment focusing on Armored Core, Fire Emblem and games I already beat but have lost all recollection of. A cool thing I've been able to do is whenever I go to my parent house, I plug it into the TV and we've been playing it takes two, and I load it with TV shows and movies, and I'm able to show them tonnes of cool stuff.
So no one is commenting on how this fine gentleman is able to play video games WHILE watching tv shows with his wife? Those are some impressive multitasking skills. We salute you 🫡
I was scrolling down the comments thinking someone else must have thought about the whole multitasking angle. I confess I don’t get it. I mean, I get it, and each to their own, but for me the idea of watching something AND playing a game makes no sense and just ruins each activity from separating my focus. If a show/film is worth watching why/how can you engage with it and also engage with something else in a meaningful way? It ends up feeling like consumption overload, not just one audio-visual stimulus but two at the same time?! Crazy. But yeh each to their own 😂
Got mine Saturday. Docks coming this Saturday. If I can only figure out why none of my Dreamcast , vita , psp roms won’t work even though they seem to be. Then I’ll be a happy boy.
Having a Steam Deck, I don't feel much reason to go and get MORE devices to do what this one does. (I still watch those videos to support the channel, though.) That said, there's a few topics that might be more relevant to interests. First, one of the big "issues" I have with the Steam Deck is the... "analysis paralysis" of configuring performance for each title. That level of granularity is certainly better to have than not, but at the end of the day, my job is very mentally taxing. When I'm off work, the last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of time fiddling with settings to get things performant, but not taxing to drain the battery and keep kicking the fan on. I just want to have some fun and rest. There's some community profile databases out there, but not everything is detailed there. Perhaps a video on making it easier and faster for those who aren't knee deep in the configuration side of things to help get up to speed? The next big 🤔is: Cloud + Save Files. I realize this is may be out of your wheelhouse, but is there a way to configure Emulation Station to, rather than pathing to the default location on local storage, path to somewhere else... like, say, a folder in Dropbox? That way I could potentially play on any device, but my progress gets saved to the cloud so I can pick right back up on a different device? Given the power/fan noise of the Steam Deck, I tend to play it on the couch with a controller. But if I could play some older emulation on a smaller, more lightweight device while laying down in bed... that would be GLORIOUS. And while typing that, here's an open question to anyone: Is there an elegant way on Emulation Station to handle Randomizers? I'd rather not have to keep loading on/off ROM files and bloating up my SNES library. Is there any way to "create a new console" that I could toss in randomizer files for those times when maybe I do feel like going to play some randomized files? I'm probably going to feel pretty sheepish when, it turns out, none of this was particularly difficult to solve. 😅 Just... work has been killing me these past few weeks, and I've got a new baby, so sitting down and looking into this has just been too daunting to really commit to.
I've been playing almost nothing but Breath of the Wild for about the last three or four weeks now, but thanks to the Pause Games plug-in - I'm instantly switching back and forth between that and Rain World now. I'd be interested in tips/tricks videos if you have anything you've figured out. I'd love to see a video on the Pause Games plug-in 'cause 'Pause on Focus Loss' does not work the way I would expect it to (it seems to work randomly and I've been wondering if I'm doing something wrong). EDIT: I figured I should add that I have increased the swap file to 32GBs.
I really do want a steam deck but to be honest, I’ve been having a blast playing on my switch combined with my backbone one on iPhone, making it not such a crucial purchase at this very moment. I feel like both devices combined really do cover all these areas except emulation for which I own multiple devices including a vita & 3ds. If I’m on the sofa with the Mrs, I can remote play my ps5, stream XCloud, play console ports on my switch or if I’m feeling competitive, can also jump on Apex on mobile. Also, I don’t have a steam library meaning I would need to build a library from scratch so saving some money there too! 🤷🏻♂️
Great video as usual.Thanks. I could be in the minority but I'm having a great time with Titanic Demo 401 V1.4. Being able to walk round Titanic on a portable console is a fantastic experience. Also, QB64 runs flawlesly and compiles Basic code to a runable executable. Great for simple code snippets. My Switch is crying out for some love and attention but sorry old fella I'm having too much fun On the Deck.
Hey Russ, I'm not gonna lie I'll watch any and every video you create in regards to the Steam Deck. Doing a brainless Top 5 games of the month, software update summaries, Decky plugins, IRL topics, etc. Your content is far and away my favorite on RU-vid; even more so when it's about the beloved Steam Deck. I've been playing a lot of Wreckfest and Roguelikes/lites like Luck Be A Landlord, Peglin and Dicey Dungeons. Thanks, Nick
I have been just playing Forza Horizon 5. It doesn’t require much reading and suspends very well making it easy for me to just pickup the steam deck and pickup where I left off. I do try to watch tv and game but my wife complains that I’m not watching with her. Because of this typically I don’t get as much game time as my wife gets time with me.
I love my Steam Deck, but why does nobody *ever* mention how atrocious Steam's own store page functions on the Deck itself? It's atrocious, hasn't changed since I got my Deck at launch, & I simply can't understand it; after so many updates I struggle with how every review or update just swallows the store's inescapable flaws outright is all, know what I mean? It's absolutely jarring, & it's a sincerely strange problem to have.
Interesting. I also set up EmulationStation when I first got my Steam Deck, but I mostly find myself playing games like Army of Ruin, Sparklite, Hades... smaller games in handheld mode (with the exception of Witcher 3, which I finally picked up again to play the DLC). I think it also has to do with having to switch the SD card. Although it's basically no effort at all, it's also not just pick up and play. And yes, XBOX cloud gaming works exceptionally well. Did not expect it to work this flawlessly.
I've got the 256GB/o one and an 256GB/o and do a lot of emulation. That aside, I think a 512GB small NVME is waaayyyyy too expensive. SSD (SATA) speeds might be good enough though, who knows.
If you want a skin that doesn't peel off I recommend popskin they make one of the best skins for steam deck and other devices. They don't peel off as easy as dbrand and other brands. Give it a go.
My initial selling point of Steam Deck, was Steam Workshop & Pixel Art stuff, for Rivals of Aether - which I've put countless hours into Then the Deck ended up being a mix of ROMs, Rivals, Workshop Content, & a good sized chunk of Steam Library Games - mostly bought on Sales Currently, Mega Man X Dive Offline has been my go 2 fix I make good use of the Collections Feature, To sort & organize everything, as well as the Desktop Side, to organize everything like a PC Having Google Chrome & Note Pads is a boon; looking up crucial information; then Pasting the Text to a Notepad, or JPEGs to A Folder; is as helpful as it was on PC I love the convenience of Steam Deck, over PC - no having to hunch over a desk in a hard chair, no having a big, bulky Laptop, that gets Hot & uncomfortable in the lap However, I still prefer the Switch & smaller Handhelds, for being lighter & less bulky - but You'll learn to get used to the Deck's size & mass As for Deck vs Console - having a Handheld Is more convenient, especially not having to wear glasses to see it clearly
Great video. I would like to see you do a tutorial for the steam deck ssd with a backup tutorial. I really don't want to start all over after installing a new ssd. Also are you all done with the Logitech G Cloud? I would like to see it get some more love out there, I think it's great for a larger on the go emulation machine. I would take my cloud out and about, but definitely not my steam deck.
Ahh Wind waker on Wii-U looks amazing! I've been playing Cuphead mainly and Super Meat Boy, and getting amazing battery life with that TDP cranked right to 3W 😁
I have the stock case that I use but also 2 other cases. One is hard shell for long trips with the family and it is getting packed in the hatch with the luggage for days on the road and another that is semi hard shell and carries the deck, do k, charger, keyboard, 2 battery packs, 2 controllers and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff like chargers, cables, etc. I haven't decided on a skin yet. Debating between the D-Brand Matt white or the Lux Cyberpunk skin. What I really want is a Dragon Quest skin but no one makes one that isn't for a DQ spinoff.
I got another carrying case because I kept a protective case on my SD and it wouldn't fit in the OG one without taking it off first. The JAUX carrying has worked really good for me.
Just ordered a deck and I’m excited to get it. I’m hoping this gets me back into gaming since I prefer handheld on the go and this covers every system I want play. Thanks for all you do
@@rubylovesyousm yes and it is everything I wanted. The only thing I want more of is battery life but I knew what to expect and I’ve been playing the hell out of it
*help Thanks for the upload. I'm having issues running GameCube on the deck. I've used the popular methods but whenever I get the games loaded, I see a disc read error message. I assume it's a bios file problem but i don't think dolphin even needs a proper BIOS to run. Any ideas???
I still find it a little insane that you have that leather skin. I can't imagine wanting to put a bunch of insulation on a device with thermal issues. Your explanation in this video addresses my concerns, but it's still totally not for me. I guess I like that it identifies your Steam Deck. Wouldn't be a RGC video without it!
With the leather skin, I had the same issue with the skin peeling up. I reheated the skin with a blow-dryer and pressed it back down. It has not peeled up again since then.
I use my Steamdeck as a dedicated handheld only yet I do have a dock and play only PC games. Mostly stuff about two to four years old because I missed most of games at that time but also some newer stuff and Indie like Cuphead. Emulation is strictly handled by my Odin Pro because I love to upscale to 1080p where possible like with PSP, Dreamcast and N64.
Wow they talk about this like " if I have 2 hrs beforw bed I will play, if I have 2 min between eating and going to work I will just grab my retro console and play for 73 seconds. Whoc the fuck plays random ahit on 10 consoles for 90% of your time lol .
Just curious… you have tested a lot of handhelds that are more powerfull than the SD, do you play on them as well or do you simply rather pick up the SD instead? Thanks👍
You should play AM2R, the amazing fan made Metroid 2 remake. It is by far the best way to play metroid 2. I liked it much more than Samus Returns on 3ds!!! I am playing the Android port on my RP3+ at the moment. It is fantastic. 12:23
I really like your streamline desk setup... The monitor, PC, Macbook dock, etc... I was wondering if you have links for what PC you're using, the dock under your monitor and the volume thingy off to the right.
I have been tossing back and forth on the 6800u handhelds, but after hearing a lot of complaints with Aokzoe and some ssd fails with aya, I'm just playing it safe and getting a steam deck. It does 90% of what a 6800u can do, and for 50% cheaper.
You put into words how I felt about playing it and I hadn't even been able to describe it myself. I keep putting off playing the bigger RPG games because I don't want to read or sometimes have the music or sound at all while my wife and I are on the couch. I hadn't really put too much thought into it but now that you mention it I think that that's why. I beat Hades as well as a lot of hours in vampire survivors as well😂
