After Almost A Year With The Steam Deck I've Finally Been Converted

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If you watched our Steam deck video a while back, even before I reviewed my Steam deck, you'll see that I (that girl, Katey) wasn't all that interested in Valve's gaming platform. Maybe it was the price, maybe it was the completely different battery life, maybe I was a little afraid of Linux. I've been pretty open about how fat, clumsy and doomed I think it is.

And I was partially right...but not the last part.

In February, our head of hardware, Dave, put the Steam Deck in my hands and exclaimed: dramatic to tell the story. I'm not sure why Dave is an old pirate in these flashbacks, but I'll set the tone for an epic quest.

This was before many games were officially tested on the deck, so there weren't many games that ran well. More like rain and I didn't particularly like the overlays.

I've always preferred sim, strategy and management games, which meant that Steam Deck's controls weren't very intuitive for my games of choice. However, I got over it and found that the controls on the deck were so versatile that with a little tweaking I could play almost anything in one way or another.

More and more games were finally getting Deck Check as they went through the controls, which allowed me to spread my wings a bit. It also meant that more people started learning about community management schemes, so they could spend less time.

When I took it upon myself to put together our guide to the best Steam Deck games, I still had my doubts. However, after doing all these tests, I found myself returning to genres I had forgotten to enjoy, or simply decided weren't right for my big game. Small indie games, running sims, even driving games are back on my radar, and I really appreciate the role Steam Deck has played in that.

However, according to Wes, his biggest complaint about Steam Deck during this period was the most suffocating obstacle: the constant whining from fans. But even though the board initially failed what we called "another significant test" (our colleagues assessed the level of fan interference during gameplay), Valve released a software update with a better fan curve, and the problem has faded into obscurity.

Answering the most pressing question from potential deck players (Deckizens?), the versatility of the Steam deck really became clear to me. So should you buy a Steam Deck or a gaming laptop? It just so happens that this question has caused me a mini-existential crisis. I'm honestly impressed with the Deck's ability to free up PC gaming from the desktop in one of the best gaming laptops out there without breaking the bank.

When I was testing it, I realized how portable it is in comparison, of course, if you combine it with the best Steam Deck accessories. Climbing up a big old hill with a friend and showing off my Elden Ring character while watching the sunset was no longer a dream; it was truly a game changer. If I wanted, I could take the Steam Deck to the bar and open a spare table and ask someone to move it so I could sit on the power point.

But for me, the main thing that makes the Steam Deck my best handheld gaming device is its compatibility with non-Steam games. The things you can download as an Epic Games Store launcher on Steam are truly unreal (get it?), not to mention that you can force them to appear on Steam OS.

I also found it to be the perfect platform to relive your childhood through the magic of imitation. Don't get me wrong, emulating a Steam Deck is no easy task even with the perfect guide. But retro gaming life has been made a lot easier with tools like EmuDeck, which connects all your emulators and even a Rom manager, allowing you to access all your (completely legally purchased) games without booting into PC mode.

As great as it is, I've come to love Steam Deck for all its little flaws. He's like a fat cat who won't do what he's told, but he's too precious to leave by the wayside. Yes, it took a while for Valve to get the table ready to use, and yes, Linux still scares me a little (though not as much as it used to), but I'm finally getting the hang of it. hat

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