I’ve been really wanting to get a steamdeck. I’ve been playing a lot on my modded switch, but there is a lot I want to play that is not available on the switch.
Does anyone have both systems and still use the switch?
I imagine I can just dump my games and emulate them on the Steamdeck.
I don’t do anything online, so I can’t imagine I’ll miss out on anything.
Im an experienced Linux gamer, so im not worried about the Linux side of things.
I mean, I have a steam deck and a switch. Just beat Totk on the switch and recently started BG3 on the deck.
The trick is to put one console down and pick the other one up.
True gamers play both at the same time
Vague and unpopular opinion incoming:
Despite the Steam Deck being better than the Switch at nearly everything, there is still something that keeps pulling me back to the Switch. The only things I can think of is how much thinner and lighter it is combined with the simplified software. I’m not saying the Switch software is good, because it’s not. It’s slow despite how slimmed down it is. Meanwhile the Steam Deck is much faster, smoother, and has many more features. But the Steam Deck still just feels clunky compared to the Switch. It might be due to the Steam Deck using a full desktop operating system with a modified UI while the Switch OS is made solely for playing games. Despite being very well designed and using optimized software, something about the Steam Deck makes it feel like a tech demo rather than a handheld game console. I still really like the Steam Deck, but I keep getting pulled back to the Switch.
Put simply: Weight aside, the Steam Deck is significantly better at every individual factor than the Switch. But there is still something about the final product of the Switch that I enjoy using more than the Steam Deck.
Like the sibling comment it feels the opposite way round to me. The Switch feels like a child’s toy - light, small and not wildly comfortable to hold for a long period of time. The Deck feels much more ergonomic and solid to hold in my hands - I still enjoy the feeling of just picking it up (had it for 7 months) because it just feels like it fits.
Some of this is because I have big hands and the Switch obviously has to work for kids hands and the Switch being lighter is actually better for longer sessions but when I got back to the Switch now it feels cheap and flimsy.
Heh, completely opposite to me.
- maybe some games you don’t want to spend time tweaking the launch options, the graphics, the sliders, the mods etc and you just want to play the game as the devs intended. Switch is good for that.
- maybe there are times you don’t want to deal with all the hassles of a handled pc as a gaming system. Switch is good for that.
- maybe you want to play Nintendo games, but you don’t want to go through all the hassle of emulation (especially switch games). Switch is good for that.
- maybe there is an indie dev you want to support, and you know their game is more expensive on switch than on pc, but it’s well within your budget and you want to give them extra coin. Switch is good for that.
- while switch games are generally low fidelity and low frame rate, you know what to generally expect going in.
- maybe your group of friends mostly own switch and play switch online compared to steam.
Truth be told, once I got my steam deck, I sold my switch. Not because the switch was terrible by any means, but I realised that I missed my pc game library, I didn’t care for online multiplayer, and I didn’t care for Nintendo games. Also, I grew up with Linux and tinkering both Windows and Linux - it’s in my blood at this point, so getting a steam deck was just pure joy for me, even if I spent 90% of the time configuring the thing and 10% playing games.
know their game is more expensive on switch than on pc, but it’s well within your budget and you want to give them extra coin
With the (probably doesn’t need to be stated but here I go anyway) caveat: how much of that coin is going to the dev, and how much is going to Nintendo? The game might be cheaper on (for instance) Epic, but Epic takes a smaller cut.
Switch emulation is a bit hit and miss. Some games work fairly well, others underperform or have serious issues. Also, online multiplayer currently only works with a real Switch.
So far, I’ve been pretty lucky with switch emulation. When I really looked at it, just about all the games that are switch exclusive l, that I’m interested in work well.
Plus, I still have my switch incase it will not run.
For me there isn’t. I already had a Switch and since I bought the Deck, it pretty much just sits there. The only time I’ve used it is when we were in a plane and both me and my partner wanted to play, so we brought both Deck and Switch. If there was some cross-play, I’d actually find a use, but since no one gives a fuck about it, we mostly can’t even play together (Fall Guys being the exception). And I’m very much over paying a fee for accessing servers with my console. I cancelled my Nintendo subscription because I don’t use it and recently wanted to play some level on Mario Maker, turns out you can’t do that without paying for subscription. So I just turned off the Switch again.
I’ve been using more my switch lately than my deck, but that’s due to the fact I have a local library with many switch games available. While me and my spouse are super pro emulating we don’t want to bother with emulating switch because:
- We’re not willing to hack our Switches yet.
- I’m extremely uninformed on where to find another bios
In addition, the steam deck display isn’t as pretty to look at as the OLED.
I have the first switch version, so it was pretty easy to mod and the screen should be about the same as the steam decks. But I bed the oled switch is really nice to look at.
Since I got my Steam Deck, I use my Switch for playing local-multiplayer Mario Kart and… Yea that’s it
Yeah, it seems that the switch can easily be replaced by the steam deck.
I think all the switch exclusive games that I care for emulate perfectly or at least good enough. I think the only game I’m not too sure about is tears of the kingdom, but I imagine the emulator devs give that game a lot of attention. So I’m sure it will be a very compatible game.
I finished the game while ago, but the last set of mods from HolographicWings/TOTK-Mods-collection/ that were out before I was done gave me correct button hints, 16:10 aspect ratio, with a pegged 30 fps for most of the game when not loading shaders, with a minimum of 20 fps at lookout landing.
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There is not any place where I can see one in person where I live. So sadly, I can’t get a feel for it.
But I’m thinking that the weight will not bother me too much, if it does, I think it’s preferable to the hand cramping and joint pain I get from the switch.
Additionally I’m just playing it in the house. I just don’t like being tied to the desktop.
I can’t play a bare Switch for more than 15-20 minutes without pain, but with a Satisfye asymmetric grip, I can play for hours. Not a shill, just a huge fan of the product. :)
I don’t really bother with emulating Switch on my Steam Deck because my Switch is lighter, quieter, has better battery life, and a far better (OLED) screen. I do love my Steam Deck as well though.
Plus, if you have a SO the Switch is a lot cheaper to keep both of you preoccupied…
That’s a good point. I have to remind myself, that there’s no point in emulating switch as I have one and most of the games have a pc version. So I can just play the pc version of the game.
I’m in a similar boat, I have a steam deck and a modded switch that I can transfer games/saves over to my PC and deck.
The switch still gets use for the following reasons:
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online play (when the deck is not booted into custom firmware)
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some games don’t run well when emulated. This is getting better all the time, but is still an issue, especially with newly released games. I wasn’t satisfied with ToTK performance on release for my deck so I ended up playing it exclusively on my switch. Also you need shader caches for games to run well, and the games stutter and hang a lot while generating those in new areas.
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the games that do run well still aren’t very efficient in terms of power consumption, and you’ll get longer battery life out of the switch for most emulated titles.
The Deck does have significant advantages over the switch, like bigger screen, bigger storage, more comfortable to hold, PC games, etc. If there’s a PC port of a switch game it will run better on deck than on switch, with comparable battery on comparable graphics levels.
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I have both. I had the switch long before the steam deck was available. I will say that I have not touched my switch to play games since I received the deck. I got my deck in the second big batch of deliveries when it first released, so I have had it for more than year at this point.
When I want to play Nintendo exclusives, I purchase them and then use my switch rip them to play using yuzu on my deck.
Thanks! I was thinking about doing the exact same thing. Although, I rarely am playing switch exclusives at this point. But I’m sure I’ll do a second run of totk in a few years.
I have both.
I’ve had my switch for many years at this point, while my SteamDeck is barely 1 year old. I probably wouldn’t buy a switch today if I didn’t already have one but since I already have one I still use it very occasionally for exclusives I’m excited for (well, actually used it a ton for TotK recently). I don’t have my Switch hacked and would just rather not go through the hassle of finding clean roms to download. The only Switch game I played on my Deck was Diablo III (because the PC version has no controller support or controller-friendly UI) but with Diablo IV now it’s unnecessary.
All that being said, there’s very few Switch exclusives I’m interested in for $60 anymore, even on the horizon, Zelda was probably the last one unless Mario Odyssey 2 is released before the end of the system’s lifetime. And Zelda TotK was honestly the first game I bought for Switch in probably the last 2+ years… my wife played a few things on it but I had switched to PC exclusively (+Steamdeck) and PS5
Yeah my wife is playing animal crossing right now, while I am playing bg3
I find playing connected to a television far easier with the Switch. But, TBH, I don’t find much worth playing on the Switch.
Yeah, I did an inventory of my games and most are also on PC. The only exceptions that I care about are Mario odyssey, Metroid, and tears of the kingdom.
I guess it boils down to
- You want to play Nintendo Exclusive Games
- Portability, since the switch is a bit smaller and battery life is solid.
Other than that, Steam Deck is a beast. For me that’s not worth having a switch. But whatever suits your boat. In the end we are all gamers and I respect all the various possibilities.
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