Support NeoGAF

[FalconPunch]

6M?! .

It's crazy how bad some people are at math.....

 

[Futaleufu]

Steam Deck is not available worldwide, if it was it would've sold twice or three times better.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Steam Deck is not available worldwide, if it was it would've sold twice or three times better.

Nor in retail.

 

[SmokedMeat]

It's a valid counterpoint to the argument that the sales of Switch 2 will be meaningfully affected by the existence of handheld PCs.

How many people make that argument? No one realistically thinks that way of a device that’s not even sold in retailers.

 

[Woopah]

How many people make that argument? No one realistically thinks that way of a device that’s not even sold in retailers.

Here's three posts from Neogaf making it:

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/do-you-think-the-switch-2-will-reach-the-success-of-the-switch.1679008/#post-269954791

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/do-you-think-the-switch-2-will-reach-the-success-of-the-switch.1679008/post-269954610

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/pc-gamer-the-steam-deck-2-doesnt-need-to-happen-because-valve-will-win-either-way-though-i-hope-it-does.1680675/post-270110757

I'm not saying lots of people think that way but several do.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Agreed. Hopefully they stick with the Portal method as it's the best compromise for a handheld imo.

Portal just works with a PS6. PS6 just needs to have Remote Play.

 

[Zathalus]

Goes to show why Sony may not be ALL in on a handheld of theirs. They sold 2 million PS Portals in their first year. Valve has sold around 4 million in 3 years. What does this tell you?

That the Portal has wider availability and is significantly cheaper?

 

[Fafalada]

For context, this is below psvita sales. Hell even WiiU may compare favourably, though once you add all the small brands from China it may be a bit less dire but only marginally so.

Just to put things into perspective, Nintendo sold about 21 million Switch systems in this time period.

In 3 years? Isn't it closer to 45M?

 

[ResilientBanana]

niche product /s

where is steam deck 2 already

It's only been 3 years. Give it a full cycle.

 

[dacuk]

Could have sold more if Valve gave a sh!t about selling them worldwide.

 

[bender]

It will be curious to see if the estimated uptick for 2025 is correct. 2023 alone almost beat the 3 million unit estimate we had for the first two years. Six million unit dominating the PC handheld landscape really puts perspective on the demand for these types of devices.

 

[Celine]

Just to put things into perspective, Nintendo sold about 21 million Switch systems in this time period. This is why people need to pump the brakes on these things being major, or a real rival to Nintendo, or the new future of Xbox, or whatever.

Nah, between 2022 and 2024 Switch has sold-in 47.32 million units.

When clueless people say how much Steam Deck is impacting Nintendo Switch, they need to realize that they are talking about this monster:

 

[RCX]

Switch also was a gen 1 product...

Its a different thing IMO. Nintendo handhelds were a long established product and the hybrid idea was a logical addition.

Pre steamdeck the PC handheld was essentially non-existent.

 

[Parazels]

Its a different thing IMO. Nintendo handhelds were a long established product and the hybrid idea was a logical addition.

Pre steamdeck the PC handheld was essentially non-existent.

What? Steam Deck definitely borrowed many things from Switch. So the niche of handheld devices hadn't been uncharted either.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Switch 2 shaking in its boots!

 

[Magister]

Dno why every steam deck thread has lots of people mocking it now. What's changed? It never used to spawn such vitriol towards it

They are placing all their bets on Switch 2. SD is a handheld pc not sold on retail, what did the people expect? It's an enthusiast device, not a rival for Switch 2. I'm planning to buy one because I found far more potential use cases for it than Switch 2.

What can Switch 2 offer me? Performance, design, exclusives and shit prices while I have many potential use cases for SD, good prices and free Epic games.

The likely outcome is that I will get both.

 

[rodrigolfp]

What? Steam Deck definitely borrowed many things from Switch. So the niche of handheld devices hadn't been uncharted either.

Many??

 

[Parazels]

Many??

What's the difference between Steam Deck and Switch Lite?

 

[rodrigolfp]

What's the difference between Steam Deck and Switch Lite?

??? There is more than one difference.

 

[Interfectum]

How many units has PS Portal sold?

 

[Walter Matthau]

Gabe's stated ambition for the Steam Deck was to extend the reach of PC gaming and to encourage developers to optimize their games for handheld play. He told IGN before it released that he wants Steam Deck to "sell in the millions" and to lead a path for other PC manufacturers to create their own handhelds.

Gabe never mentioned anything about Nintendo or Sony or Xbox. We have no idea if these numbers are considered a success, failure, or in line with expectations for Valve.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

I'm sure Acer is good and everything, but I can't imagine you will ever match the features or stability available from an actual gaming company like Valve. There is safety in numbers. If you are buying a handheld today it needs to be a Portal, Switch, or Steamdeck. Don't waste money on something that is much more obscure and much lower QA + value, that also has a lot of unique bugs and foibles, just because you want to stand out or want a more powerful machine. You will actually spend much more for much less chasing that dream. Play within the parameters of best practice and you will have a much better gaming experience.

Same hardware versioning problems as gaming PCs, the entire Android mobile device market, etc. Stick to a base configuration to standardize on and make another product or two for enthusiasts, that is the only way to ensure compatibility and optimization. Anyone buying an ROG or similar third party SteamOS handheld is going to regret it in the future when support runs out and they experience problems that apply to very few people. I learned the safety in numbers lesson long ago, and I will nearly always choose a large userbase device over a niche on if I expect things to work and it to be supported long into the future. Do any of you really want to trust Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, and Logitech?

 

[mayham2199]

Gabe's stated ambition for the Steam Deck was to extend the reach of PC gaming and to encourage developers to optimize their games for handheld play. He told IGN before it released that he wants Steam Deck to "sell in the millions" and to lead a path for other PC manufacturers to create their own handhelds.

Gabe never mentioned anything about Nintendo or Sony or Xbox. We have no idea if these numbers are considered a success, failure, or in line with expectations for Valve.

If that was his stated goal then it appears everything he wanted to happen did.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Hey cool, 8 million by end of year isn’t bad. Glad to see solid adoption for a more niche device.

 

[darrylgorn]

One thing that everyone must consider: Steam Deck is not sold in retail stores.

To have such a sales number with exclusively online ordering is actually quite shocking.

Just imagine what would happen if Sony or Nintendo pulled their products from store shelves.

 

[64gigabyteram]

i'd prefer numbers from Valve rather than this aggregate of all the sales, don't care about the ally and the other handhelds

road to 10 million!

 

[jm89]

Steamdeck better forget about nintendo switch, shits barely keeping up with the alleged doa ps portal.

 

[Sentenza]

Sounds about right. No idea why anyone would think these devices would put up console-like sales numbers.

No one ever did, but this won't stop the usual suspects in this thread to make full display of their military-grade autism in service of the console war.

And yes, they are exactly the same names you could have guessed before opening the thread.
With few others about to jump in, undoubtedly.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Steamdeck better forget about nintendo switch, shits barely keeping up with the alleged doa ps portal.

Yeah, Valve expected this to do Switch numbers. That’s why they spent 0 dollars advertising it, never put it in retail, and only let you buy it directly from Steam.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Steamdeck better forget about nintendo switch, shits barely keeping up with the alleged doa ps portal.

It can't forget running it's games.

 

[Sentenza]

Yeah, Valve expected this to do Switch numbers. That’s why they spent 0 dollars advertising it, never put it in retail, and only let you buy it directly from Steam.

For a device that -at least initially- everyone had to queue for a chance to preorder months in advance.
That should tell everything about the scale at they were manufacturing it. If you are not borderline retarded, I mean.

 

[Imtjnotu]

Steam deck


No Steam dead

 

[Donkusei]

Just to put things into perspective, Nintendo sold about 21 million Switch systems in this time period.

What period are you talking about?

2022 + 2023 + 2024: 19,02M + 16,8M + 11,5M = Nintendo sold 47,32M Switch in the same period.

We're not even talking about the best years of the console anyway... The handheld pc gaming market is not even close to be in the same universe.

 

[Vaquilla]

Anyone who thought Steam Deck and its ilk would eat Switch/Switch 2's lunch was living in lala land.

The former are niche enthusiast devices, the latter are mass market products, there's plenty of room for both to coexist.

 

[Allandor]

Those devices are still niche products. And after all I can tell with my rog ally it will remain like that. This products are still much too complicated for normal users. Without knowledge of Windows 11 I guess my rog ally would not be used much. I hope steam OS is better in that regard. But it isn't only the OS, also the games that sometimes need special treatment.

 

[demigod]

We said it was niche but leave it to the green rats to prop up the numbers thinking their xbox handheld will easily sell 10mil.

 

[Hero_Select]

Those devices are still niche products. And after all I can tell with my rog ally it will remain like that. This products are still much too complicated for normal users. Without knowledge of Windows 11 I guess my rog ally would not be used much. I hope steam OS is better in that regard. But it isn't only the OS, also the games that sometimes need special treatment.

They're too finicky. I have a Steam Deck and while I do like it - especially when I want to play a PC game in bed, there have been a number of times where I've had to factory reset it. Docking is also hit or miss and most times it just refuses to display on the TV or when it does theres resolution and/or audio problems. Makes me really appreciate just how plug and play the Switch is

 

[Parazels]

That should tell everything about the scale at they were manufacturing it.

Do not stop, sue Valve for hiding the numbers!

 

[Parazels]

The handheld pc gaming market is not even close to be in the same universe.

The whole pc market is not even close, let's be honest!

 

[onQ123]

How many units has PS Portal sold?

It was around 2 million before the holidays so depending on how it sold over the holidays it could be close to 3 million .


So pretty close to Steam Deck already

 

[Zathalus]

The whole pc market is not even close, let's be honest!

Absolutely right. No point in comparing PC vs Switch like that. PC is far larger.

 

[demigod]

It will be curious to see if the estimated uptick for 2025 is correct. 2023 alone almost beat the 3 million unit estimate we had for the first two years. Six million unit dominating the PC handheld landscape really puts perspective on the demand for these types of devices.

With Switch 2 coming out this year, no chance on that estimate.

 

[Alan Wake]

Steam Deck was never a Switch competitor just like Kia Rio is not a competitor to Tesla. They're appealing to completely different customers, and that's great.

 

[Donkusei]

Absolutely right. No point in comparing PC vs Switch like that. PC is far larger.

It depends, what are we talking about? If you count countries like China, South Korea, Eastern European countries... Then the PC gaming market is larger. But if you only count the three big territories (Japan, NA and Western Europe) then I think that there is a lot more Switch than PC gaming systems. But again, it depends what we are talking about, if you only count people connected to Steam... or if you count PC gaming systems with a good graphic card to be able to run the new games (for example FFVII Rebirth, MH Wilds...). A lot of people can play Balatro, but only a small amount of players can play the latest AAA games.

 

[Donkusei]

They're appealing to completely different customers, and that's great.

Not so sure about it. I feel like most SD players were also Switch players but they couldn't wait for something "better" (talking about specs). There are some other advantages (you can mod your games, things like this) but also some disadvantages (you have to tweak a lot some games to find the best settings, you can't play physical games...).

Overall, I think that a lot of people that are actually SD users will play on Switch 2 (because the specs are better, and there will be a lot of exclusive games).

edit: sorry about the double post

 

[Ashamam]

Correct.

The "bUt SwItCh sOlD tHiS MaNnNnYyYyY" is a weird flex.

I'd argue that Switch selling an order of magnitude higher despite having a fraction of the actual titles is pretty important. If people were dying for handhelds the PC handhelds should be killing it. Hence the form factor should still be considered niche. A hypothetical Xbox handheld is going to have its work cut out for it, price point is going to be key imho.

The bottom line is a portal'esque Xbox handheld hooking up to xCloud is actually likely the smarter play if they could transition off X blades to a PC server solution.

 

[Panajev2001a]

It's almost always the usually "suspects".


It was always supposed to struggle with newer games as it struggles with "PS4 gen" games.

Tell me about it, between the Deadly Premonition thread (like the game and Twin Peaks and will have no shame about it) and their comments here… I am cheering on adamsapple comments way more than I was comfortable with .

On this thread, Steam Deck is perhaps my most cherished handheld now as it is what I wanted out of a PC (on the go!) with the perfect compromises (screen resolution and aspect ratio, thumbsticks, back button, dual touch pads, gyros, etc…) and amazing support with none of the usual issues PC would have (although yes, you cannot upgrade the HW much). Plus thanks to Proton the entire gaming on Linux movement is given stronger life … on Steam Deck games are shader compilation stutter free for all intents and purposes .

*Gaben intensifies*

 

[GHG]

Nor in retail.

Not entirely accurate.

Valve have direct partnerships with Amazon in many countries that they don't ship directly to.

 

[Codes 208]

Not entirely accurate.

Valve have direct partnerships with Amazon in many countries that they don't ship directly to.

That still online retail. I believe theyre referring to getting up and walking to a nearby store.

You cant exactly get a steam deck at a target or best buy.

 

[Alan Wake]

Not so sure about it. I feel like most SD players were also Switch players but they couldn't wait for something "better" (talking about specs). There are some other advantages (you can mod your games, things like this) but also some disadvantages (you have to tweak a lot some games to find the best settings, you can't play physical games...).

Overall, I think that a lot of people that are actually SD users will play on Switch 2 (because the specs are better, and there will be a lot of exclusive games).

edit: sorry about the double post

It would be interesting to see some stats about that. If I look around the Switch owners I know of, most are families and they don't even know what a Steam Deck is. Switch doesn't require any know-how at all, just plug and play. Your grandma can do it, which as always is Nintendo's strength.