2d ago

Update your Steam Deck! New SteamOS Beta now with KDE Plasma 6.2.5!

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/news

Plasma6 #opensource #freesoftware #gaming #LinuxGaming

@kde@lemmy.kde.social

43 comments

@kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
Why does a game console need a desktop environment?
If I wanted a desktop, I'd use my pc. If I want to get away from the desktop, I'll consider buying a console.
Maybe a Switch is a better choice?
- I don't feel this is a genuine question. There are literally so many reasons it would take forever to list.. but sure,get a switch if you like paying too much for everything and being locked in a walled garden .
- Its not that complicated: options.
  You are presented with the Steam Deck UI by default. You don't have to use the desktop.
  Installing non-steam games on desktop is handy.
  Some people use the steam deck as more than just a game system.
  If it's not for you, don't use it. Simple as that.
- @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social so you can use your Steam deck as a full blown PC with an external monitor, keyboard, if you want .. 2 devices in one.
  
  @lps @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  So you're confirming that a Switch would be a better choice?
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social if you want a dedicated device that only does one thing for slightly less money, and becomes quickly obsolete... sure.
  
  @lps @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  And if I want something better, that doesn't turn into another day at the office?
  
  Buddy you don't have to use the desktop, its there because the thing runs Linux and having it makes it easier for folks to install unapproved third party apps. It's a handheld gaming PC. If you don't want it to feel like a day at the office, don't use desktop mode.
  
  @ArsonButCute
  Now that's much more encouraging than any of the other replies I have gotten👍
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social I think you want a Switch ... go for it.
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social I'm just responding to why anyone would want a DE on a Steam Deck, which is for that reason.
  
  I hope you realize that it's not the UI that normal gamer users will see, ONLY if they want to use that option. It's about power, controlling your hardware and doing the fuck you want with it.
  
  @lps @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  I haven't decided.
  For now I'm sticking with my Playstation 2, which runs the games just as well now as it did 25 years ago.
  
  Modded? Or you have a stockpile of disk drives?
  
  You want the steam deck and to buy games on GOG so your games work from 25 years ago like your PlayStation.
  You can also play those PlayStation games on your steam deck.
  Simply ignore the ability to use the desktop mode of the steam deck.
  
  It's easier to play my favorite Windows games on the Steam Deck than on a Switch.
- You can always just not switch it into desktop mode, but hey you know what you want out of a console more than I do, it just seems odd to pick based between steamdeck and switch for that reason. Usually, I would expect people to make that choice based on the game library they want access to.
- Becauase some people like the idea of a single device that is a pretty good lower resolution gaming handheld, and can also basically be used as a low/mid range laptop/tablet as well.
  The DE mode uses a very nice onscreen keyboard which works either with your two thumbs on the Steam Decks touchpads, or, the whole screen is also touch sensitive, and you can do it that way.
  Or you can just dock it and use an actual Mouse + Keyboard, and/or a distinct monitor, which can handle DE mode at a higher resolution than the Deck's built in screen.
  Also, if you're into modding games or using emulators, you need to go into the desktop mode to tinker with things.
  (I was actually quite surprised to find that a 3DS emulator just... worked, perfectly, with the Deck's touchscreen, without me even having to manually configure anything... so i could actually use the main controls for the main screen, and just poke the other screen that is usually some kind of inventory screen, or something like that.)
  Or if you want to say... check your email.
  Browse the web on a fully functional desktop browser (of your choice), watch youtube, go on lemmy or reddit, buy some stuff off Amazon or w/e.
  Draw something or do some photo editing in Krita or GIMP.
  Do office work style stuff with LibreOffice.
  Use Discord, or record your own gameplay with OBS or something, and then edit and upload a (admittedly low resolution, most likely) video to youtube.
  I've actually compiled from source and run Godot on a Steam Deck.
  You can literally develop a game on a Steam Deck, and then test it in game mode, on a Steam Deck.
  
  @sp3ctr4l
  That sounds an awful lot like things that would be easier to do at a (desktop or laptop) PC. The exact opposite of what I would buy a console for.
  
  Well, that's your preference then.
  And the Deck is a handheld PC, not a console.
  ... Because consoles cannot do all those... PC things.
  Part of the whole ... appeal/concept, of a handheld PC... is that it is a multi tool, a jack of all trades device.
  Its a handheld PC, with a gaming mode, not a console, because it has a PC architecture and has all these other capabilities that consoles don't.
  If that doesn't fit your use case or budget, then sure, the Switch 2 might have a bit of an edge in terms of game rendering power, has access to exclusive, modern Nintendo games... but price points for everything are... more or less in chaos right now, so I hope you can find something that works well for you!
  Also, lots of people dock work laptops to work on bigger screens and have a full mouse and keyboards... thats really common with office and remote work, not sure how doing the same with a Deck is... any more complicated than that but uh yeah... you don't need all that to use DE mode on a deck. You just hit 'go to desktop' and it also all works with the touchpads and such.
  
  @sp3ctr4l
  So like the Windows tablet I made the mistake of buying years ago. "it's not a tablet, it's a laptop with a lousy screen and an entirely non-existing keyboard".
  Buying that was a huge mistake.
  
  Oh ho ho, no.
  The Steam Deck doesn't use Windows, it is much more functional and stable, hahahah.
  I am laughing about this because I was working at MSFT when Win8 was being developed/released and their whole tablet push was going on.
  Dear god no, the steam deck is way, way less clumsy and broken to use than a Windows Surface was, oh god.
  Ironically, I've vaguely followed the same path as GabeN: Used to work for MSFT, now I "secretly," utterly despise them.
  ... Yes, I agree, the Win8 UI paradigm and the Surface were indeed massive mistakes.
  I vocalized this, at the time, when I was a MSFT contractor, and that is a big reason why I don't work at MSFT any more, rofl.
  The Steam Deck is far, far easier to use than a Surface or Surface Pro.
- It's a computer....
- I used the desktop mode to install non-Steam games, so it was useful for that.
- @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social It doesn't need one, but why hide it when it has one anyway?
  Most Games on Steam are not available on the Switch. That is a pretty good reason
  
  @vamp898 @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  To appeal to the console demographics rather than being associated with the "nerds who will hacksaw a PC into something that looks vaguely like a console" minority.
  I would think that there are more games on steam that also can be played on the Switch than there are Nintendo games that can be played on the Steam Deck, so that argument seems backwards.
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social There are currently 3500 Games on the Nintendo eShop and around 45'000 Games on Steam. 18,818 of them are verified to be playable on the Steam Deck and/or Linux
  
  @vamp898 @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  That's not what I said.
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social I just checked, it says @vamp898 so yes, that is not what you said. That is what i said.
  But thanks for clearing that up, i don't want my messages to be confused with your messages
  
  @vamp898 @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  Ha ha, you're not very good at being funny.
  Let me rephrase, those numbers are not relevant to the numbers I was talking about.
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social I read your post a few more times and i think i get it. You should have worked at the Marketing Team at SEGA back in the Genesis Time. "This is the least relevant number, but it makes what i like look better"
  Blast Processing could have come from you. Genesis does what Nintendont could have been your slogan.
  But yeah, i just disagree with your opinion on the relevance of that number.
  
  @vamp898 @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  I know of Sega. They were the ones who built Out Run, if I'm not mistaken. But I know basically nothing about their home consoles, I may have seen one in a store once upon a time, but I don't know which one it was. I only remember it being black and red and looking like cheap plastic.
  In short: I have no idea what you're talking about.
  
  @vamp898 @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  Also, if you want to argue number of games, you should only count those that don't already run on my pc, because those are the ones I'll be playing there.
  
  @leeloo @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social If you want to play the games on your PC, play them on your PC. Why did you comment on an post about an portable console when you're not interested in one. What is your point? What are you trying to archive?
  
  @vamp898 @kde@floss.social @kde@lemmy.kde.social
  I've been considering a Switch since the Switch 1 came out, and recently the Steam Deck started to look like an interesting alternative - and I don't like only having a single option. So when I hear something that doesn't fit what I thought the Steam Deck is, I ask questions.
  Nintendo leads on games that I don't currently have available and experience building consoles, while Valve leads on familiarity and trustworthiness. But you wanted to argue number of games.

43 comments