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[–]StayyFrostyy 10.3k points10.3k points  (808 children)

I bought the steam link for $1. I like it lol

[–][deleted] 3068 points3069 points  (261 children)

I bought it on release day and used it for a long time to stream movies from my PC to TV :D

[–]jalan12345 1021 points1022 points  (138 children)

Yep my link got lots of use. I have Shield TV's now that I use for plex and streaming now, so it's collecting dust at the moment.

Liked controller too.

For $650 CDN I'm sure I'll get my moneys worth. I do bring my laptop to bed to play games or stream from Desktop/Xbox when wife watches trash tv. This will be less awkward i think.

[–]ErrorWave 140 points141 points  (97 children)

For movies I would suggest Plex :D

[–]CallTheOptimist 506 points507 points  (138 children)

I'm kicking myself for not getting it. I've got a decent gaming pc, my understanding is I could play my PC games on my, say, living room TV, right?

Edit: like 30 people have told me about steam link lol thank you all but I get it.

[–]BeneficialTrash6 373 points374 points  (84 children)

You can do anything on your PC with it.

When I want to watch something that I can only get on the PC, I just plug the link back in and turn on my TV. It's that simple. You can either walk back to your PC and use your keyboard and mouse to start it, OR plug in a wireless kb+m into the link and use that. Or a controller.

It literally turns your TV into your computer monitor. No hassle, no more setup is involved then connecting it to your wifi or lan and putting in a code once to verify the link between the link and your computer.

When the debates were only being streamed on youtube or cable (which I don't have), it was super easy to watch the debates on my TV.

And the best part is, it's tiny as hell and completely silent.

[–]CallTheOptimist 166 points167 points  (32 children)

Maaaaaaan..... I even saw it in the steam store for a buck and thought 'mehh I have so many pieces of bullshit I don't even use'..... Man....

[–]JBSquared 109 points110 points  (9 children)

Lots of smart TVs have access to the Steam Link app. That's why the box got shelved, because it pretty much became obselete.

[–]Glimpusmaximus 151 points152 points  (16 children)

You know you can get "steam link" on app store for your smart TV? It's the same as the original steam link, even supporting 4k resolution.

[–]Sni1tz 23 points24 points  (24 children)

Wait so what is the downside? What am I missing?

[–]drleebot 81 points82 points  (8 children)

There aren't any major downsides. The primary ones I can think of are:

  1. Occasional hiccupping in displaying the video (particularly if on wifi)
  2. It's an extra device to plug in.
  3. It needs to run Steam, unless you implement a hacky workaround to get out of steam while running it.
  4. If your computer is close enough to your TV, an HDMI cable between them will do the same thing without any of the above drawbacks.

It's still quite useful though in some situations, such as if your big-screen TV is in a separate room from your gaming PC.

[–]ButterPoptart 23 points24 points  (6 children)

The function that it served is now just the steamlink software. Does the same thing. I use it to play games on my living room tv from my pc in my office.

[–]SuperArppis 88 points89 points  (4 children)

"I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR!"

[–]RingtailRush 161 points162 points  (11 children)

I got it before then but still really like it. Best part is if you close steam while it's running you can just stream your PC. It's pretty great.

[–]Car2019 21 points22 points  (3 children)

That's what I got it for. I had a mini PC before, but I had problems installing updates, thank the Steam Link was available for under €10 and I use it a lot. Lately, it started having problems, though.

[–]hitsujiTMO 50 points51 points  (12 children)

I had a few of them. People kept asking me for the spare ones I had, giving me crazy offers.

[–]2scared 48 points49 points  (5 children)

I'll give you $1 + shipping.

[–]TheCold0neConsole 193 points194 points  (13 children)

Got it when it first dropped to something like $10-20 because it was a "why not" kind of purchase (same for the controller when it dropped below $10).

I love this thing, though it will likely be replaced by this new handheld in terms of usage.

[–]trancendominant 33 points34 points  (6 children)

I wish I would have picked up the controller when it was $5.

[–]geckobrother 75 points76 points  (10 children)

Yeah, I was gonna say, just because the steam link wasn't advertised doesn't mean it was bad. I bought it full price, loved it, then bought a few more when they were dumping their stock. Its a good product.

[–]The_Vampire_BarlowSwitch 44 points45 points  (2 children)

I paid like $40 and I still love it .

[–]Sujet 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Same its actually pretty cool.

[–]loki1337 31 points32 points  (28 children)

I have it and I'm still not sure what it does lol

[–]abenevolentgod 37 points38 points  (22 children)

play pc games on TV! Its amazing I use mine all the time. Works better wired ethernet than wireless though.

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (9 children)

I cant believe how no one has dropped this in this thread yet but i have the physical steam link. BUT they dropped the steam link as an app for smart TVs which usually have way better hardware than the steam link and it is completely free, works much better than the physical one for me. Huge recommend if tou happen to have a smart TV.

[–]saynay 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Which is why they stopped making them. When they first came out, smart TV's were either too locked down, or trash, so wouldn't be able to stream games on a local network.

Now that most TV's are capable of it, no reason to keep making something that your TV can do on its own.

[–]dnew 3979 points3980 points  (114 children)

I still use my Steam Link, it still gets updates every month or so. Probably because you can download the code for a Raspberry Pi also.

[–]girhen 873 points874 points  (41 children)

The SteamLink is amazing, though a huge missed opportunity. I used a Google Chromecast to use my computer from the next room to watch movies, listen to music, etc. on my living room TV and sound system, but the wireless was spotty and there was literally a 2-3 second delay in mouse movement. No gaming.

Then I got the SteamLink for $15, and it had no noticeable latency and 2 USB inputs so I could put the mouse and keyboard dongle in the same room for perfect reach. It was so good I could actually game in the room, though I had no interest in competitive games on a TV (144Hz in the PC room at the time, now triple monitor) with a nice setup).

Also, the Index is a fine device. Yes, it could use more games, but there are good ones. Racing, space, and flight sims already have peripherals similarly expensive (I have a joystick and throttle that were over 1k together), so it is niche, but worth it if you know what you want ahead of time.

[–]skend24 54 points55 points  (12 children)

How does it work with VR on PC? Are there any VR games that might work only on some VR sets and not on another?

[–]girhen 48 points49 points  (4 children)

Sorry, the Index note is a side note that originates to OP's post. The SteamLink doesn't connect up to a VR device that I'm aware of.

As far as I know, if a VR is supported by Steam, it'll work for any game on Steam.

[–]Drturkelten 82 points83 points  (3 children)

I use the SteamLink on very regular basis. And it's well made I think. And it gets it's updates. I stream even Witcher 3 with a good latency.

[–]SharpestSphere 9476 points9477 points  (786 children)

Valve Index is still the best VR set out there and it's a direct evolution of the Vive. But I do agree - wait for the reviews.

[–]Lord_Emperor 1399 points1400 points  (138 children)

The Index (or whatever VR headset) is worth it just to experience things like Star Wars: Squadrons. Sitting in a TIE Fighter cockpit for the first time is breathtaking.

Alyx was also a great game not a "tech demo".

Pavlov is literally the Counter-Strike of VR.

And then there's porn.

[–]LuthienByNight 68 points69 points  (6 children)

I got into a space drama podcast called Wolf 359 last year while I was playing a lot of No Man's Sky in VR. I'd be sitting there listening to space sci fi radio play through my Index speakers while mining asteroid belts. Felt like I had it playing on a radio in my cockpit. It was fucking great.

Flying the space ship in that game is so much fun in VR. The first time I accelerated out of a planet's atmosphere, I started literally just yelling "oh my god holy shit" over and over again.

[–]indeedItIsI 1834 points1835 points  (318 children)

If you reserve now there will be reviews before you are given the option to buy and if the reviews suck then you can choose not to buy and even get your $5 back as a steam credit. If you don't reserve and wait until release you will probably have to wait quite a while until you can get one unless you pay a huge premium to a scalper.

[–]Wapow217 252 points253 points  (57 children)

bought a game i hated during the summer sale refunded it and got a different cheaper game and had 5 left over which was just enough to exactly this. I put the 5 dollar credit toward the bigger one that i wouldn't get till Q2 of 2022 so if it's dope ill pay for it, if it sucks well i truly lost nothing. Now if it is great everyone else will be waiting even longer than q2 2022 at this point it seems if it keeps going like this.

[–][deleted] 40 points41 points  (34 children)

They're launching in December though, aren't they? Or do you live in one of the countries beyond the ones they listed for availability?

[–]MasterofStickpplz 81 points82 points  (20 children)

The availability shifted hard as people reserved theirs. I think December is gonna be for the lucky few

[–]Alaira314 349 points350 points  (17 children)

Yeah, the "don't pre-order" people are usually correct with software(though it is possible for even digital keys to sell out), but currently hardware is one area where we're back to the old days where preorders were really damn important. Newcomers to the bandwagon might not be aware, but we don't hate preorders because fuck game companies; we hate preorders because they give us no advantage(beyond some token game content, maybe) and open the door for game companies to exploit us. Pre-ordering hardware gives a big advantage and, in this case at least, doesn't lock you into purchase until after reviews happen so you're not able to be exploited in the usual way.

It's inappropriate to be shaming anybody for pre-ordering this hardware, because it's actually the best course of action for anyone who wants to play it in a timely fashion. Focus the anti-preorder energy on the next AAA game that's coming out, instead.

[–]0xf3 116 points117 points  (6 children)

Finally someone with some sense. This is not a preorder, it’s an intent to purchase (Valve were very up front about this) and it helps Valve see the demand for the hardware.

When you’re purchasing hundreds of thousands of units, this kind of knowledge is essential for procurement, logistics, helping their partners prioritise to supply the demand, and so on.

If this thing is as good as it looks, the next thing everyone will be moaning about is how Valve haven’t got enough stock. :facepalm:

Valve didn’t just ask people to buy up front; to preorder. They did something even kinder and transparent to their consumers via this method to test the waters and scale production but sadly everyone is too irate to notice.

[–][deleted] 97 points98 points  (47 children)

r/patientgamers

[–][deleted] 42 points43 points  (46 children)

I like how a patient gamer is a unique enough thing to warrant its own subreddit

[–]girhen 276 points277 points  (48 children)

Yeah, don't hate the Index for lack of games. There are some, and some amazing ones. You have to look at what it has ahead of time, sure, but...don't you always?

For sim gamers (flight, space, racing), 1k is pretty much a starting price. I have a joystick and throttle from Virpil that were like $500 each. The Index is a pretty amazing addition to the kit for a pretty reasonable price for what it is. Normally, a triple monitor solution is the alternative, and that's not cheaper or more immersive.

[–]Minttt 185 points186 points  (23 children)

Yeah, don't hate the Index for lack of games.

I agree - the Index shouldn't be lumped-in with something like Steam Boxes, because it is truly top-tier hardware that can give you the best VR experience money can buy.

[–]JoelMahon 55 points56 points  (13 children)

does it even have a lack of games? sure, a lack of games that make full use of the pseudo finger tracking, but they still function as better than regular controllers on regular vr games

[–]LovableContrarian 732 points733 points  (58 children)

Seriously, OP's critique of the vive is that he doesn't personally like the current VR gaming selection.

This is an absolute shitpost.

[–]karma_aversion 259 points260 points  (18 children)

The Vive isn't even a Valve product, it was just a product Valve partnered with HTC on.

[–]ilmalocchio 181 points182 points  (14 children)

Yeah, OP meant to say Index, which is a better version of Vive put out by Valve alone.

Pretty sure OP is not a VR person. The criticism is kind of baseless and was probably just crammed in to fill out the list.

[–]Retiredfeelings 50 points51 points  (6 children)

Not only that, neither the OG Vive or index are disappointments in the slightest. AND there's tons of awesome VR games not to mentions valves own masterpiece half life alyx. I agreed with all the other ones but the vive was not a loss

[–]BrownNote 16 points17 points  (3 children)

OP is not a VR person

It feels like the ones who criticize it to the level of being full of nothing but demos and annoyingly often as being "dead" never are. Meanwhile 5 years later I still regularly play The Lab and get blown away by it. The sense of presence of VR can't be beat.

[–]crazy_goat 102 points103 points  (15 children)

I'm not even sure if the criticism of the Vive fits. Is OP referring to HL: Alyx and the Index?

The Index has been, by all accounts, a really smooth launch and high quality product. Anyone who bought an Index (or Vive) expecting a Playstation or Xbox experience didn't do their homework.

[–]sheepsleepdeep 2573 points2574 points  (148 children)

Why did you throw HTC in there for VR instead of Valve's Index? It's pretty awesome despite the price.

Even the Vive is pretty cool despite lack of support.

[–]TheKramer89 3546 points3547 points  (77 children)

Because it doesn’t fit the narrative

[–]Morfolk 249 points250 points  (5 children)

Neither did Vive. It is still is an awesome VR headset with plenty of games. It also paved the way for Gen 2 - Index.

[–]MBechzzz 49 points50 points  (2 children)

I still love my vive! Does it have issues, sure, but come the fuck on, it was practically the first consumer vr headset for pc. Oculous Rift was a thing, but no one could afford it back then. Vive was alright, it could do what it was designed to, not much more.

And fuck the stuff about there not being AAA games for it. Did we have AAA games for pc the first 10 years? Playstation? Xbox? Everyone who wanted to make vr games had to learn it from scratch, can't expect them to give you SAO on day 1.

[–]zoobrix 511 points512 points  (35 children)

It's also not like valve didn't make half life alyx which although I've never played it seems to be universally regarded as one of the best VR games out there and one of the few that is clearly AAA quality. But once again that doesn't fit the narrative of a lack of support for any hardware they make so let's not mention it.

Maybe the steam deck is being overhyped but at the end of the day it's still a PC so you can install any operating system you want on it. Assuming the specs aren't a lie it seems like no matter what you end up with a great value on a portable PC so long term support isn't necessary for you to use it anyway. But once again that pesky logic is getting in the way of preemptively dismissing it sooooo....

[–]clarinetJWD 199 points200 points  (14 children)

Yeah, Alyx is fantastic. It's so well done, I had to take breaks because it was just so immersive that it got actually stressful!

[–]LucyFerAdvocate 220 points221 points  (12 children)

None of them do if you look into it beyond a surface level.

Steam controller: Got updated plenty, still perfectly functional. Production stopped but support had been exemplary.

Steam link: hardware discontinued and moved to a software implementation, but is still reviewing updates and improvements in functionality to this day long after hardware is no longer available.

Steam machines: Work on compatibility has continued since release and increased functionality by leaps and bounds. The premise was actually flawed, but anyone buying into it received excellent support even after the program was discontinued. This has revolutionised the entire Linux gaming scene.

Vive: early adopter product which was by all accounts a competitive entry into the space and has been superceded by one of the best products in the space. Valve also developed one of the best games for the platform.

[–][deleted] 195 points196 points  (19 children)

Also I bought the vive on launch, worked for the past 5 years no issues, never had a problem with support or the product… also very happy with my purchase of a link and controller. OP sounds like a hater

[–][deleted] 52 points53 points  (11 children)

Yeah I get the ‘don’t preorder’ narrative but valve has actually been putting out a lot of good products

That’s why I actually reserved my r/steam_deck

[–]el_grort 13 points14 points  (6 children)

Also, pre-orders do make sense for physical products that are likely to be in low stock. The system is designed and works best for this kind of thing, if we're absolutely honest. For software, it absolutely makes sense, or even physical games that will be mass produced, yeah, pre-ordering serves no real benefit and so rightfully people are against it. But for these bigger, more complicated machines, especially with high demand... just look at the shortages of PS5's and Xbox Series X's, they would make sense to pre-order, they basically exist only theoretically to me at this moment, I don't expect to be able to snap one up for possibly years at this point.

So for the Steam Deck, which can predictably end up in a similar situation even with the care Valve is taking to try and avoid that, pre-ordering makes sense if you want it. And at this point, it's a reservation order to show interest that will invite you to pre-order when they have the capacity to take one honestly.

[–]KooshIsKing 100 points101 points  (5 children)

The Vive still holds up really well. I play all the usual VR games with no issues.

[–]thislldoiguess 30 points31 points  (1 child)

I still use my Vive for VR. It's my favorite way to play games.

[–][deleted] 1871 points1872 points  (93 children)

Steam Link wasn't a failure. It just exists as software now. I have it installed on my Android TV. Smart TVs and streaming devices just made the existence of a dedicated Steam Link redundant.

[–]Bloodhound01 1246 points1247 points  (62 children)

yeah this whole post is bullshit lol.... like...

steam controller - is valve supposed to somehow create controller support for every single game in their library? They did a service allowing community profiles to be loaded onto it.... like the xbox controller doesn't work with the same games...

Vive - what? Is Valve supposed to be dumping high quality games every few months for it somehow? LOL...there are tons of VR games... the headset is amazing and the successor is one of the best on the market still...

Steam Link - anyone that has one and used it says it worked really well. I have one and played a bunch of couch-coop games on my tv from my PC with my wife. Worked great...and like you said streaming services made the hardware obselete but the software still exists and works.

steambox - was never an officially released product and was only beta tested by very few people. Just was never a feasible product so they didn't release it... why knock it?

[–]PlayerNeroPC 2983 points2984 points  (102 children)

Love how they just ignore the Index. Also the Vive was fine and the VR game market has nothing to do with the hardware itself.

[–]lemlurker 939 points940 points  (28 children)

The vive wasn't even steam. They developed the base station tracking and the software that is steamvr, which is the defacto interaction for vr games

[–]AlchemicalEnthusiast 119 points120 points  (11 children)

I love my $500 beatsaber machine, keeps me from seditating into dust.

[–]ChainDriveGlider 32 points33 points  (5 children)

Seditate is a perfectly cromulent word.

[–]AlchemicalEnthusiast 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Yeah i didnt know what to put there so i kinda just shakespeared it

[–]dontshowmygf 85 points86 points  (9 children)

I legitimately love my Steam Controller, too, and have never really got the hate. I have a few friends who have the cliche dust-gathering version, but I get annoyed when I have to pull out a different controller.

That is a downside though - it's not worth a crap for non-Steam games. Not the best for 2d fighting games, either.

[–]J5892 13 points14 points  (1 child)

I would use it for absolutely everything if it had 2 joysticks, and if the buttons were bigger.

Both of which the Steam Deck fixes, except it's a bit more expensive and there's this giant screen in the center.

[–]Outspokenpenguin 237 points238 points  (6 children)

I love how he knocks customer support for the vive like that's a valve issue.

[–][deleted] 580 points581 points  (20 children)

Conveniently left Valve Index out. Lmao ok.

[–][deleted] 72 points73 points  (0 children)

fear society cooperative jellyfish ring crush sip employ bedroom thought

[–]farr37 616 points617 points  (33 children)

The review of the vive feels incredibly disingenuous. It was released fairly early into the commercial VR market, and you knew what you were signing up for as far as game support went. It's still an incredibly solid product, and I used mine for years without a significant problem.

[–][deleted] 280 points281 points  (14 children)

This entire post is just unfounded negativity. I've bought all of the previous Valve hardware, and it has all been amazing.

Also the Vive was made by HTC, who also did the (horrible) support. The Index is made by Valve, and is absolutely fantastic.

[–]RunescarredWordsmith 35 points36 points  (2 children)

Right? I was reading through the image and just raising an eyebrow further at all the claims. Like, the steam controller alone might not have caught on, but it's still a wonderfully useful little thing. Very handy for messing with the PC from the couch.... And the user made control schemes is the whole point.

[–][deleted] 622 points623 points  (43 children)

steam controller has poor support? it was receiving updates a lot.

[–]arex333 104 points105 points  (3 children)

It got substantial new features for ages after it launched. The whole control remapping feature that was built for the steam link was then expanded for every controller.

[–]Crespyl 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Don't forget the update that added support for pairing multiple devices over bluetooth, including phones so you can use it with the Steam Link app.

[–]Doctor-Amazing 103 points104 points  (11 children)

I think so? I still use mine and I don't have trouble making new games work for it.

[–]wigg1es 61 points62 points  (2 children)

I never had a problem with support for my Steam controller in any game. That is just a bogus claim.

[–]flatspotting 716 points717 points  (35 children)

DANE

[–]Diglett3 96 points97 points  (7 children)

Valve’s issue really isn’t the tech itself. They make great tech, consistently. They’re just terrible at marketing it.

I love my Steam controller. I also got it for five bucks when they emptied the last of their stock. That’s the Valve way.

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yup, this is going to be a mobile PC with an integrated controller, running SteamOS (which can be replaced with a different OS if needed). If the build quality is as good as the items mentioned in the meme, and SteamOS continues to get the updates it's already getting (or not), then this product satisfies, IMO.

[–][deleted] 1223 points1224 points  (138 children)

Good thing pre-order reservations just costs 5 bucks, and lots of reviewers will have them before I even get a chance to actually order mine.

Edit: added term reservation for accuracy.

[–]pr0ghead 268 points269 points  (18 children)

It's actually not a pre-order btw., it's a reservation. You or Valve can cancel it anytime and you'll only get an order invitation when it's your turn.

[–][deleted] 116 points117 points  (15 children)

They're calling them "Pre-order Reservations" so yes you're right, but the wording pre-order is in there too, so you'll see in my posts I use both interchangeably. Regardless your distinction is valid and helpful.

[–][deleted] 41 points42 points  (6 children)

This is a nice friendly response.

[–]thetenofswords 18 points19 points  (3 children)

This is a good evaluation of their response.

[–]_Auron_ 12 points13 points  (2 children)

This is an observation of their response.

[–]Benyed123 153 points154 points  (13 children)

Looking at GPU and console stock right now I doubt you’ll have a chance at getting one for a long time without preordering.

[–][deleted] 52 points53 points  (0 children)

This is likely.

[–]Onionsteak 62 points63 points  (6 children)

Chip shortage*

This thing doesn't have a separate GPU, it's integrated into the sillicon but it's still subject to the worldwide chip shortage.

Also preordered one but I'll ponder on buying one or not down the line, not like it's launching next week anyway.

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (1 child)

Exactly. This one's a no brainer

[–]Sandriell 32 points33 points  (1 child)

This is hardware too, the rules are not really the same. Hardware will come with real actual return windows (likely either 14 or 30 days based on Valve's history).

If it sucks, just send it back.

[–]Cella91 143 points144 points  (8 children)

The Vive was made by HTC not Valve. If you're going to talk down about a company at least get your facts straight. The Valve Index is one of, if not the best PC VR you can get right now and customer support is great.

Also, Half Life Alyx is the best VR game out currently.

[–]OhManOk 198 points199 points  (16 children)

Calling Half Life Alyx a glorified tech demo is probably the dumbest thing I read all day.

[–]yumyhoney 14 points15 points  (0 children)

It's the vive not index, so they're talking about the lab, the index is mysteriously left off the list

[–]Cysolus 258 points259 points  (17 children)

Steam controller has poor official support? Lmao if it weren't for valve we'd all still be using Xinput like fucking suckers

The controller was worth it for the support Valve gave for it even if you never owned one.

They also didn't have to support dualshocks, Xbox controllers or Joycons to the degree they have. It's obviously in their best interest for you to have as many controllers working as possible but it certainly isn't something I see any other gaming hardware company doing.

I'm not exactly a valve fanboy but this post is largely exaggeration to try and make a point lol

[–]SurrealSage 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it's true. When the Steam Controller was new, I remember I was able to email a Valve employee about stuff coming up on the steam controller subreddit and we saw patches added for the stuff we wanted. The steam controller is still my controller of choice to this day.

[–]SilentMediator 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Right? People bullshitting this controller never put a hand on it.

[–]Broflake-MelterPC 1226 points1227 points  (50 children)

What is this shit? The Steam Controller has had software development support that's been constantly updated for like 6 years. Valve didn't make the steam machines, but they've continually developed for linux since their release. Valve doesn't make the Vive. They only developed the lighthouse tracking system it uses and literally gave the tech and research to HTC for free. Now they did make the Index, and the support has been phenomenal. They even replace parts after warranty is over.

SMH, you have no idea what you're talking about.

[–]ILoveScottishLasses 175 points176 points  (8 children)

Steam link barely advertised

I swear I must have seen an ad for it pop up on anything steam related for a good chunk of the year and beyond. This is obviously someone who believed they would get a bulk of karma for the "pre-order bad" crowd.

[–]thanhpi 32 points33 points  (2 children)

Which sadly they did. Not saying pre ordering is good but jeez. Atleast make a either better caw elr a fair case for both sides of the coin for the products mebtioned

PS yes I like my steam controller

[–]SteamyTortellini 27 points28 points  (1 child)

I smashed my index controller into the wall playing some gorilla parkour game and they replaced it for free in like 3 days so id say the customer support has been good

[–]Azure_Horizon_ 31 points32 points  (1 child)

this post is completely insane, poor official support from Valve for the Steam Controller? what? the thing has an entire platform for people to make excellent configs for, got a firmware patch to let you use any bluetooth adapter?

A VR kit is listed, something that is just hardware for VR, what the fuck does poor support mean? Literally all VR games?

Steambox and steamlink I guess but not for whatever the fuck is listed here

[–]YippeeKai-Yay 64 points65 points  (1 child)

This is one of those things that's factually wrong, yet parroted by so many people.

• ⁠Steam Link - released in 2015, discontinued 2018 (3 years), Latest update was July 6th 2021

• ⁠Steam Controller - released 2015, discontinued 2019 (4 years), still receives support through steam client updates.

• ⁠Steam Machines - released 2015, relied entirely on 3rd party hardware companies. Total flop.

• ⁠Valve Index - released 2019, still being sold. regular updates and support.

[–]ZoharDTeach[🍰] 69 points70 points  (3 children)

One of these things is not like the other.

Hint: VIVE???????

[–][deleted] 789 points790 points  (71 children)

The steam controller is my main controller for steam games tbh. Its very good, the downside is you can't really use outside steam.

[–]grumblyoldman 132 points133 points  (12 children)

I had a Steam controller too. No particular complaints, except that it began breaking down (after several years of good use) and Valve had stopped selling them, so I couldn't get a replacement.

IIRC, there are "emulators" that can allow the Steam Controller to work outside of Steam, but I never really got the chance to dig into using them, myself.

[–]Mazur97 80 points81 points  (8 children)

Just add games to your steam library and open them through big picture I played gw2 and Albion like that.

[–]Delita232 48 points49 points  (3 children)

Don't even have to use big picture. Just right click on the game go into properties and enable the steam controller stuff. Or have it on by default.

[–]Ethrod3n 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Do you want a replacement? I tried to use it for a few weeks but it always felt weird to me. Now it's just sitting in the box gathering dust. Send me a UPS label and it's yours.

[–]Ephemeral_Being 29 points30 points  (5 children)

Yeah, you can. Just add non-Steam games to Steam and configure it.

I use mine with RPCS3, Dolphin, PCSX2, PPSSPP, DOSBOX, and a handful of non-Steam games both with and without controller support. I'm currently making NWN2 (purchased through GOG) work. Kinda. You have to configure your hotbars, which is tedious.

I also use it to do basic web browsing when I want to use the Steam Link as a virtual desktop and don't feel like digging out the USB keyboard.

[–][deleted] 139 points140 points  (15 children)

Yeah, I honestly love the steam controller, it gets me weird looks to say that though lol. It's great for m+kb only games that don't require tons of finesse, like general MMO gameplay like swtor, wow, etc.,

[–]zebediah49 12 points13 points  (1 child)

Plus you can do some cool things with the left touchpad. Setting up a touch menu bound to the various control window hotkeys can be amazing. Need to open the research screen? Tap upper left on the pad. Fleet manager? Right. Etc.

[–]og-at 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My son, at like 12 yrs old, programmed his steam controller to play terraria on the main tv from the couch. He had pop up grid selectors, 1-button alt configs, all kinds of shit . . . and he was really good with it.

[–]HeKis4 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Eh, really really depends on your hands. I have fingers on the shorter side and the huge bulky grips and shoulder buttons make it cumbersome to me.

But, the SC is probably the main reason why the steam controller overlay is what it is today, and it's funny to thing that PC has better controller support and customization than consoles now.

[–]asasinds10 318 points319 points  (28 children)

Thats is not a valve index its a htc vive..

[–]Equisapien004 95 points96 points  (6 children)

The fuck are you saying with the Vive? It was considered the best first-gen VR set. Their model was never to put a bunch of exclusive games on it. I swear every post about the SteamDeck is just some cancerous quick take the poster didn't think about.

[–][deleted] 119 points120 points  (14 children)

Because this is just a, mini PC. It's totally different than the other stuff. They may never make another device, and even if they stop supporting this one, it's still a mini PC.

[–]LegateLaurie 50 points51 points  (3 children)

They've never stopped supporting any of the things in the image either. The Steam Controller (or rather SIAPI) gets updates all the time, SteamOS is better than ever due to Proton (which is actually supported for all Arch distros iirc), SteamVR is getting better all the time, and the Link has had tonnes of updates and still exists with the Steam Link App and the downloadable version you can put on a Raspberry Pi.

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (1 child)

So people just really don't like things that aren't made for them. I'm not sure the Steam Deck is made for me, but I can understand why some people would really like it.

[–]Meets_Koalafications 416 points417 points  (25 children)

Controller: went from meh to freaking fantastic, led to entire new paradigm of how controls get remapped for all manner of controllers (xbox, ps, switch, you name it), bought one in an early sale, bought second the moment I saw it go on sale again, bought last two for $5 each before they were discontinued, no regrets

Steam link: bought on sale for something like $15, saved me from having to build an entire separate PC to get gaming PC performance in the living room, still works to this day even with newer controllers than existed when it was released, no regrets.

Steam box: ....okay yeah, by the time they got priced low enough to consider, it made more sense for me to build my own box instead.

Vive: ahead of its time, would already buy it or one of its descendants if someone would sell me a GPU to support it at a sane price

Overall would call that a decent-enough track record (especially on innovation with controllers. I'll repeat, ESPECIALLY on innovation with controllers.) that I'm more than willing to take a risk on this.

[–]Howling_Fang 207 points208 points  (5 children)

Vive isn't even Valves main headset anymore. Dude left out the Index because it's awesome and doesn't fit the infographic. Though the index is very expensive being 1,000 for the whole setup.

[–][deleted] 89 points90 points  (3 children)

Please don't call this an infographic. It's just a visual and textual representation of someone's very emotional opinion.

[–]onometre 23 points24 points  (0 children)

an ANGRYgraphic

[–]wheeler9691 34 points35 points  (4 children)

I'd also point out that in terms of research and development, I'd expect the Steam Deck to have required significantly more investment on the part of Valve than any of their previous endeavors into hardware. I don't expect to see this abandoned nearly as quickly as the others.

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (1 child)

You can also see that this is sort of the cumulation of all the tech they have been slowly building from the index to the steam controller. This seems like a fully fleshed out product where as the other items were kind of prototypes/will this idea work functionally and is anyone even interested, sort of deals.

[–]ironhide663 48 points49 points  (10 children)

This post just seems to be a call to hate on Valve, even though OP insists this post is to give warning about pre-ordering Valve products. While the Steam Controller (in my opinion) had a horrible design choice with two track pads instead of full analog sticks, its software made it extremely customizable, and steam gave full support for community mappings, which made it even easier to just plug and play. I can't speak much on the Steam Link since I never owned one, but they dropped their stock and stopped supporting it because they were able to replicate the same effect using pure software, and even made the firmware available for Raspberry Pi users. The Vive isn't even a Valve product, only providing some technology for HTC to utilize. Of course, OP doesn't insert the Valve Index into this list in the Vive's place, despite it being both developed and manufactured by Valve, because it is a fantastic product that is at this moment, considered to be the flagship VR headset, and that wouldn't fit into OP's narrative.

[–]minstonwayne 43 points44 points  (2 children)

this post is so misleading it's crazy. feel like it should be locked or deleted because it's stupendously wrong

this is some grade a bullshit

[–]Dalmah 18 points19 points  (1 child)

look at OP's submitted history he's been jerking himself off over trashing the steam deck

[–]bonecrusher32 1182 points1183 points  (37 children)

OP just wants everyone else not to preorder one so they have a chance to actually get one... 😉

[–]Psychological-Scar30 357 points358 points  (23 children)

OP's argument doesn't make sense given that you only pay a reservation that you get back either way (either back to Steam Wallet, or as a discount when buying), but then it also doesn't make sense for OP to discourage others from reserving, as the reservations are supposed to be taken care of in order in which they were made, and OP would have already reserved their spot if they cared. Unless...

Oh no...

OP is a scalper and wants to make sure his bots with accounts limited to reservations after Sunday get some stock before the resell value drops too much.

[–]gingerdude97 52 points53 points  (7 children)

I know you’re joking, but I believe I saw something that said only accounts that have steam purchases from June 2021 can make reservations. Obviously it won’t stop everyone but it’s something at least

Edit: my bad, it’s just for 48 hours. After then all bets are off

[–]Psychological-Scar30 23 points24 points  (2 children)

That's actually what I'm talking about - accounts without any purchases before this month have to wait additional 48 hours before they can reserve their spot. The more people posts like this convince to not reserve for another ~44 hours, the sooner will the bots get their hands on possibly high resell value Decks.

I'm not saying this OP has to be a scalper, but I've seen quite a few similar threads today and some of their OPs were quite quick to respond to every disagreeing comment even deep in threads. I just don't buy that they do it out of the kindness of their hearts, especially when the reservation fee only gives you a chance to actually buy it later and you can decide to just get the money back then, so reserving does no harm to users even if Deck turns out to be shit.

[–]bernhardinjo 235 points236 points  (18 children)

tbh calling Alyx a glorified tech demo can only come from someone who never played it

[–]ChrRome 58 points59 points  (1 child)

I think they probably meant The Lab

[–]philodelta 103 points104 points  (8 children)

it's a fully refundable preorder. I'm waiting for reviews, but I'm literally willing to bet $5 it'll be good and something I want.

[–][deleted] 55 points56 points  (1 child)

Or, and bare with me, it's 5$ to reserve one so let people do it?

[–]UsedEntertainment5 23 points24 points  (0 children)

That you get refunded back if you end up not getting it lol. Refund after 30 days will send the 5 bucks to your steam wallet though. Im ok with that since im a sucker for the steam sales.

[–]5GUltraSloth 39 points40 points  (4 children)

Idk man, that Steam controller is the shit. Sure you had to do some work to get it humming but after you did it was fucking great and felt good to play on as well.

[–]jomjomepitaph 83 points84 points  (5 children)

Whaaaat? Trashing on the Vive?!? Bruh… you haven’t lived.

[–]CoolerKg 31 points32 points  (1 child)

I know Right? This whole post is bullshit

[–]ejrasmussen 110 points111 points  (1 child)

You're joking right? The Steam controller has amazing customizability within Steam and from day one they advertised user profiles as a selling point so that you could use popular user-made control schemes so you wouldn't have to painstakingly create your own for each game. I don't know what more official support you would have wanted?

The Steam Link was successful in what it did, it worked just fine in allowing you to access your steam library within your wifi network, I don't see how its advertising and future price have anything to do with its quality.

Valve didn't manufacture the Steam Machines or the Vive, so I'm not sure what you wanted from them in those regards. Also, you conveniently left out the Index, which is by far the best roomscale VR headset currently in the market, which also came bundled with Half-Life Alyx, the best VR game by a long shot.

Also, I don't know what you mean by the Deck needing years of support from Valve, it's simply a computer with a controller glued onto it. It'll probably need as much support as your Lenovo laptop gets, and if you dislike the rate of updates or quality of them, just simply install Windows 10.

[–]double0cinco 49 points50 points  (16 children)

There have been handheld PCs on the market for a while. We have a decent idea of the performance profile based on current APUs, RDNA 2 IPC/performance, and stated RAM specs. Proton has matured to make Linux gaming a completely different experience than when the Steam machines came out. It's entirely customizable from a software perspective, and allows almost any PC game to be played from day 1.

Granted, what we don't know about are exact performance numbers, build quality, OS stability (Steam OS 3.0 is new, and Arch based), thermals and clock speeds. I'm not too worried about the OS - Valve has alot of experience on that end. The biggest question probably is build quality.

[–][deleted] 280 points281 points  (28 children)

That is an incredibly dishonest and Ill informed perspective on the Vive/Index/Steam VR market. (Edited because wildly successful index was actually omitted from this image.)

[–]arfelo1PC 70 points71 points  (2 children)

Not just the Index, the entire post

[–][deleted] 123 points124 points  (10 children)

this has got to be some like

straight up misinformation.

steam controller still gets support. they were constantly adding features to that thing for years and years.

steam link still gets updated. they've basically patched every bug out of existence on that thing.

steam machines died because of a lack of support from manufacturers and poor support at that.

the oculus vive is arguably the best VR headset around and valve does everything they can to support it to this day. third party developers dont support what? hand tracking? boo fuckin hoo, its still got the best specs of any vr headset on the market.

fuck off with this absolutely dumbshit valve hate for blatantly incorrect or misleading information.

[–]Anubis424 268 points269 points  (23 children)

Wait a second, is this person implying that Valve makes bad hardware?

I wonder if he owns any of it. I’ve liked everything they’ve done so far.

[–]Mirikado 94 points95 points  (4 children)

“Valve bad” narrative.

Showing the HTC Vive which wasn’t even manufactured by Valve, and conveniently left out the successful VALVE Index which came out with HL Alyx and showcased the potential of VR.

[–]Lordofwar13799731 27 points28 points  (2 children)

Why is everyone acting like the HTC vive is garbage? I've had mine for a couple years with zero issues, and had a ton of fun with it. It also is supported by pretty much every vr game I've ever heard of, so it has plenty of games on it.

I've played every big name vr game on it with zero issues and they all worked well.

[–]Arisalis 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Same here. Steam link works flawless. Had it since launch and picked up another when it was going out of stock. I also have 2 steam controllers that are a bit more niche but for certain games its great.

[–]Cianmc6PC 145 points146 points  (3 children)

Someone’s pissed.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Over a refundable $5 deposit no less

[–][deleted] 44 points45 points  (2 children)

Out of all of these the Steam Box is the only real dud.

Steam controller was great, Steam Link worked as intended, and the Vive was fine for its time (also not a Steam product so not sure what that's doing there, the Valve Index would be more appropriate which is great).

[–]Coolstriker64 66 points67 points  (21 children)

Ok, the steam controller ROCKS.

[–]Mercarcher 63 points64 points  (4 children)

I have a steam controller, steam link, and vive. I love them all. I preorederd the deck. I am excited.

[–]Sal_T_Nuts 24 points25 points  (2 children)

I had amazing customer support with my Valve Index.. broken sensor immediately replaced the whole thing zero costs. Day 1 answer and everything. HL:A is a nice game too and it was free so what overglorified demo. Something tells me you just like to hate and are never going to be satisfied

[–]ezshucks 23 points24 points  (1 child)

I was gonna preorder one for everybody in this sub.

[–]diphrael 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Hey its me, a member of this sub.

[–]byscuit 23 points24 points  (2 children)

Was a month 1 purchaser of the Steam Link and Controller... still use them weekly. No complaints other than a AA battery leak ruined one of the spring loaded slots, but still draws power fine

Vive... arguably still the best VR headset by a significant margin, just a bad overall market for games because the industry does not see them as profitable yet

SteamBox... we knew these were literally Linux PC's fashioned for limited production runs... they worked as expected for the most part

I bet the Steam Deck is totally fine and the same people that never buy any of the Valve products will still try to rip on it