Considering the Switch 2 (with those pretty joystick well covers to protect from drift, omg) and the Ryzen Z2 Go announcements, the low cost and availability of Steam Deck & parity level APU machines for purchase now, and the giant 1080p gaming install base represented by current gen consoles, it sure seems like low spec & 1080p gaming is going to have a pretty sunny future. I am hoping this gives small and medium sized development teams a chance to show up what is left of AAA gaming.
What are your favorite low spec gaming setups right now? I'm enjoying a 5700g APU system the most these days. Mainstream wise, I've been playing Elden Ring and Injustice 2 and Vampire Survivors. The last Indie I played is this beat-em-up / horde survival game An American Werewolf in LA which was pretty cool.
I should warn you, the Steam Deck is incredibly bulky and heavy compared to the tiny 3DS - and even in my large hands, it never feels particularly comfortable, despite the good shape of the grips and with a thin rubber case I added to it. Definitely not the right system for you if you have weak wrists, simply due to its substantial mass. Using it for longer periods of time without resting it my your lap is not very pleasant, but resting it in your lap means I have to look down, which can result in neck strain. Lying down meanwhile, it's a bit too heavy for the weight to rest on the elbows as well. Placing it on a pillow or bag (while making sure that none of the vents are obstructed) helps though, to the point that you can get fully immersed in playing, not thinking about the device at all, even on a busy train.
For an hour to an hour and a half, none of this is problematic, of course. There are also workarounds: Connecting it to an external display that has the right height can circumvent the issue, including those USB C display glasses that create a large virtual screen in front of you (haven't tried those, but heard good things in combination with this device).
There are also much smaller, thinner and lighter alternatives to the Deck, but none of them have the advantage of being a fully integrated design like the Deck, where every aspect of the hard- and software was developed together and tuned to compliment each other and none of them have the complete backing of the largest game distribution network behind it. Most of them are running Windows, which, while having superior games compatibility, is not suited for a portable gaming device at all, lacking for example the ability to reliably suspend and resume games. With the Lenovo Legion Go S as the first, expect there to be more and more devices running Steam OS, but those are unlikely to have the same level of compatibility as the device this version of the OS was created for.
If emulation is what you're looking for, the Deck is a powerhouse (up to and including Nintendo Switch is no problem), but not the only game in town. Older console games in particular run well even on very basic devices. Maybe all you need is a controller cradle for your phone, if you don't already have one, or a cheap and cheerful emulation console like one those tiny things Anbernic is having a great deal of success with lately.
Bazzite fixes all of those issues you mentioned in your third paragraph.
Not quite. For starters, going by open bug reports and various forum comments, suspend and resume appear to be unreliable and buggy, especially with Proton - and based on developer reaction to at least one of the bug reports, there aren't even any plans to fix this. This is an essential feature on a handheld gaming device, which means that this OS might not suitable for this device category at the moment.
Bazzite has potential, but it's nowhere near as mature as Steam OS on the Steam Deck - and it might never be, because it's meant to work on anything, lacking the close hardware-software relationship that Steam OS on the Deck has.
Also, since it's using a different flavor of Linux as Steam OS as its foundation (Fedora vs. Arch), I would expect random games to not work or exhibit bugs that aren't present on Steam OS. With Valve's Steam Deck verified label, you can be reasonably certain that a game will work, but you can't with other Linux distros. I'm basing this on reports on ProtonDB and from developers who have released games for popular distros, but then got notified of bugs that only appear on less common distros (read: not Ubuntu or Steam OS).
This doesn't mean that you can't have a great time with Bazzite. It might work just fine on your hardware, but there's no guarantee this will be the case for everyone.
I've never encountered any of the issues you've talked about here, and every deck-verified game has worked on my Legion Go. Often better, as many "Playable" titles only have marks deducted for small text, which looks fine at 2560*1600.
As for the lesser used distro, I can understand where that creates issues. However, due to it's immutability, Bazzite is a consistent target to support with no real variations in system packages.
Dude high five. I have big hands, but even the regular switch feels uncomfortable after an hour or so. I have no idea how people are managing with the steam deck.
I was sad to see the new switch is larger lol. I'll never use it handheld. It really makes me wish they just made a lighter NEW 3dsXL with better hand grips. They could call it the NEW NEW 3DSXL.
The Steam Deck is larger and FAR more ergonomic than the Switch. It's really not bad.
Is it possible that some of the discomfort comes from trying to use controls that are too small?
I also have big hands, and I find the Switch controllers uncomfortable because they feel like they were meant for baby hands, and they're flat so it's an effort to keep hold of them. I find the Deck very easy to hold because its grips are built like a proper controller and all the buttons are within comfortable reach. The ergonomics make a big difference.
Valve put a lot of design effort into the form of the Deck:
I bought a cheap silicone grip case for my 3DS XL. Night and day difference. Not so cheap was the Satisfye Switch grip, but they both make playing handheld so much more pleasant. Both *systems sacrificed ergonomics for portability. Adding grips reduces portability in exchange for ergonomics. I'm okay with that.
Dang, sounds like i might actually have issue with it since i lie down and game, if it's too bulky then it might be painful after an hour.
It's really not that bulky and it's not heavy at all.
There is a life hack, which is so effective it might result in you lying down too much: If there is a wall right next to you, you can attach a basic monitor arm to it. I then added a tablet VESA mount, which allows me to either use it with a tablet or a small portable monitor that you can plug anything into, including games consoles, a normal desktop PC or the Steam Deck through a single USB-C cable - it'll also get charged through the screen. Add a controller or mouse and keyboard combo and you're golden.
This is also by far the most comfortable way to read ebooks, using a tablet with an OLED screen, ideally, with white or grey on black text and brightness set to near zero (in a dark room) and a mouse for scrolling.
Key to this is perfect placement of the monitor arm on the wall, since you can't easily change it after having drilled the holes, so make sure it's exactly where you want it to be. If there is no wall next to you, there are also various significantly more expensive articulated arms that attach to the bed, but they tend to cost hundreds instead of the ten bucks or so I paid for the wall mount.