This is just... not true?
The Deck ranges from 420 to 680. The Legion Go S is 520, right in the middle of that. The Z1 Extreme ROG Ally is 670, right in line with the top of the line Deck (and noticeably more powerful). The Switch 2 is 470, on the cheaper side and also a fair bit beefier.
This article is arguing that having next-gen chips in boutique devices for 1K is a) a new development, and b) a bad thing. It is neither.
Before the Deck went mass market with PC handhelds they would routinely be a lot more expensive. The original Ayaneo was between 800 and 900 in 2021. The Pro model went up to 1200.
I want those things to exist. I want GPD to cram a Strix Halo into a handheld with a removable battery. I want Ayaneo to build a dual screen clamshell. I want them to make a dumb console that spits out its buttons so you can flip them around. I want vertical handhelds. All that kooky weirdness is experimenting with new form factors and parts in ways that will move the segment forward. Without Ayaneo, Odin or GPD being dumb enough to cram a laptop into a handheld there'd be no Steam Deck in the first place.
Let the people who like weird hardware dump a grand or two into those weird things and that's how you eventually get a comfortably priced for-the-rest-of-us thing from Valve or Asus that takes the ideas from those that work.
oxysis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Once again Valve proves they actually understand what people want; a relatively cheap and effective system that lets people play the games they want to play
TragicNotCute@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I think the big difference is that they seem to be optimizing for customer satisfaction where others are not.
My favorite example I use often is how the Steam Deck comes with a case. It’s free and there’s not even an option to not get it. They know you need one, they include it. The Switch doesn’t come with a case. They know you need one but they don’t care. You’ll buy one if you want it bad enough and that’s more revenue.
It’s just a different type of optimization.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I have a switch that never left the house, definitely not needed.
01011@monero.town 2 weeks ago
I’m still amazed that the Lenovo Legion Go costs almost $300 more than the SD but does not come with a case.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Two things massively help Valve:
Steam is a goddamned money printing machine, they are the most profitable software company per capita, per employee… possibly bar none.
Also… they’re not publically traded.
They do not have investors constantly forcing maximization of short term profits at the cost of literally everything else.
… So they can afford to … not price gauge everyone.
potoo22@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Probably the biggest advantage they have is that they can sell devices at cost or even at a loss and still profit from increased Steam game sales, like how other console makers operate.
3rd parties can’t compete with that. Not even close. If there’s no profit from the device itself, there’s no motivation to make it. And apart from the hardware cost, they also need to pay for the R&D and corporate maintenance. They can’t compete with the Steam Deck. If they made an exact Steam Deck clone, they’d have to make it, idk ~$40 more to make a profit, but no one would buy it because the Steam Deck is the same for less. They have to give it slightly higher specs to give it a niche. That might take hardware cost up to $700 and then charge $200 more to make up for the distributor fees and then $100 to make it actually profitable.
Bongles@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I fantasize about the idea of starting private companies for things currently dominated by public companies, with the sole idea of not being greedy and shitty.
BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I honestly don’t understand why most companies aren’t private instead of public. Like which founder looks forward to answering to investors when they could just be answerable to themselves and their employees and maybe board, like are they looking for a massive exit payout by going public or to raise funds to become a bigger company, but I argue if you are making enough to be profitable why chase being bigger
KillerWhale@orcas.enjoying.yachts 2 weeks ago
They must be too busy enabling children gambling on hats
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Don’t forget battery life. Most of those systems get some pretty awful battery life, or are comically large.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
the two things that made the game boy a success: “good enough” system with a great battery life all for a great price
Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
its partly windows, and partly 8 core AMD CCDs that handhelds dont need.
Lenovo was given a holy ball (Z2 go cpu, basically 4c/8t zen 3 cpu and 12 rdna 2 cu cores (as apposed to the zen 2 and 8 cu rdna2 the steam deck has) and if they priced it at 600, it would be extremely competitive.
lenovo is basically like nah, 750$ it is.
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 3 weeks ago
They have advantage of being able to sell at almost cost because they make so much on game sales. Like the other console vendors.
Actually kind of unfair business practice.
oxysis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I mean that’s just how consoles are, except Valve does let you just use it as a normal pc so you can use other stores if you want to. Still an advantage to them
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Ironically, leveraging this kind of tactic is what allowed Google, Amazon and Apple and Microsoft to become as huge as they did, as fast as they did.
Got a whole bunch of lines of business that can functionally subsidize other ventures, so they can make a push for market share.
But of course this doesn’t take too long to turn your whole economy into oligopoly, and thus your society into oligarchy… at best.
iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Well people also want HL3, and here we are…
mudstickmcgee@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
The hype train for hl3 is so off the rails that valve can’t release it. It would never live up to the hype, so it’s a pretty sound decision not to make it.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Dude it’s my favorite PC in a very very long time. I will definitely be installing Linux on my laptop at some point soon.