this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
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I see a lot of people ragging on the switch and comparing it to the Steam Deck. I own both but
I’m gonna say this: they’re not even direct competitors. They don’t offer the same experiences at all.
The beauty of the Switch is the ease of use, modularity of control, and communal nature of it. Even if switch online sucks, playing with other switches or 8 people in the same room with certain games is unbelievably easy. The plug and play usability and every single game you can buy from the internal store just works.
Not to mention the dock is flawless and literally easy to use. For all its problems, the switch is a surprisingly well executed idea. There’s a reason they sold hundreds of millions of them.
Steam is catching up, but there’s still a ways to go between proton compatible games, connecting controllers, plugging into a dock without having to bend down and plug a cable etc. The Switch is simply put: easy.
That said, Nintendo is stupid for pricing the Switch 2 out of the “no brainer” casual gamer territory.
Also most of Nintendo’s target audience has no idea that the Steam Deck exists. Like if a kid asks their parents for a Switch 2 the parents aren’t going to suggest the Steam Deck since they don’t know what it is. Nintendo does a shit ton of traditional advertising, the Nintendo brand has an enormous mind share among the general audience. The mind share for Steam is almost non existent outside of PC gamers.
And many kids I know who play PC games don’t even have Steam installed. Since they only play Roblox and Fortnite on their PC. Nintendo is not competing with the Steam Deck. Their real competition is Apple and Android because of Fortnite, Roblox and TikTok.
As owner and early adopter of both - disagree.
Switch is gathering dust for me and everytime I pull it out i feel like getting my steamdeck instead.
The only exception I can think off is low profile traveling but that's a very small niche if people.
I see a lot of people saying they shouldn't be compared, but it still does make sense to do so as most can't afford both.
And outside of coop couch, the switch pales in comparison on just about everything else.
Game prices: higher
Feel in hands? Awkward
Removable controllers: pop off or loosen during solo gameplay causing everything to pause in order to fix it, which can, but isn't always, be a quick easy fix.
Plus, games like Animal Crossing that allow coop couch still demand individual switch consoles if you want the full experience for multiple people.
Couch coop is pretty much the only reason we have a Switch. If it was just for me, I wouldn't bother.
As it stands, I have both: Steam Deck for me, Switch for family couch coop.
That’s a bit unnecessary. I’m just pointing out people are trying to compare two things that aren’t the same.
By that logic though, I think Nintendo has a “dumb cock” for charging as much as they are for Switch 2, so I’m not really sure what it tastes like.
you can fix the online problems with a USB-to-ethernet adapter on the dock
Yeah, people are bitching about first party titles never going down in price, meanwhile I'm here enjoying my 300Eur indie machine.