WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Chest Rockwell]

I love my Switch, but if I was buying now I'd be getting a Steamdeck instead. 

[waters44]

42 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Nah, that's nonsense. The Switch library is incredibly deep, excluding Mario and Zelda - you have the Online service (with a massive library of Gameboy, GBA, NES, SNES and N64 games), the excellent Xenoblade Chronicles series, the Fire Emblem series, Pikmin 1-4, Pokemon (including the brilliant Let's Go and Legends Arceus games), Bayonetta, the criminally underrated Astral Chain, Advance Wars, Splatoon, Kirby, Metroid Prime and Dread, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong Jungle Freeze, Ring Fit Adventure, Box Boy and Box Girl, Tetris 99, Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Arms, among others - and I've only listed Nintendo published games here; outside of that the third library party is ridiculously deep, it's great. 

JRPGs and kids games then 😄 There you go then Bacon, if you like the sound of those games get a Switch, but that’s one big bowl of meh to me. 

[Merzbow]

The vast amount of big AAA "next-gen" games are vapid trash these days, more so than usual. I don't think there's been a single generation where I've cared less about buying the current thing, only Baldurs Gate 3 is of any real interest.

The Switch is just cheap and fun with seemingly 1000s is decent titles on the go, and at least you can actually play them on the go unlike that generic tablet with two pads from Sony.

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I love my Switch, but if I was buying now I'd be getting a Steamdeck instead. 

I'm a really casual gamer who might play the XBOX 360 that I have once a month if that, so a Steamdeck seems too much of a gamer product if that makes sense.

Whereas the Switch will suit me just fine. Look, anything to stop me watching 4327 films a year has to be a good thing right? Plus I can buy games for myself under the pretence of them being for the kids. 

"What do you mean you didn't ask for MGS for Xmas? Liars" etc

[Chest Rockwell]

Games are cheaper on Steam and there's more of them. 

[SuperBacon]

4 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Games are cheaper on Steam and there's more of them. 

As someone that has a mild panic attack over the choice in some coffee shops, can you NOT do this please?

[FLips]

It all comes down to what you're looking to get from the console.

As Chest said, Steam has a lot more choice in games and a lot of them will be cheaper. The console at it's cheapest option is £350 but is lacking features the more expensives models have, including SSD and better memory.
That being said, your choice of games you want to play will make or break how you get on with the console. I personally have no interest in the Steam Deck because I have a decent PC and the Steam games I do play are all games I wouldn't bother with on a console never mind a handheld. Things like Age of Empires, Left 4 Dead 2, and some older Point N Click games. If it's a game that is on Steam and Console, chances are I'd just get it on my Xbox.

The Switch is lacking from a technical standpoint compared to the Deck by I imagine quite a margin, but it's got games you can't play on anything else and it's much cheaper. You can get one of the newer OLED models with a AAA game for less than the cheapest Deck. If your kids have one too you can play games with them which is a bonus.
There's no hiding I'm a Nintendo fanboy, but even so I can't think of any games I'd play on a Deck more than I played Animal Crossing New Horizons, Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom or Pikmin 4 just in the last couple of years.

If you want a more expensive console with better specs, more flexibility choice-wise, and cheaper games then the Steam Deck is a good option. If you want a cheaper console with Nintendo exclusives and (in my opinion) quality over quantity then the Switch is a good option. I wouldn't say you'd go wrong with either though.

 

[The Gaffer]

34 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

I'm a really casual gamer who might play the XBOX 360 that I have once a month if that, so a Steamdeck seems too much of a gamer product if that makes sense.

I'd Switch it up too, in this case. It sounds like such a non-issue, but as relatively fluid and easy to set up as the Steam Deck is, it has just enough tinker-tailor-gamer-stink to it that it might annoy you on occasion. 

There's plenty of games that run great on the deck. There's plenty of other games where you'll find yourself checking the compatibility. Adjusting settings. Using a different compatibility build. I've had easy to run games crash on it unexpectedly, weird issues with saves syncing etc that have turned the 15 minutes I had on break to use it into 5 minutes of going through the interface before deciding "fuck this". 

I'm sure people will say "i've barely had that happen me, what are you up to?" but it's happened enough that as a casual gamer it might get your goat too. It's a little PC. The Switch is a traditional console in every sense of the word. You pop the game in, the game works. Nice and easy.  

[Merzbow]

Switch has a fair share of retro games that go on sale quite often, too. I've got all the Doom, Quake games and Duke Nukem 3D on mine. I'll likely grab Exhumed, Star Wars: Dark Forces and the Turoks too, all remastered perfectly.

[Chest Rockwell]

Really good summary from Lips there. There's no 'bad' choice as such but you need to consider which will suit you better. As someone with no real interest in playing the Nintendo exclusives it would be an easier choice for me. 

[RedRooster]

I have both, and there's no getting around the fact that the Steam Deck requires tinkering to get the best possible experience; particularly when it comes to newer games. It doesn't bother me - it's easy to do, and optimal settings are easily found - but I can see why someone might find it irritating. 

While Steam sales are great and all, I'd say the difference in price between games isn't as great as people often think - I was writing this as @Merzbow essentially said the same thing. Switch store sales are generally really good, with plenty of bargains to be had. The store is poorly organised, but there's no denying the diversity of the library (well, waters44 tried to - but they're wrong. It's an objectively diverse library.) 

If I was buying now, I'd be pretty tempted to wait until Black Friday to see if any good deals were to be had. Given that it's likely the last Black Friday before the Switch's successor is launched, I'd imagine it will end up being a brilliant time to pick up the current console at a bargain price. Depends how much of a rush you are to buy it, I suppose. 

[SuperBacon]

6 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

I'd be pretty tempted to wait until Black Friday to see if any good deals were to be had.

Yeah I think I will as I believe MGS isn't out until October either, along with the new Mario game I'll be wanting.

Obviously buying a console in the Black Friday sale makes me think of one thing and one thing only and that is of course, the Brack Friday Bunduru. 

Thanks for your input all, much appreciated. We'll get that film watching time down together

[FLips]

I think anyone at this point who looks at a Mario game or a Zelda game, or things like Animal Crossing, Metroid, Pikmin, and Donkey Kong Country and thinks they're kids games are just completely wrong about games. Just because a game is accessible to kids doesn't make it a kids game.
You know who's spent more time on Animal Crossing New Horizons than anyone I know, including me? My Mam who is in her late 50s and she only got the Switch a year or so ago.

Imagine missing out on games like Tears of The Kingdom or Mario Odyssey because you think it's a kids game. Absolutely wild.

[Merzbow]

I just read that the Sony handled doesn't even stream from the cloud, so no signing up to Plus and playing 100's of games. You need an actual PS5 with the games installed to it...

[SuperBacon]

New Horizons and Stardew Valley have been incredibly helpful in tackling our eldests anxiety. 

Without getting too deep, she has found it is the best way she can relax and forget about her stress, so that's fantastic obviously. 

She's now after Minekos Night Market which looks like the most "her" game ever.