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Help me GAF, what I should buy (PS Portal vs. Steam Deck)

What should I buy?

  • Support the glorious Nippon, get Playstation Portal

    Votes: 10 9.5%
  • Simp for Gaben, get Steam Deck

    Votes: 80 76.2%
  • Bro, I'm trying to help you here - get none, otherwise you backlog will come alive and murder you

    Votes: 15 14.3%

  • Total voters
    105
  • Poll closed .

Sleepwalker

Member
Deck

- has streaming via chiaki for ps AND gamepass (xcloud works well on deck and will be a better starfield experience than native, trust me.)

- is more expensive but steam (and cdkeys, ggdeals etc) is way cheaper down the line with game prices than ps store, you will end up saving $ in the long run. The few games (like bg3) that get ported to mac will have access to cross buy and cross save on steam.

- Screen is not great and most likely will be worse than the PSP one. Games wont look as good as streamed from PSP (provided your internet is good enough) due to this.

- Depending on what you already own, your retro games will or will not be available on the ps store, and if they are they will require a second purchase if you already have them on PC.

-IF for any reason your internet or power go down, your PSP will be a brick, your deck will be able to truck along.

-IF someone in your household wants to use the PS then you're out of luck.

- The PSP will definitely have better controls.

- Emulation/youtube/miscellaneous use are available on deck but not on PSP.

- Deck will be compatible with your existing BT accesories (headphones, earphones, controller). PSP will use propietary tech and wont support regular BT.


I would honestly go deck, you already own a PS5 so you wont miss out on PS exclusive games and you could stream them to deck anyway.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
Portal may offer a better connection because with the phone, there are other apps and connections running in the background.
Ok, tested the app with GOAT Lawn Mover, I can already see two issues:

1. No haptics or physical buttons meaning I cannot press gently to accelerate a bit and not full speed (I guess this is the issue with all games that use the shoulder buttons like that)
2. Part of the screen was not visible on my phone.

Portal looks very tempting indeed.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Ok, tested the app with GOAT Lawn Mover, I can already see two issues:

1. No haptics or physical buttons meaning I cannot press gently to accelerate a bit and not full speed (I guess this is the issue with all games that use the shoulder buttons like that)
2. Part of the screen was not visible on my phone.

Portal looks very tempting indeed.
Try it on your mac or ipad (theres an app) with a ps controller and thats more or less how the portal will perform. Obviously smaller screen etc, a phone without a dedicated controller accessory is not a good comparison to either deck or psp.
 
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AmuroChan

Member
Ok, tested the app with GOAT Lawn Mover, I can already see two issues:

1. No haptics or physical buttons meaning I cannot press gently to accelerate a bit and not full speed (I guess this is the issue with all games that use the shoulder buttons like that)
2. Part of the screen was not visible on my phone.

Portal looks very tempting indeed.

Yea, that's why I'm getting a Portal instead of just sticking with my phone + Backbone. I've tried Remote Play on my laptop as well and that also works fine, but that's not the mobile solution I'm looking for so the Portal is exactly what I need.
 

Edellus

Member
If I were in your shoes, the lack of extended periods of time to play games would be important enough to change my preferences regarding types of games. I would choose games that are straight forward and are quick to give the fun reward. So I would not take into consideration games like Starfield and BG3, because I imagine getting frustrated if I can only get 15 to 20 minutes gaming sessions, and not many of those in a day at that (and you said per day). But if that is not a problem for you, fair enough.

Following the value (fun and money) per time spent mentality, going for the most expensive platform seems like a waste if you won't be able take advantage of it. So that would be an important negative for Steam Deck in my eyes. But you also recognise not having that much interest in PS5 games as of late, and games aren't as cheap as steam (assuming you're all digital on PS5). Therefore, although PS portable starts way cheaper, in the long run it could end up being more expensive gaming there and it would not contain most of the games you usually like.

What about considering a 3rd alternative? Something like PS portal, but for your PC/mac? Something that is cheap, comfortable to game on, and just streams from your PC. Maybe a cheapish tablet (with good enough streaming tech) + some gaming controller for it. You could even use the tablet for media consumption in a bigger screen too, if you'd like.
 
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FunkMiller

Gold Member
Well, do you want a portable games console? Or a useless piece of plastic junk the second you step outside your door?
 

JimboJones

Member
I would argue that deck is too big for most people to take it with them outside tho.
It's a very convenient device for packing up and taking to a friend's house to play some multiplayer PC games that don't support split screen and still get a couch multiplayer experience.

OP as long as your comfortable with the limitations of the Portal then go for it, it's closest relative is a WiiU Gamepad but your getting a higher resolution stream most likely better range (depending on your network)but worse latency.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Steam Deck duh. It’s a portable platform.

That Sony Batarang thing is just a streaming device with way less games.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
buy a steamy, veiny throbbing dick- er i mean a Valve dildo- er i mean a Gabe dong- euhh i mean a Steam Deck.
 
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If you must get a Steam deck, wait. I'm betting the next iteration is right around the corner.

ETA: There's also the ROG Ally for a little more power.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You can replicate the PS Portal equivalent experience via remote play on many other devices. A Steam Deck over it is the easiest of answers.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Steam deck or The asus ROG... Or the new lenovo.


FOR Christ sake.... Keep away of the crap shit Playstation portal... Is a theft of money.
 
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If you are only playing at home, the Playstation portal. It's certainly not an abomination. It's doing exactly what it set out to do as a home companion to the PS5.
 

FingerBang

Member
Help guys, should I get a BJ from my mid neighbor or should I get into an orgy with the entire Sweden women's national volleyball team

That's how your question sounds to me
 
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Killjoy-NL

Member
PS Portal is just a gadget for people who want it as an alternative screen.

So it depends on whether you want to play on PC or PS5.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
You can replicate the PS Portal equivalent experience via remote play on many other devices. A Steam Deck over it is the easiest of answers.
Can you replicate it? You need to use your phone / tablet so it's not ideal + Portal will have the same haptics as Dualsense.
Neither. Just buy a pc or a console.
Already got a PS5. Not buying a gaming PC.
Have you considered buying something good?
Bought PS5 and MBP already.
Buy a streaming focused handheld like Logitech G cloud?
Why? More expensive than Portal. For GamePass?
If you are only playing at home, the Playstation portal. It's certainly not an abomination. It's doing exactly what it set out to do as a home companion to the PS5.
Thank you.
Help guys, should I get a BJ from my mid neighbor or should I get into an orgy with the entire Sweden women's national volleyball team

That's how your question sounds to me
Need pics for the volleyball team, I have high standards.
 
Why? More expensive than Portal. For Game Pass?
I was thinking you’d still be able to play BG3, Starfield, Morrowind and whatever, but I forgot you only have a Mac. Even so, between streaming from your PS5 and your Mac you’d be able to cover a lot of games.
 

azertydu91

Hard to Kill
Can you replicate it? You need to use your phone / tablet so it's not ideal + Portal will have the same haptics as Dualsense. 1.

Already got a PS5. Not buying a gaming PC.2.

Bought PS5 and MBP already.

Why? More expensive than Portal. For GamePass?3.

Thank you.

Need pics for the volleyball team, I have high standards.4.
1. You can connect a dualsense to the steamdeck, I don't know if the haptics are replicated though ( I haven't used the dualsense with remote play.
2.If you don't want to invest in PC games and aren't interested of emulation or playing outside of your home then sure the deck loses a lot of interest
3.Maybe wait to see if some people can install other cloud service (legaly or not) on the portal that might steer you one way or another.
4.Volleyball team is a safe bet compared to a mid neighbor
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
The fact this had to be asked is worrying.
help me new girl quotes GIF
 

SScorpio

Member
I’d love something to play my GOG library on, but I don’t think anything exists that’s a good option. I haven’t tried windows on SD tbh. I almost wish GOG would make something, but that would an insane amount of dedicated handhelds for online services.
What's wrong with installing Heroic Games Launcher in Steam OS, and installing your GOG games from that and just playing them?
 

Burger

Member
I've got a Steam Deck, Switch OLED, Logitech GCloud and will likely get the PSPortal at some point.

The thing here is - the screen. Switch, Steam Deck have the appropriate screen for their power levels. 720p.

GCloud / PSPortal have a 1080p screen. That's 4 times the resolution, and trust me it makes a huge difference. GFN, Xcloud, Remote Play etc look amazing handheld at 1080p. PSPortal will likely be incredible with an 8 inch screen.
 

BlackTron

Member
Well, do you want a portable games console? Or a useless piece of plastic junk the second you step outside your door?
He already answered this question in OP and explained his considerations. Which is why his first line was "please read first". He does not want to leave the house with it.
 
I'm team PS Portal, but I'm also someone without much on my steam library and have about zero interest in upgrading my current gaming pc to play broken ports and playstation games years later.
I'm also getting it cause I have a toddler and will play it in the play area. I played like half of the legend of zelda on switch in the play area this weekend.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
The thing here is - the screen. Switch, Steam Deck have the appropriate screen for their power levels. 720p.

GCloud / PSPortal have a 1080p screen. That's 4 times the resolution, and trust me it makes a huge difference.

I thought it was twice the resolution? 920k pixels vs 2m pixels.

Even with that in mind, I’d always take local hardware @ 720p over streaming @ 1080p. Even one spike in your wifi causing pixelation or a temporary loss of control completely takes me out of the game.
 

SHA

Member
Whatever Sony may do to the new ps portable doesn't matter, cause I'm sure it's value will just keep increasing with time.
 

Burger

Member
I thought it was twice the resolution? 920k pixels vs 2m pixels.

Even with that in mind, I’d always take local hardware @ 720p over streaming @ 1080p. Even one spike in your wifi causing pixelation or a temporary loss of control completely takes me out of the game.

Sorry yeah, feels like a big difference though. I'm not sure about the 2nd comment. I played BG3 on the GCloud via GFN the other day, and it was... a lot better than what the SD can manage. The beauty of modern games is I could put one thing down and pick up the game on the SD on a plane a few hours later (If I wanted).
 

SScorpio

Member
That was my question - is the same game performing the same when launched through Heroic Launcher or Steam?
You don't launch it through Heroic. That downloads and installs the game and then adds it to the Steam Decks interface.

It launches like any other Steam game. I don't believe you'll get online/developer controller templates, automated Steam Deck optimized configuration, or the preloaded shader cache. You can set the configurations yourself to make it run the same.
 

Dorfdad

Gold Member
Going to get some flak for this but if you want something now get the ROG ally. Lots of original issues out there but right now it’s the best thing out much more capable than steam deck and plays your entire library of games.

Can easily be a pc replacement with a hub / 1080p screen is the best. Can do everything you need from a handheld lite pc.

If you can wait a little longer get the Legion Go it’s same cpu as the ally but it’s got a lot of little things better. Jousticks, removable controller that turns into a fps mouse (awsome) and it has a trackpad for windows navigation. Slightly larger bigger screen and resolution than ROG with larger battery (same times as ROG I believe)
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
Steam Deck is on sale and I’m probably going once again to get it, mainly for the past PC games like Thief: The Dark Project or OpenMW: Morrowind.
 
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