Which distros are you thinking of that have differences when it comes to running the same binaries? The only difference should be whether or not dependencies are included in the distro by default or not, and if not can be handled by the package manager.
Do gaming companies want the hassle? Maybe not, but if this device sells well enough they are a lot more inclined to consider it. If they do, creating packages for Debian/Ununtu users and Red Hat/SUSE/Fedora users is pretty trivial. Linux gaming will almost certainly never come anywhere near Windows gaming, but something like the Steam Deck is certainly a going to give it a boost.
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While I agree that first party is the bread and butter of the Swotch. and well, not many people buy one for amazing third party AAA titles...
It also has a metric ton of great indie games available, which is what I mostly use mine for.
I don't pretend to speak for everyone, but just personally, I bought my switch to play Nintendo's games. the portability was a secondary concern; whilst I've used it in portable mode from time to time it's been pretty infrequent.
Now, I could use the Steam Deck to emulate the Switch games, but I don't want to as emulation is still pretty fiddly and frankly I can afford to buy the games, it's not a big issue. If I did want to use emulation I'd rather just use my actual PC.
For every other game, my actual PC will be massively superior.
Thats the thing with linux, while their package dependency idea is good on paper, its nightmare as it barely has software isolation. Each time we do upgrade on our linux server (ubuntu) we simply buy another instance, set it up and discontinue old one because nobody, absolutely nobody in company would even consider trying to upgrade it (like 16->18->20). And it only has a couple of server things. Pray you don't have any custom repos set up and pray those are updated.
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2019/1...pendency-hell/
"The only difference should be" is pure fairytale. As a user I dont care about all that weird stuff i just want apps to work. This just isn't the case with linux.
As a developer I don't want to spend time fucking around and writing 1000 IFs for each system just in case there is some kind of difference so no wonder people developed over years VM frameworks/languages like java/js/c#/python etc. Whenever I want to make xplatform app I go electron or similar cause not only the backend layer is fully standarized, fronted is as well.
As for 3D engines like unity/unreal their support is still limited and you are still likely to encounter more issues. Unity only recently released editor for linux 2 years ago that is "supposedly fully working". Unreal supposedly supports linux but again, its up to developers to decide that.
Even if steam deck gots somewhat popular it isn't going to give it a boost, maybe to mobile gaming. It's a bit different market than PC gaming.
I think we've strayed a little off topic with the Linux discussion (at least with how comparability with applications and packages works).
In regards to the Steam Deck though, I think it will all come down to money. If Valve incentives publishers, and they sell quite a few of the things, publishers will definitely notice and branch out to sell games for the platform. Will we see companies like EA and Ubisoft do it? Probably not. But smaller publishers that are tied into Steam? Sure, I think we will. Even if the version they produce is only compatible with the Steam Deck (maning an Arch version), it would be an incredible step in getting more gaming available on Linux, which is a big win for consumers as a whole.
But people are buying the Steam Deck, which is running Linux. This is a product that they will want to 'just work'.
Because Proton is not perfect and while it lets users run a ton of games, the experience is not always flawless. A native version would certainly be better. Because since Valve is in the market of selling hardware specifically with the goal of selling more software through Steam, it's in their besst interest to have more apps that natively run on that hardware. If it's in their best interest, they can certainly make it in the best interest of developers that are heavily tied into their platform.
Do they? The Steam Link has been in my living room for 6 years & hasn't put a foot wrong. The Steam Controller is very good IF you're willing to put the time into it - If not, it's a waste of time. The Index is also as good as it gets in the consumer-level VR space at the moment, though the controller drift issue, while seemingly common on every controller out there, is not really excusable given the cost of them.
That said, the Steam Machines were an absolute failure I guess you could argue that the development of Steam OS starting all those years ago lead us to where we are now with the Steam Deck, so maybe it wasn't all for nought. & at least anyone who was mad enough to buy a Steam Machine could just install Windows on it in the end
Anyway, I've got a December reservation, & I'm really looking forward to it. I don't expect it to be perfect, but this is a product category I've wanted to take off for a while, & Valve have enough going for them to make a real go of this. I don't consider it much of a Switch competitor though - I think its more of its own thing entirely. I've been scratching my head over a Switch for years, but the price of games always put me off in the end (although I'll undoubtedly borrow my brothers for Bayo 3 when that launches). I like that I can buy this & get the majority (I don't expect 100%) of my 4-digit library right away without having to pay ridiculous prices/rebuying indies I already have/love. Looks mad comfortable as well, coming from someone who loved the Wii U pad but struggled with the cramp inducing Vita.
It was not the initial intent on Nintendo's part, but one thing they got right was detachable controllers.
What is my financial loss if the controls on this device break?
For Switch the cost is (at most) $60 for a new set of controllers.
Will I need to shell out $400 or take the device to a specialty shop?
Thought i'd bump this with news that they actually sent out dev kits which is good news because some games might have a preset steamdeck setting for max performance:battery usage