# GBAtemp should add an Steam Deck Forum



## TheSpearGuy (Feb 20, 2022)

The Community is gonna be big, so it would only be fair to treat the Steam Deck like a Switch or Vita and give it its own Forum for Projects, Homebrew and Questions !
We could also use this as an logo


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## Tom Bombadildo (Feb 20, 2022)

The Steam Deck is just a PC, and we already have a section for PC. No reason to clutter up the forums by adding specific sections for a specific PC IMO.


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## Chary (Feb 20, 2022)

It's technically a PC, so I'd say the PC works. 

At the same time, it is a pretty major release. 

Which, I suppose, is the point of the Groups system. There's a fairly large Steam Deck centric group. Plus, I think the rule of thumb has always been, "is discussion of X spilling out all over the forum?" which it's not, really.


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## TheSpearGuy (Feb 20, 2022)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> The Steam Deck is just a PC, and we already have a section for PC. No reason to clutter up the forums by adding specific sections for a specific PC IMO.


Yes, but everybody who owns a Steam Deck, will have the same configuration


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## Tom Bombadildo (Feb 20, 2022)

TheSpearGuy said:


> Yes, but everybody who owns a Steam Deck, will have the same configuration


And your point is...?

Again, it's just a PC. Anything anyone makes for the Steam Deck will also just work on any other PC, and anything that exists for PC will just work on the Steam Deck. Why do we need a whole section for a specific PC? It's not using any fancy "special" components, it doesn't have any DRM or copyright protection that doesn't already exist on any other PC, nobody is going to have to port XYZ emulator or Retroarch to it because they just already exist, etc etc etc. The only useful thing specific to the Steam Deck anyone would post about is maybe performance videos for their favorite game and that's it, and as Chary already helpfully pointed out we have a Steam Deck group that would be perfect for that sort of thing.

Otherwise, I see no reason why we need a specific section for a specific PC.


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## Veho (Feb 20, 2022)

I don't think the software, "hacks", "homebrew", software or games warrant separate forums, it's just a PC after all. But we will have a lot of people with the same hardware, and so with same hardware issues (overheating, spontaneous existence failure, DRIFT!), mods (3D printed cases!), upgrades (battery upgrades, SSD updates, etc), accessories, and so on. Maybe that could generate enough discussion for its own subforum somewhere.


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## subcon959 (Feb 20, 2022)

The group has been around for a while now and has minimal daily activity at best. Plus the way Valve is segmenting shipping I doubt there will be a massive surge of posts at any one time. Maybe it's worth looking at in the future but I just don't see it garnering that sort of popularity here.


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## darkxex (Feb 20, 2022)

steam deck, it also has its own OS built in, so I think if you need your space.


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## nightweb (Feb 20, 2022)

TheSpearGuy said:


> The Community is gonna be big, so it would only be fair to treat the Steam Deck like a Switch or Vita and give it its own Forum for Projects, Homebrew and Questions !
> We could also use this as an logo
> View attachment 298873


I would agree, quite a few people I know are getting them so I would agree that the community around them might start of slow but will probably grow considerably and a section now will help keep things organize as they expand rather than organize later.



Tom Bombadildo said:


> And your point is...?
> 
> Again, it's just a PC. Anything anyone makes for the Steam Deck will also just work on any other PC, and anything that exists for PC will just work on the Steam Deck. Why do we need a whole section for a specific PC? It's not using any fancy "special" components, it doesn't have any DRM or copyright protection that doesn't already exist on any other PC, nobody is going to have to port XYZ emulator or Retroarch to it because they just already exist, etc etc etc. The only useful thing specific to the Steam Deck anyone would post about is maybe performance videos for their favorite game and that's it, and as Chary already helpfully pointed out we have a Steam Deck group that would be perfect for that sort of thing.
> 
> Otherwise, I see no reason why we need a specific section for a specific PC.


I mentioned above I agree it is just a PC but it is a PC with a very specific difference that most gamer's aren't use to, it runs Linux, adding mods to certain games are easy, open community tab in steam, sub and steam organizes it all auto-magically. Outside of steam adding some mods like puting Thomas into Skyrim I can only imagine would work differently. Anything thats in steam I say would work fine with both but anything different like modding monsters in Monster Hunter World requires either copying files to right place or using nexus mod manager which I imagine wouldn't work as its does on a Windows PC so maybe with all the stuff that will be surrounding it might be best to organise it all into one area as a lot of it won't apply to other PC's


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## The Catboy (Feb 20, 2022)

Steam deck is just a PC, so we good on that. There is a group you can join though
https://gbatemp.net/group/steam-deck.29/info


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## Kioku_Dreams (Feb 20, 2022)

darkxex said:


> steam deck, it also has its own OS built in, so I think if you need your space.


Except it's not "its own OS". It's an Arch based Linux OS. That's like calling RetroPie its own OS. You'd be able to install SteamOS on any computer you can think of. In the same vain that you can install any PC OS on the Steam Deck.


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## Waveracer (Feb 26, 2022)

Even if it's technically PC, all owners will get the same configuration and many people not used to PC gaming are getting it so it should have its own forum. It's not going to clutter up the forums but keep everything related to this particular hardware together.


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## The Catboy (Feb 26, 2022)

Waveracer said:


> Even if it's technically PC, all owners will get the same configuration and many people not used to PC gaming are getting it so it should have its own forum. It's not going to clutter up the forums but keep everything related to this particular hardware together.


Outside the fact that users can install different operating systems on it. Sure, the hardware is going to be similar enough across the board but it's still just a PC at the end of the day. Again though, it still has a group
https://gbatemp.net/group/steam-deck.29/info


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## CMDreamer (Feb 26, 2022)

I don't agree.

It would be like giving it way too much importance. It's just another gaming device, another option, but just that.


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## Waveracer (Feb 26, 2022)

CMDreamer said:


> I don't agree.
> 
> It would be like giving it way too much importance. It's just another gaming device, another option, but just that.


It's not giving it way too much importance, it's making things easier for users which is the point of forums. People can ignore that forum if they are not interested but will be helpful for Steam Deck users that are not PC gamers.


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## The Real Jdbye (Feb 26, 2022)

I agree. The Steam Deck runs SteamOS which is quite different from Windows that most people use for gaming. There will be SteamOS/Steam Deck specific tweaks and mods, like alternate launchers/frontends (even for Windows as well) optimized for the touchscreen and inputs on the Steam Deck. People will have Steam Deck specific information and questions. It makes sense to have all this information in its own place rather than scattered all over the PC subforum.


Tom Bombadildo said:


> The Steam Deck is just a PC, and we already have a section for PC. No reason to clutter up the forums by adding specific sections for a specific PC IMO.


Most modern consoles are "just a PC". The only difference is the OS/software that runs on them. The Steam Deck has its own OS and frontend optimized for the available input methods. A lot of general PC information won't be applicable to the Steam Deck unless you put Windows on it. I feel that the Steam Deck running its own version of SteamOS should be treated as a separate thing because for all intents and purposes it functions as its own thing just like any other game console. Yes, it runs PC games, but even how you get those games running is different from how you would get them running on Windows.


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## subcon959 (Feb 26, 2022)

The Catboy said:


> Again though, it still has a group
> https://gbatemp.net/group/steam-deck.29/info


Make sure you use your power of invisibility for evil.


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## The Catboy (Feb 26, 2022)

subcon959 said:


> Make sure you use your power of invisibility for evil.


Already do


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## Minox (Feb 27, 2022)

It's just a PC, the PC section will do


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## subcon959 (Feb 27, 2022)

So, there is a PC section.. a handhelds section.. a dedicated Steam Deck group.. if anything there are too many places to potentially discuss it.


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## TheSpearGuy (Feb 20, 2022)

The Community is gonna be big, so it would only be fair to treat the Steam Deck like a Switch or Vita and give it its own Forum for Projects, Homebrew and Questions !
We could also use this as an logo


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## ital (Feb 27, 2022)

Steamdeck fans will be wandering through the many relevant sections like:






Wondering why no one seems to be there...


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## Dr_Faustus (Feb 28, 2022)

The most I could ever see the Steam Deck be its own section is if its a Subforum in the PC or Handheld section. Its not different enough to warrant its own mainline forum as its basically a portable PC with some Valve backing behind it. 

Hell I think VR has (and really should) have its own section on its own due to the fact that they are moving away from the PC in big ways. That said its probably not popular enough around here to warrant a section dedicated for it.


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## djpannda (Feb 28, 2022)

Dr_Faustus said:


> The most I could ever see the Steam Deck be its own section is if its a Subforum in the PC or Handheld section. Its not different enough to warrant its own mainline forum as its basically a portable PC with some Valve backing behind it.
> 
> Hell I think VR has (and really should) have its own section on its own due to the fact that they are moving away from the PC in big ways. That said its probably not popular enough around here to warrant a section dedicated for it.


no I can see it be added to Steamdeck/Linux form as PC usually just imply windows.


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## hippy dave (Feb 28, 2022)

We don't even have actual subforums any more, we have tags, and this would be fine for a tag


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## subcon959 (Feb 28, 2022)

Or perhaps people could just use the GROUP!


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## Plazorn (Mar 2, 2022)

TheSpearGuy said:


> The Community is gonna be big, so it would only be fair to treat the Steam Deck like a Switch or Vita and give it its own Forum for Projects, Homebrew and Questions !
> We could also use this as an logo
> View attachment 298873


The steam deck is a PC, and also a Steam Deck group already exists.


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## DavidinCT (Aug 25, 2022)

I come here normally for Switch and 3DS stuff.... but, after getting a Steam Deck and running into problems with my own games, I was looking for game mods and back door methods to get games running. 

I see no one here really cares enough to put a dedicated forum that would get more traffic then a group, that I would of never found just by visiting this site. 

Sure, it's a PC but, a dedicated gaming PC with Linux. Maybe a PC handheld area? as there are a ton of portable PCs and with really good specs now.  So it's not just a PC, it's portable gaming PC. 

I'll stick to Reddit and other places for Steam Deck discussion for now, as I don't see a lot of interest here.


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## The Catboy (Aug 25, 2022)

With the growing number of portable PCs and handheld emulation systems, I can see those possibly needing their own section. There have been a growing number of both devices and it would be nice to not gum up the general gaming or PC section with conversations about them.


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## SAORIxMEGUMIN (Aug 25, 2022)

TheSpearGuy said:


> Yes, but everybody who owns a Steam Deck, will have the same configuration


Installing other OS is a possibility, yet the answers for certain things still requires a steamdeck specific answer instead of an umbrella PC.


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## susbaconhairman (Aug 25, 2022)

We should at least have a :yaysteamdeck: emoji or something


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## GeekyGuy (Aug 26, 2022)

NSFW:


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