I ultimately had to plug in my own keyboard and mouse because the Steam Deck’s trackpad and keyboard often didn’t register clicks and keystrokes. I watched several video tutorials to run EmuDeck, a script that installs emulators on the device. So to get started, users set up a Steam account to download games.īut tinkering with it to run games outside of the Steam store was an arduous task, and, at times, maddening. Gamers will primarily get titles through the Steam app store. Unlike normal consoles, like PlayStations and Nintendos that can play games stored on discs and cartridges, the Steam Deck is fully digital, meaning it only plays games downloaded over the internet. But it has major flaws, and it’s definitely not for people looking for a plug-and-play experience offered by a traditional game console. The verdict: This is the console I recommend for serious gamers who don’t mind doing some tinkering to enjoy games new and old. And just as with a computer, the Steam Deck can be customized to run older games by installing emulation software, which are apps that can run digital copies of games for older consoles.Īs someone who grew up with consoles all the way back to the Atari, I decided to give the Steam Deck a try. It runs Linux, the open-source operating system, which makes it capable of loading a huge swath of new games, including titles made for personal computers and some PlayStation and Xbox games.

The Steam Deck tries to be a jack of all of those trades.

The steam deck valve