Steamdeck!

[eri0o]

https://www.steamdeck.com/

No porting required.
Steam Deck runs SteamOS 3.0, and thanks to Proton, your build will likely work right out of the box. To learn more about how to test your game, make your game even better on Deck, or request a developer kit, visit the Steamworks site.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/faq

https://youtu.be/4FXgDAF6QpM

This device looks super neat!

[arj0n]

Interesting 

Specs:
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-deck-price-release-date-specs/#section-specs

[WHAM]

I can't help but wonder who the real target audience for this. The only ones I can think of would be hardcore gamers who travel long distances frequently, and want to play their games on thet rain or plane or such. Even with the 720p 60fps performance goal stated, I can't imagine this thing actually getting solid enough performance for most major new releases (Hell, my GTX 1080 can't run Control at a stable framerate, which is a game they feature prominently on the ads for the Steamdeck!). As for families with kids who might want portable gaming, I'd imagine Nintendo winning them over with the lower price point of the Switch, and the far better brand recognition and reputation.

My gut instinct is to call this thing the same way I called the Steam PC's and Steam Controller, or the Stadia, which also promised the world in portable gaming, though with vastly different tech of course: it will die off due to just not having a wide enough potential market to take root in.

I guess we'll see in the coming year or two how it actually performs, though. First deliveries planned for January 2022, and I'll be very curious to see what the sales figures look like.

[LimpingFish]

I don't think it's meant to compete with the Switch, at least in terms of enticing "casual" gamers. Rather, there's a substantial audience on the Switch who use it as a portable indie-game device, much like the PlayStation Vita had the potential to become, and, if you look at it from that perspective, it makes sense for Valve to target this audience. Why wait for a Switch port of you're favourite indie-game, when you could have a device which plays the PC original?

But this is Valve we're talking about, and, like Nintendo, it's difficult to second-guess exactly how this will play out.

[WHAM]

To me it feels like a continuation of the Steam PC idea. That was to bring cheap but effective gaming hardware to the masses, allowign easy access to Steam store and library on purpose-built hardware, expanding the PC playerbase to more casual players who couldn't afford proper gaming PC's. That never took off, and now Valve seems to have spotted a new growing trend in the form of portable gaming as presented by Nintendo and Google, and Valve is hoping to find the sweet spot in that. It's like the Switch, but 'for the grown-ups'. But that only makes sense if those grown-ups of the target audience don't already have a gaming PC, or if they are willing to downgrade their experience for the sake of portability. If enough of these Steamdecks get out into circulation, though: it will be fun to see what modders can do with the hardware!

[Danvzare]

It's basically just a laptop with a controller glued onto the sides. I agree with WHAM 100% on his take (especially since you see this exact same thing play out every two years like clockwork). That being said, I don't think it'll be an unmitigated failure. I'm sure hardcore fans will use it to play PS2, GameCube, Wii, and maybe even PS3 games on the go (trust me, emulators are going to go on this thing quicker than you can say "But it's for Steam."). Because lets face it, if you really wanted to play your Steam games on the go, you're either already going to have it on the Switch, or you'd much rather just play it on a powerful laptop that you already own.

[milkanannan]

I think the timing for something like this is pretty good given the uptick in gamer numbers during the pandemic. I consider myself a part of this demographic, as I only really started to get into platforms like Steam last year. I personally wouldn't buy the Steamdeck hardware simply because we already have numerous computers, tablets and phones kicking around at home, but I could see how a Steamdeck would be a natural transition for other gamer noobs that became familiar with Steam during the pandemic and are looking for a more portable/encapsulated experience.

[Danvzare]

I literally just found out that something almost exactly like this was supposed to come out in 2016 (and failed).
It's called the Smach Zero:


It would've predated the Nintendo Switch, and I only just found out about it today! 
Well, you've got to give the Steam Deck credit where credit's due. They improved the marketing a lot by simply announcing it on a odd-numbered year instead of an even-numbered one. 
Who knows, maybe doing the exact same thing and expecting different results will work out for them. 

[eri0o]

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/2984186184800023530

It's shipping dev kits apparently!