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Bluebell23456's avatar
5 years ago

The Sims on the New Steam Deck?

So I had heard rumors about this thing for a bit and just sort of let them fester in the back of my mind. Now it has officially been announced and preorders begin tomorrow (or later today for some). I am actually really interested in it, more than I thought I would be during the initial rumor phase.

I love handhelds, and being able to play regular PC games on the go sounds pretty great. For the record, laptops never felt as portable as they were made out to be for me. I despised having to set up, pack up, and lug around mine for classes. It was not anything special to be especially heavy, either. Laptops have ended up a PC for a non-traditional setup for me. Aka, I rarely have access to a proper desk or equivalent hard surface so a traditional desktop does not really work for me (and I have set desktops up on a coffee table). Bare minimum portability is exactly that, bare minimum, and something beyond that I find enticing.

So the idea of a super portable Steam library is fairly appealing to me. Plus it has much more storage than the Nintendo Switch at the base level and, as a PC equivalent, allows the use of Epic, Origin, Microsoft, etc. games on top of Steam. You can even download windows and what not, browse the web, etc. That means the Sims 4 should play on this thing.

Now, I am not typically into Sims mainline UI with console controls, but for the portability I think it will be a decent compromise. Especially with those touch pads acting as a laptop track pad. It seems like it will pretty well define flexibility as a handheld in usage, you just will not be able to upgrade parts beyond SD cards (something not foreign to the console market).

So what does everyone else think of this? Would you want to play Sims on a PC portable like the Steam Deck? I personally think it suits it more than a Switch port that would eat up my storage space. Plus, it would not have to be ported at all. Steam Sims players will just find the game in their Steam library upon launch. Even the pricing does not seem that prohibitive, not compared to buying a new PC or console. $400 base model is only $100 more than a Switch, which is fairly old hardware. Just $50 more than the new OLED model which is old hardware with more storage (though the same than the base Deck) and a better screen.

37 Replies

  • I already preordered the Steam Deck the best one of course and look forward to playing some of the games in my inventory but not the Sims. If I can play games on my Switch small screen I can play on the Steam Deck.
  • I think it would be too cluttered and building wouldn't be as simple as on PC.
  • Wasn't really an option offered to suit me in the poll.

    I have a camper van and so having portable gaming is a must. I do have a switch, but having access to my steam library would be great. The main problem with the switch is that I only have the exclusive games on it and Switch games are a lot of money.

    Yea, I am interested in this bit of kit.
  • The limited physical buttons and joysticks on the Steam Deck make me wonder whether mapping the controls for Sims on this thing would be hard to do for the developers, and annoying for us the user. For games like Stardew as others have mentioned, yes I am keen! Controls are much simpler in games like this. But for something like the Sims I just don't see being able to have the ease of use be quite the same without a keyboard and mouse. Plus, the screen is quite small, and might make the current UI difficult to scale without A) making it too big B) cluttering up the screen at the size they might need to be legible. In a game where the mouse is the driving force of gameplay (selecting interactions, building, panning etc.) in my context I don't see there being a console solution that doesn't feel clunky for me! However, maybe those who already play The Sims with a controller/on console would be totally happy with this
  • The Steam Deck is a dream come true for me. I've been wanting a portable PC handheld that has my entire steam library on it since ages ago.
  • I already play Sims FreePlay on my iPad, TS4 on my laptop, and Animal Crossing on my Switch and really don't want to invest in another handheld unit. I'd prefer some form of the Sims on my Switch.
  • I play sims to be by myself and not have to interact with people (If I want to interact I have other games to do that as well as many non game related things). I have a switch to play certain games, but I don't think it's ever been off the dock for long. Only if I want to play in another room. I'm not at all interested in gaming 'on the go'.

    Edit - and my PC is mine, no one uses it unless I let them (They have their own, so it's rare anyone wants/needs to use mine).

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