• Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      5 months ago

      Using an ad blocker is basically requirement of browsing the internet at the moment.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          5 months ago

          I have no idea if this works iPhones because Apple pretty restrictive (Do they allow anyone to use anything other than Safari or are they still on that anti-consumer kick), but on Android you can set the browser engine the in-app browsers use. So you can set it to Firefox and then have plugins.

          I’m using that now.

          Or you can just turn in-app browsers off.

          • Stampela@startrek.website
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            5 months ago

            I have no idea if this works iPhones because Apple pretty restrictive (Do they allow anyone to use anything other than Safari or are they still on that anti-consumer kick)

            In this instance it’s an oddly good thing that in app browser engines are restricted to Safari: because it gets the ad blocking you set up for Safari. I didn’t even know that site had ads!

            That aside, while the in app engine is still locked, Apple has been allowing different browsers (not browser engines, mind you) for many years now and with the eu regulators curiously doing their job lately, they are going to allow different engines too. Although I’ve read that it’s a bit of a trick, because then developers would have to develop and support two different versions of their browsers, one with whatever engine, and one for the rest of the world…

            This comes from a Vivaldi user btw.

  • sunshine@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    I would love to have a Steam Machine. I love my Steam Deck. However… the nature of Steam games, so far, even on the Deck, is that you need to bop “ok” every once in a while, or even enter a username or something for some unwashed-ass game, and that’s a lot harder on a form factor that doesn’t have a touchscreen…

  • someguy3@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Steam deck without the screen. And with a controller.

    They must be waiting for the Steam Deck 2 so it’ll at least be 1080p natively.

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      5 months ago

      I thought I did, but I just couldn’t get on with it. Fucking around with the touchpad was a very poor substitute for a right analogue stick.

      • Cort@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Agreed. If they’d just put a right analog stick in there somewhere it would have been awesome. The vibrators just don’t provide the right tactile feedback

  • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    They basically already have one. The steam deck with the dock (though you have to provide your own controller.)

    They’d certainly gain some performance improvements by building a dedicated steam machine, but it would also split the market for the steam deck, which the article already talked about as being a negative of the first iteration.

    Dunno, I probably wouldn’t get a stationary steam machine over a mobile steam deck. Though being able to use Thunderbolt 4 for an eGPU on a steam deck would be a welcome enhancement, but that’s a whole different discussion.

    • Broken_Monitor@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I like the deck and am thinking about the dock for it, but the controller thing is something I’m wondering about. Any idea if it can handle 3-4 of them wirelessly? I mainly want to put it on the tv for local co op or party games, but I usually use ps4 controllers and have found their bluetooth is awful on PC.

      • chemslayer@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        I regularly use 4 wireless Xbox controllers for this exact purpose, and it works great. There’s always the occasional Bluetooth quirks, but overall it’s seamless

      • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        It somewhat depends on the game, and the order that you pair things in.

        I’ve run my steam deck, docked on the TV, with 2 Nintendo Pro controllers, 1 XBox controller, 1 Stadia controller, all running over bluetooth, and a fifth PS3 controller plugged in via USB. From what I understand the limit is 8 controllers, but I think the built in controller counts as one.

        You can go into the settings and tell it which controller is which, but in the end, the game can override things and make it not work as expected. The only way to really know is to check on a game-by-game basis.

      • niisyth@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        I’ve managed to do 6 player Ps2 emulation on it just fine.

        3-4 controllers would be ez.

      • Baggie@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        Can’t imagine it’d be worth doing considering you could just dock your deck to the tv. I know the deck is a beast at streaming to it though.

    • vanderbilt@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The problem is they keep breaking in-home streaming to/from the Deck. My Mac has a significantly more GPU oomph so there are some games I’d like to play streamed, but streaming hasn’t worked in either direction since last year.

      • saintshenanigans@programming.dev
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        5 months ago

        I would hope they’d be able to get that working much more reliably when both ends are known to be their hardware…

        But also yeah, IHS is a huge coinflip depending on your home network too

  • earmuff@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 months ago

    I would not even hate this idea. To be honest, I would even think about buying one. I switched to Linux a year ago, while having Windows as dual boot option. I only used Windows for one game, which had a nasty Anti Cheat back then. Nowadays it is working on Linux. So I have no reason to use Windows anymore. And as I love Valve since the early days, I always try to get my hands on their products.

  • fishos@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    It’s called a Mini PC or a NUC. They already exist. Go buy one and slap Steam on it. Done.

    The people who actually want this have already done it.

    • cttttt@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Yah. Makes more sense for Valve to spend their time improving Proton or working on their reference handheld device. A reference desktop device is a solution looking for a problem.

    • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzM
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      5 months ago

      Valve’s big advantage here is the same as it was with the steam deck: they can sell at a loss and make it back on software sales.

      A lot of the appeal of consoles is a polished experience and that they’re generally less expensive up front compared to a comparable power gaming PC. Many consoles are sold at a loss to hit that price point. Valve could actually make cheap gaming PCs that can compete in price and offer a smooth user experience.

      • fishos@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Install steam. Run in big picture mode. Done. That’s a steam machine. I don’t get what you think a dedicated machine is going to do any differently. There is a reason Steam abandoned the idea themselves.

        • Install steam. Run in big picture mode. Done. That’s a steam machine. I don’t get what you think a dedicated machine is going to do any differently. There is a reason Steam abandoned the idea themselves.

          Big picture mode on my windows PC and the gamescope-focused UI on the Deck look similar, but offer very different capabilities IME.

          To name a handful: FSR support for all games - including those that don’t support it, per-game hardware performance profiles, excellent hardware integration - not just limited to the instant sleep and instant wake. With the third party Decky Store you can also configure the fan profile to your liking, control music apps running in the background on the Deck, and more. On the PC BPM these sadly do not exist

          I 100% prefer playing on the deck any day of the week - the OS simply makes it so straightforward to jump into a game and forget about needing to also think about maintaining a desktop: no Windows updates, no telemetry service CPU spiking, and no Windows resetting my customized settings or forcing Edge browser defaults after an update.

          That said, I don’t particularly have an interest in a full blown Steam Machine - for me the Deck works just fine when docked.

    • shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 months ago

      Is your statement true? Probably

      But if we set our standards to “enough”, there wouldn’t be any progress

      Was the switch enough for couch gamers? Sure. Did valve want to progress further? They did.

  • FIST_FILLET@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    yes, absolutely, as long as we don’t become ignorant to the huge ethical issues with steam like their decade of running an underage gambling surrogate. sorry, i just take issue with the article pointing out flaws of xbox and playstation without counter-balancing those criticisms with something about valve. valve is certainly better than both sony and microsoft in every regard, but they are not innocent at all

      • Kadaj21@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I love the idea of a Steam Deck or the other portable pcs like it, but man I think it would just sit lol. The techie in me just wants it to have. Same with a VR headset. I’d play beatsaber for a bit and it would be dusty.

        • null@slrpnk.net
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          5 months ago

          I don’t use my Deck much outside my home, and I do tend to just sit on the couch most of the time.

          I find I’m way more inclined to pick it up and start gaming that way and I end up using it more than my PC.

  • daltotron@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Bring it back as an HTPC like the peeps are saying, low-ball it on the price like 500 bucks or less, maybe even take a hit on it or just a hit on the profit margins, pre-install all the stuff people might need, and then blam, you’ve guaranteed that most people will be casual users who want a lower-end computer and a smart TV/console replacement, and not higher tier hobbyists who want a more powerful machine. Confining your audience to that specific market share basically guarantees they won’t take advantage of the lower or negative margins on the hardware itself, and will probably buy some amount of steam games. They’re also using a device in your ecosystem now but idk what you do as far as that goes to make a good profit while not being a scumbag

    • graymess@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Steam is already the biggest fish by far in the digital games market for PC. Only reason for them to do this is if they’re worried about losing that dominance. Basically, is Epic keeping them up at night enough to warrant a major push into a new hardware loss leader?