That’s right, for hardware that’s now eight years old and never got a price discount. It currently sells for C$400 – but they’re about to jack the price.
There are Android tablets that are much cheaper than the Switch, more powerful, more battery efficient. Also, play games better.
Yet, Nintendo is jacking the price.
Was considering a new switch, but may hold off now.
Which tablets do you have in mind? I could not find any suitable for anything but phone games via touch screen and unimpressive battery, but I don’t really know this market
If you want a similar gaming handheld, Steam Deck.
How’s the deck for mouse-heavy strategy games like Stellaris, Civ, etc?
Great, the touchpads are amazing for mouse-related stuff while handheld. I can comfortably use mouse heavy menus with them. Obviously, a lot closer to a laptop touchpad than an actual mouse, but still a lot better than a joystick as mouse.
A Steam Deck is a PC. If you dock it, you can hook up a mouse+KB and a monitor, and use “desktop mode” (KDE plasma) to use it exactly like any other Linux desktop. Docked “gaming mode” makes it feel more like a home console for PC games (and emulators). It is even possible (though not recommended) to install Windows.
If you hook it up to a monitor and use a keyboard with mouse, it’s indistinguishable from a regular PC.
Playing portably, mouse-based games run pretty well. Games that use a lot of keyboard keys are where it gets difficult without using an actual keyboard.
I don’t personally have one, but Civ has a touch interface (at least 5 does, never got into 6). The touchpads probably approximate a mouse input.
You’d probably be better served by a retro handheld. A lot of them run android so you can play android games, but the built in controllers make emulating actually enjoyable.
Major issue is that the ones cheaper than a switch struggle with 3D games.
If you have the money, steamdeck is definitely one of the best bang for buck, but it’ll probably be more expensive than a switch (unless you can find a deal on a used/refurbished one).
Thanks! I am starting to think a steamdeck is going to be my solution. SteamOS on my tiny nongaming Linux laptop works perfectly for 2D or light 3D games, so I expext it to be fine.
You can get a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (with a pen) for C$330. It has better GPU performance than a Switch.
You can play games like Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, and Sky: Children of the Light pretty damn well.
Thanks. Does it work well with controllers, or do people mostly play with the on-screen joysticks?
Yeah, you can hook up a Bluetooth controller just fine. Lots of them available.
You can emulate too.