A gamer who spent years building and gaming on PCs has largely switched to handheld devices, citing the Steam Deck OLED as a game-changer. The author, who built their first PC after starting with Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360, found that PC gaming lost its appeal once it became their main source of income.
Spending nine hours a day at a computer for work made evening gaming feel sedentary. Technical issues like lengthy shader installations and random crashes also became a chore, with more time spent troubleshooting than playing. A nomadic lifestyle, moving between different parts of the UK, further limited dedicated PC gaming time.
The turning point came in 2023 with the purchase of a Steam Deck OLED. Its quick resume feature allowed seamless suspension and resumption of games, ideal for travel. The device enabled the author to cut their backlog in half over two years, with the Deck accounting for 50% of their Steam playtime. Games from the PlayStation 4 era run well, and cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming have handled more demanding titles.
The author notes that PC gaming still has a place for multiplayer games like Battlefield 6 and Counter-Strike 2, but for single-player titles, the Steam Deck has become the primary platform. The experience has also rekindled interest in traditional consoles, leading to the purchase of a Switch 2.
