The Steam Deck is still better than the Switch 2

It wouldn’t be absurd to call me a lifelong Nintendo fan. My first game console ever was a Game Boy Color. I bought the original Switch the second I got my hands on it. I keep Pokémon Go installed on my phone to this day and swing by the Nintendo Store in New York whenever I’m in the neighborhood and have a halfway decent excuse to go be a tourist.

Despite that, the Switch 2 is less compelling than the original. None of the launch titles speak to me, because I was never invested in the Donkey Kong franchise. And when compared against the Steam Deck and other handheld gaming PCs, I just don’t think the Switch 2 is better than its competition.

The Switch started a trend

But the Steam Deck perfected it.

Handheld gaming consoles aren’t new. In fact, they’re older than the original Switch, however, the handheld took a backseat to home consoles in the early 2000s, which made the original Nintendo Switch feel like a breath of fresh air in the game console wars. Playable in handheld, docked mode, and as a display with a kickstand, the Switch offered a variety of play-styles that make it ideal for gaming on the go.

Between playing single player games in cars to setting up a Mario map competition with your seatmates on a plane, it was nearly revolutionary. But ultimately, the original Switch launched with dated hardware back in 2017. By 2022, the original Switch was barely hanging on in terms of handheld and docked performance. Which is how the Steam Deck became the hot new handheld in town.

With a custom AMD chipset, the Steam Deck had superior performance to the Switch, and could function as a miniPC. While the Steam Deck doesn’t ship with a dock, there are plenty of dock options that can run it. As for the Switch’s “TV” mode, that was perhaps the mode used the least by Switch owners, making it easy for Valve to skip for the Steam Deck.

The Switch 2 doesn’t change much from the original. Its hardware is slightly better, but the graphics upscaling and ray-tracing features it sports aren’t available in all Switch 2 games yet, making it feel like a palette-swap over the original rather than a second iteration. So the Steam Deck truly feels like the more worthy successor to the original Switch.

Which is part of why we’re all still waiting for a Steam Deck 2.

The Steam Deck has better games

At least for now, the Steam Deck library is far superior.

Valve’s Steam Deck leverages the expansive Steam Library, which means the Switch 2 has an uphill battle when it comes to game support. Not all Steam games are compatible with Linux natively, but the Proton translation software is good enough to get a majority of the Steam library functioning on SteamOS for the Steam Deck.

The Switch 2 has a handful of new games in its library, but its best games are primarily Switch titles that benefit from the improved graphics of the newer hardware. Like the poor, beleaguered Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Right now, the Switch 2 has only a handful of exclusive titles: Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Fast Fusion, Survival Kids, Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut and Super Mario Party Jamboree. Unless you also want to count The Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster.

The Switch 2 exclusive library will get more entries later this year, with highly anticipated titles like Kirby Air Raiders, Duskbloods, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. But for now, the Switch 2 library isn’t the most exciting. It may have Cyberpunk 2077but the Steam Deck has been playing Cyberpunk for the last three years.

Plus, Steam Deck games are still at PC prices, not the inflated price tag for Switch 2 games.

The Switch 2 still has its place

First party games always save Nintendo

Nintendo isn’t just a hardware or software company; Nintendo makes its own games. And that fact has saved this Nineteenth Century Japanese game company over and over throughout the years. People love Nintendo’s first party characters, from Mario to Bowser to Link and Zelda, there are plenty of compelling figures in the Nintendo library that will draw people to the Switch 2.

I myself am always drawn to the Pokémon titles, after all.

So with a larger library of 3rd party games and a number of anticipated first party titles, the Switch 2 will still draw plenty of eyes, and plenty of users.

But if you want something with a great game library now, and you don’t care about Donkey Kong, Mario map, or Mario Partythe Steam Deck is the superior choice.

But, I’ll probably still buy a Switch 2

Once we get a new Pokémon, that is.

I’m a sucker for a good monster collection game and the Pokémon nostalgia is real.

Right now, I’ve got limited desire to play Mario Kart World or Mario Party Jamboreewhich is helping save my wallet from a purchase of the Switch 2. But that resistance won’t last forever. Sooner or later, Nintendo will unleash the next mainline series of Pokémon games, and my wallet will be about $500 lighter.

But if you asked me to rate the two consoles side by side, the Steam Deck is the way to go. Between game library size, price, and icon status, the Steam Deck is the superior handheld.