Comparing the Nintendo Switch 2 to the Steam Deck is dumb. I said that already, and I stand by it. But as people all over the world watch price tags climb, especially in Trump’s America, I can’t help but do a double-take at Nintendo’s $450 price tag for the Switch 2. Nintendo used to be the cheapest option for console gaming, now it’s right in the middle of the pack, with even more expensive games.
It makes PC gaming look cheap by comparison. Not at first glance, perhaps. But if you’re savvy, you can play a lot more PC games for the same price or even less. And I’m not talking about an endless flood of indie games on Steam, although that certainly helps. I mean brand new, AAA games, playable on cheap hardware or your TV. Amid a flurry of bad news for anyone hoping to play games on a budget, you have a lot of options to consider.
No power, no problem
Let me get my first qualifier out of the way: PC gaming hardware is still stupidly expensive. A new graphics card will cost you as much or more than a game console, if you can even find one, and it doesn’t include the rest of the PC, a monitor, keyboard, et cetera. If you want to build a new gaming desktop or buy a new gaming laptop, you’re going to pay more than ever before, and the price is only going up.
But you also have a lot more options than you ever did before. Integrated graphics are now good enough to play most games, even brand new, AAA 3D games, to at least some capacity. You won’t be getting 4K ray-tracing with all the fixins’, but you can play Cyberpunk 2077 on the latest integrated graphics in a laptop. Anything 2D, or nor particularly taxing, can make do with just about any recent hardware (with the notable exception of Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon chips). If you’re buying a new computer, you can get a budget design that’s at least capable of gaming.
So get a laptop or a mini PC, maybe leaning towards AMD’s Ryzen APU designs, and you’re looking at a ton of options. Speaking of AMD APUs: the Steam Deck, and its many imitators. Valve was no doubt inspired by the original Nintendo Switch when it created the Steam Deck, which can handle most of the new PC games coming out at only a slightly higher price. It’s created a brand new market that’s filling up with competition, none of which has managed to eclipse the original.
The Steam Deck has only sold a tiny fraction of the units that the Switch has, and that trend probably won’t go anywhere when the Switch 2 arrives. But the Steam Deck is now impossible to ignore in the PC gaming market — with every new game, one of the first questions you hear is, “can it run on Steam Deck?” And the answer is usually yes, if only because developers don’t want to lock out that sizeable and very engaged chunk of the market. Valve is even expanding SteamOS into handhelds from other manufacturers like Lenovo, and it looks like Microsoft is taking a more active role in supporting the handheld form factor after a couple of years of Windows-powered handhelds feeling clunky and poorly optimized.
Oh: And the Steam Deck is cheaper than the Switch 2. How ’bout that. You can even get an OLED upgrade for just a little more than that Mario Kart bundle.
Who needs hardware anyway?
So you’ve got a lot of new options for gaming on relatively affordable PC hardware. But what if you’re trying to squeeze value out of the hardware you already have? What if, in fact, you have no PC- or Windows-powered hardware at all, but you still want to play PC games? You can!
Microsoft has been pushing Game Pass, AKA Xbox Game Pass, as the hardware-agnostic, nigh-mythical “Netflix of gaming” for years now. And it’s just about there. You pay a monthly subscription charge, you get access to hundreds of games, and for most of them, you can stream them using a Windows app, a browser tab, a TV, or even a phone. It’s a mix of Xbox and PC games, both available pretty much anywhere, and bolstered by both Microsoft’s own massive catalog of studios and the EA Play subscription, which is included.
Game Pass isn’t perfect. It doesn’t offer every game via streaming, and at $20 a month for the streaming service, it’s a bit pricey. Games tend to come in and out with little warning, though you can generally rely on Microsoft-published games to be there at launch. But it has the same advantage as pretty much any streaming service, in that you can dip in and out as you please. Last month I hopped on just to check out the brand new RPG Avowed (published by Microsoft subsidiary Obsidian), didn’t care for it, and still had enough time left over to also check out indie multiplayer roguelike 33 Immortals.
I cancelled my subscription at the end of the month, having spent $20 on what would have cost me about $100 a few years ago. It’s not the first time I’ve done so. And considering that Nintendo seems to be all-in on a jump from the long-standing $60 USD for a new triple-A game, up to as much as $80 even for a digital copy, that might be worth a little extra pondering.
But most of you reading this have at least some PC games in Steam, Epic, et cetera. Would you like a way to play them without relying on local hardware? Well say hello to Nvidia GeForce Now. It offers pretty much the same streaming setup that Game Pass does, but for the games you already own. Again, not all of them, but any game that’s notable is likely to be supported by Nvidia’s remote servers, across Steam, the Epic Games Store, GoG, the Xbox/Microsoft store, EA, and Ubisoft. Nvidia makes a special effort to get newly launched games on the service, too.
Nvidia
GeForce Now is free to try out, with some admittedly stifling limitations. Freebie players have to watch ads before jumping on, and are limited to one-hour sessions. Even so, it’s a great way to test out the service and see if it works with your connection and devices — again, it’s available via PC app, browser tab, mobile, smart TVs, yadda yadda. $10 a month gets you 1440p graphics and banishes the ads with 6-hour sessions, while $20 a month gives you Nvidia’s best 4K graphics and up to 8 hours. Do note that there is a 100-hour limit per month, which is a lot (a full 24 hours every week and then some) but the most dedicated gamers might find it occasionally stifling, especially for a big new title.
And once again, you can join for just a month, or even one day at a time, if you’d like to blitz your way through a specific game. It’s an excellent way to experience some amazing PC games without having to upgrade your hardware, or even rely on any specific hardware at all.
Who’s it for?
I’m not exactly blowing anyone’s mind by pointing out that there are tons of great low-power indie games on PC. (In fact I’ve got several collections for you to check out if you’re interested.) And I appreciate that suggesting subscription services in lieu of expensive hardware is something of a lateral move, especially if you’re the kind of person who’s always playing at least one or two games.
And yes, none of this addresses what’s likely to appeal most about the Switch 2. Nintendo’s exclusive titles, which unlike Sony and Microsoft fare, you can rely upon to never appear on a PC in any way. And I’ll also admit that the new Mario Kart and Donkey Kong games look dope.
But it’s rough out there, and unlikely to get less so in the short term. $500+ for a new Nintendo console and a single game is pretty bleak. If you just want to play some great games for as little money as possible, you have options on the PC, without spending a penny on any new hardware. I hope that’s at least a small glimmer of positivity.